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
Plano, TX
Psalm 121:3 NIV
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
Ellie Richardson – Newton, Iowa
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
Mark 11:12 KJV
Diana—San Patricio, TX. “Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
Mound City, KS
…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Romans 3:23, NIV
But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not us. 2 Cor 4:7
Almut, England
My blessing is on those people who trust in me,
who put their confidence in me. Jeremiah 17:7 NET
Deanna, Maytown AL
For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:7&8 NKJV
Debra – Many, La
“You are not your own, for you were bought at a price, Therefore glorify God in you body”.
1 Corinthians 6:19c-20 (HCSB)
Skeet Shiver – Monroe, GA.
James 2:2 (NIV)
Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring an fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in.
Connie, Shipshewana, In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will. Ephesians 1:11 NIV
Schel, Bayou Vista, TX – “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus”. – Philippians 4:19 NIV
Stephanie from Carmichael, CA
“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”
Colossians 3:2 (NKJV)
July 1, 2013
Stephanie Mitchell
Biloxi, MS
1Timothy 2:5
For the is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
July 15, 2013
Stephanie Mitchell
Biloxi, MS
1 Timothy 2:8
I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.
August 1, 2013
Stephanie Mitchell
Biloxi, MS
James 5:9
Do not grumble against one another, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door.
August 15, 2013
Stephanie Mitchell
Biloxi, MS
Ecclesiastes 5:2
Do not be rash with your mouth. And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is in heaven, and you on earth.; Therefore let your words be few.
John 14:21 NET-“The person who has my commandments and obeys them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”
Only in KNOWING Him can I be confident in Him. He will keep reminding me to EXPECT Him, who with—all things are possible. Maranatha
Jen, Katy, TX
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive ourselves. Do what it says”. James 1:22
Miriam from Granby, CT
James 1:3 (ESV)
For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Pam, Chiangmai
With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
I will give glory to your name forever, Ps 86:12 NLT
Ephesians 1:18-19a (NIV)
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
Anita
Justin, TX
Nitsa, Eugene, OR. “knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin”.
Romans 6:6 NAS
Deborah, Katy, TX
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)
“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
Amanda, Katy, TX
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)
“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
Cyndi, Katy, TX
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)
“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
Kara, Houston, TX
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)
“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
Tiffany, Katy, TX
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)
“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
Allison, Katy, TX
Proverbs 27:19 (NIV)
“As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.”
Jill, Austin, tx
John 7:37-38 esv
On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”.
Lorraine,Ontario,Canada
I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of the life. John 8:12 NIV
Lori
Bangor, Maine
He changes times and seasons, deposing some kings and establishing other. He gives wisdom to the wise; He imparts knowledge to those with understanding;
Daniel 2:21 (NET)
Lethbridge, AB
When I am afraid I will trust in you.
Psalms 56:3 NLT
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Romans 1:16 ESV…Martha from Van Buren, Arkansas
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 ESV…Dusti from Van Buren, Arkansas
Julie from Granbury, TX
2 Thessalonians 1:11 (ESV) “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by His power.”
Brenda, Houston, Tx
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding , will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Philipians 4:6-7(NKJV)
Joy in Bethlehem, GA
1 John 1:9 (NIV)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Marla
Bolivar, MO
And in the early morning, while it was still dark, He arose and went out and departed to a lonely place, and was praying there. Mark 1:35 NAS
Tami, DS, LA
Judges 5:21b HCSB
March on, my soul, in strength!
Jan, Denton TX, “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16
Stephanie
Hamburg, Arkansas
Romans 8:6 NIV
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace.
If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you the seasonal rains. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land. I will give you peace in the land, and you will e able to sleep with no cause of fear.
Lev 26:3-6, NLT
Debra in Mobile, AL
“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
Colossians 2:21-23 (NIV84)
Ps. 103:3-4 NIV84
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
krystal ward
teague, tx
“let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our 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.”
Hebrews 12:2 NIV
Lee from IN – Colossians 1:17 ESV- And He us before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
I Peter 1:”Since you call upon a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.”
Lisa, Charleston, WV
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. I Corinthians 13:7 (NLT)
Emily, Charleston, WV
Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34
“His secret purpose framed from the very beginning is to bring us to our full glory.”
1 Corinthians 2:7 NET