When the word rooted swam into my consciousness, I initially felt discouraged, thinking it was God suggesting (maybe gently warning me?) I needed to stay put or might feel stuck, further housebound or constrained somehow, with little possibility of change for the better.
Not a welcome word, or a welcome thought after a year of extra health challenges for me and my husband! Then God gently led me to seek out some Bible verses with the word rooted in them. He opened my eyes to see that far from being limiting, to be rooted in Christ is to be strengthened, built up and set free.
[bctt tweet=”Far from being limiting, to be rooted in Christ is to be strengthened, built up and set free”]
“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” ~ Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV (emphasis mine)
The verses above suggest building on the foundation of last year’s word of love, emphasising its fathomless richness, fullness and depth, and becoming built up in faith, growing stronger as I abide close to Christ, drawing life’s nutrients from Him.
Just as plants grow vibrant and strong in good soil, if given love, attention, watering, weeding and careful nurturing, so do we when planted in God’s word, rooted in His love and held fast by His grace.
[bctt tweet=”Being rooted suggests rest, peace, stillness and stability—all good things to receive from God”]
Being rooted also suggests rest, peace, stillness and stability—all good things to receive from God. Instead of being left on the sidelines and margins of life, God is inviting me to join Him, delve deeper into His grace, learn how to become more established in His love and filled with His Spirit as I rest in Jesus, the Vine of all nourishment and growth.
“When you start to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, you start to get full. Full of what? Full of God. Full of the understanding that no matter what He asks you to do, you can do it. No matter where He asks you to go, you can go. You can live on the edge, because even in the darkest places, light is waiting for you. His love, His light, in you and me” ~ Heidi Baker ‘Into the Heart of God’
You and I are grafted into Christ by His grace. As we abide in Him, we are nurtured, supported, given strength, energy and ability to grow into His likeness. Jesus is our vital lifeline. We are rooted to the stream of Life Himself.
[bctt tweet=”You and I are grafted into Christ by His grace, become rooted to the stream of Life Himself”]
We can be like the man/woman in Psalm 1:3 and Jeremiah 17:8, who is planted by streams of water, their root system continually drawing refreshment from the clear, flowing liquid, able to withstand changeable weather and fluctuating circumstances and still remain fruitful. That sounds good to me!
“In a state of grace, the soul is like a well of limpid water, from which flow only streams of clearest crystal. Its works are pleasing both to God and man, rising from the River of Life, beside which it is rooted like a tree” ~ Saint Teresa of Avila
What does being rooted and established in God’s love mean to you?
Do you have a specific phrase or ‘word’ for 2017? Please share in the comments below.
Words of Joy 
Dear Joy, Oh you have given so much richness to ponder in these words today! And, this: “Instead of being left on the sidelines and margins of life, God is inviting me to join Him, delve deeper into His grace, learn how to become more established in His love and filled with His Spirit as I rest in Jesus,” calls out to my heart also, as He has given that word “Stillness” to me this year. How precious of the Lord to shift your view away from that discouraging point of view of feeling left behind. to instead see how He is actually inviting you in deeper! And, I love the quote by Heidi Baker; I was given a beautiful Devotional by her for Christmas, “Birthing the Miraculous.” Our paths continue to overlap, dear friend! 🙂 May you be blessed in these early days of this New Year! xoxo
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Dear Bettie, it is quite rich, isn’t it? God seems to be leading me to ponder things deeply these days, though I don’t pretend to have grasped the be all and end all of this theme! On the contrary, I feel like I’m hugging the walls of my understanding, standing rather nervously in the shallow end and God is inviting me to dive into the depths, trusting not in what eyes can see but only in His loving hand proffered to me! I’m so grateful for your sweet encouraging company, and by the way our paths cross, diverge and overlap in life and faith. I pray you, too, will know the rich blessing to be gained in life’s slow lanes and places of sacred stillness, as you rest your soul before the Lord. xoxo
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Sweet Joy – I want this so much for you this year! To be more deeply rooted in His love and grace. What an amazing journey this will be! My word for 2017 is prayer. More of Him. Blessings on your week, my friend.
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Oh thank you, June! Yes, I am excited to see how this word will be explored and experienced in the weeks and months ahead. I love the word you have been given. Prayer is our lifeline to God, becoming as vital as breath, if we let it. It’s another form of being rooted in Christ, abiding and trusting, exercising faith and hope as we surrender our lives to God. Definitely “More of Him” in every way. It sounds like you’ll be having an amazing journey too, sweet friend! Have a blessed weekend. May you rest well and be refreshed. xo
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This is beautiful, Joy. As soon as I read your word, I thought of Psalm 1:3. Oh, how much we need this! I hope this year may be a year “rooted to the Stream of Life Himself.” Love and hugs!
