Live the Rich Life in Christ
Dearest Father, thank You that by living my life in Christ and for His business, I am not only living the rich life now in this life but also forever with You. As written in the Gospel.
Start your own scripture journal to help you reflect and live the rich life in Christ daily. Get Speakchrist Diaries, my journal prompts and reflections on living the rich life in Christ from today’s Catholic Mass Readings.
Today's Readings
First Reading: Genesis 11: 1-9
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 33: 10-11, 12-13, 14-15
Alleluia: John 15: 15b
Gospel: Mark 8: 34 – 9:1
Reading 1, Genesis 11:1-9
Genesis 11:1-9 GNBDK
[1] At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words.
[2] As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there.
[3] They said to one another, “Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard.” So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. [4] They said, “Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth.”
[5] Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which those men had built,
[6] and he said, “Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want!
[7] Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand one another.”
[8] So the LORD scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city.
[9] The city was called Babylon, because there the LORD mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 33:10-11, 12-13, 14-15
R. (12) Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
The LORD brings to nought the plans of nations; he foils the designs of peoples. But the plan of the LORD stands forever; the design of his heart, through all generations.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Blessed the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he has chosen for his own inheritance. From heaven the LORD looks down; he sees all mankind.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
From his fixed throne he beholds all who dwell on the earth, He who fashioned the heart of each, he who knows all their works.
R. Blessed the people the Lord has chosen to be his own.
Gospel, Mark 8:34-9:1
Mark 8:34-38 GNBDK
[34] Then Jesus called the crowd and his disciples to him. “If anyone wants to come with me,” he told them, “he must forget self, carry his cross, and follow me.
[35] For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
[36] Do people gain anything if they win the whole world but lose their life? Of course not!
[37] There is nothing they can give to regain their life.
[38] If a person is ashamed of me and of my teaching in this godless and wicked day, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 9:1 GNBDK
[1] And he went on to say, “I tell you, there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power.”
Dearest Father,
Thank You that by living my life in Christ and for His business, I am not only living the rich life now in this life but also forever with You. As written in the Gospel.
Mark 8:35-36 GNBDK
[35] For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. [36] Do people gain anything if they win the whole world but lose their life? Of course not!
In the Amplified Bible, it says clearly:
Mark 8:35-36 AMP
[35] For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God]. [36] For what does it benefit a man to gain the whole world [with all its pleasures], and forfeit his soul?
It was one of those aha moments for me.
For years I've been writing about health, wealth, and victory in Christ.
But most of my experiences and desires would always gravitate to living a wealthy life in Christ.
But I didn't want to neglect also the aspects of health and living a victorious life in general like having a happy family and lasting friendships.
I want to have it all. Not only in this life but also in the afterlife, my eternal life.
I never forgot that story where somebody asked a person what his dream is and he replied, I want to get to heaven and bring with me as many as I can.
But when I began studying the Kingdom of God with my online pastor Gary Kasee's teachings, I began to understand that I am already in the Kingdom of God here and now.
In Christ, I got this revelation that I am a child and heir in God's Kingdom, called to reign with Him, rule in His name by decreeing God’s laws (His word) in my world, my embassy, and reclaim territories in the earth realm (those still under the earth-curse system of sin, lack, and death) to expand His Kingdom on earth, all the while, resting in the certainty that I already have all I needed in Him.
These are the 5 R’s that I've determined that will help us to continually grow rich in Christ that I've expounded in my book, Give Thanks and Grow Rich.
This ebook is now available to my readers on my digital shop. It’s a Google Doc so you can easily read it on any device, even on your phone. Praise God, thank You, Lord!
I talked here about being already rich in Christ, that's why we give thanks, but we can still grow rich infinitely in Christ.
And then it hit me like a lightning bolt!
In Christ, I'm already rich because I already have all of God's Kingdom, being a child of God, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, Creator of the universe!
And because I'm rich in Christ who lives now and forever and ever, I'm not only rich now in this life but I'm rich forever!
Rich in all areas of our life! Rich in money, wealth, and fortune, rich in purpose and meaning, rich in meaningful relationships. Rich in life!
That is what I'm passionate about. That's what I'm living for and that's what I want to share with all of God's people.
Many people are rich in this life but are they rich in our eternal life?
Because I believe there is an eternal life:
eternal blessedness in God's Eternal Kingdom, and
eternal damnation in hell that is prepared for Satan and his minions and everyone who follows him.
And if you don't believe?
I remember an episode on Young Sheldon where he was arguing with his pastor about the probability of the reality of heaven. That it's just 50-50%. Like winning the lottery. You can never really know for sure.
But if there's a 50-50 chance for you to ever win the lottery, aren't you going to take it? I would of course!
