Bourland Family Blog

“And I will give them one heart [a new heart] and I will put a new spirit within them; and I will take the stony [unnaturally hardened] heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh [sensitive and responsive to the touch of their God], that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. And they shall be My people, and I will be their God.” Ezekiel 11:19-20 ->me:  Today was a travel day so lots of time for reading and work.  I spent almost the whole second leg of my trip (from Chicago, Il -> Richmond, VA [~3 Hours]) reading the new book for my Men’s Bible study called Side by Side by Ed Welch.  The book focuses on our need for each other.  One of the quotes from the book really made an impression on me -> “Who we love above all else is who we worship, and who we worship controls us”.  This is such a simple yet true statement.  Since the distraction of this job has come, I have put more focus on the job than on God and that has become a set of opaque scrims that “I” have put between God and myself.  Then I will have a moment where the Holy Spirit prods me and it is as if I have retained some vague awareness of the love songs that God sang to me before I received the new job position, and when I hear those songs again (the prod), they evoke something familiar and right but then that feeling flees.  So what has happened??  My heart has grown distant because He stopped being “who I love above everyone/everything else”.  Those scrims…the problem -> I can put them there but I can’t remove them.  Only God, through my confession and asking forgiveness can remove them…but Oh, when He does, He is so faithful to let me right back by His side, arm clutched around me.  THAT is the feeling of peace, contentment, love, and hope that I have come to miss when I put other things before Him.

“My sacrifice O God is broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart Lord, You will not despise.  May it please You to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem…then You will delight in the sacrifice of the righteous.” Psalm 51:17&18 ->me: Yesterday I said that I would roll out my new approach to spending time with the Lord each day especially when it comes to days that I didn’t physically sit down with His word in front of me for dedicated quiet time.  First, my goal continues to be to have a quiet time everyday where I spend time in the prayer closet followed by deep study with Him in His word.  Whether I have the quiet time or not I am starting to focus on sustained dwelling and communion with Jesus, all through the day, every day.  I will live every day seeking opportunities to serve Him, seeking His wisdom, seeking to see more of His character, seeking to know Him better, and asking Him to help me grow in the ways of His Son.  In this hectic time right now, there are days where I have not been able to get that focused quiet time with Him but that does not mean I can’t have the focus on sustained communion I talk about above.  On those days I will still write and replace QTVOTD with CWGT (Communion With God Today) and share something the Lord revealed to me about Himself, myself, or something I felt led to do or anything else that stood out in my relationship with my Savior that day.  This verse today is appropriate as I feel broken before Him in my human attitude and foolishness.  I tend to over think things and this is no exception.  This verse says that the Lord is pleased in our sacrifice and worship when we are broken before Him.  This is what I needed to make this turn today.

“Therefore I [Micah] will lament and wail; I will go stripped and [virtually] naked; I will make a wailing like the jackals and a lamentation like the ostriches.” Micah 1:8 ->me:  What hit me today was more in the Oswald Chambers devotional than this verse but they are so appropriately brought together.  I have not chosen to see this busy time at work as an opportunity to be alone with God.  I know that sounds weird but go with me for a minute -> God uses many different circumstances, situations, and life trials to teach us about the inadequacies of our human selves.  I have been struggling to, within my own might, make time to get close with the Lord in quiet times; and these are absolutely a must.  However, I have been getting down on myself for not making them happen.  So, while I am in this state where all of my time is consumed with work and the very little of it not, spending with family…why not see this as a prime opportunity to just listen and respond to what the Lord is teaching me in this place.  This time will pass and I will be right back to an easier time of quiet moments with Lord and His word.  It would be just like satan to use my feebleness and self loathing as a way to keep my mind off what the Lord is revealing to me in this time.  Why not see it as the Lord and I in this together, taking small moments to listen and grow in Him.  Small moments == walking from building to building at work reciting memorized verses and dwelling on them or worshipping in my car to and from work.  Tomorrow you are going to see a new format to my QTVOTD implementing a new way of staying accountable to living with the goal of growing closer to the Lord every day.

“But He said, What is impossible with men is possible with God.” Luke 18:27 ->me: Oh how good it was to be back in the Word today.  After starting Micah the other day I really struggled to find time to set aside for the only one that really matters in my life.  The busy-ness of what work and life are contributing right now have been a distraction beyond words…but that doesn’t matter.  Yes, work is good, and family/church activities are good, but my God is better.  This verse today helped remind me Who He is, what He is capable of, and the weakness that I represent.  What seems impossible by my measuring stick is trivial to God.  Running to Him, in these times especially, is the first thing I should do; not use Him as a last resort when I have either hit the end of my rope or finally have time for Him.  There is always enough time for Him.  He has shown me this over and over again.  Thank you Lord for the reminder that You alone are everything!  You alone can solve any problem I have.  You alone can give me peace in the midst of the storm/trial.

