7 day plan

Light at Christmas

Day 2 of 7

NIV

Isaiah 11:1

The Branch From Jesse

1A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

Reflection:

What did it feel like, I wonder, for the Ancient Jewish people to wait on their promised Saviour? During the exhilarating years of victory and prosperity. During the tragic seasons of defeat and loss. What did it feel like to have it all or lose it all and still hold on to the promise of a Saviour who would right every wrong, redeem the lost and heal the broken-hearted?

The promise of a Messiah so powerful and perfect was a source of strength and hope in difficult seasons. They may have been waiting for a warrior king to topple their oppressors but instead, the earth received a baby born in a barn. They may have expected a mighty oak but they received a “shoot.”

Maybe you have hopes and dreams that are as yet unfulfilled? Maybe you are praying and yearning for an earth-shaking moment of breakthrough? But what if that breakthrough was delivered to you as nothing more than a tender shoot. Maybe that “shoot” is an opportunity, or a person, or conversation that is not too impressive at first glance.

Just as that baby in a manger grew into a man who changed the world, a sliver of hope, a mustard seed of faith in your heart can accomplish great things.

Prayer:

God, this Christmas we ask for anointed conversations, for joyful connection and for fractured relationships to be reconciled. Thank you for opportunities, however big or small, to share your light.

Days

Isaiah 11:1-16

The Branch From Jesse

1A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;

from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2The 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

3and 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;

4but 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.

5Righteousness will be his belt

and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

7The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.

9They will neither harm nor destroy

on all my holy mountain,

for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

10In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious. 11In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the surviving remnant of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the Mediterranean.

12He will raise a banner for the nations

and gather the exiles of Israel;

he will assemble the scattered people of Judah

from the four quarters of the earth.

13Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,

and Judah’s enemies will be destroyed;

Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah,

nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim.

14They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west;

together they will plunder the people to the east.

They will subdue Edom and Moab,

and the Ammonites will be subject to them.

15The Lord will dry up

the gulf of the Egyptian sea;

with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand

over the Euphrates River.

He will break it up into seven streams

so that anyone can cross over in sandals.

16There will be a highway for the remnant of his people

that is left from Assyria,

as there was for Israel

when they came up from Egypt.