Key Verses: Isaiah 11:2 & 12:5a
“The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
…Sing to the Lord for He has done excellent things!

Chapter 11 is a prophecy of the coming Messiah/Christ! He will be born from the line of Jesse, King David’s father. The work He does will be as a Man upon Whom the Spirit of the Lord rests! In His full authority, at a time yet to come, even the effects of the curse on the earth, with us since our first parents separated themselves from God, will be reversed.

Chapter 12 is a very big encouragement! Surely “He has done excellent things!” We have every reason to “Sing to the Lord!” Dip the bucket into the well and bring it up full and overflowing and drink until we thirst no more for the things of this world which are opposed to God’s will for each one of us. In John 4:15 the woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Chapter 13 sounds like the terrorists wars of our present times. It is impossible that sin and evil would go unpunished. For believers in the Cross of Jesus, His extremely violent suffering and death was in our place. We do not fear “The day of the Lord!” We rejoice in the fact of Messiah’s coming to make all wrongs right and to cleanse the earth of evil! For a New Testament reading check out Romans 8:18-25.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I drink deeply of Your Word. With joy I am drawing water from the wells of Salvation. My spiritual thirst is satisfied in You! I pray that I will dip the bucket of my life into You and Your Word each day without fail until the day when I drink from “the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal [literally], which flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1). I pray this in the Name of the One who cried out these words, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink,” Jesus Himself! (John 7:37-39) Amen!!!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:
My Dad, Rev. R. L. Mainse, took on responsibility for two country churches in the Ottawa Valley. I was ages 12-14 when we lived in the parsonage there. One of my jobs was to keep our home supplied with water from the well. I remember lowering my bucket down by a rope attached to the handle. Sometimes I would have to place a rock in the bucket so it would be heavy enough to break the ice formed overnight. Those chunks of ice that were floating in the pail made it taste delicious when I put the dipper in for a drink. This running for water (we had no running water and no electricity at first, so no refrigerator and no faucets) was like this blog – every morning and sometimes every evening! There were no excuses and no days off!

Some days ago my cousin, Allan Kenny, who owns and operates a paint store with his wife in Gananoque, Ontario, attached a video of my Dad’s Sister, Allan’s grandmother, to his blog response. My memories of her prayers are many. I believe she was born in 1890. Myrtle Mainse Kenny definitely drank from the wells of Salvation. Here she is praying out loud at a service in the “Pine Grove Church” in 1985 (click here). I’ve watched this several times, and each time I dipped into her bucket of faith and fervency for a refreshing drink. It tastes so good to me!!!

Yours for drinking daily of Jesus, the living water of life!

David