WHAT WE FIND IN JESUS (PART 3)

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In Christ, Mark

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

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding.

Isaiah 11:2

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

Today we look at the third devotion in the series, “What We Find in Jesus”, looking at verses from the 11^th Chapter of Isaiah, verses that foretold the coming of the Messiah who would deliver the people of Israel and all mankind from the oppression and bondage of sin and the sure death it brought.

In our first two devotions, we saw where we could find abundant fruits in Jesus, the prophesied Branch that would emerge from the stump of Jesse, fruits of the Holy Spirit that came to rest upon Him, a Holy Spirit that comes to dwell within the hearts, minds and souls of anyone who places their full faith and trust in Jesus as Savior.

And so we find in Jesus fruits born of the Holy Spirit that He sent to be with us after His death, resurrection, and ascension to sit at God’s right hand. Today, we learn that we also find wisdom and understanding when we submit our lives to Jesus and allow Him to be the way and truth and life (John 14:6). Look at verse two of Isaiah, Chapter 11:

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding. Isaiah 11:2

Jesus was one with God the Father, the Author of all wisdom and understanding. And so whatever wisdom God and discernment possessed, Jesus possessed it in kind. God’s word in Proverbs instructs all believers to:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5)

The truth of things is that our intellect is so limited although some men and women feel they know it all or even know what’s best for themselves over what God desires. Unfortunately, that kind of arrogant, prideful approach to thought serves as a roadblock to proper perception of the world we abide in and the life we have within that world. This is why we need the Lord Jesus and His wisdom and understanding which the scriptures proclaim came with Him to lead us to “righteousness, holiness and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). It was this Spirit of wisdom from Jesus that Paul prayed the Ephesian church would receive when he wrote these words:

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. Ephesians 1:17

Paul cared deeply for other and showed concern about their relationship with Jesus. We should follow his lead regarding people around us today. For so many proclaimed believers spend little time in relationship with their Savior between visits to church on Sunday. Their relationship with Christ is superficial and convenient. Unfortunately, the by-product of such a detached connection with Jesus is a lack of wisdom and revelation which produces a lack of knowing about the One Christians are to model themselves after. We claim to be in and of Christ but we fail to properly know the One we are to be similar to.

With this, we find that things have not changed much from the days of Jesus. For He spoke to multitudes who, although hearing what He had to say, failed to comprehend it because they were not yoked with Him for discernment and understanding of what He had to say. Jesus described these people like this:

He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” Mark 4:11-12

So many people in Jesus’ time were not committed to being one in Spirit with Him and as a result they saw but didn’t perceive, heard but failed to comprehend. Nothing has changed much in the more than 2,000 years since as people today still see the work of the Lord but don’t identify it as being of Him and they hear His guidance but fail to translate it to the way they are to conduct their lives. It’s sad really.

Friends, all the wisdom we could ever hope for and then some can and will be found in our Lord Jesus Christ. God’s word attests to it and His word is truth.

Let’s not make life hard and attempt to lean on our own understanding. Only a fool would do that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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

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