Episode 758
New Year, New Beginnings: Transformative Insights from Revelation 21 | Ep. 758
Welcome to the “Daily Bible Refresh," where Rev. Dr. Brad Miller takes us through a powerful New Year's Day reflection based on Revelation 21:1-8 from the Message version of the Bible. This episode brings you a refreshing, relatable, and actionable understanding of the scripture, helping you start the New Year with a renewed sense of hope and purpose.
Episode Highlights:
Rev. Dr. Brad Miller delves into the vision of a new heaven and a new earth as portrayed in Revelation. He emphasizes the message of hope and renewal, steering away from perspectives of judgment and fear. Here are three key takeaways from the episode:
1. God's Radical Proximity
One of the central themes Dr. Miller explores is the radical proximity of God. In Revelation, God is depicted as moving into the neighborhood, signifying an intimate, integrated involvement in our daily lives. This imagery challenges traditional hierarchical views of God as distant and aloof. Instead, it portrays a God who is democratically involved in every aspect of our community life, from our homes to our streets. This proximity emphasizes that everyone has a stake in creation and that divine interaction is not confined to religious or political institutions but permeates our everyday interactions.
2. Commitment to Healing and Justice
Dr. Miller highlights God's promise to wipe away every tear and eliminate pain, which speaks to a divine commitment to the healing of both individuals and communities. This extends beyond personal salvation to encompass the restoration of all creation. He points out that the New Year presents an opportunity to address the many injustices in the world, such as health crises, environmental issues, hunger, and more. God's dream of renewal includes tackling these systemic problems, emphasizing that our collective well-being is integral to divine restoration.
3. Embracing Transformation
The concept of making all things new is particularly poignant as we enter a new year. Dr. Miller explains that this transformation is not about destroying the old but revitalizing and renewing it. He encourages listeners to shed pessimistic views and embrace a profound hope for change. This transformation begins within our communities, institutions, and relationships. The action step for listeners is to identify an area in their community that needs renewal and take tangible steps towards improvement, whether it's environmental cleanup, addressing social injustices, or bridging divides.
Action Step:
Identify a specific need for renewal in your community and take a concrete, actionable step to address it. This could involve joining a community group, planting a garden, cleaning up a neighborhood lot, or engaging in conversations that bridge social divides. Small acts of love and justice contribute to the broader vision of a renewed creation.
Prayer:
Join Dr. Miller in a heartfelt prayer for courage and vision to become agents of renewal in your daily life. Ask for the strength to recognize God's presence and participate actively in the transformation of your community.
Thank you for joining us on this journey of exploration and renewal. Stay tuned for more inspiring reflections on "To Be Encouraged." Remember, God's merciful love is renewed every morning.
For more resources, including the ABC 123 Bible Study Guide, visit our show notes at Voice of God Daily.
Hosted by Rev. Dr. Brad Miller, “Daily Bible Refresh" aims to provide you with daily inspiration, grounded in scripture, to renew your mind, heart, and spirit.=====================================
The "Daily Bible Refresh" is presented each day by Rev. Dr. Brad Miller who has a goal of speaking a bit of the bible into two million ears (one million people) in three years (2025-2028).
He is the author of "The A, B, C-1,2,3 Bible Study Guide" Free to you by clicking HERE.
Brad served as a local church pastor for forty years and has a background in radio and podcasting. Moreover, he is a life-long student of The Bible.
He believes in the words of Jesus that “scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21)
The "Daily Bible Refresh" is available seven days a week by 6:00 am ET. The episodes are no longer than ten minutes long and are...
- Understandable: A reading from the New Testament (usually the Gospel) selected from the Revised Common Lectionary using "The Message" translation.
- Relatable: You will have a couple of "points to ponder" from the text which will relate to your life
- Applicable: Every episode includes a way you can take action based on the reading
- A recommended resource to help you go deeper in biblical study and spiritual direction.
- A prayer for your day.
A companion resource to the Voice of God Daily Podcast is the “ABC Bible Study Guide” available by clicking HERE.
The "Daily Bible Refresh" is available every day at VoiceofGodDaily.com on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all major podcast directories.
You can help Dr. Brad attain his goal of getting a bit of the bible into two million ears by subscribing to "Daily Bible Refresh" on Apple Podcasts, leaving a five-star rating, and writing a review. More importantly please share with your network of family and friends about the "Daily Bible Refresh".
Please make listening to the "Daily Bible Refresh" a part of your daily life.
Remember… “All scripture is God-breathed and useful”(2 Timothy 3:16)
Transcript
And hello, good people, and welcome to the daily bible
Speaker:refresh from Voice of God Daily.
Speaker:I am doctor Brad Miller. Pleased to be with you here as
Speaker:we continue this journey of exploring the scriptures
Speaker:on a daily basis in a refreshing manner. We do so
Speaker:by reading from the revised common lectionary. Right
Speaker:now, we're in year c and it is New
Speaker:Year's Day in year c. So we have the
Speaker:particular reading for New Year's Day. We do that
Speaker:in an understandable fashion. We read it from the New Testament, from
Speaker:the message version. We make it relatable by having a couple of points
Speaker:to ponder to think about and we make it applicable by having
Speaker:a point of action to apply to your life. Then we have a
Speaker:prayer together. We do all that in about 10 minutes or so.
Speaker:So today's reading for New Year's Day is from Revelation
Speaker:21 verses 1 through 8,
Speaker:reading from the message. I saw heaven
Speaker:and earth, new created.
