Isaiah 11:3b-5 He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but 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. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.
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Luke 1:52-53 (Mary said) “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. 53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.”
 
THROUGHOUT the world corrupt governments impoverish their people. Persecutions against Christians destroy families, homes and businesses. Injustice displays its imprisoning power. The world’s way says, “Might makes right.” But praise God these unjust governments will disappear one day.
   Isaiah’s and Mary’s words are among the many Bible passages to tell us that when Jesus Christ returns, righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness his sash. All believers will rejoice and worship the Righteous One.  He will establish his eternal throne in the new heaven and earth on the purity of his Word. God’s true way will rule the redeemed earth.
   But let’s not wait. God rules the redeemed heart. Let’s know we can live now in Jesus’ righteous truth. The Spirit has taught us through the gospel and the epistles. We know from the Beatitudes, for example, that God will bless humble, merciful hearts. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:5-6) As you know God has saved you, live so that all praise and honor will be unto the Lord. Rejoin that he has lifted up the humble to know his love and forgiveness. With gladness know he has filled the hungry with good things. He is the eternal bread of life. You will never be hungry for his presence when you consume his truth. The gospel is God’s good news that his care for you is eternal.
   So don’t wait for eternal life to enjoy God’s loving presence. A redeemed life loves all God is; you will seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33) Live in faith, so you know whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)
 
Prayer: Guide my heart more deeply to your righteousness, Lord. Teach me humility, mercy and love for others. May I continually find joy in your blessed presence in my life. Amen. 

Isaiah 11:1-3a  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 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 – 3a and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.
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Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. 
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Luke 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert.
 
WITH two sentences - three verses - Isaiah records God’s eternal plan for your salvation. Just as briefly, Luke summarizes God’s way to declare the gospel. The Branch, who is Jesus, will come from Jesse’s family. From Jesse to David and through the generations to Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, Isaiah’s prophecy came true.
   Isaiah also described the Branch’s character. He will have wisdom, understanding, power, knowledge and fear (honor, awe, reverence, worship) of the Lord, and it will delight him.
   Luke then revealed the fulfilled prophecy. The Spirit empowered Jesus’ birth. Luke 1:35 (speaking to Mary) “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Jesus then grew to became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. When it was time to minister the gospel, the Spirit rested on Jesus, who was fully man, to baptize and fill him with God’s power to display God’s will on earth. Isaiah prophesied and Luke recorded how the Holy Trinity purposefully worked from eternity past to reveal the knowledge of God. In his grace, God has formed the way to him. He gave us his Word, the Holy Bible, so we know the way to grow in wisdom, understanding, power, knowledge and fear in our relationship with God.
   Are you a Christian? You are then the fruit of God’s eternal salvation plan. Your purpose is to know God. How will you respond to the glorious life he has given to you?  
 
Prayer: Holy Trinity, you have set for us an example of purposeful learning. Empower us, Spirit, to know God, to gain understanding and to delight in the worship of the Lord. Amen. 

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. 
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Luke 1:32-36 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
 
DO you live with a purposeful plan to accomplish tasks? Do you want those you work with to share your zeal? Is your passion focused on helping people live better lives? Do you affirm your family, friends and those who work with you? If so, you reflect the Lord God’s zeal for you to live under his sovereign love forevermore. 
   Isaiah describes how God’s purpose and passion is for the world. His rule will increase, and there will be no end to his peace. This is the restoration of all things to God’s holiness. One day God’s zealous plan will be complete. Christ will reign on David’s throne with justice and righteousness. He will reign forever. (See Revelation 21)
   Yes, God is zealous for his own, and he invites his own to join in his work. He will go even to a virgin and to an elderly woman to invite them into his zeal.
   God’s angel Gabriel spoke to Mary. He told her the One to be born will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. Gabriel continues: “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.” Further, his kingdom will never end. Five times the word “will” displays God’s zeal to accomplish his kingdom plan.
   There’s more. Mary asked, “How will this be?” Surely she was zealous to know the details. After all, Gabriel has just spoken a great mystery in God’s determined will for the world and for her life. Then Gabriel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come. The power of the Most High will overshadow you. The holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” Three more times the angel details what God’s will do.
   Then Gabriel further revealed God’s zealous plan: “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age.” With great simplicity, Gabriel powerfully summarizes God’s zeal, “Nothing is impossible with God.”
   Today through the Spirit extends The Almighty’s zeal to you. He points to each of us ordinary people and anoints us to become effective prophets, faithful mothers, servant fathers, teachable disciples, gifted writers, compassionate caregivers and powerful preachers. The Bible and church history records the many people who were zealous for God’s will to be done through their life’s work.
   In what way do you express God’s zeal to heal a broken world? When God says, “Nothing is impossible with God.” we must join with Mary to declare, “May it be to me as the Lord said.”
 
