In Covenant. In Christ.
Dearest Father, Thank You that in Christ, I am in Covenant with You. In covenant with You, I have everything I need and dream of. As written in the Gospel today.
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Today's Readings
First Reading: Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 27: 1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
Second Reading: Philippians 3: 17 – 4: 1 or 3: 20 – 4: 1
Verse Before the Gospel: Matthew 17: 5
Gospel: Luke 9: 28b-36
Reading 1, Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18
Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18 GNBDK
[5] The LORD took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and try to count the stars; you will have as many descendants as that.”
[6] Abram put his trust in the LORD, and because of this the LORD was pleased with him and accepted him.
[7] Then the LORD said to him, “I am the LORD, who led you out of Ur in Babylonia, to give you this land as your own.”
[8] But Abram asked, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that it will be mine?”
[9] He answered, “Bring me a cow, a goat, and a ram, each of them three years old, and a dove and a pigeon.”
[10] Abram brought the animals to God, cut them in half, and placed the halves opposite each other in two rows; but he did not cut up the birds.
[11] Vultures came down on the bodies, but Abram drove them off.
[12] When the sun was going down, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and fear and terror came over him.
[17] When the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking fire-pot and a flaming torch suddenly appeared and passed between the pieces of the animals.
[18] Then and there the LORD made a covenant with Abram. He said, “I promise to give your descendants all this land from the border of Egypt to the River Euphrates,
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 27:1, 7-8, 8-9, 13-14
R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call; have pity on me, and answer me. Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Your presence, O LORD, I seek. Hide not your face from me; do not in anger repel your servant. You are my helper: cast me not off.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.
R. The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Reading 2, Philippians 3:17-4:1
Philippians 3:17-21 GNBDK
[17] Keep on imitating me, my brothers and sisters. Pay attention to those who follow the right example that we have set for you.
[18] I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ's death on the cross.
[19] They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world.
[20] We, however, are citizens of heaven, and we eagerly wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.
[21] He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.
Philippians 4:1 GNBDK
[1] So then, my brothers and sisters, how dear you are to me and how I miss you! How happy you make me, and how proud I am of you! This then, dear brothers and sisters, is how you should stand firm in your life in the Lord.
Gospel, Luke 9:28-36
Luke 9:28-36 GNBDK
[28] About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray.
[29] While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white.
[30] Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah,
[31] who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfil God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem.
[32] Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him.
[33] As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not really know what he was saying.)
[34] While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them.
[35] A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen — listen to him!”
[36] When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this, and told no one at that time anything they had seen.
Dearest Father,
Thank You that in Christ, I am in Covenant with You. In covenant with You, I have everything I need and dream of. As written in the Gospel today.
Luke 9:35 GNBDK
[35] A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen — listen to him!”
Jesus, the Son of God, is the Mediator of the new covenant that bound God and man anew in an eternal covenant.
Hebrews 9:15 AMP
[15] For this reason He is the Mediator and Negotiator of a new covenant [that is, an entirely new agreement uniting God and man], so that those who have been called [by God] may receive [the fulfillment of] the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has taken place [as the payment] which redeems them from the sins committed under the obsolete first covenant.
What is a covenant?
Here, I googled it for us:
In a literal sense, a covenant means a binding agreement, a legal contract. It is a seal between two or more parties. In a biblical sense, the word covenant derives from the same root word meaning “to cut.” This means that in the culture of the Bible, covenant carried weight and was often cut, or sealed, in blood.
Covenants define obligations and commitments, but they are different from a contract because they are relational and personal. Think of a marriage—a husband and wife choose to enter into a formal relationship, binding themselves to one another in lifelong faithfulness and devotion.
A contract is transactional. Like an agreement to exchange services or goods.
A covenant is relational. A contract that binds two parties in a lasting agreement and relationship often sealed by blood.
Like in the First Reading, God made a promise to Abraham that He will make Abraham the father of many descendants, as plenty as the stars in the sky.
Genesis 15:5 AMP
[5] And the Lord brought Abram outside [his tent into the night] and said, “Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to count them.” Then He said to him, “So [numerous] shall your descendants be.”
Abraham believed Him but asked how he was to know that he would possess what God had promised?
Genesis 15:8 AMP
[8] But Abram said, “Lord God, by what [proof] will I know that I will inherit it?”
Amazingly, God then cut a covenant with Abraham to seal His promise.
Genesis 15:9-10, 17-18 AMP
[9] So God said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” [10] So Abram brought all these to Him and cut them down the middle, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.
[17] When the sun had gone down and a [deep] darkness had come, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch which passed between the [divided] pieces [of the animals]. [18] On the same day the Lord made a covenant (promise, pledge) with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates—
See that smoking brazier and the flaming torch that passed between the 2 cut carcasses? That's God passing between those carcasses cutting a covenant with Abraham.
Here's Google’s take on this ritual:
Cutting animals in half and then walking between the pieces was a visual representation of the consequences of breaking a covenant.
Scholars suggest that this ritual—passing between the halves of sacrificed animals—was meant to imply a binding oath on those who participated. By walking between the animals, the person was accepting that same destruction if they broke their end of the bargain.
The covenant between God and Abraham in Genesis 15 is a prime example of this practice. God, not Abraham, passed between the divided animals, symbolizing God's unilateral promise to Abraham and his descendants.
God bound Himself to His promise to Abraham, essentially saying that He will be like this carcasses if He fails to fulfill His promise.
That covenant found its fulfillment in Jesus, the Mediator and Negotiator of a new and eternal covenant, sealed by His own Blood.
