Jeremiah 17: 5-10

^{Just finished devotion. Feels good when we come before God without agenda, just enjoying His company. Today let's do something different. Looking at Jeremiah 17 verse 5 onwards, lets try to break the verses into parts...}

^{Jeremiah 17}

⁵ Thus says the LORD:

      “ Cursed is the man who trusts in man

      And makes flesh his strength,

      Whose heart departs from the LORD.

       ⁶ For he shall be like a shrub in the desert,

      And shall not see when good comes, 

     But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness,

      In a salt land which is not inhabited. 

The man whotrust in man, people, and the circumstances around him, instead of God, who do not rely on Faith and God as strength, but rely on his own flesh, mind, thoughts, intelligence, will wither to nothingness...like shrub in the desert and will not know when good things come. Well, to me this simply happens not because God curses that person, but because that person do not know how to discern the things of God. And even if God meant to bless him, he would not know, because he is too dependent on his flesh. On what seems to be the right thing or "feels" right to do, instead of what God wants him to do.



 

       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^[b] 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.

The man who place his faith and trust on God will be like a tree planted by the waters. Let's picture this, the tree = us, water = God. Trees planted by the water will have its root spread out in very vast areas, we learn that in science, correct? In other words, it grows well and have abundance (planted by the river, and river never runs dry! It keeps flowing, it is not fixed like ponds or lake). More than that, the tree will be glorious (ever green), fruitful, contributive and useful to the society and the things around it. Trees that grow well is able to hold the ground strong and firm, when its root spread out (no landscape problem in that area), it yields fruits for the inhabitants living around it, it always look good (with green leaf)...and yes indeed, when circumstances arise (heat), there is no need to be fearful. Problems may come, but a person who hopes in the Lord will never need to be afraid of not being able to solve it. Because, God is the water/river that gives life and solution to the tree (us). So the river of living water (God) is capable of ensuring the tree (us) from experiencing drought (burnt out / backslide). But what do we need to do? We need to HOPE ON THE LORD. Again, here it speaks of two kind of people. People who made different decisions and choices when it comes to God. 

 

       ⁹ “ The heart is deceitful above all things,

      And desperately wicked;

      Who can know it? 

Here, the bible is painting a picture of the human heart. It is deceitful (manipulative, selfish, in order to get things done its way), and desperately wicked! Truthfully, a lot of times people say follow your heart in everything you do? But try following your heart without self-control (ok...don't try it). You will lose your cool easily, murder a person whenever you feel like killing them, get involved in things that would bring you pleasure (good or bad for your body). Why? because the heart says so! Very emotional based. Like the bible says, each of us in our heart already planted 13 deadly sins. But will these seeds of sin grow? Yes. When we feed it!! Can we stop it from growing. Yes also. With the Word of God and the strength of the Spirit. The heart is very connected to the flesh. So we often have to bring in a third person to break the connection. The Holy Spirit. That is what we called...purifying the heart. The Holy Spirit acts like a filter. To filter out the heart's improper desire, and make it proper to be yielded through our being. Often we sing the song of clean hands, pure heart. But what does pure heart really means? It means this. The desperately wicked heart, being cleansed, filtered and renewed.

       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.

This part of the passage is the one that jumps up to be the most. God searches the heart....He knows the content and the intent. What are your motivations in doing certain things. Is it out of selfish desire, or a pure heart? "I test the mind"....When I read this, this phrase truly jumped up to me a lot. It shows that God would search your heart and knows the content of it but yet He will still test your mind! See a lot of time people say, think with your heart, not your mind. What you really want  deep inside. Follow the flow, follow your heart! But at times, thinking with your heart can be quite a disaster. What if what you want is not in God's will? Or perhaps you want to do certain things to really fulfill your pleasure, but knowing that it is a sin, does make a difference, right? This verse to me reflect how decisions made by human are being tested. See...God SEARCH the heart....He knows the content of it, but God also knows that the mind is the one that act upon it. That is why the TEST only comes on the mind. So, we can face temptations to sin, but whether we sin or not is a different story. The test comes not with the temptation we face, but the action we yield in conjunction to the temptation. The TEST on the mind fails, when the negative desires of the heart OVERPOWER the mind. The TEST of the mind pass with flying colors, when the mind is able to discern the intent of the heart, exercise self-control, and produce the right acts.


But what about following your heart for the passion and dreams you have? So do we make our heart our mind or our mind our heart? My conviction is, there are certain things, we can allow our heart to take lead....but there are also certain things that we need to use our head and mind to take control. Not everything from the heart is totally pure. Unless purified by the Holy Spirit, following your heart to fulfill your fleshly desire can be quite dangerous. So there needs to be a balance between the heart and the mind.

The verse ended with 

 Even to give every man according to his ways,

      According to the fruit of his doings.

Here, I see a good Father in play.  God wants to give us all things. But he is very careful. We can pray for something sincerely, but at times the answer could be a no. According to the results of the search of the heart and the test of the mind. And according to the fruit of your doings. Good trees, will bear good fruits. Bad trees will bear bad fruits. So if your heart is pure, your intent are with the will of God, and you act carefully upon what you feel (test every thoughts that come into play in your mind), I believe God will grant you this according to your ways (your prayers or doing), and see to it that good fruit will be bore. I always remember what my hometown pastor (Pastor Dalbir) always tell me. He said one thing. I will not judge a church by what it is doing, but by the fruits that it produces. :)) And true enough, the fruits or the results of your action will be revealed in due season according to how your heart and mind comes together to produce the action.

Wow...Hope you guys are  blessed! :) The Word of God is could be a milk or a bread to different people.

Different people may feel the same passage speaks differently to each of them. So feel free to share what these passages speaks to each of you individually. It would be interesting to see how different words are being revealed to different people at different season and walks of lives.