Speaker:Gone, the first heaven. Gone, the first earth. Gone, the sea. I
Speaker:saw holy Jerusalem, new created, descending,
Speaker:resplendent out of heaven, as ready for God as a bride for
Speaker:her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the
Speaker:throne, look. Look. God has
Speaker:moved into the neighborhood, making his home
Speaker:with men and women. They're his people. He's their
Speaker:god. He'll wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Speaker:Death is gone for good. Tears gone. Crying
Speaker:gone. Pain gone. All the first order of
Speaker:things gone. The enthroned continued.
Speaker:Look, I'm making everything new. Write it all down. Each
Speaker:word dependable and accurate. Then he said, it's
Speaker:happening. I'm the a to z.
Speaker:I'm the beginning. I'm the conclusion.
Speaker:From water of life, well, I give freely to
Speaker:the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all of this.
Speaker:I'll be god to them, and they'll be sons and daughters to me. But for
Speaker:the rest, the feckless and faithless,
Speaker:degenerates and murderers, sex peddlers and
Speaker:sorcerers, idolaters and liars,
Speaker:for all the liars. For them, it's lake fire
Speaker:and brimstone. 2nd death.
Speaker:Well, as you think about this reflection on the
Speaker:revelation, a new heaven and new earth, we are
Speaker:in a this powerful vision that the writer of revelation
Speaker:have of hope and renewal. And there's
Speaker:lots of ways to interpret the Revelation that kind of focus on judgment
Speaker:and fear, but today I really wanna kind of focus in on how
Speaker:this text speaks to God's dream of restoration
Speaker:for you in your life that is inclusive.
Speaker:So a couple of points to think about, a couple of points to ponder. One
Speaker:of them is God's radical proximity. The the image area of
Speaker:God moving into your neighborhood. It just, kind of transit
Speaker:transforms any kind of old hierarchical kind of view above
Speaker:of 1 above the other and things like this. This isn't about
Speaker:some distant God kind of ruling over you from above,
Speaker:but involved integrated into your into your daily
Speaker:life embedded in your life. And and this is
Speaker:just a really democratic way of looking at things that
Speaker:means that everybody has a stake in everything. It
Speaker:isn't confined to churches or temples or political systems.
Speaker:It's in our streets, it's in our homes, it's in our daily interactions.
Speaker:There's also this point here that I loved about about wipe away every tear,
Speaker:eliminate spain eliminate pain. It speaks to God's
Speaker:commitment to healing of the body,
Speaker:healing of the collective of the community. There's a lot of injustice in our
Speaker:world. You know that. There's health crises. There's
Speaker:environmental problems. There's hunger.
Speaker:There's all kinds of problems. And as
Speaker:we faced a new year, we know we face that as well. But
Speaker:God's dream isn't just individual salvation, but
Speaker:it's a healing of all creation. And that includes
Speaker:concludes all the roots of injustice which are in our
Speaker:world, and we need to work towards a form of change of
Speaker:that. One more point. There's this
Speaker:this point of making all things new.
Speaker:The New Year is a good time to be thinking about that. God says I'm
Speaker:declaring all things new. I'm making everything new. It's not about destroying
Speaker:something to make something new. It's about transforming it.
Speaker:And this, just challenges any fundamental thoughts we have
Speaker:that about, you know, the earth's destruction and things like
Speaker:that or pessimistic view of the the
Speaker:situation in the world that sees no hope for change. This is all
Speaker:about a profound hope for change where we were
Speaker:all integrated into God's work of renewal. It's it starts in
Speaker:our our communities, our institutions, and on our relationships.
Speaker:So a few things to think about there. Here's your action step for the
Speaker:day. I just really want to you to identify an
Speaker:area in your community that needs renewal. It might be an
Speaker:environmental thing. It might be cleaning up a lot in your town. It might
Speaker:be a socials injustice regarding homelessness or hunger.
Speaker:Or it might be building bridges across divides racially
Speaker:or socioeconomically. Take one
Speaker:concrete tangible step towards making something
Speaker:new in your community. Might mean joining
Speaker:a group or getting involved in some form or another. Maybe
Speaker:planting a garden or cleaning up a lot Or maybe you just have
Speaker:a conversation goes across the lines of,
Speaker:that bridges a gap of where you may have had a gap before, crossing
Speaker:the boundaries. Before we have a prayer, I just wanted to say that we
Speaker:have a resource available for you that you may wanna take advantage of.
Speaker:It's called the ABC 123 Bible study guide.
Speaker:And this just makes Bible study as easy as 123 and
Speaker:ABC. You can find it at our show notes at voice of
Speaker:God daily. Here's our prayer.
Speaker:Divine god, you make your home among us, and we confess
Speaker:that sometimes we struggle to believe in renewal. You know,
Speaker:the news is all about division, and sometimes
Speaker:change seems impossible. And there's tears and there's pain that may feel like
Speaker:it's it's the order of the day, but help us to see with new eyes
Speaker:to recognize your presence in our homes and our neighborhoods and to
Speaker:participate in transformation. And the trust in every act of
Speaker:love and justice is a part of contributing to a new
Speaker:creation. So give us to be courage. Give us the courage to
Speaker:be agents of renewal in our homes, our workplaces,
Speaker:and in our communities. Amen. Well, my name is,
Speaker:doctor Brad Miller. It's been a pleasure to be with you. I'll be with you
Speaker:again tomorrow here on the daily bible refresh. Remember, until
Speaker:then, that God's loyal love doesn't run out, his
Speaker:merciful love doesn't dry up, is
Speaker:created new every morning.
