Isaiah 11:1-16

Isaiah 11:2
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

At my church I always hear about God and Jesus but very rarely of the Holy Spirit. We don't realize the significance of the Spirit residing in us. Francis Chan has written a book on how today's society neglects the Spirit. One of my friends brought up his epiphany of how Old Testament individuals would be asking us what it would be like to have a guide that is like Jesus living in us, keeping us on the right path at every moment, and helping us to become a more pure temple for God. The above verse basically tells us all the benefits that the Holy Spirit freely gives us. We have to acknowledge this.Without wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge and a fear of the Lord, how would we be able to live out a Christ-like life? Ok, it's impossible to be just like Jesus because He is perfect but with these qualities that the Spirit presents to us we can take a step closer to reaching this ultimate goal.

Isaiah 11:3-5
and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 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 root of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. 

We are born as sinners and a quality that we sadly inherit is being judgemental and ignorant to the poor, needy, and oppressed. With our faith in God, the sacrifice of the Son, and also very important the work of the Spirit within us, we can turn all of these negative traits around. Jesus never judged, he was a relational and interpersonal man who cared for sinners like us. He doesn't listen to the gossip and rumours of this world but is constantly still in order to hear the truth from the Father. He takes a stand for the poor, the lame, the mute. Why are we not attempting to do the same thing? Are we putting in the effort to do these things?

Feelings of inadequacy can creep easily creep up. It does so for me as well whenever I'm leading my discipleship group or in front of the congregation leading worship. Sometimes I feel like I'm not knowledgeable or prepared enough. However, I have the assurance that God has placed the Spirit in me so that righteousness and faithfulness is by my side and I can always use these tools to help me advance His kingdom as it says in verse 5.

Isaiah 11:6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 

I've mentioned the expression before that as Christ followers we are to be in the world but not a part of it. We may be among non-believers of Christ and they may indulge in temptations that we too can get tempted by but by God's grace He will keep us standing upright and firm from falling into sin. We're like the lamb, the goat, and the calf. The materialistic and dark world can easily suck us in and consume us if we're not strong in our faith. You need to know deep in your hearts that Jesus is the little child that will lead us. God will protect us like a loving father for his children.

Isaiah 11:13-14
Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim

The Spirit alone is able to help eliminate any sinful thoughts of jealousy and hostility towards others. Praise the Lord! Another step towards becoming more Christ-like.

God is mighty. He can break down any barriers that may be keeping us from sharing the Living Word to others,whether it is cultural, physical, psychological, or emotional barriers. Like it says in the passage, we need to take initiative and be the first ones to cross over the streams in sandals to get to the other people who don't know of the Messiah and Lord God yet. Even if it's not that, we can also pave the way for them knowing that God will move in their hearts and will encourage them to cross over the streams. At the end of the day, it's a two way street.