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 are reading today from the.

Gospel of Luke 22 verses 54, 62 from the Message A rooster crowed, arresting Jesus.

They marched him off and took him to the house of the chief priest.

Peter followed, but at a safe distance.

In the middle of the courtyard, some people had started a fire and were sitting around it, trying to keep warm.

One of the serving maids sitting at the fire noticed him, then took a second look and said, this man was with him.

He denied it, woman, I don't even know him.

A short time later, someone else noticed him and said, you're one of them.

Peter denied it, man, I am not.

About an hour later, someone else spoke up, really adamant.

He's gotta been with him.

He's got Galilean written all over him.

Peter said, man, I don't know what you're talking about.

At that very moment, the last word hardly off his lips, a rooster crowed and just then the master turned and looked at Peter and Peter remembered what the master had said to him.

Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times he went out and cried and cried and cried.

That ends the reading.

We're going to talk today about When Faith Meets Fear, Peter's journey, and how it relates to our journey.

My name is Dr. Brad Miller, here to be helpful to you and this is all about here, about this journey.

When we're journeying through some perilous times in our lives, when we have the pressure on, it's about being very human.

About Peter's denial was the most human, one of the most human things he could ever do.

A story that hits close to home to me when we're honest about ourselves, maybe hit home to you, but let's unpack it a little bit with some points to ponder and see what we can learn from this to apply to our lives.

The first point to ponder is that courage isn't about never failing.

You know, I work with cancer patients, I'm a cancer survivor myself.

And your health fails when you have cancer.

And to learn that real courage isn't about being afraid.

It's not about never being afraid.

It's about facing your fears and moving on Anyhow, Peter boldly had declared beforehand that you know, he would die for Jesus, but he ended up denying Jesus three times.

But here's the thing, the story doesn't end there.

You know, it's kind of like in sports.

I like to watch my Pacers in fever and Colts play and there's failure in every single game.

You miss a basket, you make a bad play, but then it's about how you get back up and overcome your failure that matters.

Second point to ponder is about community matters in crisis.

Jesus tells Peter to turn to your companions and give them a fresh start.

My wife and I have been married over 33 years and we understand that and we've raised three three children and we learned we need others.

We need others to resonate with, to connect up with.

We all need people to be with us when we stumble within the family, within our friends and within other our community.

It's fascinating that Jesus just doesn't just focus on this individual journey of Peter.

But he's saying connect with others, connect with community.

That's important.

The last point to ponder is transformation through tears.

And this passage ends with Peter weeping and deep sobs.

It says he four times.

It says he cried and he cried and he cried and he cried.

It's not about punishment, not about rejection, but about this is about tears of transformation in our progressive understanding of faith.

These tears aren't about shame or guilt.

It's about growth, like watching my children grow up into amazing adults.

And the growth process has its ups and downs in vulnerable moments.

And we need to be there through all of them.

Here's your actions tips.

Think about someone in your life who's experiencing their own kind of courtyard moment where they are just caught up in the moment of struggle and doubt and reach out to them without any judgment, just presence.

Sometimes maybe we need to light the people that Peter needs a connective community.

Even the people in the in the courtyard.

Being there matters more than words.

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

Did want you to know we have a resource for you.

It's called the ABC 123 A Bible Study Guide.

You can head over to our website, voiceofgodaily.com you can pick it up there.

Let's pray.

Loving God, you come to us in our moments of denial, our own times of fear, our own tears.

Thank you for being the kind of presence that doesn't demand perfection but invites growth.

Help us to be gentle with ourselves and others when we fall short of our boldest declarations.

Remind us that our tears are water, the seeds of transformation.

Give us courage to be honest about our struggles and wisdom to to support others and theirs and help us remember that our most human moments.

Your love still holds us together.

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.