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
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense until the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God (Phil. 1:9-11).
Susie, Garland, TX
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for He who promised is faithful.”
Heb. 10:23 NIV
Laurie D, Dallas… My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Hanna Wahlbrink from Lexington, Ky
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Psalm 19:14 (NIV)
Amy from Noble, OK
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.
Ephesians 6:11 (NIV)
Sharon from Arlington, Texas
“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63:8 (NIV)
Jennifer, Kodak, TN
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
American Standard
Laura
Decatur, IL
Every time I say your name in prayer – which is practically all the time – I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors.
2 Timothy 1:3 The Message
Amy from fairport Ny Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6 KJV)
VERSE 15: “If you wander off the road to the left, you will hear his voice behind you saying, “Here is the road. Follow it.” Isaiah 30:21 GNB
Katherine from The Woodlands, TX
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16 (NASB)
August 5, 2013
John 6:48
I am the bread of life.
NIV
Connie Willis, Knoxville, TN
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Cindy Franklin, Graceville, FL
Ps 126:3 KJV
The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
Julie, Houston. “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)
Amy G. Clovis Ca-
Therefore dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.
Rom. 8:12 NLT
Wendy
Vero Beach
“I will instruct you and teach you
in the way you should go;
I will council you and watch over you.”
Proverbs 32:8 (NIV)
Mariposa Sivage, Albuquerque New Mexico
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Kathryn, Oceanside, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”. Deuteronomy 6:5 NIV
Psalm 34:18, NLT
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those
whose spirits are crushed.
Jackie from MO
Psalm 139:18 niv
were i to count them, they would outnumber the grains of the sand — when i am awake, i am still with you.
He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber;
Ps 121:3 NIV
Denise, San Antonio, TX
The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
(Psalm 118:14 ESV)
Webb City, MO
Know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and a willing mind. 1 Chronicles 28:9 NKJV
Regina, Birmingham, AL “God is or refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”; PS 46:1, ESV
Kari Flom in Amery, WI
Galatians 6:4 NIV
Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.
Amy S. from Saint Cloud, FL
“Truly He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 62:6
(NIV)
Trae Kendrick, Crawford, TX: “Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel…” Ephesians 6:19 NIV
Littlestown, PA- “Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ…” -Philippians 3:8
Amy, Buda, TX
Proverbs 16:9(ESV)
“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.”
Beth W. Omaha, NE
Proverbs 31:25 NIV
She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
Susan, Atlanta, GA
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 The NET Bible
Denissa C. Brownfield, TX
Sing to The Lord! Praise The Lord! For though I was poor and needy, he rescued me from my oppressors. Jeremiah 20:13 NLT
John 15:6 NKJV
If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Christ, Memphis TN
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)
Michele, Pearland, TX
“For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.” II Kings 18:6 NASB
Amber, Huntington, IN – My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Ruth, Providence
You shall have a song in the night as when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the Lord, to the Rock of Israel. And the Lord will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and tempest and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror stricken at the sound of the voice of the Lord when he smites with his rod.
Isaiah 30:29-31 RSV
Meagan, Bedford TX
She is clothed with strength and dignity,and she laughs without fear of the future. Prov 31:25 NLT
Frances, Orange, TX
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Tiffany, Nampa, ID
Psalm 139:15 – “You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” (NLT)
Ellen, Aurora, OH
“Look to the Lord and his strength – seek his face always.” I Chronicles 16:11
Karen – Leeds, AL
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. James 1:2-3 NIV
Barb, Prescott Valley, AZ
Psalm 146:2 (NIV)
“I will praise the LORD (Yahweh) all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.”
Monica, Hicksville, NY.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, & sound judgement.”
2 Timothy 1:7(HCSB)
Jennifer, Tyler, Tx
“But I, yes I, am the one who takes care of your sins—that’s what I do. I don’t keep a list of your sins.
Isaiah 43:25 (MSG)
Kathleen, Tallahassee, FL:
“…If you will not believe,
you surely will not last.”
Isaiah7:8b (NASB)
Karessa, Peoria, IL: Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. James 5:9 ESV
Anita, Big River, Saskatchewan
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
John 15: 12 ESV
Debbie, Rochester, MN
But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love Him. That is how we know we are living in Him.
1 John 2: 5 NLT