Prayer: May it be to me as you say, Lord. I pray I am zealous for your Kingdom to come, your will to be done on earth. Amen. 

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 
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Luke 2:11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.
 
ARE you in awe and wonder to know that “to us a child is born, a son is given”? With overflowing joy do you consider, “a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” After all, this is the gospel. It is the good, the very, very good news about eternal life come personally to us, isn’t it? Praise God he has promised and delivered, free of any cost to us a Savior, who is Messiah, Son of God. Rejoice the Mighty God has delivered to you his Prince of Peace. Know the Everlasting Father defines your life as his own child, born of the Spirit. Savor the Wonderful Counselor transforms your mind to his truth and wisdom. Yes, to us is born a Savior – and he is Christ – Resurrection, Redeemer, Reconciler – of the world. He makes you free from sin to welcome you into heaven. 
   Yes, are you awestruck as you gaze upon God? Or do life’s limitations hinder your view of God’s wondrous gift? Often on display in the church – both the individual church and corporate body – is a resigned, “That’s the way it is.” We seem to accept a  minimal faith that wonders, “How can God help us here?” We can’t believe for unto us the Mighty God has come to empower us with his personal love. God’s Word seems a distant reality as we contrast it with daily life in a broken world.
   In your mind, very real afflictions can rank above God’s seemingly elusive eternal promises. Our minds seek not the Wonderful Counselor, who points to Peace. Worry, instead, manages our souls. Our personal salvation becomes a distant possibility as we reject its active reality. We miss life’s joy because we forget the Everlasting Father’s grand love sent the Savior to be born to us.
   Stop now. Be in awe God so loved the world, he gave Jesus to you. Foremost in your mind know God has fulfilled his promise – first to the Jews in Bethlehem and Galilee – then to us Gentiles throughout the world. Believe, live and know the Everlasting Father outlasts the trials and troubles, sicknesses and opposition. Faithfully know, “A Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.”
          
Prayer: Thank you, Everlasting Father, that to me a Savior has been born. He is my Prince of Peace to ease my mind. I faithfully rejoice that you are the Mighty God, who calls me unto himself. In Jesus’ name, amen.
 

Isaiah 9:1-3 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan – 2 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. 3 You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder.
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Luke 1:26-27 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
 
THE word “nevertheless” to begin Isaiah 9 points to a new, restored life from the dark conditions at the end of Isaiah 8. There the prophet describes the dark gloom over a people disobeying and negating God. “Nevertheless” is God’s promise he will act to reveal his Savior in spite of his people’s sin.
   That salvation will begin in the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. These are two of Israel’s 12 tribes who settled north of Jerusalem. Their disobedience toward God for centuries caused many Gentiles to inhabit and rule the land.
   But God has a plan for this dark, disobedient land. In the future he – the LORD –  will honor Galilee of the Gentiles. How will God honor this lost land? He will bring the Light of the World (John 8:12) to lead them out of darkness.
   The Light of the World is born in Bethlehem, but he will live in Nazareth, in Galilee. His ministry will be primarily in Galilee. He will do most of his recorded miracles in Galilee. The Sermon on the Mount, the Transfiguration and thousands fed will occur in Galilee. And even at Jesus’ resurrection, the angel instructs Mary, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” (Mark 16:7)         Jesus restored Peter in Galilee. (John 21)
    Do you know Jesus is your Savior? Rejoice, then, that the Light has come into your personal darkness to welcome you into his salvation. Born again in Jesus, you, too, become the world to display Jesus’ life-giving power to redeem sin. Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”   
 
Prayer: Thank you, Holy Father, to send your Light, so we are not lost in darkness. Amen. 

Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 
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Luke 1:26-33 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
 
PERHAPS this is one of the most identified prophecies and fulfillment of Jesus’ life as truly man. There are several ways the Jews and other detractors attempt to deny these verses’ true meaning. They reject Jesus’ birth of a virgin. Many even deny he was born. Some say he was just a spirit. But those lies and false interpretations fall far short of the evidence. Even many who say they believe in Jesus and call themselves “Christians” say the virgin birth as only a myth. These are the ways of cloaked hearts and minds. Be in prayer the Spirit opens more hearts to see the clear way Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in the Virgin Mary.
   Indeed, we must see it. The virgin birth is essential to Christian truth that Jesus is Savior. If Jesus were born through a natural man-woman union, he would have inherited Adam’s sin nature as we all do. Thus, he would not have qualified to be the perfect sacrificial lamb on the cross. It is imperative you confess Jesus as Peter did: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) The Son of God is not a son born of a man. “Immanuel” (or some write it Emmanuel) means the child possesses God’s character. He is “holy, holy, holy” – righteous in every way because he is God, and he is of God: John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”
   Isaiah’s prophecy came because of doubting King Ahaz. Judah was on the verge of defeat. To encourage Ahaz, God instructed Isaiah to tell Ahaz to ask for a sign from God. The Lord wanted Ahaz to know he was protecting Judah. But the king refused ask for a sign. In response, God gave not a sign to Ahaz, but a sign to the Jews and to the world. God spoke it. God fulfilled it. His language is clear and precise. Mary, taught in God’s ways, would know the angel’s words were true. She is the chosen embodiment of the sign.
   God wants you to know and believe the power of God’s Word for your life. The Bible teaches us many ways we are to live, so our lives will be a sign of Jesus’ salvation come so perfectly into a dark, doubting world.
 
