“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 NIV
I had a Sunday School teacher when I was a teenager who would respond “I am blessed” to anyone asking her how she was. I can remember at the time thinking when she was facing a difficulty in her life that she would not likely feel blessed now. However, even during her hardship Sunday after Sunday she continued to declare that she was blessed.
Looking back at her now I truly believe her. She was blessed and is blessed. She was not assessing being blessed in earthly terms, she understood that life was more than the few short days we spend on this earth. She understood that true blessing was not diminished because of trials or temptations. True blessing was directly connected to Who we knew and less about what we had.
When I look back at her life, I realize she was happy, content and probably one of the most joyful people I knew up to that point in my life. She wasn’t faking it. She simply understood something missed by most of us. She was blessed and because of it she lived as one who was. The overflow of that in her life was that she appreciated and was grateful for the little things. She had an amazing ability to enjoy beauty, and her general surroundings. Her life as a believer said, “ What is there to complain about when I am so blessed.”
If the microscope was placed over my heart I know in many areas I would be found with more than a few hidden things to complain about. Yet, I am realizing that we can all find those things if we choose to look for them, but we can also find beauty in all of our moments if we live as men and women who are truly blessed.
Do you see how blessed you are today?
Can you declare like this teacher of mine, “Regardless, of what this day brings, I am blessed” and mean it?
I believe once we shift living out of a temporal perspective and begin to identify with the riches we have in Christ, we can declare nothing less.
Today I am grateful for a Sunday School teacher who was an example to a young heart being formed that Jesus was enough and because of Him I could know a life of true blessing. I am thankful that her testimony did not change when hard times came, but she kept her heart planted in truth, it is still affecting me all these years later.
Comments(3)
Susan Craig says:
March 5, 2015 at 5:11 amWhen we trust in the Lord we are blessed,we are confident in Him. We are planted firmly near water so we grow and bear fruit. We do not fear or worry because we are being well taken care of by our Lord. The Spirit lives within us and produces fruit-love,joy,peace,patience,faith,gentleness,meekness,kindness etc. The Lord is teaching me to trust Him and to put my confidence in His ability to provide all I need not just to survive but to thrive-to grow strong and be well rooted in Him and to be productive-others should be able to see our confidence which is in God alone and the evidence will be in the fruit we bear. God not only produces the fruit in us-He IS the fruit. God is love,He is joy,He is peace,He is patient,He is gentle,meek and kind. He is more than worthy of our faith and confidence in Him, He never fails. Because of Him,we can say we are Blessed indeed. Forgive me Lord when I allow fear and worry to take away my confidence in you and in your ability to produce fruit in my life. I pray that when others see me,that they see You in me. I am blessed so that I may be a blessing to others-Help me to bear much fruit and I give You all the praise and glory for anything good in my life. I know I am blessed much more than I deserve!! Thank you Lord.
Pat McRae says:
March 5, 2015 at 2:19 pmWow 2 light bulb moments in one day! God is good to me! Susan I never thought about God being the fruit in me because He lives in me. Thank you I enjoy my light bulb moments. Blessings my friend 🙂
Pat McRae says:
March 5, 2015 at 10:09 amWow! This is part of a confession I made years ago. I made the confession one night with the help of the Holy Spirit. I was not in the Word much at that time, but I had learned a lot of memory verses as a child and it was from these the Holy Spirit pulled. I never realized how much of the confession was from the Word until one day I was reading Psalm 1:3. Now I see it written in Jeremiah also. The portion I am speaking about is verse 8. In Psalm the psalmist says “he” but here in Jeremiah it starts out “he” but then switches to “her roots” and “her leaf”. My confession went like this: I am planted by the still waters, my roots go deep into the rock Jesus Christ, through me flows the Living water, my leaves are ever green and my fruit is ever fresh. Under my branches the weary find rest and the hungry eat of my fruit. It still blows me away how the Holy Spirit did this 🙂
I am blessed in life because my trust and hope are in the Lord. Oh, there are still times when the enemy messes with my focus, but God is faithful, He soon sends the reminder that He is my security and hope. I can trust Him and place my hope in Him because I will fail and man will fail me also but His promises to me are true. Recently I lost focus for a few days and this was the verse He gave me so I could refocus: Luke 1:45 And blessed is Pat who believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
I love when we feel weary God gives us a Word and it is that very Word that lifts us and sustains us. I am reminded of standing in a prayer line and everyone was getting such wonderful things prophecied over them. Things like ‘your ministry is on the horizon’ and ‘you shall do great exploits for God’. Boy, I could hardly wait for them to get to me! I was so excited to hear what God would say about my future. When they got to me they said: “I see your roots spread out everywhere.” I was in shock! What? What happened to all those great prophecies, did they run out when they got to me? Were they saying I was going to blow over because my roots were not deep? (Light bulb: that is why the Holy Spirit gave me my roots go deep! See how good God is!) needles to say the enemy had a great time with this one. But here it says it is a good thing! When the enemy turns up the heat on my life I will not wither, my leaf will remain green. This has been true in my life. With each challenge that could of take me out, I have just grown closer to my King Daddy. And when the droughts come, which they have, my fruit will remain and I will yield even more.
I am thankful that God has fulfilled these verses in my life. I am thankful that I am blessed daily because my Daddy loves me and my trust and hope are found only in Him these days; not myself or others only Him! I am thankful that God has allowed me to be a place of peace and rest for many people and that He has ripened my fruit so it is sweet and nourishing to eat for others.
My blessings flow from heaven, so I can bless others!