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.
Isaiah 11:1-4 NIV
A Branch of Jesse
Canada’s system of government has three branches: the legislative, the executive and the judicial. The legislative branch passes laws, the executive implements them, and the judicial interprets them. Parliament is Canada’s federal legislature. It includes the Monarch (represented by the Governor General), the Senate and the House of Commons. The executive branch is composed of the Monarch (represented by the Governor General), the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The judicial branch is made up of a system of courts, administrative boards and tribunals.
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Canadians are discovering all sorts of things about their family tree as they send in their saliva samples to the various DNA ancestry companies. There are branches that spread out widely throughout the generations. The Bible records genealogies often – an Israeli friend of mine says that even today Jewish families can trace their ancestry back generations. God had this planned, as He prepared for the coming of the Messiah Jesus. In Isaiah 11:1-4 the prophet writes, “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.”
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley