Healthy Independence-5

HEALTHY INDEPENDENCE-V—Jeremiah 17:1-14

Attention:

Christian parents raise our children with the idea that they will one day leave home & live productive lives apart form their parents.

We expend our greatest efforts toward sufficiently preparing them for life in the ‘real world’ with God at the helm.

We make sure that our children know the importance of being saved.

We attempt to train them up in the nurture & admonition of the Lord.

We attempt to train them up in the way that God has intended for them to go.

We want our children to be testimony to the power of God thru a Christian belief system, mindset, & life choices.

In short, Christian parents raise their children to have a healthy independence.

Jn. 15:18-19—Jesus told His disciples:—“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

Jn. 17:15-16—Jesus prayed for His disciples:—“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”

God’s people must exhibit a ‘Healthy’ independence from the world in which they live.

?Are you living INDEPENDENTLY of that which has potential to destroy you?

The prophet Jeremiah contrasted two major aspects of Independence—Independence from God versus independence from the world.

*Dependence upon YHWH brings independence from worldly influence.

What can be gleaned by contrasting healthy & unhealthy independence?

*How can I be independent of worldly influence?

So far we’ve found that A Healthy Independence Engages(deals with/handles/manages)...

1. A RESIDENT REBELLION(:1)

2. An ABERRANT EDUCATION(:2)

3. BLINDLY SIGHTED BENEFITS(:3-4)

4. An ANGERING LIFESTYLE(:4e)

5. MISPLACED/Aberrant TRUSTS(:5)

6. The ‘CURSE’ Of MISPLACED/Aberrant TRUST(:6)

Today we’ll find that...

7—A Healthy Independence Engages(deals with/handles/manages)...

A CORRECTED TRUST(:7)

Explanation:(:7)

:7—“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

And whose hope is the LORD.”

“Blessed...”

*What does it mean for a person to be “Blessed”?

•To be “blessed” is to have God’s ‘good’ bestowed upon you...To be “blessed” is to be afforded a life that is the opposite of, &/or is in stark contrast to living a’life’ cursed of God(:5-6).

•An important note: The “Blessing” upon one’s life is FROM “the LORD”—YHWH—the eternal God.

The “blessedness” of corrected or proper “trust” comes upon YOUR placing “trust” & “hope” in YHWH...in the God who has sought out & openly revealed Himself to mankind...in the God who does not operate under the cloak of mystery!

•Some may think to themselves: “But preacher, doesn’t the Bible speak of the ‘mystery’ of the Christ & the mystery of the church?

a.—Jesus Himself told His disciples: Mark 4:11-12—“And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, “so that ‘Seeing they may see & not perceive, And hearing they may hear & not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven them.’””

•Certain people have an inquisitiveness to answer “the mystery” thru the willful correction of their “trust.”

•Many others prefer a ‘lack of detail’ in spiritual matters...Their’s is a ‘belief system’ built upon generalities & suppositions. These paint with broad strokes & are enamored with the uncertainties of spiritual riddles. Thus they surround & encapsulate themselves & others with spiritual ‘pseudo-truth’ instead of facts that are available to them ‘right under their noses.’ By doing so, these invite a cursed ‘life’ upon themselves.

b.—Rom. 16:25-27—“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel & the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest, & by the prophetic Scriptures made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith-- to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.”

•That is, the intricate details of all that surrounds the kingdom of God would not be fleshed out until the promised Messiah/Shiloh/Christ/Jesus would step into history. Those details include among other things: Jesus’ specific identity, The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in every believer, & the extension of God’s people, the church, beyond any geographical or political borders.

“Blessed”—Krb baw-rak’—Qal Participle Passive—1) To bless, kneel—1a) (Qal)--1a1) To kneel, 1a2) To bless; 1b) (Niphal)--To be blessed, bless oneself; 1c) (Piel)--To bless; 1d) (Pual)--To be blessed, be adored; 1e) (Hiphil)--To cause to kneel; 1f) (Hithpael)--To bless oneself; 2) (TWOT)--To praise, salute, curse. Strong—To kneel; by implication--To bless God(as an act of adoration), & (vice-versa) man(as a benefit); also by euphemism--To curse(God or the king, as treason); a primitive root.