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Trudy, I can see how well this relates to your God-given choice of abiding and resting in His best for you, putting your relationship with Him first and foremost. It looks like God is leading us all, in various ways, to savour His presence and experience more of Him in 2017. Thank you for your blessing. I hope and pray the same for you, my friend. Love and hugs! xo
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How beautiful Joy. A verse that has come to me over and over again is about the same thing, being rooted and strong in Christ. “They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” -Jeremiah 17:8
This verse has been a blessing to me and has spoken volumes to me over and over again. My word for the year is joy. I am determined to find joy in everyday this year.
God bless you my dear friend. Thank you as always for your words of wisdom xx
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I love that verse, Tanya. It will be one of the guiding ones for me this year. How encouraging it is to know that though we age, grow weary and worn, in God’s eyes we stay forever lively and green as we drink from His stream of life-giving water! And we still produce fruit in the bleak and barren winter wilderness of our lives, providing we seek our nourishment, sustenance and strength from God. How lovely to have the word ‘joy’ as your defining verse for the year—I’m still hoping and waiting for that one! May you find joy in the least expected places, hiding in plain sight for you. Bless you for being here and sharing your heart thoughts. I appreciate you, dear friend. xox
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I love Teresa’s quote. And in 2017 may we all grow our roots and soar. Wishing you all kinds of wonderful blessings in the New Year, Joy!
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Me too, Sheila! It conjures up such soothing thoughts, doesn’t it? Yes and Amen to this: “And in 2017 may we all grow our roots and soar”! Thank you SO much for stopping by to leave a lovely comment, dear friend. May abundant blessings be yours in the days and months ahead! xo
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Hello Joy! It has been far too long since I have visited with you and commented here. Thank you for leaving a comment on my blog today , so I was reminded to come visit you. I think of you and always remember our connection as you are one of the first blogging friends I made at the start of my journey into blogging! I’m sorry you have been having such health challenges. 😦 . I have been getting physically stronger since getting married I think, just because of all the housework and gardening. Something about garden work creates well being. These were interesting thoughts on being rooted in God’s love. I hadn’t thought of it from your perspective. I think for me being rooted means being grounded. In a world of chaos and moral issues, knowing God and having it be my “center” , grounds me and helps give clarity on who I want to be. I have 3 words for the new year- Healthy, Emerge, and Growth. I wish to continue the journey to health and keep working at adapting healthy for my body habits. Emerge is to get out in the world more, not just online emerging more with my brands, but emerging out of my comfort zone and facing fears to do more things I’ve put off doing during my time in hiding several years ago. Growth kind of goes with emerge, but is also about growing my business hopefully to help create steady income for our family. So there you have it! Thank you for sharing these lovely thoughts. God bless you!
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Hello Rebekah, welcome back to Words of Joy! It’s lovely to see you here, my friend. We do go back a few years, don’t we? I value the friendship and blogging connections I’ve made since my first tentative tumble into writing a blog. It’s good to hear you’re getting a bit stronger now. I guess planning for your wedding must have been exhausting, so I’m glad you’re able to do the housework and gardening. Being rooted in Christ seems to have several facets to it, including being grounded, established and set fast. With Jesus at the centre of our lives we are able to grow strong the more we abide in Him. I love the phrase you’ve chosen to define the days and months ahead for you. May it be so, Lord! I hope and pray you will stay strong in every way, see new creative opportunities emerging and grow in faith and godliness, as you trust God to see you through. Blessings and hugs! xo ❤
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Thank you. I hope to grow in faith too. Yes, the wedding exhausted me. I was down for the count for months after and it took me a long time to be able to start keeping up better with being a wife. Phew! Being a wife and homemaker is no small task.
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Rebekah, I’m sure you did what you felt able to do. So often we heap great expectations on ourselves that later prove to be unrealistic. It took me years to become anywhere near proficient at being a wife, mother and homemaker, then having M.E caused me to crash spectacularly, and my husband to need to take over running the show. And it has taken me longer still to see how my perfectionist instincts still drive me, even with chronic illness spanning 25 years! Praise God for grace. I bet He wishes we’d offer ourselves grace sometimes and learn to celebrate seemingly small achievements, which are actually huge when we are constantly drained, unwell and fatigued. May God give you strength to do all that is necessary and wisdom to know what can be delegated or left. xo
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What a lovely offering! I can see why you hesitated at first glance when God whispered the word rooted to you. But how fitting for God to deepen your understanding of what this looks like for you. I believe God always calls us to more so when He gave you the word rooted it was to further establish the foundation of who you are in Christ as you grow more into who He wants you to be.
My word this year is purpose and I am opening up to what this may mean for me but more importantly how God wants to teach me in this season.
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Mary, I love your insight here: ” I believe God always calls us to more” and what it says about God’s desire to produce Christ-like fruit in us. Though the changing and stretching can feel so uncomfortable at times, we can be encouraged by the thought of finally becoming free and beautiful as butterflies travelling in God’s wide blue sky of grace. Your word speaks of so many things, not least attentive listening, calling, hope-inspired confidence and faith stirred encouragement. I look forward to hearing about the new journey God is taking you on this year! Bless you for being here, dear friend. xo
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