Rooted in God’s Love

Meditate.

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:14-19 (Underlined for emphasis.)

What concept in this scripture passage speaks to you? The sentence that reached out to me…Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. Roots grow down. Down as deep as they can after the seed germinates and life begins. So it is with God’s love…it grows into your heart and soul—making you strong, spiritually. That is a good thing. It is the love of the Father…the Heavenly Father…your Father if you believe in Jesus as your Savior. Love is such a basic need—without it we are miserable…and even babies die if unloved, untouched. But comprehending the full love is Christ—that He was willing to give up His very life for us…that is beyond our total understanding. Maybe the day will come when we get to Heaven that God will give us that understanding, but for now we can only trust God and then look around us to see God’s love in action. Even watching new plants sprouting—have you started your garden seeds inside or are you growing sprouts to eat—will remind us that we are rooted in God’s love. Feed yourself with His Word daily…and then as Paul taught…

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Never stop praying. God likes to communicate with you constantly…but it is up to you to take part in that dialog. He is listening…speak up…and then listen for His response, in His word and in other messages from pastors or Christian books. I am amazed the way the Lord shows me over and over the same message. I know He is telling me to LISTEN to Him and do as He says.

Are you listening to your Heavenly Father?

Prayer ~ Heavenly Father, Thank You for listening to my prayers, Just as was written in this Psalm, You listened….But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. Psalm 66:19.

The Holy Spirit
Listen to the Words of the Father

Verse of Salvation ~ So a time was set, and on that day a large number of people came to Paul's lodging. He explained and testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them about Jesus from the Scriptures. Using the law of Moses and the books of the prophets, he spoke to them from morning until evening. Some were persuaded by the things he said, but others did not believe. And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: "The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, 'Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.' So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it." Acts 28:23-28

© 2021 Text, photos and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character

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As we look at the characteristics of Jesus--qualities that we are called to have in our own lives and put into our relationships--we can ask ourselves several questions:

1. Is my attitude the same as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5)

2. Do I have this quality in me?

3. How do I show this characteristic in my daily life?

4. What is keeping me from obtaining more of this character trait?

5. Considering the Scriptures, what can I do to put this attitude or characteristic into action to improve it in my life?

6. Am I teaching this character trait to my children, intentionally and by my example?