Author: Ben Bourland

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” 1 Peter 1:10-12 ->me: Holy cow!  I forgot how intense Peter’s instruction and education of scripture is.  The big thing that stood out to me today was how blessed we are to live in a time where we are direct beneficiaries of Jesus’ work on the cross and resurrection; that all the work the Old Testament prophets did to seek what the scriptures meant and whether the prophesy God was revealing to them would be experienced in their lifetime, was actually work to define our current state of reality.  How amazing to see the Lord, through His word, show direct links between the prophesy of the prophets to Salvation and the ‘Glories’ that would come as a result of the work of the Messiah.  I am encouraged today by a treasured passage in the bible that seeks to enumerate the blessings we have in a hope provided solely by Jesus and only received through faith in Him.  That hope is so filling and explains Peter’s foundation for yesterday’s QT verses.  Love this so much!

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6-7 ->me: Yesterday I started my next study of 1st and 2nd Peter.  As usual, over 2 days I was only able to get through a couple of verses because there is so much packed in here!  Today I had the pleasure of having lunch with a dear friend who is 48 years old battling Stage 4 Colon cancer.  He told me of an amazing story of this last month when he was flying back from Florida on a long flight next to a distraught couple.  When he inquired about their trouble they explained that they were concerned about making a connection through Seattle to Eugene in order to get back to…get this…their 48 year old son who is in hospice in the final days of his fight with, you guessed it -> stage 4 colon cancer.  My amazing friend was able to share with them his understanding and was able to encourage them with how awesome it is that their son has a loving mom and dad who love him and want to be back with him during this time.  My friend prayed with them and encouraged them from a sincere place of grace and empathy.  How amazing is that!  What a crazy increasing of faith that ‘may be found to result in a praise, glory and honor at the return of Jesus!  I am just so jazzed that God would give me this impromptu lunch today and this retelling of a story that so perfectly fits in with my quiet time!

“…All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 ->me:  Today I have completed my study of Matthew.  These last 3 verses sum up the charter of our church and how cool to finish on this after seeing our church 1) Commission 2 new missionaries (one to the Middle East and another to Ecuador). 2) we have baptized no less than 30 believers since we started the new year.  3) Pastor Steve sermon series on “Is That Really Necessary?” is teaching the church why we hold to all the teachings of Jesus.  Jesus is WITH us, with us until the end of the age.  Just as I said in yesterday’s QTVOTD, I started my day by preaching the gospel to myself (God is infinitely Holy, I am infinitely unholy, I can do nothing to save to myself from God’s wrath, God sent His Son to live a perfect life and then died in my place for my ungodliness -> then rose the 3rd day to conquer death once and for all so that I would, in Him, have eternal life in heaven.  My prayer life was amazing today,  my attitude was on point, and my patience in waiting for His provision in His timing was secure.  So thankful that I have a LIVING God Who is by my side everyday and allows me to draw close to Him when I have surrendered all control to Him.

“Besides, while he [Pilate] was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much because of him today in a dream.”” Matthew 27:19 ->me: Reading about the Passion of Jesus (His final 24 hours of suffering and death) and His resurrection is the closing out of this awesome Gospel book.  I chose this verse today because it was interesting to me that God would talk through the dreams of a Gentile woman during the sentencing of Jesus.  I have read this before but have not really dwelt on it too much.  John Piper is lessor known for his poems than his sermons but he has 3 poems (Pilates Wife Parts 1, 2, and 3) that are a really interesting read.  One of the things that I have felt convicted about through the last several days of reading and prayer is my need to preach the Gospel to myself daily.  Reminding myself of the unearned justification I have through Jesus Christ by what He did for me on the cross, and the security I now have because of the conquering of death in the resurrection.  I have said this before but it must follow this daily preaching – Does my activity, mindset, and walk reflect the pronouncement of faith I have in my Lord and Savior.  Do I live an idol-less life because of the security, reward, and hope I have in eternity?  Do I emulate the love of my Savior towards others so that I will act in sharing my testimony and leading others unto Himself?  So, I plan to take a task I do everyday (like brushing my teeth) and make that my moment to preach the gospel to myself – preferably something in the morning so that my day is saturated in His grace.

“When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given Him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.”” John 17:1-2 ->me:  UBER Point – I have been given to Jesus by the Father; as His, I am sealed.  I am more and more convinced that the books “A Praying Life”(APL) and “Respectable Sins”(RS) go together.  My focus has been on prayer and my heart condition when I approach prayer – APL is helping me to come into prayer in a more consistent and meaningful way, and RS is teaching me how to avoid the sin that so easily entangles when I embrace differing expectations than God’s will as a result of my prayers.  Here are my primary foundations on this topic this week -> 1) Prayer has to be consistent but it doesn’t have to be formal.  2) When I live a life that seeks God, He promises to reward when I have faith in Him and Who He is.  3) I may not see the answers to some prayers in my life-time; but I can receive His peace in respect to those requests.  4) Persistence in prayer can accelerate God’s answer.  5) Prayer provides more than just a means to lay my petitions before God; it is a powerful avenue to grow my relationship with Him.  However, I must treat my prayer time as more than speaking into a black box, I must see it as a way to ‘Hear’ the Holy Spirits voice and ‘See’ His hand in my circumstances.

