10/9/12. Isaiah 11:1-16. THE ROOT OF JESSE-my devotional

Isaiah 11:1-16                                                                                           Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

Key Verse: 11:10

^“In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

      Dear Lord thank you for 20 years of marriage between Julie and myself. Thank you for keep us in Christ and growing in faith and love together. Continue to dwell among us and lead us and our kids in this pilgrimage in this world. I pray that you may be with Greg and his presentation. I pray that you may work through his faith and protect his heart no matter what the outcome. Lord, I pray that you may bless the Thanksgiving Fall Bible School with DuPage ministry. We pray to always be overflowing with thanks giving to you every day. Please grant me your word in my heart through this passage. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: A Shoot Will Come Up (1-9)

Verses 1-9, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. ² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord— ³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. ⁵ Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. ⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. ⁷ The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The infant will play near the cobra’s den,  and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. ⁹ They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

Isaiah looked forward to the day when the Messiah would come. He would have the Spirit of the Lord and delight in the fear of the Lord. He would judge with God’s righteousness. Through him the power of sin is vanquished, and all of God’s creation is reconciled to him and to each other in perfect peace. Jesus would be the shoot that springs from the stump of Jesse. By his death he would atone for sin completely. By his resurrection he would declare victory over the power of sin and death. Through Jesus the glory of God is brightly revealed, and the earth that has dwelled in the darkness of sin will be full of the knowledge of the Lord.

Jesus accomplishes all of these things. He is a wonderful savior. I thank God that Jesus is full of wisdom and understanding. He gives this wisdom and understanding to all who ask. On my own I lack a lot of wisdom and understanding. Recently I could not get out of an emotional dungeon in my relationships with those around me and close to me. But Jesus imparted his wisdom to me through the Family Life: A Weekend To Remember Conference. It was a Christ centered marriage retreat. Jesus set us free by his wisdom. It was something that we could never achieve on our own.

I also like the impartial justice of Jesus. In this world, everyone is so subjective and partial. Their judgments are not truthful. They treat others with injustice. But Jesus is so different. He is impartial. He is just and righteous and he treats us the same, sprinkling it all over with grace and mercy. I like this about Jesus and the gospel. This is an unjust world, but those who live in Christ, are surrounded by his righteousness. This is so comforting.

I can also see that there is peace and security in Jesus, both now and forever more. This world lacks peace. People are livening in financial turmoil. They are mired in many sins and vices. They are on dead end roads in regards to their marriages and their kids and people around them. They have no peace. The only way to get a little peace is to further isolate themselves and live alone. But that drives them into an even deeper rut. We need Jesus to experience true love and security. We need to dwell in theKingdomofGodto taste the peace of God.

Part 2: A Banner For The Nations (10-16)

Verses 10-16, “¹⁰ In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. ¹¹ In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush,from Elam, from Babylonia,from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean. ¹² He will raise a banner for the nations  and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah  from the four quarters of the earth.¹³ Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemieswill be destroyed; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim. ¹⁴ They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will subdue Edom and Moab,   and the Ammonites will be subject to them. ¹⁵ The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals. ¹⁶ There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.

The Root of Jesse is the banner that people from all nations will rally to. The Lord will gather his people from the ends of the earth to live and reign with him in his kingdom. The Lord provides a highway for his people to come to him. Through Jesus the nations have hope in thekingdomofGod.

Jesus is the Root of Jesse. He is the banner over the nations. The nations are streaming to Jesus and the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news for all people and the people know it. Even in countries where the Gospel is persecuted, people are turning to Christ. Though it seems that church attendance seems lower among the young people, Jesus is still drawing people to himself.

God reached out and is drawing me to himself. He did it first of all 26 years ago at a UBF Summer Bible Conference at MSU. He drew me newly to himself this past weekend through the Family Life, Weekend to Remember Marriage Retreat. He draws me to himself every day through his spirit and his word. If he is doing that to me, image what he is doing to multitudes of people around the world.

I also learn that Jesus is making it as easy as possible for us to be gathered together under his banner. He grants us his Holy Spirit and he gives us his word and lots of grace and truth and support. He can not make it easier for us and the nations to be drawn to him. Thank you Lord. Please help all of my kids to come to Jesus. May the students of NIU be brought to Jesus. May the people of DeKalb and Sycamore be brought to Jesus and be gathered under his banner.

Prayer: Lord, thank you. Thank you for providing a way for sinners to be gathered under the banner of Jesus and dwell in theKingdomofGod.

One Word: Jesus is my hope