The Daily Nugget- Rooted In Christ
Hi All
Our text today is taken from “Our Daily Bread” ministries and speaks of how we need to be rooted in Christ and uses the example of one stem or branch taken from a diseased tree that is grafted onto another so it may flourish and bear fruit. Just like a tree, we are called to grow and produce fruit as Christians for God’s glory. As we read in scripture
“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”(1 Corinthians 10:31) We are called to grow into mature Christians, and this verse emphasizes that every action, big or small, should be done with the intention of honoring and glorifying God.No matter what we achieve or God given abilities we may have to thank and praise God for, our greatest reason to praise is that when we have given our lives to Jesus and entrusted Him we can enjoy His daily presence in our lives.
Thank You Lord !
Rooted in Christ
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
(Ephesians 3:14-21)
Beloved pastor Andrew Murray (1828-1917) shared how in his native South Africa, various diseases affect the orange trees there. To the unpractised eye, all may seem fine, but an expert arborist can spot the rot that heralds the tree’s slow death. The only way to save the diseased tree is to remove the stem and branches from the root and graft them onto a new one. Then the tree can thrive, producing fruit.
Murray connected this illustration to the apostle Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. From prison in Rome, Paul wrote a letter that wonderfully summarises the gospel of Jesus Christ. His pastoral heart shines through when he prayed that the believers would be strengthened with power through Christ’s Spirit in their inner being so that He would dwell in their hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:16-17). Paul longed that they’d be “rooted and established in love” and would grasp the full measure of God’s abundant love (Ephesians :17-18).
As believers in Jesus, our roots sink deeply into the rich soil of God’s love, where the nutrients fortify us and help us grow. And as we’re grafted onto Jesus, His Spirit helps us to produce fruit. We may have to weather storms that bend us one way or another, but we can withstand them when we’re rooted in the Source of life and love.