A fire in my bones.
I had to share this portion of Isaiah 11 because it encouraged me so much this morning.
This description of Jesus written near 740 B.C. Jesus began public ministry near 28-30 A.D.
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
This is a phenomenal prayer each morning. The characteristics of Jesus Christ our Lord -what better thing to ask for.
This is the Savior and Lord we (as disciples) submit our lives to each and every day we walk with Him growing in His likeness, until the day we meet Him in glory -that is the day of completion. (Philippians 1:6). The sanctification by the Holy Spirit and His word is happening now until then -for those who have accepted Jesus as Lord and repented of their rejection of God’s only Son, Jesus. (John 17:17, 16:13, Acts 2:38)
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconcilingthe world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says,”In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
-2 Corinthians 5:16-21, 6:1-2
I implore you as a brother, a friend, a pastor, an acquaintance, whatever!- change your mind about who Jesus is. Even now, at this moment (read above). His name is not a curse word, it’s so much more. Jesus’ name is the ONLY name given under heaven by which we much be saved. (Acts 4:12) Search your heart -you can ask Him yourself. Ask Jesus to reveal Himself -He will not disappoint.
The time is drawing near. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed; and of this He has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. This man’s name is Jesus. Please, I urge you -be reconciled to Him.
