Ephesians 3:17, ‘so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.’
The greatest thing is ‘our love for God’ and ‘our love for one another’. This love should increase and grow more and more. This is the prayer of the Apostle Paul for the Ephesian Church; that they should be rooted and grounded in love. If we miss this, our Christian life is worthless!
Ephesian Church was doing great things for the Lord, it was a wonderful Church. They had done many sacrifices to the Lord. The Lord appreciated this Church in Revelation 2.
Ephesians 6:24, ‘Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.’
Apostle Paul is also appreciating this Church as they had an incorruptible love for the Lord.
Ephesians 1:15, ‘For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints’
Apostle Paul is also appreciating this Church here for their faith in the Lord Jesus and their love for all the saints! This was the earlier condition of this Church. Later on, after many years, their love had gone cold.
Revelation 2:2, ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.’
They had lost their first love! They had many good characteristics – ‘toil and perseverance, cannot tolerate evil men, put to test those who call themselves apostles and found them to be false, perseverance and endurance for His Name, not grew weary’. The warning was given to this Church; because they had lost their first love! The love for Christ and towards one another! The same warning is for us too! Let us be rooted and grounded in His love!
V5, ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.’
There is hope for this Church. The Lord says, ‘repent and come to Me!’
There is a great possibility for us, that this love for God and towards one another, might grow cold!
Matthew 24:12, ‘Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.’
This is the sign of end times! Most people love will grow cold.
Apostle Paul is also giving this warning,
2 Corinthians 11:2, ‘For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.’
Apostle Paul is afraid that their love might grow cold and lose their devotion to Christ. He says, ‘You have been lured away from the simple purity of love for Christ’. We are betrothed to Jesus and we should not lose our devotion to the Lord and we must not be attracted to anything this world offers. We should love our God with all our heart. God is love. The first commandment which God gave us is to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength! Nothing in this world should distract us from our devotion to our Lord Jesus. We should not love this world or the things of this world.
Jude 1:21, ‘keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.’
Always keep yourselves in the love of God. There is a warning, there might be a possibility of our love growing cold for God and fellow brethren! Let us always keep ourselves in the love of our God.
Leviticus 6:13, ‘Fire shall be kept burning continually on the altar; it is not to go out.’
Let the love for our God be always burning in our hearts! Not to go out! This fire should be kept burning continually on the altar!
Song of Solomon 4:12, ‘A garden locked is my sister, my bride, A rock garden locked, a spring sealed up.’
Here, the bridegroom is calling his bride as ‘a locked garden’. Our love for our God and our relationship with our God must be like this locked garden! Nothing should separate us from our love to God.
Apostle Paul says in Romans, that nothing separates us from the love of God.
Romans 8:35, ‘Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?’
V37, ‘But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’
We will conquer through Him who loved us. Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing should separate us from having the pure and simple devotion to our God. No situations or nothing should affect us in our relationship with our Lord.
Song of Solomon 8:7, ‘Many waters cannot quench love,Nor will rivers overflow it;If a man were to give all the riches of his house for love, It would be utterly despised.’
Many waters, many ways, many troubles may come across in our lives, but they cannot quench our love for God. They should not quench our love for God. Let us be rooted and grounded in His love, as the Apostle Paul says.
Jeremiah 17:7, ‘Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord And whose trust is the Lord. 8 For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.’
This is the life of a blessed man, who trusts in the Lord. When we trust in the Lord, our problems, like heat comes, the leaves still remain green and we won’t be anxious in the drought! We will never stop to produce fruit! Always in every season, we will be bearing fruits, when we trust in the Lord and when our trust is the Lord.
How is this possible in our lives? When we live trusting in the Lord, it is the most blessed Christian life!
The secret is it is extending its roots by a stream, deep into the water! The roots are always in contact with the life-giving stream! If our relationship with our God is like these roots, deeply connected to Him then whatever we come across, the problems, circumstances, external situations; will not affect us! When the heat or drought comes, it will never cease to bear fruit!
Let us examine ourselves, where is our trust?
Psalms 52:8, ‘But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.’ V9. ‘I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.’
NLT version,
V8, ‘But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God’s unfailing love.’
If we have trust in His unfailing love, if our roots are extended into that unfailing love, in contact with the life-giving stream – His unfailing love, then whatever happens in our lives, no one can separate us from His love and we will never stop producing fruits!
God loves us as much as He loved Jesus. We thank God for His love!
1 John 4:19, ‘We love, because He first loved us.’
He loved us even when we are sinners. God wants us to love Him from the bottom of our hearts. Our love for Him should grow each day.
Luke 10:27, ‘And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
First of all, we should love our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind; and we have to love one another. The Ephesian Church had this incorruptible love for Christ and for one another. Their fire for the Lord, the love for God had gone, after some time! This is a warning for us! We need to love our God with all our heart.
Luke 7:41, ‘“A moneylender had two debtors: one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they were unable to repay, he graciously forgave them both. So which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered and said, “I suppose the one whom he forgave more.” And He said to him, “You have judged correctly.” 44 Turning toward the woman, He said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has wet My feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave Me no kiss; but she, since the time I came in, has not ceased to kiss My feet. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but she anointed My feet with perfume. 47 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”
The sinful woman, loved the Lord with all her heart! In loving our Lord, where are we standing? Having much more love for Christ. Once we know, how much our Lord loves us, when we come to know our depth of our sins and His forgiveness and the depth of His love towards us; this will increase our devotion to our Lord Jesus. This will increase our love for Christ.
Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the empty tomb, to Jesus’ resurrection.
Luke 8:2, ‘and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out‘
Mary Magdalene could experience the deliverance in her life! She had a touch with His love. She had a strong love for Jesus.
John 20:1, ‘Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene *came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb.’
While it was still dark, very early morning, she came to the tomb and saw that the stone was already taken away from the tomb!
V10, ‘So the disciples went away again to their own homes.’
But Mary Magdalene was still standing there as she loved Jesus.
V11, ‘But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”.”’
She was ready to take Him! She loved Him. These two women loved the Lord with all their heart! How is our love towards Him? Where are our roots? Are we rooted and grounded in His love or our roots are just beneath the surface? At a shallow depth? Let our love for God and for each other grow deeper!
The prodigal son lost everything in his life but when he remembered that his father loves him, he returned. His father’s love brought him back to the house!
Luke 15:20, ‘So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.’
This is our Father’s love for us! Whatever may be the situation or condition, there is always hope for us to come back to our Heavenly Father. He will restore our love towards Him.
Though this prodigal son was stinking, his father embraced and kissed him! Our Father’s love covers a multitude of sin! Our Heavenly Father loves us as He loved Jesus. Our love for Him should grow deeper! This love should compel us to live for Him.
2 Corinthians 5:14, ‘For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.’
When we love our Lord, this love will compel us to live for Him. May God help us to love Him deeply.
1 Thessalonians 3:12, ‘and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you; 13 so that He may establish your hearts without blame in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.’
Only God can increase our love and abound in love for one another! Our Lord’s coming is near. Let us love God and one another. Ask God to increase our love, as He is the one who causes us to increase in love!
Ephesians 3:17, ‘so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love’
May God help us to grow more and be rooted and grounded in His love and grow into spiritual maturity!
