SCRIPTURE: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
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—
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 rod 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.
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.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
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—
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 rod 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.
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.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.” Isaiah 11:1-10
Things are not as they seem. About a generation prior to the time of Socrates, Parmenides, almost his mentor and probably the only one to ever defeat him in debate, said, “Not let habit born from much experience compel you … to direct your sightless eye … but judge by reason.” In other words, your physical senses are undependable with regard to the revelation of ultimate reality. Rather use your mind. Socrates and Plato agreed with him entirely. About four hundred years later, Paul wrote "For now we seen in a mirror dimly, but then face to face." (NASB) Then, in the 21st century, theoretical physicist, Brian Greene, has informed us that regarding our world with our physical senses is like looking at a Van Gogh through an empty coke bottle.
And so, we live in a world of illusion, and we must use our minds' eyes in order to discern how things really are. The most vital part of doing this is to grow one's faith in the Christ.
Thus, Jesus does not judge any of us according to what He sees, and he especially does not do so according to what He hears.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, Help us to believe without doubt and love you more and more and grow closer and closer to you. Amen.
Jim Ivey
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