Author: Ben Bourland

“And they were baptized in the Jordan by him [John the Baptist], confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee and escape from the wrath and indignation [of God against disobedience] that is coming? Bring forth fruit that is consistent with repentance [let your lives prove your change of heart];” Matthew 3:6-8 ->me: Oh man – so much going on today. This word this evening means so much more than it did this morning. What John the Baptist is calling out here is the person who seeks God simply as an insurance policy against God’s wrath and punishment. Not only does he call them out for their insincere hearts but he calls them a ‘Brood of Vipers’! Vipers are known for operating in the dark and ambushing their prey.   He says, ‘let the way you live display the repentance of your heart’. We can not expect to whoop in and say we trust Jesus and accept Him as our Sin Bearer but live a worldly life that is inconsistent with genuine repentance. Super convicting on many levels tonight.

“Now after they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, Get up! [Tenderly] take unto you the young Child and His mother and flee to Egypt; and remain there till I tell you [otherwise], for Herod intends to search for the Child in order to destroy Him.” Matthew 2:13 ->me: While reading this second chapter it dawned on me the parallels between the life of Jesus and the life of Moses. To those of your Theologians, you are probably saying “Duh, Bourland”. Just as Moses was spared by being drifted down the canal towards Pharaoh’s daughter to be saved from destruction so too did God the Father save His Son from the massacre by Herod of all the boys under 2 years. Then when things were safe Moses left Egypt just as Jesus and His parents did. Jesus like Moses let His people out of the wilderness of sin and the law. All of the details in the bible and intertwining of the stories written by different authors increases my faith. I am so thankful for the word He has given us to read and learn more about Him. Thank you Lord for your provision and answering my prayer to increase my faith in the hope of your return.

“NOW WHEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘ Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east at its rising and have come to worship Him’. When Herod the king heard this, he was disturbed and troubled, and the whole of Jerusalem with him.” Matthew 2:1-3 ->me: The big thing that stood out to me was this “…and the whole of Jerusalem with him”. The Jews knowing the teaching of the prophets should have been excited at the prospect of the coming of the Messiah…but they were disturbed and troubled. Was it because the Jews were afraid of what craziness Herod might do when confronted with a rival? Was it a foreshadowing of when the Jews would reject Jesus as their King? It feels like the latter since the text says “the whole of Jerusalem WITH him”. The meekness and humility in which Jesus entered the scene still startles me. Our King and Savior who fills heaven with the light of His glory came in such humble way. I am so thankful for God’s wisdom and plan coming together in such a perfect way. God’s hand through every point guiding the arrival of His Son gives me confidence that my problems are just not that big in view of God’s power. He knew He would be rejected by His own people but ‘for the joy set before Him’ He came so that we also (as non Jews) would have an opportunity to live eternally with Him in heaven.

“She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God].  All this took place that it might be fulfilled which the Lord had spoken through the prophet, ‘Behold, the virgin shall become pregnant and give birth to a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel’—which, when translated, means, God with us.” Matthew 1:21-23 ->me: Wrapped in these 3 simple verses is hope for the entire human race!  1) The divine influence and direction of God on the birth of Jesus through immaculate conception and speaking to Joseph in his dreams.  2) Jesus – Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua.  Jesus -> Savior…HE will save HIS people from their sins. He IS ‘God with us’. 3) A fulfilment of God’s promise made through the prophets.  This simple point can allow us to sit confident in the rest of God’s promises ->

“…if anyone [in the church] refuses to obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person and do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but simply admonish and warn him as [being still] a brother.” 2 Thessalonians 3:14-15 ->me: Paul addressed this issue of idleness in the first letter so it apparently is a problem that is still yet unresolved. The direction has been to follow the example of Paul and his companions when they were there; taking care of their own food and needs through working – likely as tent makers which Paul was known for. This way of rebuking a fellow believer is kind yet firm. Essentially Paul is saying to exhort and then withdraw from close relationship with these idle Christians, not as punishment but as a way to make it clear that they are not living according to the direction of the Word of God. It is important to see that we are not to treat these brothers and sisters poorly (or as an enemy) but to admonish, take note, and withdraw with a prayerful outcome of repentance and conformity. To the outside world I am sure this sounds outlandish, cruel, and elitist. Here is the uber takeaway -> We as Christians have the Holy Spirit living within us, we have the whole divinely written word of God that gives us everything we need, and we have the example of the Lord Jesus Christ — there is no excuse for a believer to be encouraged to operate in a way counter to what they know by receiving the benefits of the body of Christ when they so blatantly act in a way counter to God’s word.

