This week, as a community, we’d like to pause between plans and refresh the way rhythms we use to read God’s Word. Join us as we dig into some familiar (or not so familiar) pieces of scripture and seek our Father together by reading and processing this truth.
Today’s passage is Jeremiah 17:5-10
First, let’s pray. Ask the Lord to open your heart and your mind and to help you focus on Him. Confess the things that might be keeping you from really truly experiencing His presence and submit your time to His will.
Second, let’s read Truth! Take your time and see what catches your attention. Make notes of what impresses you and moves you. Try to see the whole picture of what the passage is conveying. What does it say about God?
Next, reflect on what He’s saying. What does this passage mean for you and for the body of Christ? Is there anything you feel like He is personally communicating to you for your exact season, situation, or circumstance?
Lastly, let’s respond. Prayerfully and humbly, see what’s next. What do you need to do in light of what you’ve read? How will it affect your day, your life, and your walk with the Lord?
And as always, feel free to share with us in the comments below!
It is our joy to read Truth with you all.
I have been witnessing “Blessed is the one who trusts in The Lord” play out in my family’s life over these last couple of months. In May my mother-in-law was diagnosed with a massive brain tumor and underwent surgery to remove it. The surgery itself went amazingly but recovery has been a different story. The journey has been hard, and certainly not one I would choose. However, as we have trusted God, I have seen His love poured out on us. My mother-in-law is still here with us, and we have so much to be thankful for. I would ask for your continued prayers for her. She spent the last week in the hospital with an infection in her incision. She is now home on IV antibiotics, but if those fail she will have to have another surgery to clean out the infection and that will require the removal part of her skull. So far the antibiotics have not been giving the results the doctors would like to see, and another surgery would no doubt be traumatic.
Praying for your MIL and your family.
Praying for your mother-in-law that the Lord who is the Great Physician knows exactly what she needs in order to be well will stretch forth His healing hand and bring total and complete healing to her. Praying also for doctors to have wisdom to know what to do w/o having to do another surgery. Praying the family will have peace and complete trust in the Great Physician.
Sorry to hear recovery has been rough, tnlsmom. Lifting all of you in prayer today! I also read v.14 in Jeremiah:" Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise."
Praying for God’s will to be done so He is glorified, in Jesus name, Amen!
Praying for your mother in law. For God's healing of the infection and that she doesn't need anymore surgery.
Praying…and will continue to.
Wow wow wow! This speaks so intensely to me. I just accepted a job in another state and my husband is looking for work in the same place. We're freaking out because we've drained our savings so that I could finish my Masters and pretty soon, student loans are going to come a-knockin'. I've lived in a pool of stress, battling with myself to let go and LET GOD, but I always fall prey to my worries. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" Fortunately, God can! He knows what my heart feels and says and He will take care of me as long as I put all of my trust in HIM. Amazing!
Throughout the majority of my life, I've been a fearful worrier. Over the past year, however, the fear has taken over complete control of my life almost to a paralyzing level. It's not good, I realize that. I know it's keeping me from being closer to God as well. Definitely not how I have expected my life to go or where I expected to be at this point in life either. The latter part of v.8 (It does not fear…. It has no worries…) really stood out to me and opened my eyes a little wider. Maybe I'm starting to finally realize that if I just let myself believe and trust in Him, I won't suffer and will be okay no matter what the situation may be. If I just completely trust, He will continue to take care of me in the way He has this past year. I need to stop resisting and give Him ALL of the glory! No matter what. Whether I see it as plain as day, or whether it may be a little cloudy.
Amen Cristen!
Cristen, have a look at Matthew 6, 25-34. It is helping me so much in this season of my life!
Going to check that out right now, clim23! Thanks for the suggestion.
On Linda Kuhar's blog today she mentioned Deuteronomy 31:8 which talks about fear. She does a one minute life coaching post each week. Her words were touching, but I also jotted down the verse so I could read it more deeply later. If you are not already familiar with her work, I think I picked it up through the proverbs 31 web page.
Thanks Sheila. I will definitely check it out.
Wiscogirl, I also do the same thing what with praying over and over again! It reminds me of a verse I read somewhere in the old testament- that's a really broad range, I know- but it's where a leader/king keeps asking God about if He'll beable to inhabit and conquer the land over the Jordan. He says that God then becomes angry with him, saying, "I've had enough on this matter, do not talk about it anymore. Look at the Jordan, because I have not planned for you to inhabit and conquer it yourself, but Joshua will. Raise him up and encourage Him in this way." It's a paraphrase, but I remember the "Don't talk about this anymore" tone of God's voice. He's got it; He wants us to move onto bigger and better things. Maybe we shouldn't rely on feeling an emotion of peace and assured-ness and rather rely on the fact that we have peace and are assured of being taken care of?
all of it stuck out to me, but the parts on what kinds of plants a person with and without God are (vs 5-8) really stuck out to me and gave me a good way to look at things: when I try to place myself, I run haggard, blind, and perpetually discontent with my life. When I let God place me, I am at peace, and I can see things for what they really are, no matter what they are. God knows where we will grow best; when I let Him place me, I can truly "bloom where I'm planted." Thank you, Lord, for showing me your ways of peace, truth, patience, adventure, and joy. I love you, Father.
