WHAT WE FIND IN JESUS (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Isaiah 11:1

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The people of Israel had heard of a coming Messiah, one who would come to save and deliver them. They weren’t sure when He would come or in what way but they definitely were aware of the prophecy and believed in it.

As Isaiah, Chapter 11 opens, we discover one of the many prophecies given about the coming Savior and through them, we learn about Him and what we can find in and through Him. Today marks the first in a series of devotions on that topic. Look at today’s opening verse:

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Isaiah 11:1

One thing we find in Jesus is that He always will bear fruit.

The illustration painted if of a shoot that rises from the stump of Jesse, which makes Jesus in the lineage of King David of Israel. This shoot will produce a branch and that branch is Jesus, the One who would come to bear the fruit of salvation for anyone who would place their belief and trust in Him.

Keep in mind that Israel was about to be laid to waste as God’s consequences were imminent, first with the Assyrians used as instruments of judgment and then the Babylonians. The Assyrians would also face God’s wrath after they had been used by Him to punish His people and you may recall the description of their demise didn’t paint a rosy picture. Look at these words again:

Under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers. The splendor of his forests and fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick person wastes away. And the remaining trees of his forests will be so few that a child could write them down. Isaiah 10:16a-19

   

This picture is one of utter destruction. There would be no new life springing up, just singed and scorched forests and fields that were once fertile. It will not be just a minor fire but an all consuming one. Nothing would remain.

This would not be the same for Israel. We learned in the last few devotions that there would be a remnant that would be able to come out of Babylon to start fresh and new in the Promised Land, returning to rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem as they were freed from bondage from God. Israel was going to be laid to waste by the Assyrian and Babylonian invaders with the people removed for seventy years but there would be a coming revival as a chosen few who turned back to God would find Him turning back to them and blessing them with a fresh start.

This was just the beginning however as we find more good news in the opening verses of Isaiah 11, words of hope that were intended to buoy up the people then, words of hope that should buoy us up today. For a Savior was coming who would be like no other. Moses might have been sent by God to deliver Israel from the enslavement of the Egyptians but the Messiah Jesus, the Son of God, was coming to deliver all people, no matter their national origin, from the enslavement of sin and death. In Him, all people would find life from the One who was the way and the truth and the life, both now and forever as through Christ, they would find their way to the Father.

Thus, Jesus, this branch of Jesse, would come to walk among the people of earth, bearing the richest fruits ever experienced by mankind, not the kind of edible fruit that nourishes the body but rather spiritual fruits such as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). He shared His fruits through His ministry work and He has continued to share them through the Holy Spirit sent to lead, guide, direct, and counsel us.

This is just one blessing we find in Jesus. Tomorrow and in the days ahead, we’ll look at many others.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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