





“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” ~ Ephesians 3:17-19

The Holy Spirit takes up residence in every Christian upon salvation (John 14:23, Revelation 3:20), giving us the power that we need to become “rooted and established”, or mature, in Christ. When we listen to the Holy Spirit and follow His promptings in our lives, we are pleasing God and making a home for Him in ALL of the areas of our being.

If we take the view, for example, that our heart or life is a house, we should grant The Holy Spirit access to every single room and closet in our “house”, thus making Him at home there instead of barring Him from certain places in our house. The more we are strengthened by the Holy Spirit, the more we will become like Jesus, and enter into full enjoyment of His indwelling through faith.

God, since the beginning of time, has cared about the state of man’s heart. He wants His children to have their hearts (lives) centered on Him.

As Christians, it is all too easy to get caught in the trap of measuring our obedience to God by our works. We can do many good works; but if they are done outside of His will and with the wrong motives, then they are of no value to God.

However when our hearts are centered on Christ and His great love for us, a godly life will be the natural outcome. Then, He will be delighted with our good works because we do them in obedience to His will and because we love Him.

I love the last part of this passage, that we may grasp how wide, long, high, and deep the love of Christ really is, and that this love of His surpasses knowledge!

There are many, many things that we are taught from the time we are born; but to truly grasp the love that Christ has for us is by far the very most important. From this understanding of His love will come a life that is centered on Christ and obeying His Word because of our love for Him and His finished work on the cross for our salvation.

“We love him, because he first loved us.” ~ 1 John 4:19

Oh, that our life would be spent at the feet of Jesus, loving Him, learning from Him, and showing that love to all who come into contact with us each and every day!

Thank You Jesus for Your love for me, for coming to this earth and shedding Your precious, life-giving blood for my sins, I love You my Redeemer and I give you all the praise, glory, and honor that You so richly deserve this day!

Contributed by Mary Heuss Nelson