Except, I know the Kingdom of God is real now so I know that it's real for eternity.
How can I say that?
Because I've experienced it for real.
That's what I've been doing my whole life.
I've been following Jesus, taking up my cross (His will for my life). Daily. I was dabbling before. But now I’m fully committed to take up His will for my life daily
Just as Jesus said in the Gospel today for anyone who wants to be his disciple:
Mark 8:34 NABRE
[34] He summoned the crowd with his disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
In doing so, in following Him and living my life for Him, I've experienced Him to be real for me. I've experienced His provision, His protection, His presence, His power for real in every journey of my life. As God’s child.
In 2022, I finally realized my status not only as His child but started experiencing how it is to start reigning and ruling in His Kingdom as His heir and reclaiming territories for the expansion of His Kingdom.
It's like I was a spoilt heiress before just taking and taking from Father's riches, living for me, my, and my shadow, and just dipping in the family business of expanding God's Kingdom from time to time.
Now it's like I've come of age and ready to take full responsibility for my reign and rule in the kingdom God has assigned me to rule, serving my empire in the name of my Father.
I'm reading this Chinese romance novel adaption in Wattpad titled, The CEO’s Woman, where the girl, an heiress who wasted her life running after the wrong people and things she thought she wanted in life and was schemed upon and killed by the people she was running after, was reincarnated with her memories intact and now she determined to have only three things:
Build an empire
Spend more time with the people who love her
Live a happy life
A man, the only heir of the richest and most powerfully influential families in China whose influence even went as far as abroad fell in love with her. Seeing that she wants only three things, then he too wants only three things:
Build an empire with her
Spend more time with her
Live a happy life with her
They were still young, just graduated High school and the guy had to go abroad for 2 years isolated from all he loves, so he can train in all the ins and outs of the family business then he can ascend to full power in their family hierarchy.
Right now he has some power, and because his father already gave his blessing for the engagement, his fiancee too has already a measure of power in their family and can command the guards and participate in the family business to some extent.
But when the heir returns fully trained and capable, he can now be made the head of their family and will have full reign and rule of all their family's wealth and power, the Patriarch. And of course, his wife becomes the Matriarch ruling alongside him.
So they both have to be trained in the ways of their family as young as they are.
I so love this story.
This morning, I was on my daily prayer walk and I realized, I'm like this heiress. I only want 3 things too. Build an empire, spend more time with the people I love and who love me, and live a happy and fulfilled life.
I want to build my SpeakChrist RichLife Club into an empire of 1 billion members, Generous, Raving, Engaged, Apostolic, and Tribal (GREAT) SpeakChrist Angels, God's people living the RichLife in Christ everyday, consistently achieving what God wants us to be, do, and have, becoming God's sources and symbols of blessing, extremely blessed and blessing billions of others in our generation and for generations to come.
I want to be, do, and have a great influence for good, lasting even long after I'm gone from this earth and on to take my place in the eternal Kingdom of my Father.
With the likes of Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon, Jim Rohn, Napoleon Hill, Neville Goddard, R.G. Le Torneau, John D. Rockefeller, St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, Paul and Peter, and many of the great names on earth whose names are still known even at this time and, I know, for time to come, influencers with their work and lives inspiring and influencing generations after generations for the better.
Just like God has promised me.
2 Samuel 7:9 NIV
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth.
And I realized, Jesus is the Heir that wants to give me what I want too. He went away to be trained but now He has fully ascended into power as the Head of the family, ready to reign and rule, serving His family, and expanding His Father's Kingdom.
And I rule with Him.
We build our empire together. I, trusting Him and His words, obeying what He tells me to do every day, and Him, doing His mighty works in me, with me, and through me, so much more than I could ever ask or imagine.
That's what You want. A partnership. You doing mighty great things in me, with me, and through me. With each of us.
I was reading the First Reading this morning with the story of the Tower of Babel where You saw the people being united on a mission to build the Tower of Babel and You confused their language to divide them so they stopped what they intended to do cause they could no longer do it together.
I asked, why did you do that Lord? Didn't You want them to do what they wanted, to make life better with better things?
I realized on my walk, and thinking of my desire to build that empire, that what those people wanted was not what God wanted at all. They just presumed on their own to do what they wanted to do, for their own glory and honor.
Genesis 11:4 GNBDK
[4] They said, “Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth.”
So that we can make a name for ourselves.
There. That's where everything wrong started. Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks. That's what their hearts are full of. Evil intentions. Only wanting to make a name for themselves.
God knew their hearts too.
Genesis 11:6 AMP
[6] And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them.