He is the fulfillment of all the promises God made to His people in the Old testament or covenant, symbolized by Mosses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets), appearing with Jesus in His transfiguration as written in the Gospel today.
Luke 9:30-31 AMP
[30] And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah, [31] who appeared in glory, and were speaking of His departure [from earthly life], which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.
In Jesus, we can stand on the promises of God in an eternal covenant:
Luke 9:35 AMP
[35] Then a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, My Chosen One; listen and obey and yield to Him!”
If we, for our part, listen and obey and yield to Jesus, God will surely do His part, bring about the fulfillment of His promises. That’s God’s covenant with us.
This is our Rock Foundation (Pillar 3 of the RichLife Playbook).
In Jesus, we have the unshakeable assurance that we can stand on forever that God will do all that He promised He will do.
That's why I always wear a Crucifix necklace to remind myself that I have a covenant with God, in Christ, that can never be broken and is eternal, as He is an eternal God.
When Jesus died on that cross and cried out, It is done!, that sealed the covenant for life.
John 19:30 CEVDCI
[30] After Jesus drank the wine, he said, “Everything is done!” He bowed his head and died.
That means all God's promises to man, to me, personally, are now fulfilled.
When God promised me a rich and satisfying life, everything in abundance, more than I expect, life in all its fullness until I overflow, in the covenant I have with Jesus, it is finished. It is done. I already have it.
John 10:10 NLT
[10] The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
John 10:10 TPT
[10] A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect —life in its fullness until you overflow!
That's why I can confidently live each day with the sure knowledge that I now have a rich and satisfying life, that I have everything in abundance, more than I expect, life to the full until I overflow!
Even when my bank account is empty. Even when I have needs to be met still. Even when my two sisters are not talking to each other still after a year of misunderstanding.
Even when all my circumstances say otherwise, I can still declare in faith,
Thank You, Father, I have a rich and satisfying life in Christ!
Why?
Because I have a covenant with God in Jesus. In Christ, it is done. It is finished.
All God's promises to us are yes and amen in Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:19-20 GNBDK
[19] For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was preached among you by Silas, Timothy, and myself, is not one who is “Yes” and “No”. On the contrary, he is God's “Yes”; [20] for it is he who is the “Yes” to all God's promises. This is why through Jesus Christ our “Amen” is said to the glory of God.
I dream of blessings beyond compare, a family with flesh and blood descendants, and many members of my SpeakChrist RichLife Club, 1 billion to be exact, it is finished! It's yes and amen in Christ!
How? I got God's promise regarding this.
Hebrews 6:14 TPT
[14] So he said, “Have no doubt, I promise to bless you over and over, and give you a son and multiply you without measure!”
So it is done! It's finished. Yes and amen! In Christ.
All my impossible dreams? It is finished! It is done. Yes and Amen. In Christ.
That's how I claimed my condo back from foreclosure. Even though it was already set for auction, 4 days after we received the Foreclosure notice.
I sought God for His promise regarding that problem.
He gave me a very clear Word and promise:
Job 22:28 AMP
[28] You will also decide and decree a thing, and it will be established for you; And the light [of God’s favor] will shine upon your ways.
So I decided my condo will not be foreclosed but will be restored back to me quickly, easily, and effortlessly. I decreed it, declaring God's light of favor to shine upon my ways.
3 months after, my condo is mine again.
It is finished! It is done! Yes and amen! In Christ.
That's our Rock Foundation.
Digging deep in God's word and promises, remaining in Jesus in covenant with God, we will not be shaken, no matter what storms of life come our way.
I remember this worship song that I love so much:
You are eternal, unchanging.
Your love forever will be unfailing, it's true.
I have a covenant with You.
You are eternal, forever You will be my God.
You are in covenant with God. In Christ. Live it.
If you want to live in covenant with God daily, join me in our SpeakChrist RichLife Club. We'll do it together. St. Katharine Drexel, pray for us.
Live the RichLife in Christ today
In Christ, you are in covenant with God, now and forever.
In covenant with God, we have all we ever need and dream of. Now and forever.
Free 🎁 gift for you.
In Christ, all of God's promises are yes and amen!
Listen to Him and live your rich life in Christ. Now and forever.
Luke 9:35 GNBDK
[35] A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen — listen to him!”
Now Your Turn
(Questions to ask yourself when scripture journaling)
What verses spoke to me strongly and powerfully from the scripture readings?
What is God saying to me in these verse or verses?
What does God want me to do today?
Journal prompts of the day
Are you in covenant with God in Christ?
What promises have you received from God?
Are you claiming the covenant blessing we have in Christ?
Am I in covenant with God in Christ?
Your Actionable Steps to Do This Week:
Get into covenant with God by giving your life to Jesus.
Get God's promises for every need, dream, and circumstances of your life.
Listen to Jesus to know what He wants you to do everyday.
Let us pray:
If you want to live the rich life in Christ every day - in Covenant with God, give your life to Jesus.
That’s the first step.
Say this prayer with me:
Dearest Father,
Father, forgive me of my sins. I receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for making me now Your child and heir, with power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory, and blessing. Thank You that in Jesus, Father, I have a covenant with You and I have everything You promised in our Covenant.
In Jesus’ Name.
This is it for now. Until next time.
Vivo dives vitae in Christo. Live the RichLife in Christ.
P.S.
If you want to develop daily discipline and consistently achieve what God wants you to be, do, and have, without struggle - live the rich life in Christ. Join the RichLife Club now. We’ll do it together.