Hey, Everybody!
Soon after this post is published, I’ll be on a plane to Sioux Falls, South Dakota for this weekend’s Living Proof Live. I love going to the Dakotas so I am filled with joy over the privilege to serve there and anticipating God’s gracious and obvious (please let it be, Lord) presence crowded around us and welling up within us. Please pray for Jesus to be exalted, experienced, and enthroned there and for many to be saved and stunningly delivered.
My Scripture memory selection this week is springing up from my Monday morning reading there in my den at home. I’ve mentioned many times that I use a different translation for my devotional and prayer time so that the words will fall particularly fresh on me and so that, if the reading happens to be a familiar segment, I can’t anticipate it and unintentionally dismiss it. The translation I often use is The NET Bible. I’m going to give you the whole segment I read Monday morning so that you’ll see the verse I’ve chosen this time around in its context. This is Jeremiah 17:5-8 (NET):
17:5Â The LORD says,
“I will put a curse on people
who trust in mere human beings,
who depend on mere flesh and blood for their strength,
and whose hearts have turned away from the LORD.
17:6Â They will be like a shrub in the desert.
They will not experience good things even when they happen.
It will be as though they were growing in the desert,
in a salt land where no one can live.
17:7Â My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me.
17:8Â They will be like a tree planted near a stream
whose roots spread out toward the water.
It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.
Its leaves are always green.
It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought.
It does not stop bearing fruit.
If you are like me, you found the way the NET translates the very first verse (V.5) a little disturbing. You’ll be relieved to know this isn’t the Scripture I’ve chosen to memorize (smiling) but it still needs addressing so that we’re not too distracted by it to engross ourselves in the remainder of the segment. If you’re familiar with the passage, you are probably more accustomed to wording like the NIV: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man.” The fact that the NET makes God the one “putting” the curse on man makes us squirm. Before we let it tie us in a knot and throw us in a lake of fear, we have to remind ourselves of our position in Christ. We have the glorious benefit of living this side of the completed work of the Cross and resurrection.
Galatians 3:13 says to our great relief: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'”
Jeremiah 17:5 is still tremendously relevant to us because it unfolds the misery of counting on mere flesh and blood. I wonder if the “curse” talked about in this verse is of the same ilk as the one in Genesis 3 that came directly from God to man after the fall in the Garden. If Adam and Eve were doing anything at all when they ate from that tree, they were shifting their trust from God to themselves – mere flesh and blood – by attempting to be God-like. Though the Cross of Christ bore the curse for us, we can still endure the desolation that invariably results from placing our trust and confidence in people rather than God. This gets us where we’re going in our post today. Look back at Jeremiah 17:6 because this is the part that totally captivated me.
“They will be like a shrub in the desert. They will not experience good things even when they happen.”
Read it again if you need to but don’t proceed until you’ve tried to absorb that second sentence. Have you ever been right in the middle of something good happening and yet missed the full experience and joyful impact of it? Surely you’ve said silently to yourself as I’ve said to myself, “I should really be happy right now. What is wrong with me??” You know the feeling. You’re in a celebration or service of some kind or a holiday gathering and yet you almost feel detached from it. You’re there. But you are somehow disconnected from experiencing it. You know “it” (the positive thing presently happening) but you can’t feel it. It’s a good thing but you don’t feel good about it…or in it. What on earth is that about?
Jeremiah would suggest that the experience of good can be disconnected from the good because we are in a season of shifted trust from God to man. When we’ve set our hopes for happiness in how well all our people are doing…getting along…flourishing…affirming us…satisfying us…and all-around-generally-blessing us, and we even get a glimmer of it, we can’t experience the good because we know down deep that we can’t hold onto it. As much as we love all our people, we know that, ultimately, they are not going to come through for us. One shoe will drop. Then the other. The disappointment will come. And the harmony we feel for this moment with our fellow humans could at any second flip upside down into complete mayhem.
Notice the part that says “they will be like a shrub in the desert.” Isn’t it ironic that the more we depend on flesh and blood to come through for us and to fulfill us, the more isolated we become? You’d think that numbers alone would insure company and community. In other words, why derive our strengths and confidences from one God when we could get infinitely more out of all these people? Out of all these communities? Out of all our fellow church members? Out of all our Facebook friends? Our fellow tweeters? Company is one click away.
But it never works that way, does it? We never can let down our guard completely and find any shred of real security from flesh and blood. The person obsessed with us today can turn on us tomorrow and we know it. The person who makes life worth living for us today could die on us tomorrow and we know it. I don’t mean to be morose. I just mean to point out the emotional tightrope we’re walking. Being vastly people-oriented rather than God-oriented always ends up taking us to a place of isolation because they’re invariably busy when we want to play, invariably distracted when we want attention, and invariably more taken with themselves than with us. And so, there we sit, with our trust and confidence in mere flesh and blood and we end up feeling like a shrub in a desert. Just as Jeremiah 17:6 says, “It will be as though [we] are growing in the desert, in a salt land where no one can live.”
Trust in man can seem a great place to visit but no one can really live there and come out calling it living.
It’s so odd to me that the more drawn I feel to God and the more taken I become with His Presence, the freer I am to love other people and the less I hold them responsible for me. Community with God increases our “experience” of good in a community of people. It is its own paradox.
