“Love is the fruit of quiet contemplation on Christ.”
Thoughts from daily Bible reading for today – January 3, 2024
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. Ephesians 3:16-17, NLT
One of my goals for the new year is to lean into the inner strength of the Holy Spirit in my life. A real hidden resource that I easily overlook in my self-reliant self. His inner strength is not some special superpower that is only given by the Lord to super spiritual souls. Spiritual inner strength is mine to be discovered and enjoyed, not some force outside of me that needs to be acquired. When Christ is at home in my heart…He brings with Him His unlimited resources accessible to a surrendered life. The moist soil of His presence in my soul deepens the roots of God’s love that keep me strong. Strategically spiritual weapons honed by the Holy Spirit cut through confusion and clarify with the truth of God’s word. I discover inner spiritual strength in my silent stillness. Such is the reassurance that I can rest in the Spirit’s empowerment to be strengthened by His love.
Martin Laird, in his insightful book Into the Silent Land, describes how to discover inner spiritual strength. Surprisingly, he begins with a story of prisoners who, in their sad confines, are able, through contemplation on Christ and Scripture meditation, to discover the inner spiritual strength of the Holy Spirit. One inmate’s experience, “All beings, no matter how reactionary, fearful, dangerous or lost, can open themselves to sacred within and become free. I have become free even in prison. Prison is the perfect monastery.” You are probably not reading these words from jail or prison, but you may feel trapped with seemingly no recourse but to wait. If you feel cloistered, use your confining circumstances as a personal monastery to seek the Lord in a deeper, more meaningful manner. As you tap into the Spirit’s inner spiritual strength, find your freedom in being close to Christ at home in His love. Grace gives you a “get out of jail free” exit out of legalism’s prison of shame and condemnation. Love is the fruit of quiet contemplation.
“Become complete. Be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you” (2 Corinthians 13:11).
I am learning from my gentleman farmer father-in-law that deepening grassroots requires just the right mixture of sun and rain. Too much rain and the roots feel no need to go deeper where additional moisture awaits, and not enough rain and the roots wither in dryness. Roots dig down deepest and healthiest as the Lord God of rain and sun dispenses His ecological mixology in a manner that challenges the root system to deeper water. In a similar fashion, the sunshine of the Son’s presence warms our soul with the blessing of His presence, while the rain of mercy and grace refreshes us with life-giving love and forgiveness. In those dryer times of needing to go deeper in God’s love, we experience a level of intimacy that only comes from an inner depth of spiritual strengthening. A robust root system of faith flourishes in the deep soil of our Savior’s Love. Our gentleman farmer Jesus is always with us to weather life and forecast what we need.
Whether you are experiencing a deluge of overwhelming relational issues or a drought of spiritual vitality, you have access to the living water of the Lord Jesus. Go deep with the roots of faith by His righteous river of love, and the Holy Spirit will surely strengthen your inner being.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, grow the roots of my faith and love down deep into the soil of your love through Christ’s love and in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Application
Consider a daily routine of 30 minutes of silence and reflecting on Scripture.
Related Reading
Psalm 1:2, 46:10; Acts 21:12-14; 2 Corinthians 3:18, 5:17
Worship Resource
Brooke Ligertwood: Desert Song
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