“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 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 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; 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. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.” Isaiah 11:1-5
It is interesting, on this side of Heaven, to think about Isaiah the prophet who wrote all 66 chapters of the Book of Isaiah between 740 BC and 686 BC and prophesy about the Savior of the nations who was still yet to come. Our Heavenly Father knew what was to come, how it was going to happen and who were the ancestors of our Savior; He inspired Isaiah to write it down. He knows all about your past, present and future. He knew how many bags of small red beans from Kelly Bean’s in Minitare, NE would fit into the back of my small truck without breaking the springs on a hot afternoon in 2002. He knew that John Hall and I would be smiling and giggling like school boys as I drove through the bumpy local streets on our way to Bon Berger in Caredeux; I would like to think that He smiled with us as we gave Him thanks. He knows when each Haitian child takes a spoonful of nourishment and what their future holds; we don’t know but He always does. Move forward knowing that He knows and His Holy Spirit with always with you. I am closing today with the words of the first three verses of the hymn ‘O Holy Spirit, Enter In’ that were written by Michael Schirmer in 1640.
“O Holy Spirit, enter in and in our hearts Thy work begin, Thy temple deign to make us; sun of the soul, Thou Light Divine, around and in us brightly shine, to joy and gladness wake us. That we, in Thee truly living, To The giving prayer unceasing, may in love be still increasing. Give to thy Word impressive power that in our hearts, from this good hour, as fire it may be glowing; that we confess the Father, Son, and Thee, the Spirit, Three in One, Thy glory ever showing. Stay Thou, sway now our souls ever that they never may forsake Thee, but by faith their Refuge make Thee. Thou fountain whence all wisdom flows which God on pious hearts bestows, grant us Thy consolation that in our pure faith's unity we faithful witnesses may be of grace that brings salvation. Hear us, cheer us by Thy teaching; let our preaching and our labor praise Thee, Lord, and serve our neighbor.”
Dear Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.
May God be with you…Jay