The Love of Christ
14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” (Ephesians 3:14-18 NLT)
Christ’s peace enables us to be at peace with ourselves, with God and with other people. It also opens us up to the reality of Christ’s love. The above prayer helps us to understand how we can experience more of this love. It involves,
Inner strength through his Spirit
There are many events in life which can discourage and overwhelm us. Paul prays for the church at Ephesus that God’s Spirit will give them inner strength. The original Greek word used is the opposite of “to discourage”. When we are discouraged we can lose our strength and enthusiasm. Everything seems “too hard”. Watching media reports of war and violence, losing our job or having an argument with a friend can all discourage us. But God’s Spirit helps us to look beyond the difficulties of life and human evil. It lifts our eyes to the goodness and faithfulness of God.
Christ at home in your hearts
Jesus says to one of the churches in the book of Revelation, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (Revelation 3:20) When a friend knocks at the door you normally invite them in to your house immediately. But if they turn up unexpectedly you might not. Instead, you might quickly shut the door on some rooms that are messy! The better you know and trust the person, the more likely you are to let them have free access to your home. In the same way, the more that we trust Christ the more we will open up every area of our lives to him.
Your roots will go down into God’s love
A few years ago we planted a hedge of trees along our side boundary. Over time, numbers of them have died. Our local garden centre has told us that a little grub is eating the fine feeder roots on the trees. As a result the trees are starving to death. God’s love gives us life as we put our roots deep down into its soil. This happens as we grow in trusting him. But sometimes the hurts and problems of life eat away at the “feeder roots”. We need the encouragement of other believers and the guidance the Bible gives to keeps us growing in God’s love.
How real is Christ’s love to you? Are you sharing it with others?
Christ’s peace enables us to be at peace with ourselves, with God and with other people. It also opens us up to the reality of Christ’s love. The above prayer helps us to understand how we can experience more of this love. It involves,
Inner strength through his Spirit
There are many events in life which can discourage and overwhelm us. Paul prays for the church at Ephesus that God’s Spirit will give them inner strength. The original Greek word used is the opposite of “to discourage”. When we are discouraged we can lose our strength and enthusiasm. Everything seems “too hard”. Watching media reports of war and violence, losing our job or having an argument with a friend can all discourage us. But God’s Spirit helps us to look beyond the difficulties of life and human evil. It lifts our eyes to the goodness and faithfulness of God.
Christ at home in your hearts
Jesus says to one of the churches in the book of Revelation, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” (Revelation 3:20) When a friend knocks at the door you normally invite them in to your house immediately. But if they turn up unexpectedly you might not. Instead, you might quickly shut the door on some rooms that are messy! The better you know and trust the person, the more likely you are to let them have free access to your home. In the same way, the more that we trust Christ the more we will open up every area of our lives to him.
Your roots will go down into God’s love
A few years ago we planted a hedge of trees along our side boundary. Over time, numbers of them have died. Our local garden centre has told us that a little grub is eating the fine feeder roots on the trees. As a result the trees are starving to death. God’s love gives us life as we put our roots deep down into its soil. This happens as we grow in trusting him. But sometimes the hurts and problems of life eat away at the “feeder roots”. We need the encouragement of other believers and the guidance the Bible gives to keeps us growing in God’s love.
How real is Christ’s love to you? Are you sharing it with others?
posted by Peter Wilson at 10:27 AM
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