“May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness and patience of Christ and in waiting for His return.” 2 Thessalonians 3:5 ->me: Whoa! ‘May the Lord direct your hearts!’ Direct our hearts where? -> into the love of God -> into the steadfastness and patience of Christ Himself! When does this happen? -> while we wait for His return! This is a total epiphany moment and I had just sat down to read quite a few verses; I didn’t get more than 2 verses before hitting this nugget. What this tells me, is that when I follow God through His word, through prayer, and worship Him…continually confessing my sin and striving to be righteous in Him -> God (through His Holy Spirit) will affect and influence my heart into the ways of Himself in Love, Patience, and Hope in the return of His Son. Said differently – my heart will respond to the ways and purposes of my King. I will feel in my being the love Jesus has for the lost, sadness for the downtrodden, and pure joy in the expanding of His Kingdom. I will have that knowledge that God is answering my prayer of ‘make my will, Your will’. If you are reading this, I hope you have had the experience of God having ahold of your life through your own surrender to Him (an amazing sense of peace and comfort that is unexplainable)…this can fade as I get complacent in my walk but once I have felt it, I have the knowledge of what it feels like and the incentive to get back there is God chastening me to Himself; it is an inflection point in any Christian’s walk.

“FURTHERMORE, BRETHREN, do pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may speed on (spread rapidly and run its course) and be glorified (extolled) and triumph, even as [it has done] with you, and that we may be delivered from perverse (improper, unrighteous) and wicked (actively malicious) men, for not everybody has faith and is held by it.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 ->me: One thing I have seen in Paul in my readings is how much he asks for prayer. We all know that Paul endured a lot of suffering and persecution but he was also a principled man against idleness and not doing the work to sustain himself…he did not like leaning on the support of the church. I know I don’t ask for prayer often enough. I am always ready to ask others what I can pray for but I need to get better at requesting. I also love that part of Paul’s request is that God’s word be glorified and succeed with those that come in contact with it. That, essentially, God would call those to Himself that hear the preaching of Paul, Timothy, and Silas. Finally, the prayer Paul has to be saved from men without faith who have it out for him. Paul knows that the world is filled with evil faithless men who have no inhibitions about eliminating followers of Christ. I feel so thankful that I live in a country where this is not prevalent so I should spend more time praying for our brave missionaries who do.

“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor), comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 ->me: Oh man I needed this today!! There are deadlines at work that are a ton of pressure right now. Even as I sat down to read God’s word today I prayed that He would give me the wisdom and discernment to navigate the stresses of work…and here in the last 2 verses I read is my comforted, encouraged, and strengthened heart. In my mind I see God the Father sitting on the throne in heaven with Jesus standing on His right side. Jesus, standing there with His left hand on the back of the throne and with His right hand in a fist (you know, like ‘I got you’) held out in front of Him…and what do I attribute this to? My efforts to be a good Christian man? My willingness to lead a life group with Marianne? My best attempts at being a good father and husband? NOPE, none of these…it is simply because of His grace and unmerited favor; things I totally don’t deserve but He gives me anyway. Today I am encouraged because there is no worldly/earthly issue that can separate me from this grace. </Big Breath Out>

“And then the lawless one (the antichrist) will be revealed and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by His appearing at His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8 ->me: Today I read verses 4-12 and honestly there is a lot that is difficult to understand. Example: in verse 7 “For the mystery of lawlessness (that hidden principle of rebellion against constituted authority) is already at work in the world, [but it is] restrained only until he who restrains is taken out of the way.” Who is the ‘he who restrains’ that must be taken out of the way? There are secrets (mysteries) that are revealed and those that will remain tucked away until the appropriate time. I have learned that it is I who cannot understand; God is perfect in what He intends to communicate and I should not concern myself with the unknowing because if I needed to know it, I believe the Lord would reveal it to me in the right time [This happens quite a bit already – something I didn’t get 5 years ago the Lord has made perfectly clear in the last 6 months]. The point -> God is sovereign and I am a follower of His. He has the power to shut down the evil one with not just His breath but even by just arriving on the scene. The One I serve is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There is no one else I have to worry about.

“[Do] not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,” 2 Thessalonians 2:2-3 ->me: Throughout my reading of God’s word it is always amazing to me how the Holy Spirit works in my heart and mind; bringing up topics multiple times as a way of giving me focus on something God is trying to teach me. These are the time that I listen intently and study to understand fully what He is trying to convey. What is crazy is that I will read over the same passage again and something entirely new will jump out. In this case it is the teaching of “Do not be swayed by teaching that is untested” (my paraphrasing of the combination of passages the Lord has brought before me over the last week). I know people in my life who struggle as the Thessalonians did with teachings that were not grounded in truth and it rocked their spiritual boats…I pray for them regularly and I feel the nudging of the Holy Spirit to add this set of truths to my notebook of ministry. I am scared by this part of verse 3 “unless the rebellion comes first” – I can’t tell if this is a rebellion of the world against God and His goodness or whether these will be Christians who will fall away and rebel against what the word of God is clear about…yet proclaiming to still be followers of Christ. Scary…