Isaiah 11 – Holy Spirit (Spirit of God)

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord
(Isaiah 11:1-2)

Christians believe these two passages are prophecies regarding the Messiah, Jesus Christ. They talk about how He will be from the line of Jesse and talks of how the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, will rest upon Him.

The amazing thing is that this same Spirit of God that rested on Jesus, is in each of us who have chosen to put our trust and lives in His hands.

If you keep reading, verse 2 tells you about this Spirit of God, it tells you his characteristics that will be given to the Messiah, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might and knowledge and fear of the Lord. These characteristics are available to us as well if we’ve accepted Jesus as our savior because God’s Spirit comes to dwell inside us.

However, these manifestations of God’s Spirit in our lives depends wholly on our response to the Spirit’s prompting. He does not “possess” us and take over. We must choose to listen and act in faith upon the promptings of the Spirit. He comes to live in us, but we choose how much of our lives to give over to Him.

Do you have wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the Lord apparent in your life? I know the fruit of my life often does not reflect these characteristics. I recognize though it is not because the Spirit is not in me, or because He does not want to give me these things. He gives me the choice to choose between controlling things myself or giving my life over the Him, every part of my life. That is my striving for this next year. To better understand and develop my relationship with the Spirit and to give my life over to Him. I truly believe the results will be amazing. Are you ready to walk with me in this adventure? How much control will you give Him?