The foundation of Jesus' kingdom
Daily Scripture
Jeremiah 31:31-34, 1 Corinthians 11:24-25
Jeremiah 31
31 The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 They will no longer need to teach each other to say, “Know the Lord!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.
1 Corinthians 11
24 After giving thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same thing with the cup, after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Every time you drink it, do this to remember me.”
Daily Reflection & Prayer
The prophet Jeremiah said God would create a new, intimate bond with His people, a covenant written on hearts. The apostle Paul, in the earliest written account of the Lord’s Supper, shared Jesus’ promise that his sacrifice set up this covenant. This profoundly shifted how people understood and related to God. You’re invited into this same deep connection! Scholar N.T. Wright said, “The new covenant… transforms people from within.” * This inner relationship with God enables you to live out the Golden Rule.
- Jeremiah spoke of a new covenant where God’s law would be written on people’s hearts, not just on stone tablets. This internal transformation changes how we relate to God and others. Where do you see evidence of God’s law written on your heart in daily life? How does this internal guidance influence your decisions and interactions? Can you recall a time when this “heart knowledge” helped you respond with kindness or compassion?
- Paul reported Jesus’ words at the Last Supper, establishing the new covenant. This act redefined the relationship between God and God’s people. When you take part in communion, how does it shape your understanding of God’s love and forgiveness? How might regularly recalling Jesus’ sacrifice change your approach to forgiving others or showing grace in difficult relationships? Can you identify what makes it hardest for you to extend the same grace you’ve received?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I want your love and goodness to fill me all the time. I’m not always there yet, so keep me growing in remembering and expressing your love authentically. Amen.
GPS Insights
Mikiala Tennie
Mikiala Tennie serves as the Student Discipleship Program Director with Resurrection Students. She has nearly 20 years of ministry experience and loves encouraging others in their spiritual journey. Mikiala is blessed to be an adoptive aunt and godmother to many kiddos and lives with her 10-pound Yorkie, KiKi Okoye Tennie.
Years ago, praise and worship duo Shane & Shane released a song that comes from King David’s prayer to God in Psalm 24. We sang it often in my youth group. I learned it in order to lead it as a part of our youth worship team as well. The song was called, “Give us Clean Hands,” and using Psalm 24, it asks,
Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.
5 They will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God their Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.
After learning that specific song, I began a practice during communion that would stick with me for my entire life. Any time a pastor would begin to prepare the elements and prepare the congregation to receive them, I would bow my head and meditate on the lyrics of that song, knowing it was based on a prayer coming straight from Scripture.
I felt it was an important prayer to lift up to God as I participated in this important part of worship service. Communion is such a holy practice where we do get to enter God’s holy place as we remember the meal Jesus served his disciples that represented the sacrifice He would make for all of us.
Today I am struck by the desire to add to my own personal practice before I take Communion. I regularly pray for God to cleanse my hands and purify my heart–but rarely do I take a moment within that prayer to give thanks to God for the act of that cleansing and purification. I take the time to be present in the moment, but I forget to be grateful for God’s present of forgiveness in that moment. There’s a measure of personal gratitude I forget to have in that holy moment.
Much like Mary’s sister, Martha, I busy myself with cleaning house and making sure everything is ready in order to receive the Lord–and in that haste, I miss the opportunity to be grateful I am allowed to sit at His feet and embrace His lessons and love.
From now on, when I sing those lyrics in my head, I hope to remember that as I pray that prayer, I can be grateful that God readily answers it. My communion with God isn’t just about the preparation, it’s being grateful for the ability to connect with God in such a way.
I pray that in the moments you remember Christ’s sacrifice, you will experience all the love that motivated it, and be filled with immense gratitude for it.
© 2025 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* N. T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began. New York: HarperOne, 2016, p. 257.
