The coming King Monday December 17 2007

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a branch will bear fruit. The spirit of the Lord will rest upon him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord – and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11: 1-3

The Israelites were promised a new King, from the line of their great King David (Jesse was David’s father) and here they are told how they would recognise him; the spirit of God would rest upon him. The three different aspects of this spirit are listed; they would be discernable and would provide him with all that he needed to be a good King and to rule well. In fact, anointing with this Spirit will give anyone all they need to live well.

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding; wouldn’t you just love to have more wisdom and understanding. We are constantly faced with decisions that are hard to make; little one’s like how to handle it when someone starts to gossip about a mutual acquaintance, through to big ones like who to marry, where to live, whether to move house, jobs etc.
Every day we are called on to make so many decisions and often we can’t predict the consequences of our choices.

When we look at Jesus we see that he always seemed to know what to do or say, He lived to a clear set of priorities and whatever life threw at him he dealt with it with righteousness and love. He coped with hunger, doubt, anxiety, opposition, tiredness and rejection, as well as delighting in friendship, health and healing, fresh air and the great outdoors, good company and good food. Jesus lived well: he was anointed with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Often he referred to the scriptures as a guide to his life but it was the spirit that led and guided him.

John the Baptist reminds us that Jesus will baptise us with the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 3:11). The Spirit of wisdom and understanding is available to us! Fortunately Jesus is much more ready and willing to give us his Spirit than we are to ask.

As you prepare for Christmas, one thing you could do is ask Jesus to come to you with the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, to aid and guide you through life’s decisions. Take the opportunity to bring to God any particular need for wisdom or understanding that you have at the moment.
Wait quietly on the Lord for a few minutes and receive his Spirit.