Isaiah 11:1-5 MSG A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stump, from his roots a budding Branch. The life-giving Spirit of God will hover over him, the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding, The Spirit that gives direction and builds strength, the Spirit that instills knowledge and Fear-of-God. Fear-of-God will be all his joy and delight. He won’t judge by appearances, won’t decide on the basis of hearsay. He’ll judge the needy by what is right, render decisions on earth’s poor with justice. His words will bring everyone to awed attention. A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked. Each morning he’ll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots, and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.
Colossians 1:26-27 Phillips …that I might fully declare God’s word—that sacred mystery which up to now has been hidden in every age and every generation, but which is now as clear as daylight to those who love God. They are those to whom God has planned to give a vision of the full wonder and splendour of his secret plan for the sons of men. And the secret is simply this: Christ in you! Yes, Christ in you bringing with him the hope of all glorious things to come.
Observation
This green Shoot is Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, the Son of David, the Anointed One. By and through the Holy Spirit, Isaiah tells us that He will come from the line of David (Jessie’s stump), be wise and understanding, have direction and strength, have knowledge and find joy and delight in the fear of God. He will see past outward appearances and hearsay to judge and render true justice without preference for status or earthly worth. He will speak with power and do the hard work of building righteousness and faithfulness. This is the same Jesus Who makes His home in us. This same Spirit will do this same work in and through us – if we submit to His kingship and allow Him to do so.
God’s plan is to reveal the mystery of the ages to us, the “the full wonder and splendour of his secret plan for the sons of men,” which is Christ in us, the hope of all the glory He has promised to deliver. We have free access to the very Word that was spoken to create all things. We have free access to the Holy Spirit Who will lead, teach and make us into what God dreams for us to be. We have the Light of the World Who will live in and shine through us if we keep the glass of the lantern of our lives clean. If we will embrace His life in us and submit to His Word and Ways, He will equip us with spiritual “sturdy work clothes and boots” and use us to help “build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.”
Impact on Me
How easy it is for me to doubt the living presence of Christ in me. My humanness wants me to judge what is real by what I see with my eyes, hear with my ears and touch with my hands. My human spirit wants to judge what is possible by my past experiences, my abilities and my failures. The Enemy wants to constantly grind down His dreams in me and stunt my spiritual growth by reminding me of past sins and present weaknesses that I have not yet overcome. The Enemy constantly challenges my performance by saying that I can never do enough to be worthy of Christ living in me. He is right in this – I can never do enough to earn it but I can receive it freely.
When I surrendered to the Lord, throwing myself at the foot of the Cross, coming for the mercy and grace that the Cross provided, I had only my own experience and what the world promised as my guide. As I read His word, embraced His presence and allowed the Holy Spirit permission and access to remake me, I began to realize His presence in me was working in and through me so I could become a co-worker with Jesus in building righteousness and faithfulness by allowing them to begin building in me. This would not happen because I was worthy but rather because Father God’s plan had always been to make His home in me and I made my home His. This is a lifelong process which will complete only when I leave this life to go and be with Him.
Devotion
Father God, Creator, All-Knowing, the Lovliest of All, all glory and honor belongs to You. How generous a heart to invite us to be freely given the salvation we could never earn, to co-habit with You in this body, to be co-workers with You in bringing the knowledge of redemption to the world, to be called Your child. The wonder and splendor of Your plan is beyond my understanding. I welcome Your Holy Spirit to do the work in me to help me put on those spiritual “sturdy work clothes and boots” so I can labor alongside You in fulfilling Your will and purpose in my life and the life of those I meet. Make it so, in Jesus’ name.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 