God knew what man could do because He created us in His image and likeness. He knows nothing we imagine we can do will be impossible for us. We are very much like Him, Who imagined things out of nothing and created them into being.
It's not that He didn't want us to make a name for ourselves. It's that He didn't want us doing that on our own, by our own strength, our own ability, and for our own glory and honor.
He wants to work with man together. That was His original intention with Adam and Eve. But they rebelled against what He wanted and, in turn, against Him, as their King. So He punished them as every sin against the Kingdom should be punished.
But He can't stop being Father. He wants a relationship with man. But He wants total commitment. All or nothing. He wants someone who is totally committed to be in covenant with Him.
He called Abraham for this.
Genesis 12:1-4 AMP
[1] Now [in Haran] the Lord had said to Abram, “Go away from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; [2] And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you [abundantly], And make your name great (exalted, distinguished); And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others]; [3] And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you. And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.” [4] So Abram departed [in faithful obedience] as the Lord had directed him; and Lot [his nephew] left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.
Notice what God says:
Go to the land I will show you
I will make you a great nation
I will bless you abundantly
I will make your name great
I will bless those who bless you
I will curse those who curse you.
As a result,
You shall be a blessing - a source of great good to others and in you, all families of the earth will be blessed.
In comparison, the people of Babel were saying:
Let us build a city with a tower that reaches the sky.. So we can make a name for ourselves.
This is the hustle culture and orphan mentality, borne out of the earth-curse system of painful toil and sweat they inherited from the fallen Adam and Eve.
That desire to make a name for themselves? That's the desire borne out of the remnant of their being and greatness as made in the image and likeness of God, filled with the glory of God. But since that relationship with God was severed, and they were put under the earth curse, the desire was channeled into themselves: me, my, and my shadow.
God says of Abraham, you shall be…
Be. Not do. God will do the doing. We only have to “do” the being. Being His child, obeying Him, trusting in His word, following Him.
Because Abraham chose freely out of his own will and committed to Him everything he had, God made a covenant with him.
And from his descendants came the promised Savior of the world who will save God's people from their sins, Jesus, the Son of God, born of a woman, now also the Son of Man.
Even He, Jesus, as a Man, had to learn obedience to the Father's will.
Mark 14:36 GNTD
“Father,” he prayed, “my Father! All things are possible for you. Take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet not what I want, but what you want.”
Not what I want but what You want.
Because of His obedience even unto death on that Cross, Man is finally set free from the curse of sin, lack, and death.
And anyone who believes in Him, He gives the power to be children of God.
Free to just be again. Be children and heirs of the Father, working with Him to build a better world so that all people will know Him and live the rich life in Him He's always intended us to live in Christ.
So yeah. I'm dreaming to build an empire. Through writing and creating. That dream? That's one that God gave me. With the gifts and talents He had given me.
What did He give you? What's your dream? What's that something you are great at and you find very easy for you to do and love to do at the same time?
What is it that you imagine you can do?
Remember, we are created in the image and likeness of our Father. Jesus already restored us to our rightful state as children and heirs.
Nothing we can imagine we can do will be impossible for us.
We can be all we want to be, do, and have because God gives us those desires and dreams in the first place.
Philippians 2:13 New Living Translation (NLT)
For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
So build your own empire. The one God gave you the desire to build with the gifts He had given you. Dream as big as you can and do all that you can with what God has entrusted to you and called you to do.
God is glorified when you bear much fruit. Be the good news that you are.
John 15:8 The Passion Translation (TPT)
When your lives bear abundant fruit, you demonstrate that you are my mature disciples who glorify my Father!
You are rich in Christ. And You can grow infinitely rich in Christ.
Thank You Father that I have a rich life in Christ, just being Your child and heir and doing what You want me to do every day.
I can be, do, and have what You want me, to, be, do, and have. In Jesus’ Name!
If you want to know more about how to start living the rich life in Christ, now and forever, join me in our Speakchrist RichLife Club. We'll do it together.
Live the RichLife in Christ today:
Are you rich now?
Will you be rich forever?
In Christ, you are rich now and forever.
Lose your life for Jesus and His business.
In Christ, you live the rich life. Now and forever.
Mark 8:35-36 GNBDK
[35] For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for Me and for the gospel will save it. [36] Do people gain anything if they win the whole world but lose their life? Of course not!
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 rich now? But are you rich forever?
Have you given your life to Jesus?
Are you living for Jesus and for His mission daily?
Join our SpeakChrist RichLife Club
Helping dreamers, like me, live the RichLife in Christ daily so we can go from being tired doubters and dabblers to becoming thankful believers and doers consistently achieving what God wants us to be, do, and have, without struggle, extremely blessed and blessing others.