Rooted In Love

For those of you who know me, you probably know that one of my “pandemic projects” (as my wife Ciela aptly names them) was growing varieties of chilli plants. Although I was mainly thinking of the end product, there is something very special about the entire process. You buy these different seeds which all look quite similar, and then put them into the right soil at the right time, put them in the right place with the right nurturing and watering and then watch things happen. First of all, nothing happens for a while and you just need to trust the process. Then you start seeing a shoot and you realise - this thing is alive! After a while as it grows, you start seeing new leaves, then it starts to flower, and one fine day there are chillies growing on it. 

When I had initially planted them, I had put the seeds into small trays with tiny bits of soil in them. This really helps you monitor and adjust what is happening to each seed, but if you keep them in there too long, eventually the roots have nowhere to grow and the plant will not develop. Although the Bible scholars who have read up to this point have already picked up a few messages to preach, what I really want to get to is this - it matters how much space the roots have for the entire plant to grow and fulfill its purpose. 

In Ephesians 3:14-21, the apostle Paul prays a wonderful prayer. One of the first things that Paul prays for is that we would be rooted and grounded in love. That is why, although we are called GoChurch, our LOVE / GROW / GO values at GoChurch start with LOVE. GoChurch starts with Go because Jesus tells us that He chose us and appointed us to go and bear much lasting fruit, but first it starts with being connected through love. 

Once I am rooted and grounded in His love, with my complete focus, attention and hold on His love, then I can start to comprehend His plan, His ways, His methods of operation, His reasons and His goodness towards me, through me, through the entire church and towards the world. If I don’t grow in love then it is impossible for me to grasp what God is seeing, and what God is doing. God wants me to know, along with all the saints, how much God loves the world and what He has already done and paid for those who might still hate Him, mock Him or resist Him. He wants me to know all the facets and angles of His love that reaches out, heals, protects, restores and completely saves and delivers ALL PEOPLE. 

We as a church are responsible to CREATE ROOM for people to encounter the LOVE OF GOD, and allow their roots to grow deep and wide into the wonderful soil of His love. This is the source from which we drink and absorb life. When we do that for ourselves and those around us, then we see individuals, families, churches, economies and nations growing to new heights, having a wider impact and producing much fruit that God desires. 

The end result of that prayer is that we would be filled with the fullness of God, and God through His power working in us, would do exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think. I am equipped with all the fullness of God only when I hook up with His love, and minister His love to the world. 

This week, I would encourage you all to pray Ephesians 3:14-21 for yourselves, and your church. Allow the Lord to reveal Himself to you through this Holy Spirit inspired prayer. Allow Him to show you His love for you, so that you can GO show His love to the world.