The Branch of Jesse

Since I came back from mission, there have been countless moments when I have reflected on the trip and thought about how amazing things happen when you allow the spirit of God to guide you. Watching different people during the time in Sanmenxia, you could see the spirit of God working miracles in these people and it was just awesome to be a part of.

In Isaiah 11, it speaks of The Branch From Jess and it highlights that when the spirit of god is on someone, they do powerful things. In verse 2 it states:

The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
       the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
       the Spirit of counsel and of power,
       the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD

The man that allows the spirit of the Lord to rest on him and guide him will do what God wants! But unfortunately today many people only do what they want, ignoring what God intended for them. This is quite sad to realize, because basically these people are missing some amazing things that God planned for their lives. We must realise that in the final days when Jesus returns, no one who has lived with the rude and wicked spirit will be able to stand before Jesus. In the chapter 11 of Isaiah, we read of the promise that God has given us, the coming of Jesus Christ.

We must never forget that Jesus is not just a "good man", but He is an awesome man and the one who brings us life. It is because of Jesus that we now have an amazing hope! Jesus truly loves us everyday and in everyway, He is the light in the world. Although we will come across great people in this world that we highly respect, they are still only men. If we dont truly recognise Jesus for who He is, then we are finished.

The problem is that the devil will try to trip us up and cause us pain. But we must never lose sight of the end goal, we must remain solely focused on our God. We must always hold firm to the promise that Jesus is coming back for us! Therefore despite the fact the devil will try to plan seeds of doubt in our mind and bring trouble into our lives, we must be happy and celebrate the great promises of the Lord! For it is in great times of trouble that we are able to show how much we truly love our God and put our faith entirely in Him! If we continue to rejoice in the great things of our Lord, despite what we see in this world, we are basically saying to the devil "no matter what you throw at me, I will not be shaken, because I love my Lord and He loves me". Just as Mary says in Luke 1:46-47

My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior

 This is exactly the attitude that God was after, a heart that magnifies the Lord!

We must learn to be like Mary who had a wonderful attitude. She did not worry about what others would say about her. We must be bursting with the glory of God. We must not worry about what others in this world will say about us or do to us. For we have an awesome savior in Jesus Christ who loves us and is coming back for us. Daily we must pray and allow the spirit of God to guide us, for it is then that we will see amazing and powerful things begin to unfold in our lives!

Show me your ways, O LORD,
       teach me your paths;

guide me in your truth and teach me,
       for you are God my Savior,
       and my hope is in you all day long.

(Psalms 25:4-5)