Author: Ben Bourland

“For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 ->me: These 2 verses follow the Lord’s prayer and it seems that Jesus is adding more detail to this section ‘and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors’.  This really drives home that none of us can escape guilt.  I would almost tend to read it this way ‘since your heavenly Father has so greatly forgiven you all of your sin, through the price of the shed blood of His Son on the cross, then there is no individual who does not deserve the same type of forgiveness from you’. The parable of the King forgiving the debts of the attendant in Matthew 18:23–35 gives the perfect picture of this.  If you remember the story, the King forgave one of his attendants of an obscene amount of money but then that attendant refused to forgive one of his own servants for a small amount of money they owed him (had him sent to jail until payment was remitted). The king having heard what happened, in turn chastised the attendant and had him tortured and thrown into jail himself.  There can be no question, of course, that my forgiving being in proportion to what I am forgiven.

“Pray, therefore, like this: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven (left, remitted, and let go of the debts, and have given up resentment against) our debtors.  And lead (bring) us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13 ->me: Reading the Lord’s prayer today, I realized I missed some important aspects to think about from my QT yesterday.  1) When I ask for what I need, I only ask for that provision for ‘today’.  2) My debts can be translated ‘sins’, eg. ‘forgive my sins towards You God as I also for give people of their sins against me’.  3) The commentaries mostly point to the fact that the words used for ‘temptation’ in this case more closely translate to ‘testing’.  This would make sense because the disciples would want to be spared from testing in their most vulnerable areas.  4) ‘Protect us from’ is not the same as ‘deliver us from’ the evil one.  Jesus knew that I am in control of my own choices, so it stands to reason that I would fall into the snares of the evil one on occasion.  Thus, delivery from the evil one when this happens.  Finally, one additional thing that I would add to yesterday’s list of ‘When I pray’ items is ‘Thankfulness’.  There are many other passages (especially Paul) that talk about thankfulness being a part of our prayer life.  I believe that Jesus’ primary point is not the exact prayer He lays out but more as an example of brevity in response to verse 7.

“But when you pray, go into your [most] private room, and, closing the door, pray to your Father, Who is in secret; and your Father, Who sees in secret, will reward you in the open.  And when you pray, do not heap up phrases (multiply words, repeating the same ones over and over) as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” Matthew 6:6-8 ->me: Prayer is: Necessary, Deliberate, Selfless in perception, Worship – For God’s glory, an avenue to make requests, our confessional, concise, and private – between me and God.  When I pray -> I recognize Who God is and forget who I am.  When I pray -> I open up my heart in recognition of my filthiness and accept God’s grace in the Justification I have been given at the price of the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus.  When I pray -> I respectfully ask for God’s hand in the affairs and circumstances I am prayerful about.  I make requests based on my perceived needs but immediately reinforce that it is God’s will and purposes I desire to be completed fully.  When I pray -> I ask God for the strength to endure when the will of God causes me to persevere an earthly hardship.  When I pray -> I ask that the Lord would help me see His teaching in my trials; and then request the inner fortitude to adhere to what I have been taught.  When I pray -> I close with the knowledge and understanding that Jesus is right there representing me the to Father…being my Intercessor knowing personally the earthly struggles I am in.

“[JESUS]TAKE CARE not to do your good deeds publicly or before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you will have no reward with and from your Father Who is in heaven. Thus, whenever you give to the poor, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites in the synagogues and in the streets like to do, that they may be recognized and honored and praised by men. Truly I tell you, they have their reward in full already.” Matthew 6:1-2 ->me: Before the Lord called me into this season in my life – I was one of these people who sought recognition from giving. Whether it was including my name on giving through work avenues or charitable giving through the church. I loved ‘knowing’ that I would be seen as an upstanding person in the eyes of the receiver and processor…and that was my reward paid in full. In these last 3 years that God has really taken ahold of my life I now see the pride and self idolatry in those acts. What is interesting is that this verse, on face value, seems to conflict with Matthew 5:16 – but the focus in this passage is on what follows -> Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. There is a world of difference between living a conspicuously good and godly life (5:13-16) and striving to gain reputation for piety. The difference is not only in the motive, but in the result; the former brings glory to God, the latter only to the performer. When I show-off I get what I have earned -> the approval of men. The quality of God’s reward in heaven is not even comparable to the earthly reward of the approval of men. When I give with a desire to be seen by men, what I am really showing is my lack of reverence, joy, and hope in an eternity with Jesus.

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men.” Matthew 5:13 ->me: I cannot recall the number of times that I have read these passages from the sermon on the mount. However, at this time in my spiritual walk, they are taking renewed meaning. I can see the power of these words in action when my heart is devoted to the glorification of God alone. Salt -> A seasoning used to increase the flavor of food and make it more palatable. The Greek word for ‘lost its taste’ is actually directly translated to ‘become foolish’. If I allow myself to fit in with the world around me to the point where I am not distinguishable in society through my faith, works, and walk, then I have lost my saltiness and am only good for de-icing sidewalks and roads. When I am confronted with a decision to operate as the world does, separate from the instruction of the One Who saved me, I must act in way that is obedient to His word. As a believer, I AM salt (“You ARE the salt of the earth”) -> so what does it mean to lose my ‘saltness’? I think it means to allow myself to become diluted by succumbing to the ways of the world and to ignore the influences of the Holy Spirit in my life. The moment we allow our flesh to accept something the world has to offer, that is counter to God’s word, the de-salinization process has begun. What I must do to stay salty -> 1) my delight must be in the law of the Lord, 2) I must be in all out war against the temptations of the flesh, 3) my mind must consistently be listening for God’s call to help others, 4) I must stop and pray for God’s wisdom and patience when the going gets tough, 5) I must remember that this is not my home; that I am an alien here. Finally, I must be on my knees in prayer (‘A Call to Prayer’ kind of prayer).

“Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:11-12 ->me: What beautiful words are these?! The last 5 Beatitudes are all about the one thing…killing PRIDE. The merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted, and the downtrodden. These are all attributes that require humility and self-control. I feel like I am growing in my self-control but my pride is the bane of my existence. It causes me not to run to the feet of my Lord when I am ashamed and guilty, it causes me to with hold grace from people who deserve it far more than I, and it drives me to self-sufficiency which God hates with a passion. BUT…what if I am able to get ahold of this through the power of God’s Spirit within me? Well, verse 12 tells me -> that the reward for the self-controlled, persevering, resolute in righteousness, peacemaker, pure in heart, and merciful will have their GREAT reward in heaven. I get so worked up over the things of this world: my job (pride), my reputation (pride), my comfort (pride), and accomplishments (pride). What if the same ‘worked up’ happened over my church, the lost, the poor, the hurting, the sick, and the people around me who need to hear of the redeeming Salvation of my Savior. What kind of change for the Kingdom might I have with the sole goal of glorifying YAHWEH, the God of all things.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew 5:6 ->me: Today was all about the Beatitudes. What a great portion of scripture regarding the teaching of Jesus from the hillside where He sat to enlighten and encourage all who were there. In my bible this verse is boxed, highlighted, and has asterisks all around it. First though – “Blessed” is also how my life passage begins in Psalms 1:1-3 -> “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked [trimmed] but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” This is my daily plight…to commune with the Lord through His word. I have found my memorized scriptures to be a blessing on this trip and the Lord has rewarded me with a fellow brother in Christ who is here working for the Army. Today I was blessed to stand right there in the Tactical Operations Center of our project on Fort Pickett with this man of God discussing how God has used him in his life, trading POD cast channels, and discussing a little from yesterday’s quiet time. What a gift to be given in this time away from my family and support. Getting back to the verse…it is not enough to have momentary bursts of righteousness. I must hunger, crave, and thirst for what it means to be Christlike. When someone is hungry and thirsty, they do not stop until they have found the sustenance they need. I love how Jesus did not stop at “Blessed”, oh no, you will also be satisfied…I will find the nourishment I seek when I look to my Lord and Savior for it. He is the only one who can provide lasting and complete contentment.

“At once they left their nets and became His disciples [sided with His party and followed Him].” Matthew 4:20 ->me: Reading this beginning of Jesus’ ministry is very telling of the authority of Jesus to those who the Father has called to Himself. At one moment Peter and Andrew were fishing and at the next they had dropped what they were doing to follow Him. According to timelines this was not the first time they had met Jesus (John 1:35-42 and Luke 5:3) but it was the first time He had asked them to leave what they were doing an follow Him (what He asked them was literally ‘to come behind Me’). At the same time we know that the disciples did not leave their families (Matt 8:14 and John 21:3). This really spoke to me today. I think some people are caught up in the thinking that true devotion is to leave everyone behind when you follow Jesus and in this case that just was not true; however, they did come behind Jesus and devoted themselves to His teaching and ultimately took over His ministry by witnessing everyone they came in contact with, the power of His death and resurrection for the Salvation from sin. What is holding me back from answering God’s call at every moment? I have His teaching right here in front of my face in this amazing book. God has a call on my life, I am His, I must act by answering that call every day.

“Then Jesus said to him, Begone, Satan! For it has been written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve.” Matthew 4:10 ->me: Boy, it has been a busy and stressful 2 days. I have been leaving the hotel at 7:40am and not returning to the hotel until after midnight…but, the Lord has sustained me. I have been able to read God’s word each day but have not had time to write down my thoughts to you. I have been reading and studying both the baptism of Jesus and satan’s testing of Jesus in the wilderness. First the Messianic endowment of the work as the Savior of the world then a clinic on how satan will tempt us and what our response should be. The first thing satan tried to get Jesus to do was to use His own power to change the circumstance of His situation by performing a miracle to change stones into bread -> JESUS, Bread is not the only sustenance; it also comes from dwelling on every word that comes from the mouth of God. The second was to ask Jesus to extend and bring attention to himself by performing acts of heroism through throwing Himself off of tall turret so that the angels would catch Him -> JESUS, “do not tempt, test thoroughly, or try exceedingly the Lord your God.” Finally, satan held out all that was in the earth as a reward if Jesus would simply bow to him. What’s silly about this is that Jesus already is Lord over all -> JESUS, the QTVOTD. Nothing is worth giving up your honor and dedication to the God of the Universe. Nothing on the earth will last. Even when work is busy, I keep in mind what I am truly holding out for. That peace is so powerful.