Freedom in Christ? Really knowing how much Jesus loves us can result in a totally liberating experience.

A short meditation on:

Eph 3: 17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18May be able to
comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and
height;
19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

The steps to liberation in our hearts and minds are simple. It is man who makes it complicated because he wants to do it his way. Secular philosophy and psychology purports to know how man can liberate his mind from the tyranny of daily living. But the fact is that secular theories have been abject failures.

Depression is now the number one health concern in North America. Prescriptions of the newer class of anti depressants have soared, mainly because the new drugs called SSRIs have much less side effects than the older phenothiazines. I am not sure if the discovery of SSRIs has been the beneficial to mankind. Now, apart from failed self help strategies, many are resorting to pill popping. They consume SSRIs like many people eat peanuts – by the mouthful!

But God, who made us in His image, knows what we lack.

1. We lack communion with Him – we need Christ to dwell in our hearts (Eph 3:17). This can only happen by faith. Just intellectual assent is not enough. By faith we are saved, and by faith we accept the gift of God for salvation. By faith, we know that the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us, to work through us and in us to become the person God wants us to be.

2. The indwelling Holy Spirit helps us to be rooted in the love of Christ. This love surpasses all understanding, and we can only marvel at the love that made the Son of God come down to die on the Cross for our sins. Knowing the magnitude of this love is essential (Eph 3:18). It is broader than the widest ocean, longer than the vast universe and deeper than the deepest sea, higher than the heavens above. It is infinite. My finite mind cannot fathom God’s love. But by faith, I am rooted in that love.

3. The love that passeth knowledge (Eph 3:19) has to be known, and this will liberate man from the tyranny of this world, with its bondage to sin, and the lusts of the flesh, lusts of the eyes and pride of life. It results in being filled with the fullness of God.

What is this fullness of God? What is the practical expression of this fullness?

1. The fullness of God does not mean we are suddenly sinless. It means that we are accepted despite all our shortcomings. Yet as we grow in the Lord, we see changes in our lives. Thins that interested us before pale in our new delights, things of the world pale compared to things of the Kingdom. We may find ourselves less inclined to watch TV or play golf as often as we did, and now participate in church or bible study or acts of compassion. Our focus changes and this will become evident with time.

2. A practical expression of the fullness of God is shown in the joy of the Lord filling our hearts. No matter what the circumstance, we can be sure that He is there with us, nothing need depress us. Of course we may feel the anxiety and stress at times, but these do not linger.

One good way, when we are stressed or getting depressed, is to remember the love of God, stop what we are doing and just rest in that love for about 5 to 10 minutes. It helps if we meditate on all the verses that promise us that He will never leave or forsake us. Memorize verses that are meaningful, so that they will help in time of need. Much of our anxiety will be relieved if we learn his art of practicing the presence of God.

Blessed
is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the
way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.But his delight is in
the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psalm
1:1-2

Amen
+ Dr. Joshua Raj