Bourland Family Blog

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice, declares the Lord. Return, O faithless children, declares the Lord; for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.” Jeremiah 3:12-14 -> me: A bright spot in the despair of Jeremiah!  When I read this today, I saw confirmation in what I do in almost every time of prayer; I pray the gospel over myself and then confess specific sin before the Lord asking for His forgiveness and mercy.  This passage helps me see that God is ever loving and wishes to have us back into the fold of His protection…a place that He knows is the best for us.  Thank you Lord God, for once again showing me that there is nothing that can keep me from You when I return in humble repentance.

“The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people.” Titus 3:8 -> me:  Lots of reading this week but no posts.  I have been contemplating a pause on Jeremiah because it is just so depressing…but I am going to stick it out.  I know the Lord will reveal to me what I need to hear during this time through this book.  However, today I was looking for a verse that addressed social causes and happened upon this one in Titus.  This whole passage is about being careful to devote yourself solely to good works and comes right into play with our current sermon series in Galatians.  Too often I see good Christians caught up in political causes and they see this as a spiritual work they are doing to achieve change.  While this is noble, we must be careful.  We are aliens in a world that is not our home but I do believe we have a responsibility to use our numbers to affect change where possible…to assert our Christian beliefs through prayer and then voting.  In some cases this may mean signing a signature petition to at least get a measure on an official ballot.  Its about the motivation of our heart and giving glory to God in all that we do.  When it comes to our political systems, we must be careful and pragmatic; basing our actions on practical execution rather than theoretical desired outcomes…maintaining a selfless, humble, and meek countenance as we get involved.  As Paul so eloquently states here in Titus that we stand in front of a watching world – we need to reflect the actions of Christ here on earth before we are taken home.

“For though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, yet your iniquity and guilt are still [upon you; you are] spotted, dirty, and stained before Me, says the Lord.” Jeremiah 2:22 [AMP] -> me:  I love this picture; the simple illustration that there is nothing we can do to remove our iniquities.  When we accept Jesus our iniquity and guilt are upon Him and His death (sacrifice) purged that sin from us and God as far as the east is from the west…to be known no more.  It really begs the question – why isn’t everyone running to Jesus?

“Be astonished and appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked and shrivel up with horror, says the Lord [at the behavior of the people].  For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.” Jeremiah 2:12-13 [AMP] -> me:  Sorry folks, Jeremiah is going to be a tough book to go through.  Jeremiah gets to be the bearer of the message of God to His people that they will suffer judgement for their behavior.  ‘Forsake’ means to abandon, renounce, or give up on something.  They have turned their back on the One who holds the ability to provide for all of the people’s needs; both material and spiritual.  A provision that never can be lost…but they instead build cisterns (holes in the ground that would be lined with plaster) to hold water.  The problem is that their human weakness has produced broken cisterns which will leak all of the water they try to fill the cisterns with -> futility.  Our family has seen first hand the provision of God to provide every thing, spiritual, emotional, and material through His faithfulness this last year.  YET, we must stay vigilant not to let complacency slip in.  We must stay in pursuit of Him, in constant leaning into His grace and mercy.  Relying on what only He can provide; anything else is abandonment and destined for failure.

“Thus says the Lord: “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me, and went after worthlessness, and became worthless? They did not say, Where is the Lord who brought us up from the land of Egypt, who led us in the wilderness, in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells?’” Jeremiah 2:5-6 -> me: As I was reading this passage over the last 2 days the main phrase that caught me was “Where is the Lord…?”.  The people of Israel had turned their backs so completely that He was not Who they even thought about when things were going wrong.  The perfect and holy God that loved them so much had been traded for ‘The Nothing’ and they therefore became nothing.  This is so sad and scary that a people who saw a holy and perfect God deliver them out of Egypt just leaves Him by the wayside as they worshipped Canaanite gods.  BUT, isn’t this just how I can become?  I have the ability to get so wrapped up in my surroundings of life, career, and family life that days can pass and trouble can come and is the Lord the first One I turn to??  Sometimes…no…I try to solve the issue myself not even asking where God was in all of it.  The point here is – I am so thankful for God’s Word where He shows me the ugly parts of myself through the audacity of the behavior His chosen people.

“Israel was holy to the Lord, the first-fruits of his harvest.  All who ate of it incurred guilt; disaster came upon them, declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 2:3 -> me: In the 2 verses preceding, God, through Jeremiah, talks about how He remembered Israel’s love for Him and willingness to follow God anywhere He led them; even into the desert (uncharted territory).  Israel was the first set of chosen people God set aside for Himself…we, through Jesus are the second, grafted into the branch of Israel.  Anyone who came up against Israel suffered disastrous consequences.  As a child of the King being chosen by Him, following Him where ever He leads us, and loving Him to the point of wanting to learn everything we can about Him (like a groom for his bride to be) to get closer to Him Who chose us; I have nothing to fear…anything that rises up to attempt to harm me will be dealt a disastrous blow.  As I read in chapter 1, these are God’s words about His chosen first-fruits, Israel – being that I have been grafted into the vine of Israel, I should expect the same words to apply to me.  So the application is – Am I following God where ever He leads?  Do I love Him like I love my wife, wanting to know Him and understand Him in every way?

“They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.” Jeremiah 1:19 -> me:  The words that jump out to me most are ‘I am with you….to deliver you’.  God does not say Jeremiah wouldn’t go through pain, wouldn’t be laughed at, wouldn’t be ridiculed, wouldn’t grieve, or wouldn’t be shamed -> no, He said ‘I will deliver you – I am with you’.  Today I felt the presence of the Lord as we prepared ourselves to receive Brooklyn back in our lives and look ahead to the challenges that come with re-bonding and getting back to a new normal.  It will be frustrating, heartbreaking, exhilarating, and precious.  Through it all God will be with us.

“And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”” Jeremiah 1:11-12 -> me:  Whenever I read the Old Testament the biggest thing I take away is the character of God.  Here is a tender moment of God encouraging Jeremiah in the moments just after appointing him to speak His words to the nations.  1) God gives Jeremiah praise for seeing what He intended him to see.  2) God reassures Jeremiah that He is vigilant and watchful over him.  3) He confirms again that He is the One Who will be speaking when Jeremiah speaks.  The word used for Almond in Hebrew means ‘to wake up’ or ‘to watch’.  Had to look this one up because I couldn’t see what God would mean by what He said just from Jeremiah observing an Almond branch.  🙂

“Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.  Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”” Jeremiah 1:6-8 -> me: As you can probably tell, today I have started the book of Jeremiah.  In verse 5, preceding this verse, we get what God has done in regards to Jeremiah – “I formed you; I knew you; I set you apart; I appointed you”.  As a born again Christian, I have a role to do on this earth, which God knew before I was born.  Like Jeremiah, I find myself questioning sometimes what God, through His Word, through His Holy Spirit, or through other Brothers and Sisters in Christ, is telling me to do…that I am I not good enough, not smart enough, not wise enough, etc.  Here God essentially says ‘shame on you, don’t say “I am only a child” when I am the One Who has called you! Go, say, and do whatever I command of you.  I will protect you.  Do not be afraid of those over whom I rule.’  Although I am not called as a prophet; I am called as a child of His to go about and do the work of His Kingdom.  I need to do this in humility, but without fear or doubt.