"...rooted and grounded in love..."

Eph 3:16-19 "...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

In the Fall of 2008 the Lord spoke clearly to me that in 2009 we were to "Make the Basics Attractive." What was communicated to my heart through this was that the messages to be spoken in 2009 were to emphasize the fundamentals of Christianity in a practical, engaging and appealing way. Truths that we all need to build our lives on, yet truths that can seem like the 'same old - same old" if not presented in fresh and engaging way. Thus, during the month of February the emphasis has been on what it means to be "...rooted and grounded in love..." Without this simple, yet profoundly deep and life transforming truth deeply cemented into the basement of our souls, pressing life circumstances can blow us all over the place and cause us to doubt that God is even with us in our most difficult times. During three separate messages in February we have covered three aspects of what it means to be "...rooted and grounded in love," vertically, internally and horizontally. During the final message concerning our horizontal relationships in this life, we considered the question posed in the song, "Where Is The Love," by the "Black Eyed Peas" as compared to how the song might have been written if the "Black Eyed Peas" had experienced the love we read about in Acts 2 & 4. I suggested the song title would have been, "There Is The Love" instead of the proverbial question, "Where Is The Love." I ended the message with two exceptionally important reasons why we need to be a community of believers that grows deeper in our understanding and experience of Biblical "koinenia." The first reason is taken from Paul's exhortation to the Thessalonian church where he admonishes them to "...increase and abound in love to one another and all..." so that they would be prepared for the "coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." WOW, IS THAT POSSIBLE? INCREASING AND ABOUNDING IN OUR LOVE FOR EACH OTHER AND ALL PEOPLE ACTUALLY PREPARES OUR HEARTS FOR CHRIST'S RETURN? WHAT A HUGE THOUGHT! The second reason is found in John 17 where Jesus teaches us that the "world would believe and know" that He was sent by the Father if we truly have love one for another. Another HUGE thought! I cannot think of two more important themes from the scriptures, being prepared for the second coming of Christ & the world believing that Jesus was sent by the Father, and both are contingent upon us growing in our understanding and experience of true Biblical "koinenia."