Rooted and Grounded in Love

Ephesians 3:17-20 (Amplified Version)
¹⁷ May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,

¹⁸ That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

¹⁹ [That you may really come] to know [practically, ^[a]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses ^[b]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] ^[c]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and ^[d]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

²⁰ Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—"

...
Jesus is showing me how to be rooted and grounded in His love because 
of the strength that comes from this place. As the Bride, we have the 
privilege of unlocking the secrets in His heart, encountering His 
emotions, and experiencing the Love His feels for us. In this place, 
we are not moved, not shaken, and not distracted.
This verse reminds me of something that happened a few months ago at 
my sister and brother-in-law's house. They wanted to landscape their 
front yard and asked me, my mom, and dad to help. My dad is so smart 
and planned all week to bring his tractor and a big chain to pull up 
the bushes. His tractor weighs 2 tons so he felt sure it would be 
strong enough to pull up a little bush. We soon realized we 
underestimated how hard it would be. He tied the large chain to the 
bush and the tractor wheels started spinning and the bush wouldn't 
budge. It even broke the chain. I was shocked because of it's size. He 
had to dig around the bush and break off some of the roots to get it 
to go anywhere. We started digging and realized that the roots were so 
fat and so long that it ran all the way across the yard. We could not even find the end. I had no clue roots could grow so deep. I was simply looking at the surface and would have never guessed how old the bush was. It had been there for a veryy long time for the roots to be that big. 

Then, it clicked!! Jesus wants me that 
rooted in His love where I become immoveable! The foundation has to be 
so secure and strong that my whole being is satisfied and dependent on 
His love. What a privilege that we can get to know the height, length, 
depth, and width of the intimate love of our Beloved. There is no 
better place to be than searching out the hidden riches of His love. The Greek meaning for Rooted is= become stable, and the meaning for grounded is=to lay a basis for, foundation, settle. If we have a worldly mindset, we can be easily shaken and persuaded by the slightest bit of emotion. But experiencing the FULLNESS of His love makes us stable and settled. He becomes the Peace of our heart. 

I found it interesting that the greek meaning for love in verse 17 says, "love feast, feast of charity". Being rooted and grounded in His love, means we are feasting in His presence and indulging ourselves in all the love He has to offer. Because I love love so much, it seems too good to be true that He would offer His creation this gift. As our position as the Bride, we get to feast on this love that FAR surpasses the knowledge of man. He is calling and wooing us to go deeper and deeper and deeper. It is a GLORY to search out the deep things of God (Proverbs 25:2) because the time it takes, makes the reward so much sweeter! 

Position and Partnership

One of the great things about knowing Jesus is a deep sense of purpose and revelation that is not like anything this world can offer. Knowing how Jesus feels about me and who I am to Him is something that has captured my attention. Christians talk about "Knowing who you are in Christ". I'm just now hitting the surface of what my position is in the Kingdom of Heaven. Kris Vallotton says "When you know who you are, is when you realize you were living below your nature-- living short of your potential." Position and perspective is everything in the Kingdom. 

I think I am so fascinated with the Bridal Paradigm (seeing through the lenses of Jesus as our Bridegroom and the church as the Bride) because of the position that it puts the people of God in. What more intimate metaphor than a marriage partner who shares dreams, secrets, and feelings. In John 15: 15 Jesus says "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you." Jesus is waiting and wanting us to see the privilege of our position in Him. He doesn't want me to live as a servant who sits in the background not worthy of coming before Him. He wants to share with us secrets of the world. (Isaiah 45:2-4). Jesus last prayer in John 17:23, is about Jesus praying for the believers to be a people that is one with Him. He wants a confident Bride who knows the way Jesus feels about her. My mom said a profound thing the other day. We were talking about the new TV shows about weddings and how so many people make their wedding day more important than the marriage itself. She said "There is something about this generation that wants to be a bride." I thought "YES!!" That's it, the closer it gets to the second coming of Christ, the more the earth will be longing for a wedding. The world may not know that the true longing comes from a deep desire that has been put in us from the beginning. The marriage supper of the lamb in Revelation 19:7-9, describes the prepared Bride. She is pure and set apart. She [the church] is Ready to be presented to Jesus as an eternal life partner forever. 

