Isaiah 11:5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Again I pick up where I left of yesterday with this thought. We are rooted and grounded by love and as such, what holds us in place, to be unmoved away from this love of God? It is righteousness and faithfulness of Jesus Christ that holds us together.

The Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon also describes this girdle as a bond. It is worn under all clothing, next to the flesh. It is used to contain the enlargement of the waist. Righteousness girds the loins and faithfulness the reins. The loins are described in the Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon as the seat of strength. It encompasses the small of the back on which burdens are sustain, (expression of that Lexicon). The reins speaks to the same area but rather than just strength and burden, it speaks to the resulting actions.

Faithfulness is born of righteousness.

Romans 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psalm 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Jesus is the Word. Jesus dwells in our hearts by faith. His righteousness holds us in check, His faithfulness gives us the strength to do the will of God.

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Isaiah 11:1-5 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And 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; And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

Yesterday I ended the devotional with the message about how we comprehend God’s love, by being rooted and grounded in His love, Jesus Christ. Roots are a common natural occurrence which we can see and understand. God touches our lives in the Spirit miraculously and this needs to be seen. With these powerful influences in our lives we need to know that it is God who performs these good works by the power of His will. One way we know that it is of God is in the prophetic messages that have been provided.

This message of roots is one we can see in nature and our ability to understand how that works helps us to comprehend how God makes His will know in this spiritual realm. Jesse’s root is a natural biological production, his lineage is of the house of David. This isn’t the only hint of the coming Messiah but it is the one connected to the thought of roots. Roots both nurture and hold the plant in place so that it cannot be moved out of its place. The Holy Spirit in our hearts acts the same way.