Cursed Is the Man and Blessed Is the Man

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Cursed Is the Man and Blessed Is the Man

We do it to ourselves.     We are so fickle  and untrustworthy.     What’s the matter  with us?     One minute  we lovingly acknowledge  that God is almighty  and takes care  of all of His creation.     The next minute  our faith has a little test  from some sort of worldly  and ungodly philosophy,  some sort  of belief system,  some sort  of trouble,  or some sort  of temptation  —  and we quickly fall apart  at the seams.

Instead of tightly holding  onto the eternal truths  of God  and trusting Him,  we are running scared  and thinking we’ve got  to consider  that maybe this  other belief system  just might be true  and we’ve got  to be politically correct  about it  —  or that we’ve got  to look  to another person  for help  —  or that  we’ve got  to get what we want  our own way  because God hasn’t given it  to us yet.

We are flip-flopping.     And that is not good  for us  because we’re allowing ourselves  to be pushed around  by this world’s influences.     We need  to be allowing ourselves  to get strengthened  in God’s word  and truths.

God has something  to say  about our fickleness  because He has proven  over and over  since the beginning of time  that He alone  can be trusted.     Our fickleness shows  a lack of faith  and love.     So God says  in Jeremiah 17:5-8,

Thus says  the LORD,   
“Cursed is the man  who trusts  in mankind
And makes flesh  his strength,
And whose heart  turns away  from the LORD.
For he will be  like a bush  in the desert
And will not see  when prosperity comes,
But will live  in stony wastes  in the wilderness,
A land of salt  without inhabitant.   

Blessed is the man  who trusts  in the LORD   
And whose trust  is the LORD.
For he will be  like a tree planted  by the water,
That extends its roots  by a stream
And will not fear  when the heat comes;
But its leaves  will be green,
And it will  not be anxious  in a year  of drought
Nor cease  to yield fruit.”

We do it  to ourselves.     Look at the differences  God describes  between the one  who quickly loses faith  and the one  who allows God  to strengthen his faith  and trust  in times  of trouble.

The one who loses faith  can’t even see  when God tries  to send something wondrously good  his way.     He refuses  to accept God’s blessings  and evidently  does not feel  they are good enough.    Because his heart  is not trusting  in the LORD  to lead and guide,  he might as well be living  in the salt deserts.     He feels hardened  in self-imposed bitterness.

Completely opposite  is the man  who trusts  in the LORD.    He is compared  to a tree planted  by the water  because God is constantly supplying him  with the spiritual nourishment  he needs.     There can even be “a year of drought”  —  that would be really tough trials  and temptations,  but this man’s trust  in the LORD  brings him  through it all.     Because of his trust,  he will still bear all the fruits  of faith,  hope  and love.

Jeremiah speaks  about how all these temptations  to lose our trust  in the LORD  are something we will constantly face  in this world.    So,  Jeremiah puts his faith  in the LORD  by saying  in Jeremiah 17:14,

Heal me,  O LORD,  and I will be healed;   
Save me  and I will be saved,
For Thou art  my praise.

And it needs  to be the same  for us.     Only the LORD can heal  and save us  from all  of the conflicts  and temptations  we are required  to face  each day  on earth.

As we look   to our loving Redeemer  for healing  and salvation,  we say,  “Hallelujah!    Lord,  blessed be Your name  for being our Refuge,  our Rock,  and our Fortress  in my every trouble  and temptation.     You alone  can save.”

Love,
Margaret

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A Christian devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and God of gods

 

Pray for our country.

 

This is the day which the LORD has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

 

The word of the LORD is tried;
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.
Psalm 18:30

 

Sing for joy in the LORD,  O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming  to the upright.
Psalm 33:1

 

How blessed are those  who dwell in Thy house!
They are ever praising Thee.
Psalm 84:4

 

Just as a father has compassion  on his children,
So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.
Psalm 103:13

 

Oh give thanks to the LORD,  for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalm 107:1

 

Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Psalm 105:3

 

Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that
I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12

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