Thought for February 15, 2024

  •  399: Socrates is sentenced to death for corrupting the minds of youths--what if this was a crime today?
  • 1842: First adhesive postage stamps in the U.S.--issued by a private company
  • 1862: Grant assaults Fort Donelson
  • 1867: "Blue Danube Waltz" by Strauss premiers
  • 1879: Women authorized to practice before the Supreme Court
  • 1898: USS Maine sinks in Havana harbor
  • 1903: First Teddy Bear introduced in America
  • 1919: American Legion organizes in Paris
  • 1933: FDR survives assassination attempt that kills the mayor of Chicago
  • 1936: Hitler announces the Volkswagen Beetle
  • 1941: Duke Ellington records "Take the A Train"
  • 1950: Disney's "Cinderella" premiers
  • 1961: U.S. Figure Skating Team killed in a plane crash at Brussels
  • 1971: Britain abandons pence and shilling monetary system
  • 1997: Tara Lipinski and Todd Eldridge will Figure Skating Championships in Nashville
  • 2005: You Tube launched in the U.S.
  • Born: Galileo, Heinrich Steinway, Cyrus McCormick, Charles Lewis Tiffany, Susan B Anthony, Ernest Shackleton, Alfred Gilbert [erector set], Lew Wallace ["Ben Hur"], Hale Boggs, Graham Hill, Jane Seymour [actress], Chris Farley, Seattle Slew [Triple Crown"]
  • Died: Nst King Cole, Wally Cox [Mr. Peepers], Ethel Merman, Tommy Rettig ["Lassie"]
Thought:
Reading Jeremiah 17 today, specifically verses 5-8. Here we have the Lord's word on how to be cursed and how to be blessed. Very simple instructions. So I have to ask myself, Larry, do you want God to bless you or curse you. Well, in Christ the curse has been lifted and the blessings flow. But I still read these verses as words of warning.

The cursed man--places his trust in man, thinks his strength is in the flesh, and turns his heart from the Lord. The curse--like a bush in the desert--dry, barren, heat of the sun.

The blessed man---trusts the Lord. Notice, the verse does not say anything about the blessed man's strength or his heart. Why? Because if I trust in the Lord, I trust Him for my strength and my heart is fixed on Him. That is part of really trusting Jesus.  The blessing---a tree [not a bush], planted by water [living water not a desert], no fear of the day of heat, not anxious about a drought, fruitful. 

Think about that. If I trust in Jesus and His promises, I have a never ending flow of living water. Knowing that I have that flow means I have no fear. No matter the fiery darts of the evil one, no matter the drought, the living water feeds me and causes me to produce the fruit of the spirit. My circumstances do not dictate my joy or my peace---the living water gives me both in abundance. This always draws my mind to Revelation 22:1-5. A river of the water of life flows from the throne of God. Planted by the river is the tree of live bearing fruit and leaves for healing. The curse is gone--and we shall see His face! The promise of the blessed man in Jeremiah 17 is a foretaste of that eternal bliss.

Today, let me depend on that Living Water and bear fruit appropriate for the tree. 

Blessings
Larry

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