“…without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 [ESV] ->me: The last two days God has been pressing on me to trust in Him. I am reading ‘Respectable Sins” by Jerry Bridges and am on the chapter about “Thanklessness”. I am also working to memorize a verse a week this year with FighterVerse. Today is one of the days where God was teaching to my heart, through multiple avenues, came together. I have have been praying for some things at work where God feels silent and the Brooklyn saga continues to get more crazy. My prayer times are saturated with the pleading of faith from my Father in heaven because I just don’t see movement or answers…so I am holding firm to this weeks FighterVerse (above). I am leaning on my Savior and touching all the stones of remembrance where God came through in non-coincidental ways, drawing close to Him and seeking His will and character. Lord help me to always be thankful for the blessings you have bestowed on me and recognizing the trials and unknowing places as opportunities to see You work!

“Truly I tell you, wherever this good news (the Gospel) is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will be told also, in memory of her.” Matthew 26:13 [AMP] ->me: Now is the point in Matthew’s gospel where prophesy is fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Here I sit during my quiet time reading this story about the occasion of the woman [John tells us it was Mary] who anointed Jesus with super expensive oil from India, just as Jesus said I would.  For whatever reason, this has really connected me with these events today and I feel super close to this experience…It is likely that this ‘spikenard’ oil had been in Mary’s family for a long time and what she chose to do with it, is profound.  I routinely find myself walking in execution mode of the areas of ministry I am involved with in the church; Life Group, mission trip planning, etc.  This anointing of Jesus causes me to stop and be introspective of my mindset and the gravity of what I am doing.  The Disciples chastised Mary for this act and Jesus had to correct them.  They had lost sight of the priority of things.  1) Jesus was only going to be with them a short amount of time more so Mary taking the opportunity now is appropriate. 2) Jesus was likely going to get a criminal’s burial with no ceremony so the fact that Mary was anointing His body now was important to Him.  Lord God please help me keep the important things in right priority, especially today/tonight, as I prepare for a very important meeting at church.

“Then they will go away into eternal punishment, but those who are just and upright and in right standing with God into eternal life.” Matthew 25:46 [AMP] ->me: Today was the parable of the separation of the sheep and the goats.  Jesus says that when the Son of Man is seat on His throne, all of the nations (no exceptions) will be gathered before Him and HE WILL separate the people (not nations) one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats (sheep on the right and goats on the left).  Then He says to those (sheep) on His right “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”  Jesus then essentially says that when you pour out love in the form of helps, support, care, clothing, feeding, and accepting on those around us, we are doing those things as if those people, we are helping, are Jesus Himself.  This passage when not taken in context of the rest of the parables here in Matthew, has confused Salvation by grace alone with getting to heaven by works.  Lets summarize – [Wedding Banquet] Coming to the wedding feast by following everyone else in is not good enough, you must be wearing the wedding clothes representative of your committed heart to the groom. [Greatest Commandment] Love your God with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. You can’t love God with all your heart and consistently chose a lifestyle that is against Him.  [The Ten Virgins] You must be prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom; you heart must be sold out in a love and worship of Him way before the day He comes.  [The Talents] Salvation produces a heart that understands the responsibility and stewardship of the gifts God has given you.  I should be working to double God’s initial investment in me toward profit for His kingdom alone; without an expectation of reward (ultimate worship).  [Primary Point] Jesus will be separating sheep and goats based on who has been called (blessed) by the Heavenly Father (people in right standing); those will have hearts that in worship of Him have helped and cared for others with a Love produced and put in us by God alone.

“To one he gave five talents [probably about $5,000], to another two, to another one—to each in proportion to his own personal ability. Then he departed and left the country.” Matthew 25:15 [AMP] ->me: The parable of ‘The Talents’ is a well known story.  In the story, as you likely know, the first 2 servants doubled their money and the third opted for security over service by burying his talent into the ground.  Upon the masters return he commended the first 2 and chastised the 3rd.  In regards of the first 2, the praise from the master was exactly the same “Well done my good and faithful servant.  You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.  Come and share in your master’s happiness.” Matthew 25:21 & 23.  The things that stand out to me are 1) that the master knew the abilities of his servants and gave them purchasing power relative to those abilities.  The first 2 received identical commendations, despite the different scale of responsibility originally given to them; their reward is proportionately the same, but different than their original endowment. 2) The reward was not things but more responsibility.  There was no expectation from the servants that they would partake in the profits they earned the master. 3) The religion of the 3rd servant was playing it safe and therefore achieving nothing…a religion concerned only with not doing anything wrong.  He failed to grasp the nature of his responsibility. ‘Being Ready’ consists not only in keeping my slate clean, but in active, responsible, faithful service which produces results.

“While the bridegroom lingered and was slow in coming, they all began nodding their heads, and they fell asleep.  But at midnight there was a shout, Behold, the bridegroom! Go out to meet him!  Then all those virgins got up and put their own lamps in order.” Matthew 25:5-7 ->me: This is the parable of the 10 virgins setting out to meet the Bridegroom; 5 of which went out foolishly without oil for their lamps and the other 5 were wise in taking oil in jars along with their lamps.  The story goes (after the verses above) that the Bridegroom came but the 5 foolish virgins had to go looking for oil to purchase and in doing so missed the Bridegroom altogether.  What really hit me about this story is that ALL of the virgins slept when the night got long and Bridegroom had not come. Sleep in this case, was no fault in itself.  Both ‘wise’ and ‘foolish’ did so; during the ‘delay’ life must go on, and we cannot live on constant alert. The difference was whether they had already prepared for the coming.  Here is the money question -> am I engaged in action appropriate to my professed status?  Am I carrying with me the oil of faith, witness, prayer, and forgiveness through grace, as I go out, prepared for when the Bridegroom comes?  Is my lamp of the Holy Spirit lit with this oil so that I may easily find my way when my King comes returns?