Warriors Arise: December 18, 2021
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV)
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”
Why is that so important? Why are we to be called trees of righteousness? Remember the beginning of verse three. Jesus is offering an exchange. Someone who is in mourning is emotionally unstable. I do not say this to be mean. It is the truth or at least it is for me. When I am in mourning, my emotions are shifty. I can be angry one minute, laughing the next and then bawling my eyes out. Once we have made the exchange, to receive beauty for ashes and give up the spirit of heaviness to be clothed in the garment of praise, we are different. We are secure in the strength of God's love. We are empowered by the peace of Jesus Christ. We are confident in the leading of the Holy Spirit.
In Psalm 1 we are instructed to remove ourselves from those who do not follow the Lord. They are like shifting of sand. Like quicksand, if we stand with them, we sink into a pit we cannot get out of. Look at the progression of what we become in verse one to three.
Psalms 1:1-3 (NKJV)
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.
God is glorified when we are planted in His Word and live according to what we learn. Therefore, we are trees of righteousness. As we grow in Christ, we will bring forth fruit in our own lives and can offer the sweetness of what God has developed in us to others. God receives the glory when we have fruit to offer others. Fruit can be faith, works, service, character, integrity and all the Holy Spirit offers us.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NKJV) But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Jesus came to earth and gave us the opportunity to glorify God as we develop into trees of righteousness that grow fruit in its season. One season we may be growing love and the next we grow in kindness. The Holy Spirit knows which fruit we are going to need for what is ahead. We have to be willing to grow and produce as He directs.
Father, thank You for sending Jesus! He gives us the opportunity to become trees of righteousness. The Spirit teaches us to bear fruit in its season, both when we need it and when we need to have the fruit to offer others. I ask to bring You glory. I ask to become the tree of righteousness Jesus said I could become. I ask to bear much fruit, to use when I am in need and to offer it to others. Open my eyes to see who to give the fruit of the Spirit to. I ask to bring glory to You in Jesus' name amen!
A Warrior in the Lord’s Army,
Veridee Joy Hand
Join together as Believers in Jesus Christ to pray and to push back the enemy as we release God’s power here on earth. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment or private message me. If you would like this to come to your email directly please go to verideehand.com and subscribe.
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