“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 17:7-8

She is like a tree planted by the water … she will be fruitful in every season

Recently our pastor taught that there is NEVER a season where we can’t be fruitful. And he pulled from the ‘Parable of the Sower’ (found in Mark Chapter 4, Matthew Chapter 13, and Luke Chapter 8) to teach us how our hearts have everything to do with whether we are fruitful in any season.

One thing that will always rob us of being fruitful for the Kingdom is when we get bogged down in the cares of this world. Which is what is happening right now.

During the past year and a half, we have been asking ourselves why Christians on social media are divided and not united, why all the fussing and fighting over mere preferences instead of taking this time to come together as one to share the Gospel Message of the Good News of Christ with a hungry world?

It is because we are weighed down with the cares of this world.

We have forgotten who we are and Whose we are …

Jesus asks us in Matthew 6:27 “ Can we, by worrying, add a single hour to our life?”

We worry about many things, don’t we?

Children, finances, school, unexpected changes, choices our loved ones make.

Has worrying about any of these things made anything better for you?

Dictionary.com says worrying gives way to anxiety or unease, allowing one’s mind to dwell on troubles. To agonize, overthink, panic, lose sleep, torment oneself.

Jesus doesn’t want us to torment ourselves …

Oswald Chambers, is quoted in “Our Careful Unbelief” as saying, “It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us. Have you ever noticed what Jesus said would choke the Word He puts in us? Is it the devil? No— it is “the cares of this world” Matthew 13:22

He ends his devotion by writing “The greatest word of Jesus to His disciples is abandon.”

I like to think of myself as a disciple of Jesus Christ. But do I truly abandon myself to Him?

Whenever I worry, I am putting into action my unbelief in the goodness and integrity of my God.

God rained down manna each morning to sustain the Israelite’s in the desert. And He gives us a fresh supply of His Grace every morning for the day He foresees we will have.

But we can waste today’s grace worrying about tomorrow.

When I use up the grace He apportioned for me today to worry whether He will come through for me tomorrow, I can imagine how this must hurt God’s heart.

I always loved Jeremiah 17:7 … “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.” And wow, have I ever needed to meditate on this verse through this long season of covid. But God showed me that I had spent the past 19 months not realizing and not being thankful that I was living out the verse that came right after Jeremiah 17:7. The second verse describes how He would bless those who trusted in Him:

“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 17:7-8

When I focused on trusting Jesus more and declared I was blessed, He promised I would be like a tree planted by the water. My roots would not lack the water it needed and when the heat came, I would not fear. My leaves would always be green and I would have no worries in this year of drought. AND I would never fail to bear fruit. 

Please remember that ‘blessed’ doesn’t mean things will always go our way because His Kingdom work will always take precedence over our personal comfort.

But, in contrast to what we read (above) about what happens when we let our minds give way to worry, putting our confidence in Jesus and declaring and believing ourselves already blessed helps us to remain both at rest in Jesus and productive in our ministry work. We essentially remain in our right minds and not forgetful of who we are, Whose we are and what our purpose is. 

Here is another verse … we will be fruitful in every season if delight in His Word!

Psalm 1:2-3 (NIV) promises “But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”

Meditating on God’s Word saturates our minds and crowds out the enemy. 

Saturating something thoroughly soaks it so nothing more can be absorbed. Hence, saturating our minds with God’s Word will crowd out fear and worry. There’s just no room to spare for the enemies antics! What isn’t allowed to hang out in our minds can’t take root in our hearts. And our branches will grow and bloom accordingly.

Another pastor once told me a tree’s branches are only as wide as its roots. God designed it that way. Otherwise, the first storm that comes along, the tree will topple.

I want to be the tree in these Scriptures. Learning to joyfully abandon myself to Jesus. As we root ourselves deep in the cool soil of His Word and drink in His living water, God will take care of the details in our lives. In addition, His Word promises we will never stop producing fruit no matter what season we are in.

Fruitful in every season …

Which means we can be confident that God can use us for His glory no matter what the enemy tries to whisper. In fact, when we are saturated in God’s Word, there is no room in our souls for the enemy’s lies to abide.

Even now, in this beautiful Autumn Season, the trees themselves don’t know they are preparing for winter. They just joyfully abide with their Creator, no worries about sacrificing their leaves in the near future. They don’t waste today’s grace. Instead, they just focus on digging deeper down into the cool soil and worshipping their Maker. Their branches, stretched out towards God, are trusting whatever may come will be part of His great plan for them! And all across our country, we see His glory in their blazing colors.

I’m beginning to understand what living in abandon to Jesus means!

God’s promises are true and we don’t have to just ‘wish’ to be like the tree in these Scriptures!

We already are!

Where ever you are today … trust Him, delight in His Word,

and call yourself blessed …

❤

She is Fruitful in Every Season @ freshgracefortoday.com

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