Skip to main content

Sources

             “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.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8)

This passage reminds me of the passage in Deuteronomy where the people of Israel stood on two mountains. The Levites read out blessings and curses, and the people responded, “Amen” (So-be-it.)

One of the struggles some people have with the ideas of blessings and curses is that they see them as magic, or as something that is done to a person as a result of their doing something. It’s sort of along the old line Bea Arthur made famous, “God will get you for that…” or like Karma.

The first thing we need to get straight in our minds is that being blessed or cursed isn’t magical. It’s not something God comes along and adds on. It’s sort of like standing an inch from a state border. Stay where you are, and you’re in one state no matter what is happening to you. Step over the border and you’re in the other state, no matter what happens to you. The border doesn’t move. The other thing is that we tend to assume that we are blessed or cursed as a result of our actions when the truth is more likely to be that our actions are the result of our state. It doesn’t say “the person who does this will be blessed,” but “blessed is the person who does it.”

C.S. Lewis discussed this when he wrote about there being no ordinary people. We are all moving toward being either blessedness or cursedness. Jeremiah lists some characteristics of each sort of person. The cursed man trusts in men and draws strength from himself. His heart turns from God. And the consequence of doing those things is that he only has himself as a source. The blessed man, on the other hand, trusts/has confidence in God, has confidence, meaning that he can draw on God as his Source. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more