And all of this brings us to the verse I have chosen for my memory work this time around:
Beth, Houston. My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
And what earthly difference would that make? Well, let’s see…
“They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit.”
Notice a very intriguing contrast hidden in Jeremiah 17:8 – “It has nothing to fear when the heat comes.”
Reflect back on 17:6b – “They will not experience good things even when [good things] happen.”
When we place our confidence in mere flesh and blood, we are shortchanged even when good things happen. When we place our confidence in God, the Immortal Invisible, we have nothing to fear even when hard things happen. The former leaves us a dry shrub. The latter makes us a fruit-bearing tree.
We never get this lesson learned once and for all, do we? Or maybe it’s just me. I still get so tempted to put my confidence in people and to think that, if all my loved ones were safe, well, and flourishing, I could be so happy. The truth of it is, I do want those things for my loved ones but God alone can come through for them and for me. Anyway, at the end of the day, I could have everything this world could offer and all the good that man could possibly do me and still sit back and think, “Why doesn’t it feel better than this?”
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Let’s hear your verses, Sisters!
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Lori, Oil City, PA
“Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him! Then he will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.”
Hosea 6:3 (NLT)
Chelsey S. from Amarillo, TX
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
Bonnie Wallace, Charleston SC
“Who knows if perhaps you were chosen for such a time as this.” Esther 4:14
Lacey Katy Tx
“Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.” 1Thess 4:11 NLT
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Thessalonians 5:23 NIV
Carolyn, Austin
My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Psalm 63:3 (NKJV)
Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You.
“For what great nation is there that has God so near to it, as the LORD our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon Him?”
Deuteronomy 4:7 NKJV
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil.
Hebrews 6:19
NASB
Theresa from Tenaha Texas
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me,
who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7NET
Jennifer, Fairfax VA
James 2:12 (NIV)
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom
Kathy from Chandler, OK
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT
You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalms 32:7 (NIV)
The Lord your God is in your midst;
he is a warrior who can deliver.
He takes great delight in you;
he renews you by his love;
he shouts for joy over you.
Zephaniah 3:17 (NET Bible)
linda, colorado springs.
let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. hebrews 10:23 (niv)
Deb, Loveland, CO – “For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the LORD, who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54:10 (NKJV)
James 2:17 MSG
Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
Emily, Loveland, CO – “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually.” I Chronicles 16:11 (NASB)
Amy, Snellville GA “My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.” Jeremiah 17:7 (NET)
Trish Price
Paintsville, KY
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. Psalm 37:16
Fort Worth, TX
“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.” Rom 12:12 NLT
Kristin, Carlsbad, CA “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” Lamentations 3:22 NIV
Kellye, Las Vegas. Do what the Lord wants, and he will give you your heart’s desire.
Psalm 37:4 (CEVU)
“But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to The Lord, for He has been good to me.” Psalm 13:5-6 NIV
Megan, Goodlettsville, TN
Jeremiah 17:7 (NET)
“My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me.”
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:9, 10 NIV)
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that law that gives freedom. James 1:12 (NIV)
Melissa Droegemueller
San Antonio, TX
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT
April lopez, Bonneylake, Wa
Jeremiah 17:7 Niv. But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
Emmilianna Ferreria, Bonneylake, wa
Psalm 18:30 niv. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless.
Kasey from Newnan, GA “My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Michelle, Fort Worth
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
Proverbs 28:13 ESV
Kathy, Shattuck, OK
Psalm 139:15 (NIV) “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth.”
Melanie Miller, Nampa, Idaho
Psalm 25:14 NLT
Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear him. With them he shares the secrets of his covenant.
Diane, Longmont, CO
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34 NIV
Leslie
Wisner, La.
“But this I call to mind;
therefore I have hope:
The Lord’s loyal kindness never ceases;
his compassions never end.
They are fresh every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant!!”
Lamentations 3:21-23 (NET)
“As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you. Abide in My love.” John 15:9, ESV
Susan Pittsburgh
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 (NET)
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Ps. 90:16-17 ESV
Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
Martha, Georgetown, TX 1 Cor 2:9 NLT, “…No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Lesley, Clinton, MS
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:7 NASB
Christina Fort Worth
Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
Psalm 51:15 NLT
Kim, in Duncan, SC:
…for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. Phil. 2:13 NIV
Beth from Niamey
NIV
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Amanda, Chandler AZ
For I, The Lord your God, hold your right hand; It is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
Isaiah 41:13, ESV
Jaclyn from Naperville, Il: “Who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles” Psalm 103:5 ESV
Brenda from Byhalia MS
Don’t run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line—mature, complete, and wanting nothing. 5 If you don’t have all the wisdom needed for this journey, then all you have to do is ask God for it; and God will grant all that you need. He gives lavishly and never scolds you for asking. 6 The key is that your request be anchored by your single-minded commitment to God. Those who depend only on their own judgment are like those lost on the seas, carried away by any wave or picked up by any wind.
James 1:2-6 The Voice
Diane from Cypress, TX
Isaiah 52:7a
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.
Lindsey Buchanan St. Augustine, FL
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV
Lisa, Fishers IN Jude 16
NIV
These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
Phyllis
Gilmer,Tx
Jeremiah 17:7,8 But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out it’s roots by the stream. It oes not fear when heat comes; It’s leaves are always green, It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. NIV