While I was babysitting recently, I was helping a precious little 4 year old girl brush her teeth and get ready for bed. In her mind, she really does think is a princess :) She told me she only wears dresses (even to sleep in) because that is what princess' wear. As she was brushing her teeth she stopped and said, "Miss Brooke, I don't want to be a dentist lady when I go up, I want to be a Bride" As she pointed to the red towel beside her she said, "And I don't want my dress to be this color, I want it to be white!" Then she went on to ask what you wear when you date someone, if you wear white when your married.. haha! But I was stunned that this 4 year old had such desires in her heart. No one had to teach her to want to be a Bride. Jesus put a eternal desire in us for partnership. Knowing our position as a heavenly partner with Jesus makes us come alive. The world needs people who come alive and who are radically in love. People who are lovesick will not burn out when things get tough. When we don't know our position, we may see Jesus as a hard coach who motivates by fear of consequences or guilt. Jesus, our Beloved, motivates by Love (2 Corinthians 5:14). His love is the best motivator because we no longer have to try harder to overcome sin, we simply focus on enjoying God and our deepest desire for satisfaction is met! He feels joyful towards us. He is singing over us a happy song of delight. In this end time army, He is raising up those with furious love in their hearts to leave everything for the sake of love... 

The "Why" question

         It has been on my heart lately the issue of how we think of God. It reminds me of what A.W. Tozer says: "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." It is so important to think rightly about God.
        Satan has always questioned the goodness and credibility of God. In Genesis 3:1 Satan is talking to Adam and Eve and says.. "Did God really say..?" He starts by questioning the motives of God.
In a recent church service, we were singing "How Great is our God". As I was singing, I was thinking of some really tragic things that happened that week. I heard the lie that we often hear... "If God is so great, then WHY would He allow that to happen?" The devil tempts us with the "why" question to make us question the credibility of God. I recognized the sly deceitfulness of the enemy continuing to question the goodness and faithfulness of Jesus. It reminds me of the story of John the Baptist. He was sitting in prison wondering why Jesus was doing nothing to help him. In Matthew 11:2 he sends disciples to go and ask Jesus, "Are You the One who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" Does anyone else find that strange?? Why would John, who had just baptized Jesus in the Jordan, saw heaven open, the Spirit descend, and heard the voice of God, be asking this question?? Was he not fully convinced that Jesus was the Messiah when the he heard God audibly say "This is my Son, whom I love". Sometimes I think he is asking "Jesus, If You are really the Messiah then "why" would you leave me here? Why are You not coming to my rescue? Why is this happening?"
The disciples asked the "Why" question when they are in the boat during the storm. In Mark 4:38, the disciples wake Jesus up and say "Do You not care that we are perishing"? They were asking Jesus "why" He was doing nothing but sleeping. We start to question Jesus when we start thinking logically at the situation. Of course Jesus cared but He was more concerned with why they were afraid rather than trusting His faithfulness. I love that even in a storm we may can feel everything shaking around us but stay at rest with Jesus. That is our inheritance as the beloved.
        We may be tempted to question Jesus when we are hurting or afraid. We do not see God as "fair" when we do not get our way. We do not even know what "fair" means from His perspective. When I babysit and the child asked me if they just eat all the cookies in the cookies jar for dinner, of course my response is no because i know how sick they will be. I know the response that is soon to follow... "That's not fair!!!" Of course they do not think it is fair because of their perspective. They do not understand the big picture.
       We must not entertain questioning thoughts because it allows Satan a door of opportunity to bring resentment and bitterness in our life. Even in the death of a loved one, a sickness, or tragedy we can not afford to be offended with our Beloved Jesus. This is the only time in all of eternity that we can CHOOSE to say "yes" to God in the midst of a struggle or hardship. We can choose to trust Him instead of being offended with Him. He is not aggrivated that we do not understand, the same way i am not aggrivated that children do not understand cookies for dinner, but I have to trust that He is who He says He is.
1. He is Real and Alive
2. He is Good
3. He is Faithfulness
      Dwelling on what the Word says about Him, brings down every wrong mindset. He is good because He is God. Faith is the confidence in the goodness of God. We can choose to believe God is incredibly good no matter the circumstance. Thinking logically will not get us to that point, but having our minds set on things above gives us a supernatural mindset. If we continue to focus on the things we do not understand, there is only worry, stress, and a complete lack of trust. I have to focus on what I DO understand!...
His power is made perfect in weakenss -2 Corinthians 12:9
He has UNFAILING love forever- Isaiah 54:10
He does not change - Malachi 3:6
We have grace and mercy to help in time of need - Hebrews 4:16
The Lord is good and has good things planned for those who love Him -Deut. 8:7, Ps. 34:8, 84:11, Lamentations 3:25, Zechariah 9:17, 1 Tim. 4:4