“All this is because of the transgression of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? Is it not [the idol worship of] Samaria? And what are the high places [of idolatry] in Judah? Are they not Jerusalem?” Micah 1:5 ->me: As you can see I have moved on to Micah.  I was going to read Hosea but when I read through the first couple of chapters I felt that Micah might be a better place to drop with the current situations of this world and my own struggles.  Micah was alive during the time of Isaiah and around to see the events of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah; kings of Judah.  Here in the first 7 verses Micah is talking about how humans are so comfortable to go about their business separate from God while He is up in heaven.  However, when He comes down to ‘tread’ on the hilltops and high places it says that “the valleys will be cleft like wax before a fire” and “like waters poured down a steep place”.  This is what Lord can and will do in time.  Why am I so quick to forget about God while I am immersed in my duties at work? Why do I forget about Him when I am having the time of my life focused in a hobby?  Why?  Because I surround myself with these idols…that is what they are when they cause me to operate separate of Him.  There is nothing wrong with either of these things on their own; it is the condition of my heart while engaged in them.  What I need to realize is that my job and hobbies become even more satisfying when God is at the center of what I do…in all that I do.

Thoughts on Revelation (8/30/2018 – 1/6/2019):   (Sunday’s QTVOTD was not sent but is on www.bourlandweb.com) Yesterday and today I have been going over my notes on Revelation and really trying to ingest the full scope of God’s message to me as I read this book; at this time in my life.   I am confident that if I read this book again in a year I would have entirely new takeaways given by the Holy Spirit.  So, for this time the Sovereignty of God rang through.  God is all powerful, He has a plan that is being acted out as we speak, and His desire is for the eradication of evil but not until it is completed serving the purposes of His plan.  I also realized that I don’t need to understand the symbology or timelines of the end times to comprehend that God, in His infinite wisdom, is concerned with redeeming and saving His children to Himself for all eternity.  If I were to pick a favorite set of chapters it would be Revelation 1:12 – 3:22 (The letters to the 7 churches).  From a Christian walk perspective I have learned that every moment must be saturated in repentance of my sin.  I must hate my sin so much that my entire being yearns to be free from it; realizing that the only one who can give me the strength to fight my sin is the One and Only Messiah.  I must live my life like He is coming back this week.  Being given the a view into the absolute disaster that lies ahead for the unsaved I must press forward to bear witness and speak the good news to all that I can; expecting God to move in His way to draw those to Himself.

“The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost.” Revelation 22:17 ->me: Let’s put 3 more verses together with this verse! “No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day.” John 6:44 “So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).” Romans 10:17 “He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow [continuously] springs and rivers of living water.” John 7:38.  Today, when I read this one verse these other supporting passages came rushing back to me.  Many people struggle with the concept of predestination; I love how all of these verses together make the whole of coming to a knowledge of God so well understood.  A combination of the drawing of the Holy Spirit AND the telling of the Gospel by the Saints together bring the unsaved into the Kingdom.  When one listens (has their ears open) to the message of Jesus, will through their actions and persistence say ‘Come!’ to their own hearts.  And finally, those who are painfully conscious of their need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened can find the Living Water in Christ Jesus Who lives in them; when they believe in Him.  Wow! – these other 3 verses are totally wrapped up in this one verse from Revelation.

“[But] without [not able to enter the gates] are the dogs [evil people] and those who practice sorceries (magic arts) and impurity [the lewd, adulterers] and the murderers and idolaters and everyone who loves and deals in falsehood (untruth, error, deception, cheating).” Revelation 22:15 ->me: This verse comes directly after the one talking about who has authority to enter the gates and approach the Tree of Life -> “Blessed (happy and to be envied) are those who cleanse their garments”.  This series of verses has perplexed me because evil has been destroyed.  Who are these people who have made it past the judgement and stand outside the city unable to get in?  Is this vision before the judgement?  Revelation 20:15 says “And if anyone’s [name] was not found recorded in the Book of Life, he was hurled into the lake of fire.”  Tony Evans believes that these people are ones that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior but have then resorted sinful living without confession or repentance of their actions –> they cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.  If any of you have done significant study on this and have thoughts, I would love to hear them.  It is possible that this is just part of the definition of who can enter the City and it is appropriate to define the ones who will not be allowed into the City without necessarily being explicit about the fact that those have been hurled into the lake of fire.  This puts even more importance on my constant and deliberate focus on confession and REPENTANCE.  I capitalize repentance because confession is nothing without a 180 degree turn on the state of the heart toward my sin.

“Behold, I am coming soon, and I shall bring My wages and rewards with Me, to repay and render to each one just what his own actions and his own work merit.  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last (the Before all and the End of all).  Blessed (happy and to be envied) are those who cleanse their garments, that they may have the authority and right to [approach] the tree of life and to enter through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:12-14 ->me: I referenced verse 14 on the 8th of September this last year and it is still so applicable to my life.  There in 2:7 Jesus talks about those who are victorious will gain access to the tree of life.  So, one who is victorious is one who has taken the action to continually cleanse himself in the Blood of the Lamb so that on that fateful day with the Lord returns, he will be found clean and pure -> ready and with authority, have access to the Tree of Life and enter the gates of the City.  ‘Cleanse their garments’ is in the present tense -> meaning continually.  I so easily defile myself day by day as I live with the pressures of this world, so it is necessary that I kneel before the risen Christ without fail to confess and repent of my sin.  Jesus will return with such swiftness that there will be no opportunity for last minute repentance.  When I live this way, there is a discernable peace and comfort that I am ‘right’ with my God…it is this feeling that consistently draws me back to my knees to seek that shelter He is all to willing and eager to provide.