Hello, my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.

This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.

In a bit I will read the New Testament lessons selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.

The reading is understandable.

I use the Message version relatable.

Please listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.

We pray and are done in less than 10 minutes.

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Here's today's reading and we're reading from.

Galatians 3, 6:14 from the Message answer this question.

Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, His Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves.

Does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you?

Don't these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham?

He believed God and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.

Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ, not persons who put their trust in the law, are like Abraham, children of faith.

It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non Jews by faith.

Scripture anticipated this in the promise of Abraham.

All nations will be blessed in you.

So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham who lived by faith.

This is no new doctrine and that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure.

Scripture backs this up.

Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of Law.

The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way.

The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him.

Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you.

Habakkuk had it right.

The person who believes God is set right by God and that's the real life.

Rule keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith.

It only perpetuates itself in more and more rule keeping, a fact observed in Scripture the one who does these things continues to live by them.

Christ redeemed us from that self defeating cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself.

Do you remember the scripture that says cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree?

This is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross.

He became a curse at the same time dissolved the curse.

And now because of that the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available to non Jews also.

We are all able to receive God's life, His Spirit in and with us by believing just the way Abraham received it.

That's the end of the reading.

Friends and I thank you for sharing a few minutes in Bible study with me today.

Here in Galatians 3, Paul's really asking a simple question.

Is this life with God powered by you're grinding effort or by trust?

Effort or trust?

Real open handed trust.

You know I've been married to my wonderful wife for Debbie for 34 plus years now.

We've raised three adult kids and we spent a lot of time with our kids and with our granddaughters and a lot of laughter.

A lot of good times.

And the best relationships grow by trust, not by keeping score.

Paul points to Abraham and says the blessing spreads by faith, not by rule keeping and through Christ.

That blessing is for all people, all nations.

And that's centered on grace, inclusion and liberation.

And that's the place I want to live.

Whether I'm on a quiet hike in the woods with my wife or cheering on the colts of the pacers of the Fever, my teams, or recording my weekly podcast to help folks impacted by cancer, I'm in a place where I really want to try to offer a little bit of hope, a little bit of humor when life feels heavy.

Let's take this scripture that we've read here today and try to get and go for some three points to ponder from a progressive point of view.

The first is faith over performance.

Trust opens us up to God's work.

Rule keeping closes us in.

That is to say, Paul is contrasting what he calls here strenuous moral striving with trusting in God's spirit.

Progressive faith starts with grace, unearned, unmeasured, unmetered grace.

This point isn't moral gymnastics and is consenting to God's transforming presence.

Think of faith as relational trust, learning to love rather than proving you're lovable.

I love that turn of a phrase.

A second point to ponder is this blessing beyond boundaries.

Abraham's promise includes the nations.

No one's outside the circle.

The text here insists God set things right beyond ethnic, religious and cultural boundaries.

This speaks to radical inclusion today, embracing non Jews then and every other now our LGBTQ siblings, for instance, immigrants, people in the margins, the poor, anyone determined or deemed outside by any other group.

And if faith makes us a family, then our boundaries need to be as wide as the grace of God.

Another point to ponder is liberation from cursed systems.

Christ absorbs and dissolves the curse.

The curse isn't just about personal guilt.

It's the whole grind of fear, shame and exclusion that rule keeping assistance perpetuate.

Jesus breaks the cycle.

Progressive discipleship means resisting systems that dehumanize racism, misogyny, economic exploitation, religious gatekeeping and instead to live in the Spirit's alternative, mutuality, trust, justice.

It's choosing compassion over compliance, freedom over fear.

You.

Let's talk about an action step here today, a concrete practice that we can do.

Pick some boundary in your life that you can widen.

That is maybe identify a person or a group that some or another you may have consciously or subconsciously kept on the outside of your group of your thinking.

It takes some relational steps towards inclusion.

It can be as simple as a conversation.

Maybe it's buying somebody a cup of coffee or a donation or an invitation to worship or a community gathering, or in some way advocating for the dignity of others.

And pair that with prayer.

Spirit, help me trust your work more than my comfort prayer.

We're going to close here in prayer in just a moment, but I want you to know that we do have a very valid, a very helpful resource for you.

It's called the ABC 123 Bible Study Method.

And I really invite you to go over to our website, voiceofgoddaily.com it's there for you and it's free.

Let's pray.

God of wide open blessings.

Some days I'm stuck improving and performing, counting wins and forgetting you're already here, already loving.

Loosen my grip on perfection.

Deepen my trust in your spirit.

Working what I can't.

Draw my circle wider, like Abraham's blessing for all nations.

Dissolve the curses, fear, shame and the systems that keep us apart.

Guide my steps towards real inclusion, practical compassion, liberating joy.

Be close to those living with things like cancer today and other maladies and bring hope and laughter and relief and be with people's families, including my family.

Be with our spouses, our children, our grandchildren, and let love be a small sign of your big big grace.

Amen.

My friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.

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Thanks much.

My name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your daily Bible Refresh.

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

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.