Filled Up with Love

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Scripture

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
(Ephesians 3:17 NASB)
may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
(Ephesians 3:18 NASB)
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
(Ephesians 3:19 NASB)

 

Observation


The transformational work of Jesus Christ is seen here in these verses. Christ may dwell in our hearts! How does that happen? When we step out in faith with the result that we become rooted and grounded in love. Over and over we hear about love. Christ is in us, and therefore love becomes foundational to our lives. Love is truly beyond our comprehension, at least Christ's love is! His love is more than anything we can imagine with our own minds and it is not just about "luvin'" the things around us. His love is the real deal and when Christ is "in" us we begin to see what real love is. We begin to comprehend the infinite nature of love. It is higher than we can imagine, it is longer than we thought, it goes deeper than our minds can comprehend and knowing the love of Christ surpasses all education, wisdom and knowledge that exists. Holy love is the goal and when we let Christ into our lives; when we allow him into every single nook and cranny of our being; we are filled up with God, and that means love.

 

Application


Every single one of us is called to a deeper walk with Jesus Christ. This infinite nature of his love must challenge us to desire him in all things. However, when we begin our walk with Christ we are very limited in our understanding. This was true for the Apostle Paul as well. However, by the time he writes this letter to the church in Ephesus we comprehend that there is so much more to the Christian walk. Paul is encouraging those who are reading the letter to go on to a deeper relationship with God through Christ. We must pray together with all the other saints (Holy Spirit filled believers!) that we will begin to comprehend the overwhelming love which comes from Christ -- which is his very nature. This is holiness -- to be filled to the brim with the love of Christ so that we can find no end. We are made his holy people when we allow that love of Christ to fill every single corner of our being -- when we are united to his infinite nature of love -- and that love goes on and fills us to the very fulness of the nature of God. God's holy people are those who are filled to the brim with him!

So often these days we hear of the progressive nature of this relationship with Christ and how this love slowly creeps into our lives. There is some truth to that, but there is also truth to the fact that there may be a moment in time when we realize that we simply have not jumped all the way in! It's that moment of awareness that we have held back a part of who we are from being completely filled with Christ's nature. For some reason my mind goes back to playing as a child and building a sand castle. I remember building a moat around the castle and waiting for the water to come. A barrier was built during the time of building so that only a little bit of water could surround that castle. But when I really wanted to fill things up, I had to tear down a piece of the protective wall which I had created and allow the water to flow. When that happened, the water flowed all the way around and you could watch as it filled every little low area that existed. Some of us love Jesus, but have put up some barriers that do not allow the Spirit to flow all the way through us. There are moments when we must tackle these barriers -- lay them down, or allow them to be destroyed -- so that the Spirit can flow and the nature of Christ, and the fullness of God fills us all the way up!

 

Prayer


Lord, please help me to walk in the fulness of your love today -- and may it splash out and around to the world around me today. Amen.

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