Rooted In Love

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• Since still in February, we are going to continue with our theme of love. Last week we examined the priorities of love.

• We learned that for one to be able to experience and give true love, one’s priorities needed to be in order.

• We are called to love God first and foremost, and then love others, which in turn will allow one to have a healthy love of self as well as life.

• Today I want us to consider where our loves are rooted, what ground is our life being built upon.

• There are many places one can allow their life to be rooted in.

• It is so easy to allow the world to get us to root ourselves in its type of love and in its values versus being rooted in the type of love God desires us to be rooted in.

• So this leads to a deeper question.

• The deeper question I am seeking to answer is this, “WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE ROOTED IN SOMETHING?”

• Put another way, “HOW DOES ONE BECOME ROOTED IN SOMETHING?”

• Specifically, what does it take to be rooted in the love the world has to offer, or what does it take to be rooted in the love God has to offer?

• The short answer to the question is simple; one MUST BE IMMERSED INTO WHAT THEY DESIRE TO BE ROOTED IN.

• Today I am not going to focus on how one becomes rooted in the world, instead our focus will be how one can be rooted in the love God has to share with us, along with a couple of blessing that will result from being rooted in love.

• Let’s begin by looking at Ephesians 3:14-16

• SLIDE #2

• Ephesians 3:14–16 (HCSB) — 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. 16 I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit,

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

In order to be firmly rooted and established in God’s love we need…

I. Inner strength from the Spirit.

• The beginning with verse 14, Paul is praying for Spiritual power for his brothers and sisters in Christ.

• He is petitioning God to do some things for his Christian brothers and sisters.

• Paul bases his petition on the riches of God’s glory!

• The first thing he asks for is that Christians be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit.

• The word STRENGTHEN is the opposite of the word DISCOURAGED in verse 13 in the previous section.

• The word represents the presence of a significant force rather than the exercise of strength.

• This strengthening is not a Samson type of clearing the room of bad guys strength, but rather it refers to having the inner strength to repel any evil influence on one’s life.

• It is the prayer of Paul that through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, one’s inner strength will be as such that nothing Satan throws at you will hook you.

• It is the power to not only resist the devil; it is the power to overcome his influence in your life!

• SLIDE #4

• James 4:7 (HCSB) Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.

• It takes a great deal of strength to resist the temptations the world has to offer.

• You are not POWERLESS!

• The Holy Spirit will empower you to overcome and to be victorious!

• SLIDE #5

• Romans 8:37 (HCSB) No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.

• How does this tie in with being rooted in love?

• Simple, when we are allow the world to run all over us, when we allow ourselves to live in defeat, we cannot be rooted in love.

• When we allow the world to define what love is, we will lose out, we will cheat ourselves out of being rooted in true love.

• This is what we talked about last week, when we adopt the world’s type of love, our love will not be a true love because we will allows seek what benefits self rather than God and others.

• Also we will be suspicious of everyone who tries to offer us love.

• The Holy Spirit will assist us in our transformation process!

• SLIDE #6

• 2 Corinthians 3:18 (HCSB) We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.