Author: Ben Bourland

“Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven men, but blasphemy against the [Holy] Spirit shall not and cannot be forgiven.  And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Spirit, the Holy One, will not be forgiven, either in this world and age or in the world and age to come.” Matthew 12:31-32 ->me:  The Lord, through His word, taught me something new today.  So thankful for this as 63 of us head down to Ensenada, Mexico to minister to the people there.  Here in this passage, Jesus has just healed and freed a man who was possessed by a demon, blind, deaf, and dumb.  The Pharisees just got done telling the people that the way Jesus was throwing out demons was on the authority of the prince of demons.  Of course this is crazy and not even logical; as Jesus quickly educates them.  Then we have these 2 verses saying you can blaspheme and slander Jesus but not the Holy Spirit.  Wait….what? Is the Son of man then on a lower level, less than divine, that he can be slandered with impunity? No. After some careful reading and understanding of the words used here in the Greek I think I have clarity on why.  The incognito character of Jesus ministry means that failure to recognize Him for what He was might be excusable  The difference is then between failure to recognize the light and deliberate rejection of it once it is recognized as such;  unforgivable blasphemy versus unwitting sin.  This is what makes turning on God’s Spirit within you so dangerous.  I think this is recognized most when people reach the point where they rationalize their fleshly thinking; calling evil good and good evil.  Scary.

“For I desire and delight in dutiful steadfast love and goodness, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of and acquaintance with God more than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6 ->me:  Today I was reading Matthew 12:1-7 where Jesus and His disciples were walking through the fields of grain and the disciples started picking the grain off the top of the shoots and eating it.  The Pharisees immediately condemned them, pointing their fingers at them and accusing Jesus for allowing them to break the Sabbatical Law. Jesus never disputes that their law was broken, yet He talks about the real focus of what the law existed to do -> to set apart the Jews as a people unto God.  Then He brings down the real reason the picking of the grain is not important…it is because dedication to the Lord Himself is God’s desire.  Jesus is essentially saying, “I am here before you and my desire and delight is in your dutiful steadfast love and goodness…not the sacrifice of giving up food to hunger.  Choosing Me and learning more about Me is better than your burnt offerings…I AM HERE!”  Verses 6 and 7 says – “Something greater and more exalted and more majestic than the temple is here!  And if you had only known what this saying means, I desire mercy [readiness to help, to spare, to forgive] rather than sacrifice and sacrificial victims!”.  This is so awesome.  Jesus is IN me and I am IN Him.  As a believer and washed by His blood there is no longer a need for ceremonial cleanliness or burnt offerings; I have the cleansing of Jesus’ blood which is eternal.  I love my BIBLE!!  Thank you God for giving us, who live during this time, the full word of God to know you better.

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.” Matthew 11:28-30 ->me: Today I come to the end of chapter 11.  I spent all of my time this morning on these 3 verses, trying to get all the likely meanings of heavy-laden and overburdened.  Most of the commentaries I read pointed to the weight of legalism that was upon the Jews by the Pharisees.  The constant changes in case law meant that there was always some new religious law you needed to heed to.  Jesus spends three verses to communicate the following – 1) Come to Jesus, being with Him will allow you to rest.  2) Share Jesus’ load.  A yoke is meant not only to bear weight but to apply the weight across more bearers.  Jesus is saying ‘wear my yoke with Me; pulling the weight with My help is easy’.  3) Bearing the yoke with Jesus means learning about Him; learning that He is gentle and humble.  4) When you wear Jesus’ yoke, bearing the weight produces goodness and useful outcomes.  Putting on a yoke also locks you into ‘doing’; any direction you move, your actions produce effort against the work to be done.  When you wear Jesus’ yoke you are guaranteed to be inline with the work He is doing.  What does it mean to take on His yoke?? -> According to the verses above it is to LEARN (find or receive instruction) OF/FROM HIM.  Kinda goes with my previous QTs huh?  🙂

“All things have been entrusted and delivered to Me by My Father; and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Son except the Father, and no one fully knows and accurately understands the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son deliberately wills to make Him known.” Matthew 11:27 – From verse 15 through 24, Jesus reproofs the Pharisees and the cities that He had been in an done wondrous works.  Even though they saw him heal the sick, mend the lame, and made the blind to see; they still had a mind set against Him.  Jesus even talks about how Sodom will have a better chance at the judgement than them because the Pharisees and Galilean cities have not excuse.  They have so much more information regarding the power of God and will be held to account.  In today’s verse above I am reminded to seek to be like Jesus and follow Him. He says here that ‘no one fully knows the Father except the Son….or anyone the Son deliberately wills to make Him known’….Whoa!  Jesus can will that I might know and understand the Father fully?!  Jesus is the way to know Him and the Father more.  Quiet Time after Quiet Time this last week, God’s Living Word is reminding me to continually seek to know and be like His Son.  Jesus is the One who can reveal, He is the Word, I must KNOW the Word.

