the wasteland-bush and the tree by the stream

Jeremiah 17:5-8
“This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
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.”

This is one of my favourite passages. Well, the second half is. The first half I like, and I included it here as a contrast, and while I wouldn't say it's a favourite, it is certainly has several points we can learn from.

Here are a few things that we can draw from each part of the passage, to contrast with each other.

5-6

• Cursed
• Trusts in man
• Bush in wastelands
• Desert, wasteland, salt land (Dt. 29:23)
• Parched
• No prosperity
• Strength from man
• Turns away from God

7-8

• Blessed
• Trusts in the LORD
• Confidence in the lord
• Tree by water
• Roots by the stream
• No fear of heat
• No worries of drought
• Always bearing fruit

Think about that word picture, of the two ways of life. You get your strength from yourself, and you and your life are just a bush in the wastelands. Wastelands - what images does that word bring to your mind? A barren land, with not a lot of plants, no water, a lonely place, it has no way of sustaining life. Now think of being in the desert without water - think even of being really thirsty on a hot day, then multiply that, you are parched. You are cursed, and whether you realize it or not, you turn away from God. You may even think you are still walking with God - and truly you are never too far from Him, all you need to do is turn - but you cannot be walking by both your strength and His. When you walk by yours you are rejecting Him, or turning away from Him. You are a bush in the wasteland. 

 Now let's look at the promises that we have to hold to when we are getting our strength from God. We are a tree by the water, our roots are by the stream. Even if the land goes dry, we will still have our source of water, and our leaves will still be green. We can have confidence in the LORD. Confidence! Think about it, what a powerful word. We will be blessed. We don't need to fear and worry about heat or drought coming, because our water supply won't disappear on us. We also don't need to fear or worry if we are in the middle of one of those seasons. If we are, maybe we're not getting our strength from God, and that's something to pray about and really work on! 

And the last few months, this has been the part of the verse that I have really clung to, that has been powerful in my life. "and never fails to bear fruit." If I am getting my strength from the LORD, there is no promise that life will be easy, all lollipops and sunshine, it won't even always be hard work that makes you feel good-tired at the end of the day. It will be messy, and we will have troubles (John 16:33). But what we can hold to, is that even in a season of drought, or heat, or whatever it may be - we will not stop bearing fruit. That's because we're not the ones doing it anyway, and He who does, is not affected by the seasons. 

If your strength comes from the LORD, rest assured, that even if you don't feel like it, you are bearing fruit.


May God bless you richly this day, as you seek to walk in His strength!
Emma 

Linking up with Elizabeth over at Oak and Oats today :)

To-Do Lists and What to Do

Still in the middle of a super busy week where we are trying to pack for a vacation, organize for school, clean house, and can food (mostly 3 bushels of peaches but there is more too); I can say without a doubt that there is lots to do! I am a list-maker, that is my preferred way of working. The lists do. not. end.

But in the middle of all this busyness, there's something else you gotta remember, too. Life is short, and relationship is what counts. It's sort of like that Bible passage on love:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. (1 Corinthians 13: 1-3)

"If I finish everything on my to-do list, but have not been purposeful about spending time with people, I fail. If I always have my school done, and my house is immaculately clean, and supper is always on time, but I have not been intentional about relationships, I had my priorities skewed."

On one of those days where the baby is cranky and clingy and just wants to be carried around all day, which makes it at least twice as hard to do many tasks; remember the baby won't be a baby for a lot longer now and soon enough won't even want to be carried at all... so treasure this time while you have it. Instead of mopping the floors right away (after all, they've made it this long without being mopped - they can take another week, can't they? ;)), play a game with the kids. 

It's important to work; to clean, to be good stewards of the things God has given us in this life. I am not at all telling you to be lazy; to not work or just leave the work. There is lots of work to be done, and we are the ones to do it. What I am saying is that we need to get our priorities straight! We complain that there is not enough time to get all our daily tasks done, let alone spend some time reading to the kids - but how long do you spend on the computer (or such devices) each day? (etc etc) There is always enough time, what there is enough time for depends on you.

There will always be work to do, but children will not always be little and people will not be around forever and if the world ended tomorrow would you wish you had cleaned the bathroom more or spent more time with the wee ones (& big people) in your life?  

Today:... pause for 5 minutes, before you fold that basket of laundry, and play a game with the kids... and then have them join you with the laundry and have a folding game! 

Life is sweet, don't miss it!

God bless y'all today!!
Em

(This post was partially inspired by this.)

I'm Not Really Sure What to Call this Post... I am not very good at naming things like this... :P

So I have been thinking about this... and for right now I think I can commit to posting twice a week... one more lengthy more thought-out post, and another shorter post; with a song, or some Bible verses... My goal is that Monday will be the longer post and Thursday would be the shorter post... It seems as if we have got the short end of the straw this week, and the long end last week but from now on it should be an equal length...

My short little post for the day... :)

1 Corinthians 10:31
Whatever you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it all in the name of the LORD Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not human masters.

Ephesians 6:7
Serve wholeheartedly as if you were serving the LORD, not people.

And I just want to share with you this awesome song (and just so you know, I do listen to more than Seeds Family Worship... ;) but they are a really fun and easy way to memorize scripture!)

Whatever you do today, friends, whether you enjoy it or not, whether it is easy or hard, whatever it is, do it all for God's glory.  May we shine His light!

My challenge to you: say hi and encourage one person today! :)

May God bless you!
love emma :)