Bourland Family Blog

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:9-11 -> me: I so needed this today!  This prayer of Paul to the saints, elders, and deacons at Philippi is awesome because of the bases it covers.  Sometimes, when I am dwelling on a passage, I will consume it in reverse -> First and foremost, everything I do must be for the glory and praise of God.  In doing this I will abide in Jesus where I will have the fruit of HIS righteousness.  As I dive into His Word, I will receive the discernment necessary to see and choose what is best, what is pure, and the path of blamelessness.  All of this is surrounded by an abounding love that grows and grows.  This could not have come on a better day than my daughter Bella’s 16th birthday.  Reading through the book ‘A Prayerful Life’ has brought to an understanding that this is my prayer for Bella this whole next year.  What an awesome way to support her in this next year; to cover her with these words when ever I pray for her.  Happy birthday beautiful girl – I pray that your dependence on God for the answers drives you ever closer to Him as you begin to move away from your mom and I for your needs under this sun.

“[Build] yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.” Jude 1:20-23 -> me: This passage in Jude today is so appropriate to our current situation!  This scripture has 5 important points I am taking away and dwelling on today – 1) I must STUDY the scriptures if I am to grow in the faith and be of any use to others.  FAITH is most holy because it is utterly different.  2) I must PRAY in the Holy Spirit.  The battle against false teaching is not won by argument.  3) I must REMAIN in the sphere of God’s love.  False teachers have shown that it is possible to turn one’s back on the love of God.  I must cultivate that love relationship with Him.  Jesus Himself said, “I have loved you; abide in My love.” John 15:9 4) I must keep alive the FIRE of Christian HOPE.  True Christianity is ‘world-affirming’ in the sense that it rejoices in God’s world, made by Him, redeemed by Him, and to be enjoyed with Him.  5) I must be active in SERVICE.  Showing mercy and encouragement to those who doubt.  Active in evangelism in being used by God to reach for and save the lost.  I must also retain the hatred of sin while loving the sinner.

“Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17b-18 -> me:  This passage today (finished 2nd Peter) was a great reminder of the focus I must have through this time.  It is a focus that should carry us to the end of our days but I just needed to re-hear it.  My stability needed to be in the law of the Lord, not the error of lawless people.  Dwelling on God’s word day and night will be the way that I grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  In all things that I do, I do to the glory of Jesus alone….but I must ‘do’!  I must be about the work of my King.  It is easy to sit back in our nice home and rest comfortably away from the virus; but am I reaching out to those who need God?   Am I reaching out to those who just need checked in on and possibly get the opportunity to share the goodness God brings in times like this?  I am not doing all that I can, and I am not currently leading my family in this way either.  Spending time in prayer is good and that communion with my Savior is precious, but I also need to act on the prods of the Holy Spirit to aspire to please my Savior in ALL things.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 -> me: Hello all.  I have not sent out any QTVOTD’s in the last several days but that has not been because of a drought; conversely, I have felt closer to the Lord than ever.  During this time of earthly uncertainty, I have felt such eternal certainty.  Between working from home, spending precious time with family, having dinner with my brother, holding Life Group (with some in-person and some virtual), prayer in every situation, and a constant dialog with my Lord and Savior, I am feeling more confident than ever that this is exactly where God has me, right here, right now.  God knew this time would come and Marianne and I have been looking at God’s provision in our children, our church, and our own lives; preparing us for good works…and now I am prepared to walk in them.  I have the opportunity to help plan for a missions trip that we walk forward in faith knowing that God will do a work regardless of whether we go or not.  What an awesome time to put the faith to work that He has been building in me over the last several years – I am so thankful for the opportunity to live a life that only seeks to glorify Him….hold on…that does NOT mean I have it all together or don’t get anxious, no…but it does mean that I am more quick than ever to lay my inadequacies at the foot of the cross.  Lord God in heaven, help me to see the work you have laid ahead, that I would not hesitate to leap at every chance to be your hands and feet.

