Advent Preparations Week Two 2011 Tuesday

Prayer of the Day
Stir up our hearts, Lord God, to prepare the way of your only Son. By his coming strengthen us to serve you with purified lives; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Isaiah 11: 1-4

The Branch From Jesse

1 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 might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD—
3 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;
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.

In what ways is this passage a description of You? In what ways would you like to be conformed?

Our God comes with power to save us.
Each of us can name what it is we long to be saved from.
Today, let's imagine ourselves freer.
Throughout the day, let's picture new ways of responding
to challenging relationships, habitual sins,
and other ruts we are in.
As we envision our freedom we experience
how much our God desires to save us.