December 06 | Stand Firm
Isaiah 11:1-10 (NLT)
Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 He will delight in obeying the Lord.
He will not judge by appearance
nor make a decision based on hearsay.
4 He will give justice to the poor
and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
5 He will wear righteousness like a belt
and truth like an undergarment.
6 In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together;
the leopard will lie down with the baby goat.
The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion,
and a little child will lead them all.
7 The cow will graze near the bear.
The cub and the calf will lie down together.
The lion will eat hay like a cow.
8 The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra.
Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm.
9 Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,
for as the waters fill the sea,
so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.
10 In that day the heir to David’s throne
will be a banner of salvation to all the world.
The nations will rally to him,
and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.
The Birth of our Savior, His First Coming, with the fruit His ministry bore through Him & His disciples, and then His return for the final triumphant victory over Satan, and the formation of the New Heaven and New Earth as written in Revelation 21:1-7. The final destination of those who love and obey His word and His will. The reason for Christmas is that our Savior had come to earth to dwell amongst us.
This prophecy was given as encouragement and hope for the future, and we are to stand firm on that hope no matter how long it may take, knowing He does it in His perfect time, not ours. The prophecy Isaiah was given was something he would never see; the first part, the Birth of Jesus, was approximately 700 years later, and we are still waiting for His Second Coming. Yet I am sure Isaiah never wavered, knowing in his heart that God would fulfill His word.
How have we handled situations where we heard from God or we are praying for a matter and waiting on God to give us the answer? Has our hope ever waivered, or have we given up on praying and possibly never received the victory?
I would encourage us all to keep our hope, faith and trust in Him, be encouraged every day and continue to pray; God never fails, He may want to see us stand firm and continuing to keep our hope alive, with our prayers continuing and drawing closer to Him, and then see the victory.
God is looking for our faith to grow and our persistence increase, as the widow and the judge, and we will see God’s victory and answer to His word or our prayers. God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!
—Ed Amorski