Scripture:
Jeremiah 17:7-10 NKJV
[7] “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. [8] For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. [9] “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? [10] I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
Observation:
This is a scripture that has come across my attention several times. It honestly carries a heavy impact, if you take the time to process what’s being said. The way its put together makes it one of those portions in the Bible that is somewhat easy to pull apart and look at just what you want to see. In fact just for the interest of teaching I left some of it out. In hopes that you will go back and read the entire passage even though I will be making references to it. Jeremiah is a prophet of GOD. Their job is generally to give some kind of warning to the chosen people of GOD. Jeremiah was only a young man the date he was called to do so, and much like Moses. He gave every excuse in the book for why he couldn’t follow through with what GOD had called him to do. In the very first chapter of his book he says but I am only a youth, and don’t know how to speak. Now his calling was to warn about apostasy. Which is one of those fancy church words that a lot of us have never heard. The meaning of it is to abound on a religious or political belief. His calling was a hard one. He had to tell people who knew that they were GOD’S chosen people that they were starting to trust in what they could do and not in what GOD has done. Looking at what he said in the entire set of scriptures that are a part of this SOAP will help us to see that honestly what is being said starts in verse 5 of chapter 17, so you can see how by only choosing the fluffy stuff you can get the bible and its council wrong. That is not at all what I’m trying to do here. My desire is to get you reading the bible for yourself. Page after page so that you will receive the whole council of what GOD is saying to you. In this section of Jeremiah’s book he gives a constant about what it looks like to trust in man, or GOD. Starting in verse 5 he talks about a shrub in the desert. Dry welted and thirsty and in need of provision. The contrast comes when he explains the difference of what it looks like to trust in the LORD over trusting in man. I honestly love the difference. Verse 5 starts out by identifying that GOD says, ” Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the LORD. That’s the word we are talking about this morning apostasy. Pulling away from or giving up a belief. As he continues with what he is saying he wants his readers to know what both sides look like. One is dry thirsty and in need and the other is not phased by the times of drought. Verse 7 is where our hope comes from. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is in the LORD for he shall be like a tree planted by the water, which spreads out his roots by the river and will not fear when the heat comes. But its leaves will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit:” you see what Jeremiah wants his readers to know is that when you trust in man you will be left empty and dry. You might say you will be a fire hazard. Ready to spontaneously combust at any moment. But when you trust in the LORD. Even when there is not much, you will have what you need. As he continues to teach his readers. He is identifying the issue. The difference really comes down to trusting in the LORD or being led by your emotions. There is a difference, and although you may think that you should follow your heart. I mean that’s what the world says. Jeremiah tells his readers right here that’s not a good idea. ” the heart is deceitful above all things And desperately wicked. Who can know it. The LORD can because HE tests it and your mind. HE is searching to see if you are devoted to HIM or you’re self. As Jeremiah continues to teach he again references that when you trust in man you will be left empty.
Application:
A sifting is taking place… and to be honest my short comings and put right in front of me sometimes. You know its easy to point out when GOD shows you. In fact they are kind of hard to deny. The question comes down to do you trust the LORD. Or do you trust in what you can do. As I was looking at this scripture I noticed one thing. Both go through the drought. But only one has tge nutrients it needs to survive that drought the one who trust in the LORD. You see the thing is i know where my help comes from. It does not cone from me. It cones from above. It comes from the LORD. Over the last few months. I have been going through it. The enemy has been relentless. I have done my best not to give in to his games. You see he liked to get you to react out of your emotions. Trusting in what you feel above what GOD says, and honestly its easy to do. Its easy to trust in the philosophy of man over what the bible says. Its also easy to twist tge bible when you only take the fluffy stuff and leave the rest. We are all going to face stuff. GOD is going to test our hearts. HE us going to see if we trust HIM or if we are trusting in ourselves. HE dose that in many different ways. Because each one of us are in a different place at any given time. Recently my wife has been sick. I trust that GOD will heal her. Because its what HIS word says. I’m not a big believer in doctors to be honest because I saw a lot during COVID that made my trust for them even worse than it was before. I trust the LORD. That’s it. HE either is or HE isn’t HE either can or HE can’t HE either will or HE won’t. But the thing is HE is going to test you to see if that’s what you truly believe. One thing about HIM is HE is right on time. providing what you need right when you need it. HIS timing is perfect. But when we react out of our emotions we may never get to see HIM working all things fir our good. Trusting GOD will always take you to the edge of everything you know, or think you know. It will play high on your emotions, and tug at your heart. I don’t want my wife to suffer or struggle. I want her healed and walking in divine health. So I pray for her healing. My emotions have mentioned going to the doctor a time or to, but my faith says that’s not what’s going to heal her and to be honest her faith is in the same place. Every time I have mentioned it she says they won’t do anything we are not already doing. I’m grateful to have a wife who trusts in GOD just as much as I do. My point is is easy to get caught up in your emotions. Making decisions based on what man thinks he can do. But GOD is the one who is in control. HE is the healer. HE is the provider. HE is the “I AM” everything you need HE is. HE is the healing, HE is the provision, the bread of life, the living water, the light of the world. The question is do you trust in HIS word or do you trust man? Some might call me an extremist, and maybe I am. But if I’m going to get in trouble in heaven for anything I want it to be for trusting GOD to much. Man tries to explain HIS words away, because we use our own understanding to explain it. But we cant do that. We are supposed to take GOD’S word at face value. The reason we don’t see miracles today is because we don’t believe that GOD still does them. But HIS word is the same today, tomorrow, and forever. The question is not is HIS word true. The question is do you believe it. Do you trust HIM.
Prayer:
Father, you have said so much, and not one dot or tittle is out of place. You are the same today as you were yesterday, as you will be tomorrow. Nothing has changed. We trust you. You are the great “I AM” you are everything we need. We trust that you are who you say you are and you will do what you say you will do. We believe in you. Now please help our unbelief. Remove any doubts that we may have. We are not asking that you prove yourself. Because we know who you are already. We are just asking that you hold fast to your word. Provide, heal, cast down strongholds, break chains, set captives free, move like only you can. We know that our trust in you is not in vain. You are the LORD of heaven and earth. You have created all and you are in all. We trust you over anything else. Its in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen.