Author: Ben Bourland

“Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” Psalms 91:9-11 -> me: What an amazing couple of days. This passage has helped me keep perspective and allowed me to walk forward in faith, aligned with Marianne, to guide our family in this unprecedented time. We have a plan and we firmly believe that this is an opportunity to make a difference for the Kingdom. Thank the Lord that I have a job that allows me to work remotely and continue to be paid through this time. My God is bigger than this crisis. My Savior walks on the crazy waves of this churning sea. Thank you God for your faithfulness and Love that surpasses anything that presents itself ‘under the sun’.

“knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21 -> me: Old testament scripture was written by God through the Holy Spirit in men (the Prophets).  Reading through 2 Peter 1:12-23, I learned the following which flows together so nicely.  1) We need God’s word consistently.  2) There are no fables, the multitudes witnessed all that Jesus did and there is no one who was there that has written refuting it.  3) God Himself spoke from heaven to attest to Jesus as His Son.  4) All scripture points to Jesus.  5) No prophesy ever originated from man’s will, it was the Holy Spirit Who gave the prophets the words to write.  Peter, the first pastor does his own version of expositional preaching and walks us through God’s truth in a systematic way.  I am so thankful that I attend a church whose leadership grasps and exercises expository preaching!

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:10-11[ESV] -> me: Peter spends the first 8 verses of his second letter giving exactly what we must do in our Christian life.  In these last 2 verses of this section he calls us to a self-awareness that tests our actions relative to our stated position as ‘Followers of Christ’.  In verse 9, just before these 2 verses, he says -> “If anyone does not have them [the qualities stated in my last quiet time], he is near sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”  BUT, as we confirm our calling and election by looking at our own heart and behavior, I WILL NEVER FALL!  This is such testimony about not just being in the word everyday, but also searching our own hearts through the help of the Holy Spirit to root out anything that no longer belongs.  I can’t imagine that I am alone in this -> When I let myself be taken up with this worlds concerns (materialism, politics, career, status, etc), even for just a couple of days, I can find myself so much further away from my walk than I thought a could be just a few days earlier.   Lord God, help me to be continually grounded in Your word, saturated in prayer, and full of a love for others that always causes me to forget about myself.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8 [NKJV] -> me: Man, I cannot get through many verses each day in 2nd Peter.  ‘For this very reason’ is pertaining to yesterday’s passage of ‘being given the exceedingly great precious promises’.  Virtue is excellence, resolution, and Christian energy in our walk.  Looking at how all of these things lead into each other and then ending with LOVE.  When we have gotten to this place in knowledge of our Lord and Savior then we will keep from being idle in our Christian life before Jesus returns.  Of all of these things – the one I must focus on the most is ‘self-control’.  Self-control in my emotions, my decision making in self-sufficiency, my desires, and my time.  The more I lean into the word of God and apply that learning to my life the farther I feel from where I want to be in my relationship with my Savior, but my faith is increased.  It is like there is a direct relationship between my spiritual self-awareness and the measure of faith God gives me.  Super humbling…

“For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:3-4 ->me: NEW MEMORY VERSES!!  Holy smokes!  Two verses sum all a follower of Christ needs to know.  Our acknowledgement, trust, and belief in Jesus; the one who called us by modeling and providing us (through His word) His own glory and excellence, has led to God the Father, in His almighty power, giving us everything we need to live a life of godliness.  It is by His promises that we will have the hope and joy set before us, and be able to flee the evil desires and garbage of this world -> it is through these promises that we are able to share in the new heart condition that leads us to a life centered on the will and purposes of God.

“Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” 1 Peter 5:7 ->me: Today I was reading through the rest of 1 Peter 5 and I found myself going back over the text and a small nuance jumped out at me.  In the ESV, verse 7 is a new sentence, but in the Greek this is not so.  The way it reads in the Greek is that the ‘throwing of anxieties on Him’ is how you achieve verse 6 which says ‘Therefore humble yourselves’.  Peter recognizes that a great barrier to putting others first and thinking of them as more important is the legitimate human concern ‘But who then will care for me?’ The answer is that God himself will care for our needs. He is able to do so far better than we are.  This then frees us up to set the needs of others around us.  We become ready to do work for others because we have laid every care of our own upon Jesus.  This tidbit evaded me yesterday and I am so glad that I read back over to catch all the context set in the whole chapter.  The Holy Spirit is so faithful!

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” 1 Peter 5:6 ->me: These last few days have been a wonderful time with family here in Cali on vacation and many side stories going on at the same time -> phone calls regarding Brooklyn, friends going through pregnancy complications, work challenges, and many more.  However, one thing remains constant, regardless of the story happening at the moment – God is greater than all of it, and when I lay the outcomes of each of these stories at the foot of Jesus, I receive a peace and ability to still focus the time on my kids they need.  When I humble myself, I may well lose personal advantage in this life; however, it is always in my best  interest to humble myself before God so that in due time, I might be exalted by Him. When I am proud and self-reliant, I put trust in myself, but when I am humble my faith is in put in God.  Proverbs 3:34 -> God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:” 1 Peter 5:1-2 ->me:  This is another day where I am not able to get past even just one verse in my quiet time.  Peter is exhorting the elders of the church but what caught my eye is Peter’s phrase “and a witness of the sufferings of Christ”.  Why doesn’t he say “and a witness of the resurrection of Christ” or “and a witness of the transfiguration of Christ”?  I think this is because Peter is recalling for us his own pain and frailty during the Passion of Christ; when Peter failed so miserably by denying his Lord 3 times.  I think he is reminding elders that even he, a denier of Christ can be redeemed and reconciled to God.  Peter is an ‘elder’ who has sinned, repented, been restored, and will share with Christ in glory. He can rightly ‘exhort’ any elder in whose life there is sin, likewise to repent and be restored before God’s disciplinary refining fire reaches him.  Peter may be borrowing from Ezekiel 9:6 where judgement begins with the house of God – “So they began with the elders who were before the house.”  On another level, the reference to Christ’s sufferings may also serve as a reminder to the elders that just as Christ was willing to suffer for them, so they should be willing to endure hardship and suffering for the sake of those in their churches.

“Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.” 1 Peter 4:12-13 & 15-16  ->me:  This is a very heavy passage.  When I am following Jesus (in fellowship with Him) and I come under a trial, I should 1) not be surprised that it is happening 2) understand that it is a test for me 3) see that this is not strange but normal 4) rejoice in that fact that I am sharing in Christ’s sufferings (He endured all trials I could ever encounter, during His ministry) 5) have a mindset of ‘the joy set before me’ [Heb. 12:2] in seeing my Savior return to take me home to heaven to spend an eternity with Him.  The consequences of my sin are not trials that fall within what is talked about here.  If I am working mischief or performing works of evil, this is not a time to rejoice, but a time to repent.  So, when I suffer or experience trials as a Christian who is constantly seeking to follow Christ and a sanctified life, then I should not be ashamed, but glorify God in my suffering.  This is a condition of my heart, not a behavior or mask to proudly wear; I must know in my heart that the trial I am enduring and suffering through is ultimately an avenue by which I can glorify God.