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
Isaiah 58:12, NLT
“Some of you will rebuild the ancient ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.”
Jill Sayles, Puyallup,WA
Entering her house leads to death; it is the road to the grave.
Prov 2:18 NLT
Ashley, Kingwood
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”
Romans 6:14 ESV
Sarah Cox from Jay, OK
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.”
Ephesians 6:1 (KJV)
August 1
DLynn; Argyle, TX
1 Corinthians 13:1
1. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
Beth, London Ontario
Psalm 90:12 NLT
Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.
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 if his glorious inheritance in his holy people
Ephesians 1:18
Cindy, New York City (just catching up…we moved in August!!)
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
Jeremiah 17:7 NET
One Lord, one faith,one baptism.
Eph. 4:5
Meredith, Blacksburg, VA
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
Isaiah 40:28 ESV
Summer, McCurtain, OK
Do not have any other gods besides me. Exodus 20:3 HCSB
Melissa J – Houston, TX
Ephesians 4:29 NIV
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building other up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Paulette, Fairview Heights, IL
Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Tim 6:6 NKJV
Lynchburg, VA.
1 John 4:18(English Standard Version)
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
Theresa Bradford – Pace, Florida
Psalm 27:14 (NIV)
“Wait for the LORD, be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD>”
continuously i used to read smaller content that
also clear their motive, and that is also happening with
this post which I am reading here.
Katherine from The Woodlands, TX
When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.
Proverbs 31:26 (NLT)
Carol Kirby, Amarillo, TX
But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. Jeremiah 17:7 NIV
Selina, Aberdeen. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord , And whose hope is the Lord .” Jeremiah 17:7 NKJV
Stacy, Greenfield, Indiana “All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” 2 timothy 3:16-17 NIV
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10 NIV
Tina, Houston,TX
A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. Proverbs 16:23 (NIV)
Lindsay, Albuquerque, NM “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus 14:14 ESV
Kelsie, Albuquerque, NM “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him” Lamentations 3:25 NIV
Alysa, Albuquerque, NM “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” Romans 1:16 NIV
Karen Buchanan, Dover, AR. KJV Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul?”
Julie, Charleston, WV
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:6 (NIV)
Carol Wilson
Choctaw, OK
The Lord your God who goes before you will fight for you. Deut. 1:30 (Holman)
k.joy from Lancaster, PA
For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes — Jews first and also Gentiles.
Romans 1:16 NLT
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 NIV
Kirby from Parsons, KS
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
Tanya, Whitewater, KS
“For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect). But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).”
1 Corinthians 13:9-10, Amplified
Jennifer in Winston-Salem, NC
An excellent wife is the crown of her husband, but she who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones.
Proverbs 12:4 ESV
Sara, Plymouth, IN
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether throne or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him!
Colossians 1:16 (ESV)
Lisa S, Plano TX
James 1:19 ESV
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
Romans 4:16 (NIV)
Mei, Easley, SC:
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. Romans 4:16
Dawn, Beavercreek, OH
Psalm 34:12 (NLT)
Does anyone want to live a life that is long and
prosperous? (to be continued …:)
St. Catharines, Ontario, CANADA
2 Timothy 1:7 NIV
For the spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self discipline.
Emilie Eaton, IN
Hebrews 13:8 NIV
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Beth P, Roswell, GA
“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.”
John 15:12 NLT
Jennifer, Wilmington DE
Make it your ambition to lead a QUIET LIFE, to mind your own business and to work with your hands.
– 1 Thess 4:11
(Learned this recovering from surgery – need to slow down and quiet is ok!!)
Trust in The Lord with all your heart.
Proverbs 3:5a
Sue, Standish, ME
Micah 6:8 NKJV
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Pam-Olathe
“Be completely humble & gentle; be patient, bearing w/one another in love.”
Ephesians 4:2. NIV
Pam-Olathe
“Your love has given me great joy & encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.” Philemon 7 NIV
“Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.”
Psalm 143:8 NKJV
“For the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, & truth-trying to learn what is pleasing to The Lord.” Ephesians 5:9-10 NET
Pam-Olathe
“When thou liest down thou shall not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, & thy sleep shall be sweet.” Proverbs 3:24. NKJV
“Let us come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, & find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“Wait on The Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on The Lord.” Psalm 27: 14
“And God is able to make ALL grace abound to you, so that in all things @ all times; having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
II Corinthians 9:8 NIV
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose Romans 8:28