An Expanding View of Life and Living

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge — that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” – Ephesians 3:17-19

What is most important to God? It’s to know we are loved by him and that we are loving towards others.

To be rooted and established in God’s love means we are drawing from God what we need to live on and live for. When we lived in Northern California, we didn’t live too far from the redwood and sequoia trees. These amazing trees can grow as high as 300 feet with a diameter that may exceed 20 feet.

In some cases, they can for 1-2-3 thousand years. What’s even more amazing is that they can grow in just 3 feet of soil.

Their strength lies in the fact that their roots intertwine with other trees – which provides mutual strength and shared resources. Their roots go down and then spread horizontally, overlapping and intersecting with the roots of their fellow trees.

As a person of faith, it’s not just that I put down roots into God’s love and do my own thing. That kind of isolation is not healthy for us. In fact, under certain circumstances, it can even be dangerous.

Paul prays that we be rooted and established in God’s love … together. When my life is intertwined with other believers – in small groups or friendships – I am much more aware that Christ dwells in my heart.

I also become much more aware of his power in my life as I see it on display in the lives of others.

In 1889 the director of the US Patent Office told President William McKinley to close the Patent Office. Why? Because “everything that can be invented has been invented.”

Well, this might have surprised Nikola Tesla, the Wright Brothers, George Washington Carver, Marie Curie, Les Paul, and Steve Wozniak. One other person might have disagreed, too. The Apostle Paul …

“20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21

What is the result of having Christ dwell in your hearts through love? What changes when you have a growing knowledge of God’s love for you? What is the effect of not only knowing God can do immeasurably more but actually experiencing it?

For starters, your view of God grows. His love is boundless, his creative potential immeasurable, and his power is explosive. As we mature in our faith, our view of God should be expanding. If our view of God is shrinking, then we might need a spiritual realignment.

The second thing that begins to happen is that our purpose for living is elevated. The apostle tells us that God’s power is at work within us so that he might be glorified in his church and in Christ Jesus.

That’s the life that God wants for you!