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
Alta, Sharpsville,IN
My blessing is on those people who trust Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Becky, Stromsburg, NE
James 1:2-4 NIV
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Pamela Williams, Olive Branch, MS
My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,
1 Corinthians 2:4 NIV
Sharon, McKinney, TX
Ps. 68:19 NIV
Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
Who daily bears our burdens.
Diane Largo, Fl
1 Cor 6:19-20 NIV
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, Who is in you, Whom you have received from God?
You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.
Dear friends, do no believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1John 4:1 NIV
Valerie, Warrensburg, MO
He who walks with the wise grows wise, but he who walks with fools suffers harm.
Proverbs 13:20, NIV
Barb, Crown Point, IN
John 8:47a tells us, “He who belongs to God hears what God says” (NIV 1984)
Sonya Dickerson, Chesterfield, VA
“Christ has liberated us to be free. Stand firm then and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 HCSB
Patrice, Elm Grove, WI
Arise, shine for your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
Isaiah 60:1 NKJV
Barb Wisconsin
Psalm 34:15 The eyes of The Lord are toward the righteous, His ears toward their cry
ESV
Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart.
Connie Windham
Trout, LA
Jeremiah 17:7 NASB
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD.”
Linda R. Springfield, MO
If you have good eyesight and good hearing, thank God who gave them to you.
Proverbs 20:12 Living Bible
Cindy, Kearney NE
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV)
Allison from Chicago IL
And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. (Colossians 3:15 ESV)
Dee Dee, Smyrna, GA – “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.” Romans 12:12 (ESV)
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.”
Psalm 55:22 NIV
Lynn from Leonardtown
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.’ (Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV)
Ronda, Tennessee says
“My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.”
Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Jeremiah 17:7 Net
7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me.
MaryJo
Indianapolis, IN
I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws. Psalm 119:30 (NIV)
Jessie
Grayson, Ky
1 Corinthians 13:7
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things
ESV
Kristy from Cedar Park, Texas: My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET
Julie P
Tierra Verde FL
Galations 5:6 NET
For in Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision carries any weight The only thing that matters is Faith working through Love
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Whitney Caves
Clinton, MS
Kay, Tucson AZ. Psalm 23:4 KJV. “Yea though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Annie, Alabama
But blessed is the one who trusts in The Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NIV)
Kathy, Austin Jeremiah 17:7 * Beth you hit me “right on” again!!! Thx and blessings
My blessing is on those who trust in me, who put their confidence in me- there is no need to be concerned in a year(the years) of drought, fruit will continue to be born AMEN
Susan from Beverly, MA
Psalm 103:12 HCSB
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Faye – Ocala
“A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense.” Proverbs 19:11 NIV
Danita Tippet, Lake in the Hills, IL
Jeremiah 29:11 ESV
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for [peace] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Jenn, Frederick CO
Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
Roni – Demopolis, AL
“So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” NLT John 8:36
Dayna, Bedford, VA
“I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the perception of your mind may be enlightened so you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the glorious riches of His inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power to us who believe, according to the working of His vast strength.” Eph 1:17-19 HCSB
Laura ~ Plainfield, IN
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:22 NIV
Kim from Mansfield, TX Psalm 119:114 NLT You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.
Jo Ann Julia, Columbia, Missouri
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
Andrea from Brush Creek, TN: But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:20-21, NET
Abbie, Omaha, NE
Revelation 19:7-8 (ESV) Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” — for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
Maryjo, Chandler, AZ
. . . to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:21, NIV
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 NKJV
Rosalye
Vicksburg, MS
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jer. 17:7
NET
Kim Leach, Frankenmuth, MI:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. -1 John: 4:10 NIV
Kathy Leamington Ontario Canada
“I will break down
your stubborn pride.” Lev. 26:19
Michele S., Edmond, Ok.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword?” Ro.8:35 ESV
Colossians 4:6 ESV
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”
Nancy Beda
Boardman, Ohio
Humble yourselves before God. Resist the Devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7 NLT
Jamie, Crossett, AR
“My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.” Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Dawn – Pampa, TX
“Be pleased Lord to save me; Lord, come quick to help me.”
Psalm 40:13 (NIV)