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.

So we're reading today from Philippians 1 verses 21:30 from the Message So how am I to respond?

I've decided that I really don't care about their motives, whether mixed, bad or indifferent.

Every time one of them opens his mouth, Christ is proclaimed and so I.

Just cheer them on.

I'm going to keep that celebration going because I know how it's going to turn out through your faithful prayers and generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Everything he wants to do in and through me will be done.

I can hardly wait to continue on my course.

I don't expect to be embarrassed in the least.

On the contrary, everything happened to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known regardless of whether.

I live or die.

They didn't shut me up.

They gave me a platform.

Alive I'm Christ's messenger.

Dead I'm his prize life, Life versus even more life.

I can't lose.

As long as I'm alive in this body, there's good work for me to do if I have to choose.

Right now, I hardly know which I choose.

It's a hard choice.

The desire to break camp here and be with Christ is powerful.

Some days I can think of nothing better.

But most days, because of what you are going through, I am sure that it's better for me to stick it out here.

So I plan on being around a while companion to you.

As your growth and joy in this life of trusting God continues, you can start looking forward to a great reunion when I come visit you again.

We'll be praising Christ, enjoying each other.

Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the message of Christ.

Let nothing in your conduct hang on Whether I come or not, your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or.

Or hear it from a distance.

Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people's trust in the message, the good News, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition.

Your courage and unity will show them what they're up against.

Defeat for them, victory for you, and both because of God.

There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ.

There's also suffering for him, and the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.

You're involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through in which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

Well, my friends, that's the end of the reading.

I just want to welcome you back here to our conversation here on the Daily Bible Refresh.

Glad you're here.

So let's just get comfortable for a minute and let's just talk for a few minutes, have a conversation, you and me, about this passage, Philippians 1:21:30.

And I was reading it from the message.

This is Eugene Peterson's incredible gift in his translation of making ancient words feel like they were written today for us, because they were.

Paul is writing from a jail cell, and that's an important context to get here.

He's not writing from some comfortable study or library or something or retreat center.

He's in chains.

And what he writes from that place is one of the most counterintuitive things in all of Scripture.

Get this.

Paul isn't changed.

And he says, I can't lose.

And that's a remarkable thing to hear him say.

Paul found reorientation in a jail cell.

And that's where I want to start our conversation today.

Our point to ponder, number one, is this reframing isn't the same as pretending.

Paul's I can't lose attitude is not toxic positivity.

He is not performing happiness.

He says plainly, I'm in jail.

I might die.

And some of the people preaching out there have bad motives.

He sees all of it.

He just refuses to let it have the final word.

On my other podcast I do, it's a weekly one where I talk with people navigating cancer.

I've had the privilege of sitting with some really courageous human beings who I've ever encountered, and the ones who find their way through their situation don't pretend that cancer isn't real.

But somewhere along their journey, many of them find a way to reframe the story.

Not to deny the suffering, but to refuse to let Suffering write the ending and progressive faith understanding of this passage doesn't ask us to perform cheerfulness or paste a smile over genuine pain.

It invites us to an honest reckoning with what's real and stubborn, almost defiant belief that something redemptive is still possible.

That's not naive, that is genuinely brave.

Point to ponder number two.

Your life is the message.

So that's the second thing I want us to sit with.

It's here in verse 27 of this passage.

It says, live in such a way that you are a credit to the message of Christ.

Paul doesn't say make sure your theology is airtight.

He says, make sure your life is worth something.

He's more concerned with whether the Philippians show up for each other, stand together and act with courage than whether they've agreed to the right doctrinal checklist.

And this is where progressive Christianity has always leaned hard, and I think rightly so.

Faith isn't primarily a set of propositions.

We believe it's a way of life.

We embody day to day in ordinary moments.

My two granddaughters will tell you that laughing with those girls is one of the greatest joys, is one of my favorite things on this planet.

And they don't care what theology or any background their grandpa has.

And they just notice how I treat them and how they treat me and that I show up and that it's real.

And I show up when it's hard and when I don't feel good or whatever it is.

And even if I don't feel like it, that's the real message.

My wife and I have been together over 34 years and we've raised three wonderful adult children and we watched them build amazing lives.

That's embodied faith and that's the message that actually reaches people.

And look, I have my issues.

I have one thing I tell terrible bad dad jokes.

My family groans at every time.

But even a bad dad joke has a way of saying I love you enough to embarrass myself for a laugh.

And that counts.

Here's your action step for this week.

Think of a person in your life who's carrying something heavy right now.

Maybe it's a cancer diagnosis or a loss in their life or a season of doubt or financial issues or relationship problems.

Don't try to fix it.

Don't text them a Bible verse and call it done.

Just show up.

A phone call, a walk, a cup of coffee, a visit on the doorstep.

Be the message that is human, most human, ordinary way that you know them.

Paul says, your conduct speaks louder than anything else you could say.

Let's say something good to somebody.

This week I'm going to come back and have a prayer with you.

First, I just want you to know that we have a Bible study resource for you that you can use at home.

It's called the ABC 1, 2, 3 Bible Study Method.

You pick it up for free@voiceofgoddaily.com let's pray.

Oh God, we come today to you.

With a lot of different from a.

Lot of different places.

Some of us are having a genuinely good season, laughing and feeling like things are good.

And some of us are in a hard place right now, scared, exhausted, maybe like Paul in that jail cell, wondering about how this whole thing ends.

So God asks you to meet us where we are, not where we think we should be.

Give us the kind of faith that doesn't flinch from our hard stuff, but also doesn't hand the final word over the darkness.

Remind us that our lives, our actual, imperfect, ordinary daily lives, are the clearest message we've got when we're tempted to overthink our theology and underlive our faith.

Nudge us back.

Remind us that sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is just show up for someone who needs it.

And thank you for this community of listeners finding their way through.

May they be a credit to someone worth believing in.

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.

Sam.