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Huikala Baptist Church
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The book of Jeremiah
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Special Sundays Message 46 of 55
Refuse to Be Rootless
Pastor Anthony King· January 4, 2026
Jeremiah 17:1-10
This sermon from Jeremiah 17:1–10 warns that trusting in human strength or personal feelings leads to a dry, unstable, and rootless life. In contrast, those who place their trust fully in the Lord are deeply rooted, spiritually nourished, and able to bear fruit even in difficult seasons. By rejecting self-reliance and running to God as our only source, believers find lasting stability, renewal, and true blessing in Christ.
“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;”
Jeremiah 17:1
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If you trust in man, you will live rootless and cursed.
God says a life built on human strength, human wisdom, and human systems is like a shrub in the desert.
Despite a better environment for growth nearby, it remains dried up and isolated.
Trusting in man dries up spiritual life because it pulls the heart away from the only true source of living water.
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.Psalm 118:8
If you trust in the Lord, you will live rooted and blessed.
Good fruit will continue even in seasons of drought.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.Psalm 1:3
God’s grace continues to flow, regardless of changing circumstances.
The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.Nahum 1:7
An uncommitted life will produce negligible benefits.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.James 1:6-8
Your natural heart will never grow roots in God on its own.
Your heart clings to emotion and selfishness while ignoring wisdom and rational thinking.
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.Proverbs 14:12
Your heart deceives you, so it must never be your final authority.
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.Proverbs 28:26
Your heart creates the story and explanation that justifies why your path is the only way.
A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.Proverbs 14:16
Run to the Lord as your source and shelter, and He will root you in Himself.
If you forsake the Lord, you will be greatly disappointed with the outcome.
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.Galatians 6:7
The only answer for a deceitful heart and a rootless life is to turn again to the Lord Himself.
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.Psalm 51:10
Reject self-reliance and people-reliance. Only Jesus satisfies.
Deal honestly with your heart.
If you find yourself dry and thirsty, run to the fountain.
1The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars; 2Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills. 3O my mountain in the field, I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. 4And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever. 5Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. 6For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. 7Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. 8For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 9The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. Jeremiah 17:1-10
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