“BUT ALSO [in those days] there arose false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly and stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even denying and disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction and many will follow their immoral ways and lascivious doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned and defamed.” 2 Peter 2:1-2 -> me: False teachers are here today just as there were false prophets in the Old Testament.  A false teacher has defected from the TRUTH -> they are all about flattery, financial ambitions, lives lacking in moral values, dulled consciences, and their aim is deception; they are more concerned about winning an argument than arriving at the TRUTH.  A teacher of the TRUTH lives a life of bond service to the One Who bought them; they cannot serve Christ and their own ambitions.  A false teacher lives in a world of fantasy and they will likely be impractical and unrealistic.  Psalms 119:30 says “I have chosen the way of truth and faithfulness; Your ordinances have I set before me.”  It is so jarring when we discover that someone we respected turns out to be a false teacher.  Calvin said this well, “There is nothing that disturbs godly minds so much as defection…”  Peter helps us though by saying that this very thing will happen.  I must remember to check everything I hear with the word of God.  It can be easy to slip into believing the cunningly laid out lie of a false teacher.

“Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways.” Psalms 91:9-11 -> me: What an amazing couple of days. This passage has helped me keep perspective and allowed me to walk forward in faith, aligned with Marianne, to guide our family in this unprecedented time. We have a plan and we firmly believe that this is an opportunity to make a difference for the Kingdom. Thank the Lord that I have a job that allows me to work remotely and continue to be paid through this time. My God is bigger than this crisis. My Savior walks on the crazy waves of this churning sea. Thank you God for your faithfulness and Love that surpasses anything that presents itself ‘under the sun’.

“knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20-21 -> me: Old testament scripture was written by God through the Holy Spirit in men (the Prophets).  Reading through 2 Peter 1:12-23, I learned the following which flows together so nicely.  1) We need God’s word consistently.  2) There are no fables, the multitudes witnessed all that Jesus did and there is no one who was there that has written refuting it.  3) God Himself spoke from heaven to attest to Jesus as His Son.  4) All scripture points to Jesus.  5) No prophesy ever originated from man’s will, it was the Holy Spirit Who gave the prophets the words to write.  Peter, the first pastor does his own version of expositional preaching and walks us through God’s truth in a systematic way.  I am so thankful that I attend a church whose leadership grasps and exercises expository preaching!

“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:10-11[ESV] -> me: Peter spends the first 8 verses of his second letter giving exactly what we must do in our Christian life.  In these last 2 verses of this section he calls us to a self-awareness that tests our actions relative to our stated position as ‘Followers of Christ’.  In verse 9, just before these 2 verses, he says -> “If anyone does not have them [the qualities stated in my last quiet time], he is near sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.”  BUT, as we confirm our calling and election by looking at our own heart and behavior, I WILL NEVER FALL!  This is such testimony about not just being in the word everyday, but also searching our own hearts through the help of the Holy Spirit to root out anything that no longer belongs.  I can’t imagine that I am alone in this -> When I let myself be taken up with this worlds concerns (materialism, politics, career, status, etc), even for just a couple of days, I can find myself so much further away from my walk than I thought a could be just a few days earlier.   Lord God, help me to be continually grounded in Your word, saturated in prayer, and full of a love for others that always causes me to forget about myself.

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8 [NKJV] -> me: Man, I cannot get through many verses each day in 2nd Peter.  ‘For this very reason’ is pertaining to yesterday’s passage of ‘being given the exceedingly great precious promises’.  Virtue is excellence, resolution, and Christian energy in our walk.  Looking at how all of these things lead into each other and then ending with LOVE.  When we have gotten to this place in knowledge of our Lord and Savior then we will keep from being idle in our Christian life before Jesus returns.  Of all of these things – the one I must focus on the most is ‘self-control’.  Self-control in my emotions, my decision making in self-sufficiency, my desires, and my time.  The more I lean into the word of God and apply that learning to my life the farther I feel from where I want to be in my relationship with my Savior, but my faith is increased.  It is like there is a direct relationship between my spiritual self-awareness and the measure of faith God gives me.  Super humbling…