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):
17:5 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.
17:6 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.
17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me.
17:8 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
Lisa from Leesburg “We love because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19
Christy from Holland, MI
“Keep a watch on your behaviour; let all your ways be rightly ordered.” Proverbs 4:26
Margaret from The Villages, FL
Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.
(Proverbs 19:20 – NIV)
Meredith from Columbus, OH: Then you turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth from me and covered me with joy. So now my heart will sing to you and not be silent; O Lord my God, I will always give thanks to you. -Psalms 30:11-12 (NET)
Kim
New Port Richey, FL
Proverbs 3:25-26
“You need not be afraid of disaster or the destruction that cones upon the wicked, for The Lord is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap. “
“But those who trust in the LORD for helpwill find their strength renewed.They will rise on wings like eagles;they will run and not get weary;they will walk and not grow weak.”–Isaiah 40:31NET
Sarah, Dallas
Cheryl, Le Chesnay France
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NLT)
Elizabeth, Gainesville, GA
“Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”
I Peter 3:4, NIV
Menomonee Falls, WI
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5 NIV
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight Oh Lord my Rock and my Redeemer
Psalm 19:14 NIV
“Therefore, I will look to the Lord;
I will wait for the God of my salvation;
My God will hear me!”
Micah 7:7 NKJ
Cindy, Fort Worth, TX
Jeremiah 17:7 NET
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Anne, Frisco TX “Commit your activities to the Lord, and your plans will be achieved.” Proverbs 16:3
Betty from Waveland, IN “Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice!” Phillipians 4:4 The Living Bible
Elaine
McVeytown, PA
Colossians 3:15 NLT
“An let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.”
“Be strong and of good courage”. Joshua 1:9. Kjv
Crystal, livonia, michigan
James 2:16
New International Version (NIV)
16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?
I am continuing on with Ephesaians 1, this verse sounds a little bit odd if you read by itself, but as part of the chapter it is perfect!
Ephesians 1:6 NIV
-to the praise of His glorious grace, whcih He has freely given us in the One He loves.
Tammy
Ingleside, TX
Susan, Cary NC
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. Psalm 1:5 NIV
Jen from Wyoming
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in me. Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Diana, North Attleboro, MA
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Rebecca Stewart
Julian, NC
“so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11 NIV
Anna – Conroe, TX
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.”
Jeremiah 17:7 NIV
Melanie Johnson from Georgetown, Tx
But, blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7 NIV
Leslie G-Warner Robins, GA
Jeremiah 17:7 NIV
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, and whose confidence is in Him.
Dawn, Clinton PA:
My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me. Jer. 17:7
Rachel H., Alabama
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23 NLT)
Tilley Hawkins from Franklikn, TN
“We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10:5 (NLT)
Katie Brown
Greenfield, IN
But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.
Psalm 59:16 NLT
Marie, Harrison: My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Rosalie Cincinnati
“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.”
Isaiah 45:3 KJV
Odessa, TX
Proverbs 9:10 NIV “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
Houston, Tx.
Matthew 13:9 NIV
Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
Cheri, Savage, MN 1Corinthians 6:19 ESV
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own.
Rose in Dallas
Jeremiah 17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me. (NET)
Janice, Harrison, AR
“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.”
Proverbs 19:21 ESV
From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!
Psalm 113:3 ESV
Diane – Roswell, GA. My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Kim Cliatt, Loganville, GA
“I thank and praise You, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, You have made known to me what we asked of You, You have made known to us the dream of the king.” Daniel 2:23 (NIV)
Heather, from Frisco, TX:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.
Romans 12:1 NIV
Carolyn, Ringgold Georgia
Psalm 139:23-24 NLT
SEARCH ME, O God, and Know my heart
TEST ME, and know my anxious thoughts
POINT OUT, anything in me that offends you, and
LEAD ME along the path of Everlasting Life
Teresa, Chadron, NE “And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:30 NIV)
Mary, Lexington Park, MD
I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from You.” Psalm 16:2 ESV
Melissa from Goshen, KY…
My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. – Jeremiah 17:7 (NET)
“But you, dear friends,
build yourselves up
in your most holy faith
and pray in the Holy Spirit.”
Jude 20
Linda, Fort Collins, CO
NIV
Robin Freeman~~ Garland TX
“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:6 NIV
Stormy, Lynchburg, VA
Seek the kingdom of God above all else and He will give you everything you need. Luke 12:31 NLT
Michele Powell Nampa, Idaho
Hosea 6:3 (NLT)
“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.”
Tracy F.
Lake St. Louis, Missouri
Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
Jeremiah 33:3
NIV
Katy M
Frisco, TX
Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few. (Ecclesiastes 5:1, 2 NASB)