Can it be any clearer than, "Cursed is the man who
trusts in man… Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord…" We have a tendency to be incredibly
short-term thinkers and this word gives us some long-term perspective. Where a tree or shrub is planted can make all
the difference in the world. The imagery
here is like Psalm 1, Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 21 of trees planted by streams
of water that flourish because they are closely connected to the water of
life. The heart is desperately sick,
deceitful above all things is certainly an affirmation of the need for a new
one, we need a transplant, not just a stent or pacemaker, it is a clear
diagnosis. The only hope is for the
perfect surgeon to heal the heart, to give us a new one. Jeremiah knew about heart transplants before
anyone else could have even imagined such a thing.
The people are mightily confused by Jesus' words. He speaks of being lifted up and they clearly
understood He meant His death on a cross but that didn't fit at all with what
they knew about Messiah or the Son of Man, He must be speaking of a different
Son of Man. They "knew" the
Christ remains forever and they equated the Son of Man with the Christ so who
was Jesus talking about and were they wrong about what they believed about
Him? The Christ does remain forever, but
in order for anyone else to remain forever He must die. It made sense only to Jesus, no one could
have known how this was all going to go down.
I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. That is the life verse of many a person and
often times we use it to encourage ourselves that better days lie ahead, we
will conquer this adversity. Paul,
however, uses it to say that he is able to rise above adversity and prosperity
alike, he is untouched by his situation, he abides in the Lord is able to
rejoice and be content in all situations of life. There is a blessing from the Lord in
prosperity and adversity alike, as he wrote to the Romans, "all things
work together for good for those who are called according to His
purpose." Confidence isn't about
circumstances or even change in circumstances, it is about Him. Jesus was glorified in His crucifixion, how
are you bringing glory to Him in your circumstances today? To really live into that idea of doing all
things through Him who strengthens me we need to get that new heart, in the
process we go from iron to steel.
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