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 lesson 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.

Reading today from Ephesians 4:25 32 from the Message what this adds up to then is no more lies, no more pretense.

Tell your neighbors the truth in Christ's body.

We're all connected to each other.

After all, when you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself.

Go ahead and be angry.

You do well to be angry, but don't use your anger as a fuel for revenge.

Don't stay angry.

Don't go to bed angry.

Don't give the devil that kind of foothold in your life.

Did you used to make ends meet by stealing?

Well, no more.

Get an honest job so that you can help others who can't work.

Watch the way you talk.

Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth.

Say only what helps, each word a gift.

Don't grieve God.

Don't break his heart.

His Holy Spirit moving and breathing in you is the most intimate part of life.

Make yourself fit for himself.

Don't take such a gift for granted.

Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk.

Be gentle with one another Sensitive Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in in Christ forgave you.

What a great passage of scripture here.

That concludes the reading.

Let's talk about it a little bit, for instance, and let's just talk a little deeper because this whole theme here is about forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God and Christ forgave you.

That's good, isn't it?

And I just want to thank you for joining me as we go a little deeper in this area here.

This is practical spirituality, truth telling, healthy anger, generous work, careful words, tenderness, forgiveness.

It's less big Doctrine and more.

How do we live together every day?

You know, I'm a person who sits together weekly with folks impacted by cancer, and I learned that small choices, what we say, what we do, how we hold anger, how we express ourselves, how we forgive, they make the biggest difference.

Let's get into a couple points to ponder here, to go a little deeper into the scripture.

First point to ponder is this truth telling is communal care not a weapon?

Paul says, tell your neighbor the truth.

We're all connected.

From a progressive point of view, truth isn't for winning arguments.

It's for healing the body that we all share.

When we mask, pretend or spin, we harm the fabric that holds us together.

Truth looks like transparency in institutions, like naming harm without humiliation, like listening to stories in the margins.

Survivors, workers, immigrants, LGBTQ siblings, black and brown communities, and letting those who truth with truth reshape how we live together in the cancer world, which I live in.

Honest conversations about fear, prognosis, pills, side effects.

Those are acts of love.

Denial sometimes feels easier, but it isolates truth, builds connection.

Same at home.

My wife and my three kids and my grandkids taught me that the response of I'm fine is less helpful than being honest.

Or maybe saying, I'm struggling or I just let's talk about something.

Can we talk about Point to ponder Number two.

Anger can be holy energy for healing, not fuel for revenge.

Go ahead and be angry, the scripture says, but don't use your anger as fuel for revenge.

A progressive reading of this says that anger signals what we love and what's threatened, and it can power justice, better care, access, for instance, fair work policies, safer communities, reducing racism.

And you can do that without burning people down.

The line isn't don't feel anger.

It's don't camp on it.

Don't weaponize your anger.

Let anger move your feet toward repair and watch for the paired guidance here.

Say what only helps each word.

A gift.

Be gentle.

Forgive important parts of the scripture.

This isn't niceness.

It's a revolution of care.

Our words can build breathing space for the hurting.

Our forgiveness can interrupt cycles of harm while still demanding accountability.

That's the spirit moving and breathing in us, turning our ordinary lives into places God can heal.

Here's your second here's your action step for today.

Practice.

Three, two, one.

Words as gifts, as gifts.

Rhythm.

That is three.

Three truths.

Each day, name three honest statements to yourself, to a friend, a spouse, trusted person on your journal about how you really are.

Three truths.

Truths build connection.

Two Edits.

When you Feel anger, pause and edit two phrases you were about to say, so they become helpful.

For instance, new you never listen becomes I want to feel heard.

Can we try again?

Remember, anger fuels repair, not revenge.

So three truths followed by two edits and then one Generosity.

Choose a concrete act to help someone who can't work or stretch thin.

Maybe pay for a cup of coffee or a meal even.

Or offer somebody a ride to a treatment center.

Or maybe do a little babysitting.

Be a caregiver for a little bit.

Or donate to some medical debt relief of someone.

Work becomes care.

Each word a gift.

We're going to come back and have a prayer here in just a moment.

Before we do, I just want to remind you that we do have a great resource for you.

It's called the ABC123 Bible Study Method.

Please head over to our website, voiceofgoddaily.com it's there for you.

Let's pray.

Breath of God moving and living in us.

Steady us with your honest light and for the one listening who is tired.

For the caregiver counting pills for the patient waiting on results.

For the family juggling bills and hope.

Hold us gently.

Teach us to tell the truth without tearing each other down.

Let our anger be a compass toward repair, not a match that burns the house.

Loosen our grip on sharp words.

Make our mouths places where weary people can rest.

Give us hands that help, calendars that leave room for care.

Hearts quick to forgive like you.

Forgive us.

Pour your spirit in the ordinary so rivers of kindness run through our homes, our workplaces, our streets.

And please keep us laughing because joy helps the medicine go down.

Walk with us on the trails of life and with all who need to study harm today.

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.