Ephesians 3:14-19
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,[a]15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
In the introduction to what has become a favorite devotional book (Jesus Calling, by Sarah Young), she talks about walking around outside, where the sunlight was hot enough to sunbathe, but the snow was so deep that the sun couldn’t melt it. It immediately made me think about our faith, and when it is deep enough, the heat of the battle cannot dissolve that faith. A thin layer of faith can be disturbed, but not a deep faith.
We need continually abiding faith so Christ’s Spirit can truly dwell (remain) in our hearts (the seat of our thoughts, will and emotions). We need to be “rooted and grounded” in His love, not only in the intelligent understanding of what God’s love for us and in us is, but in the experience of His love flowing through us toward others. So many people think that God loves us just so we will feel loved, but we are missing the point that God loves everyone, and when He pours His love into us, it is not meant to be hoarded or welled up, but poured out lavishly on others. That’s hard for us when all we really are considered about 99% of the time is getting what we want.
I pray that you truly will experience how all encompassing God’s love can be if you let Him love you instead of pushing Him away in your hopelessness or despair. I pray that you will experience His glory-filled strength which is perfected in us when we acknowledge that we are weak and we need Him to do all the things we cannot do for ourselves. I pray that you will truly be filled with God’s Holy Spirit, in every nook and cranny, and that you will willingly submit to what the Spirit speaks to you and wants for your life, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.