Every Tuesday, we get our verse of the week to meditate and memorize. I want to encourage you to keep trying to focus on just one verse for the week. If you stay determined, the Word will take root in your heart. If you have failed with some of the previous verses, don’t get discouraged and quit, but continue to press on. This spiritual discipline is worth pressing through our failure! So free yourself of guilt and let’s go!
The Tree Planted by the Water
By Shirley Mitchell
“He 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 17:8
Last week,I told you how I had written a letter to myself a year ago. Lifeway held the letter for a year and just now mailed it to me. On the envelope was written Jeremiah 17:7-8. Since we learned verse 7 last week which says, “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him,” this week we will focus on verse 8 which tells us what happens when we trust in God. It says, “He 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.”
Previously in verses 5-6 of chapter 17, the LORD said that the one who trust in man and depends on flesh for his strength will be like a bush in the wastelands. He won’t see prosperity. He will dwell in parched places. Have you ever had your tongue swell up in your mouth because you were so parched? It’s a terrible feeling, isn’t it? Frankly, my dear friend, I have lived in parched places. I understand what it is like to be dry and so unsatisfied with life. Now that I know what it is like to be watered by the Living Water, I know that I was scorched and living in the wastelands in misery.
So God tells me that when I trust in Him, I will be like the tree planted by the water with roots that are fed from the stream, it makes me want to choose Him. I want to get closer to Him and lay down deep roots. When life turns up the heat, I don’t have to quiver in fear. When my job is high-pressure, when my kids don’t behave like Christ, and when my bills are more than I can pay, I don’t have to worry. When relational conflict happens that tries to steal my peace, I don’t have to fear or imagine the worst. I can choose to place my confidence in the LORD, and although things make not look good now, but if I keep placing my confidence in Him, even I can’t fail to bear eternal fruit. My life has a promise of blessing over it, and I choose to believe in the One that I am deeply rooted in.
God’s precious one, let’s take this next week to mediate on that fact that when we trust in God and place our confidence in Him that we will be that well-nourished tree that does not fear or worry. Carry this verse with you wherever you go this week – be it an index card or in your heart. Study it, pulverize it, and memorize it!
Memorization Reminders:
Please join me in memorizing these verses and implanting God’s thoughts into our minds. I’m expecting for God to radically change our lives if we do this. Redeem your time to make room for memorizing God’s Word. Take this verse with you wherever you go. Meditate on it, and pulverize it.
We are blessed to live in a time where we can have the Bible at our fingertips even through the internet or an actual Bible in our hands. Yet, this blessing can become a curse if we do not treat the Bible with such honor to savor every word of it as those through the centuries who have longed to have His Word so much. They had to memorize every Scripture they had ever been given because their own copy of the Scripture was not possible.
Most of us probably don’t memorize Scripture because we think that we do not have the time. However, our minds have a lot of wasted space that can be given to God. We have to redeem the time. For women, we can use the time while putting on our make-up or blow drying our hair. For men, use the time while shaving. For both genders, we can use the time while we shower, stop at red lights, do the laundry, wash the dishes, and mow the lawn. Let’s face it: our minds are thinking about something during this time. Instead of being focused on our obsessions, worries, cares, to-do’s, and problems, give this time to God.
Take your verse(s) with you wherever you go. You can type your verse out and put it on beautiful sheets of your choice. You can write it out on index cards. Many people prefer index cards spiral bound to keep them together. For iphone users, I’m sure there is an app. You can write it on your iphone notepad or record your voice speaking it and replay it throughout the day.
Now that we have the verse and we have found the time, let’s focus on the method. We don’t just memorize it by saying it over and over; we meditate on it. We spend time thinking about what each word means and what it doesn’t mean.
Then one of my favorite techniques as taught by Waylon Moore is to pulverize the verse. Say the verse over and over each time focusing on a different word in the verse to emphasize. For example, say Jeremiah 17:8 (today’s verse) aloud and say with more umph the underlined and bolded word:
“He 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 17:8
“He 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 17:8
“He 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 17:8
“He 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 17:8
“He 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 17:8
“He 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 17:8
“He 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 17:8
Repeat this process until each word in the verse has been emphasized.
After meditating and pulverizing the verse continuously for a week, the seed planted in our hearts will begin to germinate. You and I will no longer be merely short-term memorizing, but the Word will dwell within us. When God’s Word dwells within us, something miraculous happens. Our minds are renewed and transformed into the mind of Christ. We worry and fret less. We are armed for the attacks of the enemy. Our lips will be full of praise for our God. My friend, I’m ready for that kind of transformation!