Have a great day girls! I love you all.
The Lord searches the heart and examines the mind (v. 10). This part really stuck out to me. When you truly trust in The Lord, you will pray about the situation, wipe your hands, and walk away. Sometimes I find myself praying over and over about a situation and then constantly worry about it. True confidence comes when you can pray and totally walk away knowing its all taken care of. I want to see myself in a place where my faith in Him is so strong that the spirit of fear doesn't even come over me! A few things I'm praying to The Lord for: purchasing my first home, financial aid for graduate school, weight loss (I just want the best temple for Him), love (I'd love to date right now but God keeps telling me I'm not quite ready), and spiritual growth in Christ Jesus (the most important of them all). I'm the vine and I need to let him prune and cut me so I can be planted by the water!
"When you truly trust in The Lord, you will pray about the situation, wipe your hands, and walk away. Sometimes I find myself praying over and over about a situation and then constantly worry about it. True confidence comes when you can pray and totally walk away knowing its all taken care of."
This is so true, wiscogurl. So true. I find I keep praying the Lord for the same things over and over as well. I pray today that my trust in the Lord may be complete; He examines my mind and my heart, he knows exactly what is on my heart now and he will grant my prayers in good time in his bountiful and merciful grace. Sometime it's hard to understand and accept but I pray that my heart will quieten and wait for His plan to happen in the time He has decided for me.
"When you truly trust in The Lord, you will pray about the situation, wipe your hands, and walk away." <– Well said! This is something I struggle with also. Since God knows exactly what's on our mind and in our heart we probably sound like a broken record with our repetitive praying! ;)
As I read these verses and ask God what it is he wants me to take from this verses 9&10 reverberates in my spirit. I have always had what I would say is a big heart. When I love I love deeply and when I want something I want it badly, both are issues of the heart. Sinning comes from the heart therefore, we can choose whether or not to continue in sin.
However, because God knows the heart he examines it to see what are motives are for committing this sin. Example: why are you praying for that particular man? Why are you really on that committee? Why did you really listen that particular song? Was it to stir up in fleshly emotions? In other words because the heart is deceitful and is prone to sin we need to be very careful of what it does and why. As an old Pastor of mine once said regarding these verses ” check your motives” check your heart”!
On another note: I love these verses because it reminds me that I can’t fool God! He knows my heart and checks it constantly. Therefore he knows my motives for doing what I do and that’s enough for me to “check my motives”! The heart is a deceitful thing and it can get us in a lot of trouble if we don’t keep it in check. We can fall in love with the wrong person because our heart says its right. Been there done that, and still paying for it! We can serve on a certain committee because our heart tells us it’s the right thing to do. When God wants us some where else. When I hear people say follow your heart or what does your heart say. I usually tell them it’s not my heart I want to listen to but Gods voice.
My prayer constantly is “God show me my heart, show me what you see that’s not of you. Cleanse my heart and make it right and pleasing to you. Give me what to pray for that I can have complete deliverance and a pure heart. In Jesus name Amen” I pray this same prayer now over all of us on SRT!
Have a Teriffic Tuesday ladies–
What a good point, "I usually tell them it's not my heart I want to listen to but God's voice." The heart surely IS deceitful, and we can always make excuses for what "IT" wants! I'll definitely be checking my motives more closely in the future. Thank you Sister!
Charmaine,
I receive and appreciate your prayer!
Charmaine, your insight for verses 9 and 10 is great! Those verses stuck out to me right away when I was reading but I was having a hard time grasping verse 9 at first and your comment really helped. I love the prayer that you shared with us. :)
"It's not my heart I want to listen to but God's voice." <– Awesome!
“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7,8 NIV)
It's leaves are ALWAYS green, it has NO worries of being without water supply and NEVER fails to bear fruit! Why? Because she trusts in The Lord, her confidence is in Him and she has taken up residence near the WATER SUPPLY!
Jesus said if you drink of this water you will never thirst again….every time I depend on my own resources I come up EMPTY and DRY…
But if I go to the stream where the LIVING WATER flows continually, where all of my answers can be found…I am never thirsty, I am never without fruit…I do not fear when heat comes…when trials come, when troubles that I can't solve appear, I run to the SUPPLY….
My leaves are always GREEN…they are always FULL of that water! In other words, I am prepared. I have prayed up! I am ready for whatever comes my way!
Wonderful comments that have encouraged me today….bless you all!
CandaceJo,
Some how your CAPS stood out to me as the Holy Spirit impressed God’s (agape) love mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13…thanks!
Oh you are welcome! I'm not sure why I even did that today, it's not normal for me but maybe it was just for you ;) Blessings!
Sorry published too soon baby landed on my arm as I was struggling to type last sentence. All I had left to say was hopefully rambling about trees amd streams made sense to someone else because it did for me, thanks to onerebelheart pointing it out. And it really brought the text home. Loving these couple days of Rythyms so far!