“And if you are willing to receive and accept it, John himself is Elijah who was to come [before the kingdom].  He who has ears to hear, let him be listening and let him consider and perceive and comprehend by hearing.” Matthew 11:14-15  ->me: Today I have been reading Matthew 11:7-11.  This is the point at which Jesus is talking to the crowds as John the Baptist’s disciples are returning to let him know that there is no one after Jesus; that Jesus is the one spoken of in Isaiah.  Jesus is explaining the role that John the Baptist was given by God to prepare the way for the coming of Himself.  John was baptizing those who were accepting the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob as the One True God, or recommitting their lives to this fact…why is this?  It was so that the voice of God and His Spirit would be loud in their hearts letting them know that Jesus was the Messiah; the same Messiah spoken of in the revelation of the prophets of old.  This goes to re-affirm that NO ONE comes to Jesus unless the Father calls them!!  Epiphany!!!  John the Baptist was sent to preach repentance and baptism so that sinners could hear the voice of God in their hearts calling them to His Son!!  This is why you must seek God to find Him…more importantly, His Son!  Wow, just wow!!  Now that Jesus has come, died, and rose again to live at the right-hand of the Father in heaven, we have direct access to the Father through Him!  This is why John the Baptist is no longer needed.  We can fall at the foot of the cross, releasing our pride before Him to accept the Grace and mercy the Father offers through the Blood Jesus bore on the cross for us.  Seeking God today mean crucifying our ego everyday so that we might receive grace and blessing through humility; being strong only by His strength alone.  You, God, will give me perfect peace when my mind is steadfast on You, because I trust in You! (Isaiah 26:3)

“Now when John (the Baptist) in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples, and they asked Him, Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one?  And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them.  And blessed is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.” Matthew 11:2-6  ->me: I love how Jesus consistently points back to the scriptures to answer questions.  Most Jews, and now we see John the Baptist as well, were confused that this Messiah was not coming to do what they expected -> be their King and rescue them from the Roman empire, for starters.  So here we have John sending his own people to get confirmation.  Then Jesus says, “Go back to John and report what you hear and see…”.  The next verse is essentially Jesus quoting Isaiah 35:5-6.  Jesus affirms that blessed will be the ones who see Jesus for Who He is and do not get stumbled by preconceived ideas.  This again is a reminder to stay in the Word; Jesus references it all the time.  It is God’s truth.  Don’t be satisfied with someone else’s take on what Jesus or God thought or did…read for your self; praying that God would excite the Holy Spirit to reveal the Living Word in your heart. Ben, stay in the Word!  Memorize the Word!  Spread the Word!

“He who receives and welcomes and accepts you [Disciples] receives and welcomes and accepts Me, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts Me receives and welcomes and accepts Him Who sent Me and whoever gives to one of these little ones [in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water because he is My disciple, surely I declare to you, he shall not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:40&42 ->me: Oh it is so good to be back in God’s word. It has been a set of super crazy days but…that is no excuse, I simply chose sleep and time at work over my time with the Lord. Let me tell you – the trade off, for me, is not worth it. It seems ok and justifiable in the moment but when I finally sit back in front the word of God, I am reminded 1) of God’s grace and acceptance of me in His Son 2) His strength and comfort delivered in truth through His Holy Spirit. These verses today seem like a nice buttoned up ending to Matthew 10 but this impression that when I welcome disciples/followers Jesus and their teaching, I am welcoming Jesus, and through Jesus, the Father! Taking care of God’s own is a big deal! The reception afforded to Jesus’ disciples becomes the test of a person’s relationship to God. This is spelled out more fully in Matthew 25:31–46. We had the blessing of having a dear brother in Christ, visiting from out of town, (a Pastor of an inner city church in Orlando) over to our home for dinner this week. What a wonderful evening to get some of his time and I am so glad my wife and girls got to meet this wonderful man! Maybe, just maybe, we had the opportunity to welcome Jesus and One Who sent Him as well. 🙂