Jeremiah 17:5-27

For the devices of man only increase my malady. The utmost they can do is to conceal a plague spot here and a plague spot there; but concealment is not abatement. What is my pride the better for all their prescriptions? What have they done for my self-will? For my unbelief, slothfulness, irritability, prayerlessness, impulsiveness? I come to thee, Lord. He that created me, and whose creation I have spent my days in marring, can alone restore to me his image, and make me to walk in the health...

"The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" Jeremiah 17:9

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way." Psalms 139:23-24

It takes courage to pray this prayer, "Search me, O God, and know my heart!" Not...

I am the Lord … they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me. § Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. § You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for in YAH, the Lord, is everlasting strength. § My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. § I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have...

There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?” Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. § I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.In my prosperity I said, “I shall never be moved.” … You hid Your face, and I was troubled. I cried out to You, O Lord; and to the Lord I made supplication:  “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Will the dust...

Surely the wrath of man shall praise You; with the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself. § The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes. § When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning—yes, more than those who watch for the morning. § I sought the Lord,...

I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall grow like the lily, and lengthen his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread; his beauty shall be like an olive tree, and his fragrance like Lebanon. §  Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. 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...

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. § You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. § The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then . . . Peter went out and wept bitterly.Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should...

I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Luke 5:8).

When the believer first becomes aware of the sinful self-life, he often makes the mistake of attempting to deal with its symptoms. He struggles to curb his sins and tries to live righteously. The resultant failure leads him to reliance upon the work of...

I, the Lord, search the heart" (Jeremiah 17:10).

During the early, carnal years we are afraid to face up to the sinful nature within, not fully realizing that it was dealt with in condemnation to God’s full satisfaction at Calvary. When we come to see that all the old nature was taken...

Thus saith the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm" (Jer. 17:5).

Sooner or later the believer goes through a period of disillusionment and bitterness because of what he encounters in the lives of other Christians - leaders included. The Holy Spirit...