Prayer: Father in heaven, we rejoice in the many signs in your Word, so we know the Savior. Help us be a sign of life to all around us. Amen. 

Isaiah 6:13 “And though a tenth remains in the land, it will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”
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Isaiah 11:1 “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.”
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Luke 2:30-32, 34-35 “For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel…34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
 
THE terebinth and oak trees in Israel could be cut down to a stump, lifeless to the eye. But even from a stump, they would become alive with new shoots to grow and again provide life-sustaining fuel for fires and shelter for homes.
   Isaiah is filled with such images of God’s judgment and salvation. The Spirit inspired the prophet to declare sin’s penalty and then mankind’s rise out of sin through God’s salvation. In their sin, Israel would look dead, apart from God. But then life would come from God’s holy seed. Jesus Christ is the shoot to rise from Jesse’s (David’s father) family.
   We also see this prophecy of salvation in Luke 2. This is Jesus’ circumcision. In the temple square Simeon prophesied the nations’ judgment and then their salvation through the boy in Mary’s arms. Salvation would cost the Savior and his mother. Jesus would be pierced with nails. And even Mary’s soul would be pierced with grief.
   To the world, Jesus would seem cut down, not even a stump remaining. From the grave, though, the shoot from Jesse would rise. Jesus would burst forth from the grave as the new shoots of an oak tree. He would shelter and comfort all who come to him with his eternal shelter.   
   How is your faith today? Does it feel cut down, perhaps lifeless? Might we look at empty pews in the church to mourn, “The church is but a dead stump. There is no life here.” Could we be too willing to allow doubt and fear to pierce our minds? If so, we must stop and know this: The church is planted to be God’s shelter for his people now and forever.
   The Spirit nourishes Jesus’ living water deep into our roots. He anchors Jesus’ resurrection in our soul. He strengthens hearts and minds to defend and serve the Branch raised to life. The church is God’s Tree of Life to unite the world with our Creator. Each day you are the church at work in the world. Each Sabbath you are to unite with others to produce life-giving fruit to feed a world hungry for meaning and purpose.
   Rejoice in God’s eternal promise that you are nourished and rooted in the eternal Branch. Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  
 
Prayer: Grow my roots deeply into you, Jesus. Empower my life to faithful fruit. Amen. 

Isaiah 6:1-3 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
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Luke 1:46-49 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, 49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.”
 
ISAIAH describes the Savior to come in many passages. We will view some of those in the coming days to connect with Luke. But first, let’s see Isaiah’s view of heavenly worship that is also expressed in Mary’s praise to the Mighty One. To worship God is to magnify him in all he is. Isaiah sees heaven’s angels singing the three-part, “holy, holy, holy” to continually declare God’s perfection and majesty. Revelation records the same worship (Revelation 4:8). His glory – power, beauty, righteousness, love – flows eternally throughout the heavens and earth.
   In his response to God’s perfection, Isaiah faithfully worships God as he obediently fulfills his ministry through the reigns of several kings.
   The same is true of Mary. As with Isaiah, God has chosen her to a remarkable work. In a sense, she becomes a prophet to proclaim God’s glory through the miraculous display of the virgin birth. From the day of the Spirit’s anointing, all generations who will call Mary, “Blessed.” Why? It is not because of what Mary has done or will do. It is because of whom she becomes in God’s power. Yes, she faithfully worships the Lord. “The Mighty One has done great things for me — holy is his name.”  Even though the pregnancy is unplanned and will bring her many hardships, her appointment to be the Messiah’s mother is God’s holiness expressed into humanity! With deep reverence Mary, as Isaiah, responded to God’s call. Her words express true, humble devotion. She knows God has called her to an eternal task.
   Does “holy, holy, holy” now come from our lips, too? You may sing it in the hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy”. But does your heart declare God is the Mighty One? Do you often consider God has called you to be his own, that he has made you holy in Jesus’ blood?
   Indeed, this is a most remarkable spiritual reality. Our response is to worship him day and night with our lives as we gratefully pursue his holiness and declare what he has done for us.
 
Prayer: You are holy, holy, holy, Lord. Thank you for making us holy before your throne as we declare, “Jesus is Savior, King, Redeemer.” Amen.