Fullness of life and power

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 3:17-19 NLT)

We have all been given the power to understand the love of God if we have asked Jesus to be the Lord of our lives. We cannot deny the work of his love in our hearts - mind, will, and emotions made whole and healed. What? You say your emotions are still up and down? Your mind is still muddled with all kinds of untruth? Your will is still a bit unruly? Well, you are not alone! We are a work in progress - his love taking us from one healed step to another.

His home is in our hearts. Not just his VRBO/AirBNB short-term stay. His HOME is in our hearts. That means wherever we go, whatever we face, whoever brings us challenges, and whenever we don't even realize we are about to undergo attack, his love is right there to help us navigate through. We might not fully understand his love, but we have experienced it, continue to experience it, and will move right along into eternity experiencing its wonder. Why? His HOME is in our hearts and where he dwells, there his love is at work!

We might not 'feel' loved all of the time - especially by our humankind. Yet, it is impossible to escape the love of our God. His love is not conditioned on our behavior - it is 'conditioned' on us being his creation! We are his and we can trust in his love for his creation. He is holy and just, yet his love embraces us, his grace changes us, and his power transforms us. That is truly hard to understand - how God could love us even in our 'unlovable' condition. Why is it so hard for us to understand his unconditional love? Simply because we are 'conditioned' to love based on behavior!

The fullness of life and power that comes from God isn't based upon merit. If it was, no one would be able experience its fullness. The love of God in us creates a 'fullness of life' that we cannot deny. If you have yet to experience that 'fullness of life', it is immediately available to those who ask Jesus to be the Lord of their lives. If we have begun to experience it but seemed to have 'stalled out' in our transformation, it is perhaps time to be 'reenergized' by his Spirit and start moving again. If we are enjoying that fullness and his power more and more each day, maybe it is time for us to begin to invite others into that relationship! Just sayin!