We are thrilled to share that our Christmas Devotional for Teenagers is now available for preorder! Purchase your copy of Longing for Christmas today at New Growth Press or wherever you buy books. Don’t miss the opportunity to buy in bulk for a discount on the New Growth Press website — a perfect gift for your youth ministry students, or all the kids or grandkids in your family! Enjoy this small excerpt from the devotional, available in full in Longing for Christmas.
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. (Isaiah 11:1-3)
A couple years ago, I went on a beautiful hike that started from the rim of a mountain. The first part of the walk involved stepping down lots of rocky, root-strewn steps. The tops of the trees were beneath me at the start, and then their branches began to swipe at me as I descended further and further. After a while, I was hidden amidst the brush, and I could no longer see where the twisting path ahead was leading. I’d turn a corner and all of a sudden, giant house-high boulders would appear, looming over me. They were fascinating to me, evoking my curiosity and my desire to climb. One of them, in particular, caught my attention.
As I looked up, I saw a sapling growing from the side of the boulder. Life had sprung forth from a rock. The impossible had happened.
It brought to mind the passage in Isaiah that describes a shoot coming up from the stump of Jesse. Imagine a tree that has been axed down to a stump. It is dead. It isn’t good for anything but grinding up for mulch. It’s a bit of a hopeless sight… To read the rest of this devotional and all 25 entries, purchase our advent devotional, Longing for Christmas.