Jeremiah 17:8
For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
Our gifts are meant to be shared. Like the unwise man who buried his money so that no one could steal it so are those who keep their blessings from others. We were made for a time such as this to spread the love of God with everyone we meet. God loves all of His creation so much that He gave us His only begotten Son, Jesus, to give up His sinless to save us. In His righteousness we live and breathe. Carla
Proverbs 11:25-31
The generous soul will be made rich,
And he who waters will also be watered himself.
26 The people will curse him who withholds grain,
But blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.
27 He who earnestly seeks good finds favor,
But trouble will come to him who seeks evil.
28 He who trusts in his riches will fall,
But the righteous will flourish like foliage.
29 He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind,
And the fool will be servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise.
31 If the righteous will be recompensed on the earth,
How much more the ungodly and the sinner.
These proverbs should shape our attitudes toward wealth: it should be shared. Stinginess may lead to poverty. Generosity has the opposite effect. Selfishness is foolish because it only creates enemies and dishonors God.
It addresses the folly of trusting in riches.The proverb addresses a person’s attitude toward wealth. It is foolish to trust in riches instead of God.
The image of the tree of life denotes the tree in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2; 3). Righteousness and wisdom are ways of recovering the lost tree of life
Since the righteous will finally find their reward (2 Corinthians 5:10), it follows that the wicked, who are defiant toward God and in conflict with His works, will certainly receive judgment. The NKJV Study Bible
The person who goes looking for trouble will find it.
Like a green leaf the righteous will flourish. Elsewhere, the righteous are compared to a stable and fruitful tree (Psalm 1:3; Jeremiah 17:8).
The fruit of righteousness is a tree of life. Earlier, wisdom was called a tree of life. (Proverbs 3:18). Faithlife Study Bible
Psalm 92:12–14
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God…
1 Peter 4:18
Now “If the righteous one is scarcely saved,
Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?”
2 Corinthians 9:6–11
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver…
Psalm 7:15–16
He made a pit and dug it out,
And has fallen into the ditch which he made.
His trouble shall return upon his own head,
And his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.
It’s time to come home. Or, in the words of this week’s Sabbath Moment invitation: it’s time to be awake.
Rabbi Ted Falcon’s reminder, “‘Surely Eternal Being is in this place; and I did not know’… Awakening is always the intrusion of the greater meaning into the present moment.”
Awake, we find—and we embrace, and we give from—our real and true self.
Do you have any idea who I am?
Well, I’ll tell you. I’m a broken man, and unashamed to say so. But you see, that’s how the light gets in. The Sufi saying affirms, while stuck and lost, “I was a hidden treasure.”
So, here’s the deal: I am no longer afraid to be broken, and humble, because I know that I am a child of God, imbued with dignity. It is in these broken places that joy and gratitude and commitment and loving kindness and gentleness and courage come alive. No longer self-absorbed or afraid, I give way to radical openness, curiosity and reverence.
“To have a reverence always for the immensity that is inside of you,” John O’Donohue said in an interview, “The wild flow of energy in the well of the soul. It is impossible to stop the well of energy and the well of light and the well of life that is inside of you. You might calm it and quell it, but it will still rise up within you.” “Sabbath Moments”
Advent Calendar
He will come like last leaf’s fall.
One night when the November wind
has flayed the trees to the bone, and earth
wakes choking on the mould,
the soft shroud’s folding.
He will come like frost.
One morning when the shrinking earth
opens on mist, to find itself
arrested in the net
of alien, sword-set beauty.
He will come like dark.
One evening when the bursting red
December sun draws up the sheet
and penny-masks its eye to yield
the star-snowed fields of sky.
He will come, will come,
will come like crying in the night,
like blood, like breaking,
as the earth writhes to toss him free.
He will come like child.
Rowan Williams
Jeremiah 23:5 (ESV) "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land."
Jeremiah prophesied about the King who, like a branch from a tree, would come from the family line of David.
"To you in David's town this day
is born of David's line
the Saviour who is Christ the Lord
and this shall be the sign."
These words from the old Christmas hymn "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" echo Luke 2:11, where angels announced Jesus' birth to shepherds. The lyrics also recall a far more ancient prophecy spoken 600 years earlier: "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land" (Jeremiah 23:5).
God gave these hopeful words to the prophet Jeremiah during a time of crisis as Israel was besieged by Babylon. Led by kings who were unfaithful like "shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep" (Jeremiah 23:1), God's people had broken their covenant with the Lord and served other gods. After giving many urgent warnings and showing immense patience, God allowed the consequences of their waywardness to unfold in the form of exile in Babylon. However, He also promised to restore the people (Jeremiah 23:3-4), and today's key verse says He would accomplish this through a Davidic king.
God had previously promised in 2 Samuel 7:16 that King David's throne would be established forever, and David's lineage was meant to be like a steadfast tree of shelter and justice for Israel. Nevertheless, this royal line failed repeatedly to lead the people in righteousness and truth. Even David himself, though a man after God's own heart, failed and sinned grievously (Psalm 51:4). And the current king in Jeremiah's day, Zedekiah, was also resisting God (Jeremiah 52:1-2). David's great family tree was seemingly falling, its strength cut down.Only a stump would remain.
Still, God's promise was steadfast.
Through Jeremiah, He delivered words of hope: From the decimated stump, "a righteous Branch" would grow ... the Branch! This righteous One would end the cycle of sin, "reign as king and deal wisely," and "execute justice and righteousness" (Jeremiah 23:5).
From our place in history, we know this promised King has come.
Jesus was born as a "son of David" (Matthew 1:1) and lived perfectly righteously. He suffered though He was sinless; He died, rose, and ascended to heaven (Acts 13:30; Acts 1:9). He is reigning now as King over all kingdoms. He will return to establish a new heaven and earth where God's people will live with Him forever (Revelation 21:1).
Whatever vision we have of a perfect king, Christ surpasses it. His Kingdom transcends anything we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
So at Christmas, we celebrate both Christ's beautiful first coming and His glorious future return. We wait eagerly in hopeful expectation for the second advent of the sovereign King of kings. As we sing "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" this season, let us recognize the perfect Son of Man, the better David, the righteous Branch: "O come, Thou key of David, come!"
Emmanuel has come to us. And He is coming again!
Unlike with worldly rulers, we can feel completely safe and "dwell securely" with King Jesus (Jeremiah 23:6). There is no need to fear when we are supported by the righteous Branch. He holds all things together (Colossians 1:17), and "of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:33). First5
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