Verse of the Day 1/23

Verse of the Day 1/23

Jeremiah 17:7-8 "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 ^[a]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.    New King James Version (NKJV)

The passage starts out by saying "cursed is the man who trusts in man".  Today's verses then give us the contrast "blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord".  It is either one or the other, the choice is up to us.  It is not saying that it will be easy to trust, the heat, the times of drought may come, but in trusting in God, we may continue to yield fruit.

I ended yesterday's post by closing with the words to the song "Blue Skies".  A couple of lines of that song read, "my strength seems to fade, and it is all I can do to hold on, til' the light reappears."  Our strength may appear to fade in the heat, but the "leaf will be green" and the Christ follower will continue to trust and hold on with faith.

Like a child holding on to a promise
I will cling to His word and believe
As I press on to take hold of that
For which Christ Jesus took hold of me

So I will hold on to the hand of my Savior
And I will hold on with all my might
I will hold loosely to things that are fleeting
And hold on to Jesus for life
I will hold on to Jesus for life
I'll hold on to Jesus, I will hold on to Jesus for life
Hold on for life      (from "Hold On" - Steven Curtis Chapman)

In 1Timothy 6 Paul tells Timothy to hold on and fight the good fight of faith.  The word for fight is literally to "agonize", it is fighting with all you have.  But when you come through you will have the good confession and will continue to bear fruit.

1 Timothy 6:12 New King James Version (NKJV) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Jeremiah 17:5-10 New Living Translation (NLT)

Wisdom from the Lord

⁵ This is what the Lord says:
"Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans,
    who rely on human strength
    and turn their hearts away from the Lord.
⁶ They are like stunted shrubs in the desert,
    with no hope for the future.
They will live in the barren wilderness,
    in an uninhabited salty land.

⁷ "But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
⁸ They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
    with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
    or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
    and they never stop producing fruit.

⁹ "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
    and desperately wicked.
    Who really knows how bad it is?
¹⁰ But I, the Lord, search all hearts
    and examine secret motives.
I give all people their due rewards,
    according to what their actions deserve."