The cost of authentic faith exploring Luke 9:21 27 on the Daily Bible refresh with Dr.

Brad Miller.

Hello my good friends, Dr.

Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh your daily walk into the New Testament of the Bible.

We bring you the reading of the New Testament from the Revised Common Lectionary.

That's the selected verses for this very day.

We make the reading of the Bible understandable.

We use the message version relatable.

We give you some points to ponder and applicable give you an action step to follow.

We have a prayer and we do all this in under 10 minutes or so.

It's all brought to you by voiceofgoddaily.com this is the home of the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible study method.

We have a mission to get the audible word of God into two million years a million people by 2028.

Here's our reading for the day.

Luke 9:21 27.

Reading from the message, he then asked and you, what are you saying about me?

Who am I?

And Peter answered, the Messiah of God.

Jesus then warned them to keep quiet.

They were to tell no one of what Peter had said.

And he went on.

It is necessary that the Son of man proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by religious leaders, high priest and religion scholars, be killed and on the third day be raised up alive.

Then he told them what they could expect for themselves.

Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead.

You're not in the driver's seat.

I am.

Don't run from suffering.

Embrace it.

Follow me and I'll show you how.

Self help is no help at all.

Self sacrifice is the way, my way to finding yourself, your true self.

What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?

If any of you is embarrassed with me in the way I'm leading you, know that the Son of Man will be far more embarrassed with you when he arrives in all his splendor in company with the Father and the holy angels.

This isn't, you realize, high in the sky, by and by, some who have taken their stand right here are going to see it happen.

See it with their own eyes.

The Kingdom of God.

Incredible reading here about authentic faith.

It's a challenging text to be sure about identity, suffering and authentic discipleship.

Let's get into some points to ponder.

First is about going beyond messianic nationalism.

Jesus command to keep quiet about his messianic identity challenges triumphalist Christianity in a time when many seek a political messiah to overthrow Rome.

Jesus redefined messiahship through solidarity with suffering rather than dominance.

This speaks to our contemporary need to resist Christian nationalism and empire aligned faith.

A second point is about transformative suffering.

Jesus doesn't glorify suffering but connects it to the work of justice and liberation.

Don't run from suffering, he says.

Embrace it isn't about passive acceptance but about choosing to stand with those who suffer under oppressive systems.

This challenges both prosperity and gospel teachings and tendency to spiritualize suffering or while ignoring its systematic causes.

One more point to ponder.

It's about finding your authentic self.

Self help is no help at all, it says in the Scripture.

This critiques individualistic spirituality focused on personal success.

Instead, Jesus suggests that authentic selfhood emerges through connection with community and commitment to justice.

This challenges both consumer Christianity and individualistic self improvement culture.

Here's your action step.

Identify one way you've aligned your faith with comfort or power rather than solidarity with those who suffer.

Choose a concrete action to stand with marginalized communities in their struggle for justice and document how this shifts your understanding of both faith and and self.

We're going to come back with a closing prayer.

Just a minute.

Just a reminder that we've got a great resource for you.

You can go to our website voiceofgoddaily.com and pick it up.

It's your own Bible study methodology to apply in your personal life.

It's called the ABC1, 23 Bible Study Method.

It will help you with your daily Bible study.

Pick it up@voiceofgoddaily.com let's pray.

O God, you are a divine presence in pain and power.

When we're tempted to choose comfort over justice, remind us of your way of solidarity.

When we want faith without cost, challenge us with your radical love.

Help us distinguish between suffering that liberates and suffering that oppresses between cross and crucifixion.

Give us courage to lose the false selves we've constructed, the comfortable faith we've created.

The easy answer is we've accepted.

May we become people who find ourselves in losing ourselves.

Discover life in giving life.

See your kingdom in the here and now.

Guide us in the way of authentic faith.

Not Empire's power, but love's transformation.

Not personal success, but collective liberation.

Not comfortable belief but radical discipleship.

Amen.

What a great lesson for the day.

Hope you'll join me again tomorrow for another episode of the Daily Bible Refresh.

We come to you every single day with a reading from the New Testament from the Revised Common Lectionary Version.

We have a goal of getting the Ottawa Word of God into two million years.

A million people by 2028.

And you're here to help by subscribing to the podcast and inviting other people to join us.

I look to be with you again here tomorrow.

I'll see you then.

We usually drop our episodes before 6:00am Eastern Time.

Until tomorrow, friends.

My name is Dr.

Brad Miller.

Remember that God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up.

It's created new every morning.