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
Crystal Clark, Omaha, NE
Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return, to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Zechariah 1:3 (esv)
Sarah, elkhart, in. Delight yourself in The Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 NIV
Rachel Sweatt
Canyon,TX
“…and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.” 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13, ESV
1 Corinthians 6:12″ Ecerything is permissible for
me but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible for me but I will not be mastered by anything. “
I waited patiently for The Lord, & He turned to me, & heard my cry for help. Ps.40:1
(Holman)
Carla
Indianapolis, IN
I John 5:14-15 (NIV)
“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him”
Beth, Fountain Inn
Eph. 1:6 ESV to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.
“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31(NIV)
Kristin, Clearwater, FL
Cottonwood, CA
“Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in Him.” Psalm 34:8 NLT
SKay Fires, Possum Kingdom Lake, TX
“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.”
Psalm 139:15 NIV
Vickie, Baytown, Texas
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Psalm 51:6 ESV
Donna, Glendale, Az
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things
phillipians 4:8
Joretta Windham
Waxahachie, TX
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” NIV
Pam, Sioux Falls, SD
“He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me.”
Psalm 18:19, NIV
Heidi~Lindale, Texas
“My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.”
Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Amanda Grasza, Calgary, Alberta
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
who have set there hearts on pilgrimage.”
Psalm 84:5 NIV
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, his love endures forever.
Psalm 118:1 NIV
Peggy Hale
Mauriceville, Texas
Romans 23:3 (KJV)
“For all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God.”
Andrea, Spring Branch, Texas
Colossians 1:9-10 ESV
We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.
2 Chronicles 32:8 NLT
He may have a great army, but they are merely men. We have the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles for us!
Tami
Columbus, Ohio
Marti, Libertyville, IL
“Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm 63:7 (NIV)
Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45 NIV)
Dawn, Pottsville, AR…Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7 (NIV)
Laura, League City, TX:
I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.
Palm 86:12
Kristen, Virginia: Finally,brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence, and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Practice these things and the God of peace will be with you. Phil. 4:8-9 NLT
Amanda Benson, Eagle Butte, SD
1 Peter 4:9-10, NIV
“Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20
Rena, Tulsa. “Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgements or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God.” -2 Corinthians 3:5 AMP
Melissa // Lancaster, PA
It is the Lord who created the stars, the Pleiades and Orion. He turns darkness into morning and day into night. He draws up water from the oceans and pours it down as rain on the land. The Lord is his name! (Amos 5:8 NLT)
Amy 7634, SF Bay Area
“My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me.”
Jeremiah 17:7 (NET)
Amy from Everett, WA
But whoever listens to me [wisdom] will dwell safely,
And will be secure, without fear of evil.
Proverbs 1:33(NKJV)
Kathy Carenza New Port Richey Florida
Isaiah 53:2 (NIV 84)
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Sue, Texarkana,TX Psalm 57:2 “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills His purpose for me.” NIV
Anna, from Richmond VA
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:2-3 NIV
Moreen, Sydney Australia
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him, – since the eyes of your heart have been enlightened – so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe, as displayed in the exercise of his immense strength. (Ephesians 1:17-19 NET)
Sherry Youngblood, Jay, OK
You bless righteous people, O LORD. Like a large shield, you surround them with your favor.
Psalm 5:12 (GW)
Darlene from Holly, MI
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.
1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT
Lisa in Moyock, NC
The Lord is slow to anger and mighty in power. The Lord does not leave the guilty unpunished. His will is in the whirlwind and the storm. The clouds are the dust at his feet.
Nahum 1:3. NIV
Clarice from Knoxville, IA “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever! Ps 73:26 NAS
D’Anne, Loganville, GA David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished. (1 Chronicles 28:20 NIV)
Missy S, Chapel Hill, NC
“We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 (NLT)
Vickie , Pella, Iowa
And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 2Peter 1:19 (NIV)
Kim, Yorktown,VA
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7 NIV
Lori from St. Catharines, ON
Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
Deuteronomy 6:7
Susan, Greenville, SC James 3:7-8 NIV
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
Dorinda, O’Fallon, MO. – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3 NIV)
I Timothy 6:6 (NIV)
But godliness with contentment is great gain.
It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. (2 Corinthians 3:5 NLT)
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” Psalm 51:10 ESV
Valerie, Little Elm, TX
“… And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”” John 11:41b NKJV