In preparation of the holidays coming, I wanted to talk about a couple of Scripture readings that help me when I am perplexed or troubled... Today is Jeremiah 17:1-14
I just opened my Life Recovery Bible and decided to quote the text that refers to this reading:
Hope
Read Jeremiah 17:1-14.
We may have learned a long time ago that hoping only brings disappointment. Our hopes were dashed. The promises we believed were broken. We were left feeling like fools for ever hoping in the first place. But perhaps we were devastated because we put our hope in the wrong place.
"This is what the Lord says: 'Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives. But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep in the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit. " (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
Turning our lives over to God means placing our hope and confidence in Him instead of people, who will disappoint us. When we place all our hope and trust in other people, it's like expecting a tree to flourish in a barren desert. People will disappoint us and are unable to satisfy our deepest needs. Trusting God changes everything. Jesus said, "The water I give...becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life" (John 4:14). When our hope is in God and our life in in His care, we are sustained when we otherwise would be devastated."
Wow, that really spoke to me this morning. I know that I need to keep my eyes on Jesus...and do everything as unto the Lord. When I stay connected to the vine (John 15), I am well. I am happy, joyous and free.
2 comments:
Hi Pam,
I LOVE the scriptures that talk about how we are "like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep in the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green and they go right no producing delicious fruit." There are a number of them like this and they are soooo true!! We have experienced God's "streams in the desert." Homeschooling two children with autism, one also with schizophrenia, having rheumatoid arthritis and Doug's having an aortic root aneurysm that probably is going to head us to open heart surgery has truly been a desert experience. However, despite the intermitten times of despair that have snuck up on us when we weren't keeping our eyes on God, we have been like trees planted by the water. There have been so many times that we have been asked how we could be so happy with all that is going on in our lives and our answer can only be, "It's because of Him." He is good, so good that our happiness is not dependent upon our circumstances!!
:o) Christine
Amen, Christine... Our happiness does not depend on our circumstances. I just wrote more about that today... I am hearing "GOD IS MY PORTION" loud and clear this morning. He is all that I need. Praise the name of Jesus. He is worthy to be praised! La la la...time for a song?
Love,
Pam<><
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