Ephesians 3:14-19 - "Rooted and Grounded in Love"

Todaywe're continuing to look at the prayer, the petition, that the Apostle Paulprayed for the saints there at the church of Ephesus. The first thing he prayedfor in verse 16 is that they would “be strengthened with might through HisSpirit in the inner man”. They'd have spiritual energy to live for the LordJesus Christ and to do the will of God. Secondly, Paul prayed, “that Christmay dwell in your hearts through faith that you being rooted and groundedin love”. So, the second thing now Paul is praying for is the depth oftheir spiritual experience in Christ. How deep is your spiritual life? Youknow, so many Christians are like a mile wide and an inch deep. They display alot of Christianity until they end up in a different situation, a crisis, thenit's revealed they have no depth to their Christian life. That's what Paul ispraying for, that there would be depth in their spiritual walk with God. Heuses three words in verse 17 to speak of this depth. The first word is “dwell”.Then the second is “rooted”. The third word is “grounded”.  Theword “dwell” is a word that speaks of Christ being at home in our hearts. WhatPaul is praying for is a deeper experience between Christ and His people. Heyearns for Christ to settle down and feel at home in their hearts—not a surfacerelationship, but an ever-deepening fellowship. Not only are we at home inChrist, He's at home in our hearts. Abraham is a good illustration of this.When God and the two angels came to see Abraham after He has promised him ason, God felt at home with Abraham. He sat down to have a meal with him. Heconversed with him. He talked with him. But then, God had another thing on Hisagenda, that was the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. He didn't go to Lot'shouse. He sent the two angels because He didn't feel at home in Lot's heart.So, my friend, to dwell in our hearts means Christ is at home. He has a placewhere He can commune and fellowship with us. Jesus is always a welcome guest. Now,already we are saints. That's what Paul addressed these Christians at Ephesuswith in the very first verse of the book: “To the saints at Ephesus”. So,they're saints already. They are already in Christ. Christ is already in them.But the question is, does Christ dwell in your hearts? Is He abiding in yourheart? (John 15:7-8).  Thesecond word that we see here is the word “rooted”. The verb rootedmoves us into the plant world. The tree must get its roots deep into the soilif it is to have both nourishment and stability; and the Christian must havehis spiritual roots deep into the love of God. Psalm 1:2-3 is a perfectdescription of this word. Jeremiah 17:5-8 is agood commentary on it. One of the most important questions a Christian can askhimself is, "From what do I draw my nourishment and my stability?" Ifthere is to be power in the Christian life, then there must be depth. The rootsmust go deeper and deeper into the love of Christ. Thirdly,we see the word “grounded”. Grounded is an architectural term; it refersto the foundations on which we build. There's only one foundation that can bein our lives and that's the foundation of Jesus Christ. We know that theexperiences of life, the trials of life will expose if we're building on thefirm foundation of Jesus Christ. Which means we have depth. Jesus said it thisway in Luke 6:47-48, He is like a man building a house, whodug deep and laid the foundation on the rock.  We'redwelling in Christ. Christ is dwelling in us. We have deep roots into thefoundation, Christ Himself. “Christ is our life” (Colossians 3:4). “Forto me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).  That is then the story of our life. It's aChrist-like life. It's exchanged life, as Hudson Taylor put it.  Myfriend, that's what we need to have. That's why Paul prayed for the depth, thedepth of our love in Christ. We should pray for that not only for ourselves,but for others.  Godbless!