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
My oldest son was born with a heart defect, so now at 22 he is getting it fixed in a few weeks. My verse is Jer 24:17 NIV
I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
Dixie, Santa Monica, CA
Lori, from Kemptville, On
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me. Jeremiah 17:7 (The NET Bible)
Rachel Owasso, OK
Luke 12:22 NIV
Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear.”
Alice, Dallas, TX: Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6-7 NKJV
Sue, Groveport, OH
Psalm 34:8 NIV
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.
Judy – Maple Valley, WA.
Phil 4:6 NIV
Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Mary Beth, St. Louis
“So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 6:11 (NET)
Debbie Nicholson
Gulfport, MS
For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37 NIV
Kristi, Pensacola, FL:
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.
James 1:26, NIV
The King is enthralled with by your beauty, honor hie for hr is your Lord. Psalm 45:11 Niv
DeeDee in Tallahassee, FL – “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV)
Phyllis, Irvine, CA, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5 (NIV)
Ontario, OH
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the LORD. Then he returned to the Israelite camp and shouted, “Get up! for the Lord has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!” Judges 7:15. NLT.
Mansfield, OH
Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! NLT
1 Samuel 12:21
Deb, Becker, MN
Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people. And walk in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. Jeremiah 7:23 (NIV)
Sheryl, PA
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
Ephesians 3:14-17a NIV
Teresa, Walla Walla “For the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk; it is living by God’s power.” I Cor. 4:20 NLT
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
MiChal, College Station, TX
”Keep asking…Keep searching…Keep knocking…”
Matthew 7:7 (HCSB)
Dawn, Mt. Olive, NC
Psalm 46:10 NKJV
“Be still and know I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Delores O.
Lake Stevens, WA
Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Psalm 50:14 NLT
Gretchen, Thousand Oaks, CA
Romans 8:3(b) – 4 NET “By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Heather, Colorado Springs, CO Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? James 3: 11 NIV
Karen Edlund
Rochester, MN
Ps. 62:7 NLT
“My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.”
Very power interpretation of Jer. 17, Beth! Thank you! I will be pondering it for a while and sharing it with others.
Jeanene – Newnan, GA
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7
The NET Bible
WendyC – Cheyenne, WY.
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 NIV
Proverbs 3:3-4 NIV
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
Patti from Tampa: Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the Kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21 NIV
Kalonni, Van Meter, Iowa: “I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” 1 John 2:14b
Jody Bowhay in Huntsville, AL
Matthew 28:19-20 NIV
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
La Chiel from Portland, TN
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Romans 12:2 NET
Lisa from Sioux Falls, SD (Yeah! Beth is coming here today!)
This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. ~Psalm 118:24 NASB
Mary, Atlanta – “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Col. 3:1 (NIV1984)
Betsy Roberts
Matthew 10:29,31 AMP
“Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s consent and notice … Fear not, then; your are of more value than many sparrows”.
Hannah, Albuquerque
I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. (Psalm 34:1 ESV)
Julie from Bristol, Tennessee
Proverbs 3: 11-12 niv
Do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because God disciplines those He loves.
Kim from Dimmitt, Texas
Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
Kate K., Lafayette, IN
“This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.”
I John 4:17 NIV
Carole, Imperial, CA: God cares about honesty in the workplace; your business is His business. Proverbs 16:11 The Message
Amy
Tyler, TX
The man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.
Jeremiah 17:7 (HCSB)
Selena – Cordele, GA
Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12, NIV
I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.
Ps. 17:6 NIV
Ginger
Wetumpka, AL
Linda from Birmingham, Alabama
“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”
~ Psalm 119:105 (NIV)
Sandie Powell, Albuquerque, NM: great peace have they which love thy law; nothing shall offend them. Psalm 119:165 KJV
I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1 (KJV)
Ellen, Albuquerque. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15 (NIV)
Kim, Marysville, OH
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word. Psalm 119:114 ESV
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everylasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 ESV
A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense. Proverbs 19:11 NIV
Coral, Jacksonville, Florida
2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
Cathy Reineke in Orofino, ID
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry “Abba Father”. Rom 8:14-15 NIV