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
April Jones, Springfield, IL
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
James 1:22 NIV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:1-3. NIV
Leslie Crawley, Flagstaff, AZ. “My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.” Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Britt, Burlington. This is what The Lord says: Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from The Lord. Jeremiah 17:5 NIV
Maureen, St. Clair Shores, Far and wide they’ll come to a stop, they’ll stare in AWE, in WONDER. Dawn and dusk take turns calling, “Come and worship”. (Psalm 65:8) MSG
Melissa-Fort Worth, TX- “For His anger is but for a moment,His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night,But a shout of joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5 (NASB)
Cindy, Biloxi, MS
May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 NIV
Every word of God is true; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Proverbs 30:5 NIV
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 (NET)
Michelle from Norman, OK. “Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this; the faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness his mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:21-23, NIV
Rachel, Surprise, AZ
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” ~Romans 12:12
Apparently, I choose the same verse twice and didn’t even realize it! So my new August 1st verse is John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Holly, Ramona, CA: Isaiah 49:16 NASB
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.
Bambi-Houston, TX
Whoever is patient and slow to anger shows great understanding, but whoever has a quick temper magnifies his foolishness. A serene heart can add years to one’s life; but jealous passion rots the bones.
Proverbs 14:29-30 The Voice Bible
WAYNE, PA
LOVE IS
~Patient and kind
~Not jealous or boastful or proud or rude
~It does not demand its own way
~It is not irritable and keeps no record of being wronged
~It does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices whenever the truth wins out
~Love nevers gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corn 13:4-8 NLT
Hilary, Columbus, GA
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 (NET)
Sarah, Colorado Springs,CO
Psalm 25:4
“Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.”
Psalm 25:4 (AMP)
In that day he will be your sure foundation, providing a rich store of salvation, wisdom and knowledge. The fear of The Lord is the key to this treasure.
Isaiah 33:6. NLT
Kerri, Lakeland FL
“I am the LORD, the God of every person on the earth. Nothing is impossible for me.”
Jeremiah 32:27
Plainfield, IN
Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
Psalm 119:114 (KJV)
Kathy, Madison, CT
Romans 1: 27-28 NIV
In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
Judy Pauley
Norfolk, Va.
My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Marcia Jordon, Fulton, MO
John 15:5 (NKJV)
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Vicki from Wilmington, DE.
Philippians 2:1
“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ,
If any comfort of love,
If any fellowship of the Spirit,
If any affection and mercy,…
James 1:20 (NLT) Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
Maria, Katy, TX
“Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”
Joshua 3:5(NIV)
Bobbie
College Station, Tx
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
…the one who trusts in Him (Jesus) will never be put to shame.
Romans 9:33b NIV
Paige, Flowood, MS
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Melissa, LaGrange, GA – (NASB) Proverbs 3: 5-6
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
Melissa, St. Mary’s County, MD: “Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is.” Jeremiah 17:7 KJV
donna huneycutt, mt. pleasant, nc
Open my eyes so that I may contemplate wonderful things from Your instruction.
Psalm 119:18 HCSB
Nitsa, Eugene, OR. “My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.”
Jeremiah 17:7 the NET Bible
Patti McConville
Salem, Oregon
James 1:19 NLT
Understand this my dear brothers and sisters: you must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
Lori D., Georgetown, TX
He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken. Psalm 62:6 (NIV)
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness. Psalm 29:2 (NIV)
Pam
Kountze,Tx.
Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
James 1:3 NJKV
debbie jo, greenwood, “It is the Lord your God you must follow, and Him you must revere. Keep His commands and obey Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him.” Deuteronomy 13:4
Cindy, Largo, FL
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; for He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:13-14 NIV
Teresa, Tyler TX
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.
Psalm 28:7 NLT
Nancy Keeton, Knoxville, TN
Thank you, dear Beth, for this verse that spoke to me at a much-needed time.
“My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.”
Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Nashville, TN
But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet 1 Thessalonians 5:8 NIV
Leah Cullen – Ramona, CA
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. – 1 Thessalonians 4:14 (ESV)
Christina
Tyler, TX
Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. Job 19:25 (ESV)
Darl, Bakersfield, CA
“Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” Colossians 3:14 NASB
he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Hebrews 9:12
Leanne, Billings, MT
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Romans 12:2 NIV
Hannah, Perry, MI
“Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!”
Luke 1:45, NIV
Shawna, Kent, WA
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.”
-Psalm 103:8 (NIV)
Isaiah 43:2: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Alyse woodstock, GA
“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 NIV