080424...To Bear Thistles or Fruit...Jeremiah 17:5-10

Jeremiah 17:5-10...“Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.’ The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’”

Jeremiah 15:16...“Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart”

Sermon In A Sentence: Whenever a situation creates heat in our life, we either bear thistles by our ungodly response; or we bear Holy Spirit fruit by our godly response.

When Heat Comes Into Your Life, You Will:
-Be cursed if your response is to trust in human reasoning and strength (vs. 5-6)
-Be blessed if your response is to trust in God’s wisdom and strength (vs. 7-8)
-Be deceived if your response is to follow your heart (v.9)
-Be wise to ask the Lord to search your heart & test your mind (v.10)

“…we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character…” (Romans 5:3-5)

“It was good for me to suffer affliction so that I might learn Your statutes.” (Psalm 119:71)

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-4)

1 Peter 1:6-7...“…though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith…
may be found”

Sermon In A Sentence:Whenever a situation creates heat in our life, we either bear thistles by our ungodly response; or we bear Holy Spirit fruit by our godly response.