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
Stacey in Mount Pleasant, SC
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Phil 4:13 (NIV)
Stephanie, Irvine, CA
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faitful in prayer.” (Romans 12:12, NIV)
Sharon in Florien: The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. Psalm 37:23-24 (NLT)
Kathleen Saint Joseph, MI
Jeremiah 17:7
My blessing is on those people who trust in Me, who put their confidence in Me.
NET
PerryLove * Gallatin, TN
The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. *Provervs 12:18 *NIV
Hilary from Langley, Canada, says:
“If I say, Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.”
Psalm 139:11-12 (NIV84)
Redfield, AR
[14] Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;
Save me, and I shall be saved,
For You are my PRAISE.
Jeremiah 17:14 (NKJV)
Jen M. Yuba city, California.
Psalm 119:114 (MSG)
You’re my place of quiet retreat;
I wait for your Word to renew me.
Joy – Georgetown, TX – Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God Reigns!'” – niv
Gina Rosamond,CA
“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.”
Ezra 7:10 NASB
Lori in Pine Island, MN
“Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.” Titus 2:14. NIV84
Susan, Locust Grove VA
Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
Jeanette , Tualatin , OR Col. 1:9 NIV
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
Jaclyn, Round Rock, TX
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” Isaiah 40:31 NIV
Julia, Flower Mound, TX
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.
3 John 11 (NIV)
Karlys, La Place, LA
My son, do no lose sight of these –
keep sound wisdom and discretion,
Proverbs 3:21 ESV
Joan G, Allentown, PA fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10 ESV
Nancy Engberg from Minneapolis,
The Lord God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:15
NIV
Elaine, Littleton, CO
Micah 6:8 He has showed you, O Man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. (NIV)
Carol Midland, Texas
For the Lord your God is the One who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.
Deuteronomy 20:4 NIV
Barb, Urbandale, IA
…because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Romans 8:7-8
Angel, Tracy, CA, Matthew 6:33, NIV
But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Gail Jones. Decatur TX
Psalm 51:16. NIV
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
Julie/Deer Park/ Romans 15:13 NIV 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.
Pam ~ Moss Bluff, LA
“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 (NIV)
Norfolk, VA
Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love and break up your unplowed ground for it time to seek the LORD until he comes and showers righteous on you.
Hosea 10:12 NIV
Julie/Deer Park/Psalms 119:165 NIV Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.
Lisa form Denver
Mark 11:24 NIV
Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Erica, Huntington, IN
“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry,” James 1:19 NIV
Jamie Teagle, Atlanta, GA
Psalm 138:8
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. (NIV)
and/or
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. (NKJV)
Dawn in Monett, MO
Proverbs 11:25 NIV
A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
Kim Beechem from Center, TX:
“Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.” Proverbs 29:17 (NIV)
Beth,Troy
So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke 11:9-10(NIV)
Tanya from Lorton, VA
Daniel 21-22 (NIV)
He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
Ally, Houston, tx.
“Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”
Psalm 51:11-12 KJV
Rachel D., Meridian, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.” Proverbs 19:21 (NLT)
Dawn, Colleyville, TX,
The Lord is my Shepard, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. Psalm 23:1-2, NIV
Alexis, Salem OR
” But You O Lord are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 86:15 NLT
Melanie Toups
Bridge City, TX
Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. — 1 John 2:7-8 NASB
“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Habakkuk 3:17-18 NIV
“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for The Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Joshua 1:9 KJV
Neeley from Auburn, AL
James 3:15- NIV
“Such wisdom does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil.”
Continuation of James 3
Linda, Blue Springs, MO
Jeremiah 17:7 ESV
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
Nina, Moore, OK
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 NIV
Melissa, Columbus, OH
Jer. 17:7 My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me.
Kitty, Fishers, IN
Colossians 1:16-17 (The Message)
We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels-everything got started in him and finds its purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it altogether right up to this moment.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:8-9 niv
Cathi, Morristown TN
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. (Psalm 37:5 ESV)
Nancy, West Grove, Pa.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV
“For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you. 2 Chron. 20:12 NIV Pam in San Diego