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Hear the devotional here: https://anchor.fm/eradio-valverde/episodes/He-is-the-One-e1rh5v0
1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The spirit of the Lord shall 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 His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins. 6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. 7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. 9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. 10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1-10 NRSV)
A blessed and terrific Tuesday for you, dear Reader. May the day bring unexpected surprises of joy and happiness with which you can bless others. I ask continued prayers for all who have asked prayers from us; prayers for each other, and prayers for the wellbeing of our communities, and the blessings for the world.
We have one tree on our lot. That puts us ahead of the entire state of New Mexico, no? But this Northern Red Oak came with the lot and we're very proud of it. Nellie makes sure it gets watered often (and she prays for rain all the time!). And it concerns her when the winter comes and takes with it all the leaves of this tree and leaves it, as our oldest grandson says, "naked." It is the period of nakedness that troubles Nellie the most. She gets anxious if it takes longer than normal for the leaves to sprout again, and even prompts questions such as, "Is our tree dead?" I usually smile and say, "No. Our tree is not dead. It's taking its time but will be back when it's time." Who knows, one day that tree will be huge and will provide a home for many birds and other tree-living creatures; and maybe, one day that tree will simply be a stump. Having a stump where there used to be a living tree is a sign not many people enjoy. Yes, some can sit on the stump but beyond that there are not many uses for it. And yet, the prophet Isaiah shares a word from God that the stump that was left of Jesse's family, will be precisely where a needed branch will come, growing out of its roots. This new branch is the awaited Savior, for Whom we are preparing during this season.
Jesus fit the bill because He is the one! He came filled with the Holy Spirit because the Spirit was resting on Him; His life, teachings, and ministry showed His wisdom and understanding. His love and actions showed counsel and might; everything Isaiah said about Him, He lived. Jesus is all about righteousness, and wants us to be the same. Jesus' ministry was all about righteousness, all about calling people out of maliciousness and that realm, and into a realm of true life, life in abundance. Such is the hope of God that all nations will be so in righteousness that the impossible becomes possible, and the unreal becomes real. The sensible person will ask, "How can the wolf live with the lamb? Why would the leopard lie down with the lamb when the natural instincts is for the leopard to devour the lamb? Who would imagine a lion hanging around with a calf and a fatling? And what a sight to see the cow and the bear grazing together! And in their midst a child leading them. And who has seen a lion eating straw like an ox? No more death nor destruction because the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord, just like the waters cover the sea. And on that day, the prophet says, "The root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of Him, and His dwelling shall be glorious." This, dear friends, is the picture of Heaven, the place of eternal life and a forever peace. The things that divide us now, and cause us to fight against each other, will be gone. Fear and all it causes, is gone. It has been replaced by the reality of hope fulfilled. Thanks to the life of Jesus, living in us and shining through us.
Advent means becoming ready by allowing God to make us just like Jesus. May we truly embrace all the good, and all the power we find in Him to better our surroundings and bless our communities. Ours is an active faith which will not be blessed by our not doing anything and sitting around; we have been called to duty to serve God.
PRAYER: Loving God, bless us with a new awareness with which we can best bless You and Your Kingdom; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Be a person who blesses others.
Receive my blessings of joy and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
PRAYER UPDATE: I spoke with The Rev. Rob Clopton and he's in great spirits having taken a dye test that showed his tumor has not grown and he, the doctors, and all of us should say, "Thanks be to God." May our prayers lead the tumor to go the other way; complete dissolving and disappearnce from our brother's body, in Jesus' name! Prayers for Mr. and Mrs. George and Rosemary Schwalm of Houston, both of whom have the illness going around that is neither flu nor Covid; prayers also for blessings in Rosemary's work situation; in Jesus' name!
