A Firm Planting

"14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height - 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
                                                                                                          Ephesians 3:14-19.  NKJV

The scripture here means to be rooted as a tree and grounded means like a building on a strong foundation. Many trees grow very tall so it is essential that their roots go deep into the ground. There are two reasons for this: (1) that the tree will be firmly established in order to protect it from storm force winds. (2) that the roots reach water which the tree will need so that it can flourish. The foundation must be a strong one; again, that it doesn't crumble under storm damage. (See Matthew 7:25-27).

We need to be rooted and grounded also - in Love, which is God, (1 John 4:8) God is Love; Love is God. We need to be rooted and grounded in this Love  - God, in fullness v19. The Greek word for fullness is Pieroma which means full measure, plenitude. Pieroma strongly empathises fullness and completion. 

Genesis 1:26 tells us that God created man in His own image - in the image of God. As we spend more and more time with Jesus, we become like a mirror-image of Him. We are transformed:

'But we all, with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.'
                                                                                                        2 Corinthians 3:18.  NKJV 

We are like Him, transformed by the Holy Spirit. And if we are like Him - made in His image, then as we walk with Him - rooted and grounded in His love, we are able to do what He is asking us to do - be just like Jesus to the world we live in. But it takes discipline on our parts. It doesn't just happen. We have to position ourselves to receive from Him; to serve Him and to place Him first place in our lives. He must have the first call on our lives, and we must get our lives right so that we are walking in the Spirit - walking in Love.

A lot depends on what we confess - what comes out of our mouths. Proverbs 18:21 says, 'Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.' We can confess death or life; victory or defeat or success or failure. We need to stop speaking about failure in our lives and how sick we feel today - 'My back is killing me,' 'I'll never be able to do that,' etc etc. You are highly favoured. Psalm 5:12 says, 'For You O LORD, will bless the righteous; with favour You will surround him as with a shield.' Favour is recognised as grace, pleasure, favour, goodwill, delight and even fun; and God has placed this as a shield around us. His blessing and favour envelope us.

You may ask a trusted friend if they'll do you a favour and they probably will. God, has given us the best favour of all. He did us the greatest favour by giving us Jesus as our friend and Saviour. He is all we need to be rooted and grounded in. He is all we need to walk in this world, firmly planted in His love.

Copyright 2019 Grahame Howard

dailylifewithjesus@protonmail.com