LEARNING DAILY

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

David Wilkerson wrote, “We often say that we live in a fallen world, a world that isn’t yet perfect and one in which Satan has influence. This isn’t what God wants. He longs for us to live fully in Him and to depend on Him. He pulls us toward Him with His Word and with the Holy Spirit.” I believe all Believers need to be reminded and to be “rooted and grounded in love”, “to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge”.

Pau’s prayer begins with bowing before God, a gesture of humility. I suggest that you open your Bible and read Ephesians 3 in order to find out what Paul meant when he wrote “For this reason”. Paul asks God for a deep, spiritual strength for the people of Ephesus; he wants them to know how much God loves them. That happens as Believers allow the Holy Spirit to work from within them to establish His life within us. Guess where and when that happens – as we walk the narrow way allowing Him to change us and make us ready to enter into His eternal kingdom.

Paul prays Christ dwell in the hearts of the Believers in Ephesus; that is to be our prayer today. When one accepts Christ as Savior, He comes to dwell in our hearts. Believers are to put on the breastplate of righteousness every day to protect our heart and the helmet of salvation to protect our mind. We protect our heart and mind from the attacks of the enemy. We also do that by opening our heart to allow the Lord to guide all our thoughts and feelings, our dreams, and be our focus each day. Believers become rooted and grounded when Christ dwells within their heart through faith. The importance is shown by how Believers are then able to reach out to others due to the power and strength of Christ flowing through them.

The immensity of “being rooted and grounded in love” is described by Paul using four dimensions. David Jeremiah describes them in this way, “Its breadth reminds us that His arms reach around the globe. On the cross, Jesus’ hands were stretched out for the whole world. Its length reminds us that His love extends from eternity past to eternity future. It existed before the foundation of the world and will exist after this world’s end. Its depth reminds us that His love addresses the deepest needs of the human heart. God loves sinners no matter who they are, what they have done or where they have been. Its height reaches to the very throne of God. Out of love Jesus came down from heaven and lifts up to His level anyone who chooses to believe, because no one can climb up to His.”

It is when He comes into the hearts of the Believers, He settles down and takes up residence there filling them with His presence. It is then they truly walk the narrow way with Him and they begin to know just how deep and wide His love for them is (from Romans 8:38-39). That love is meant to keep each believer grounded and to grow in their maturity.