Rooted and Grounded

 Happiest New Year!

It is the dawn of a new year, and I am very excited to see all that God will do. For the past several years, I have adopted a word for the year from scripture to anchor my focus. This year is no different. I have adopted the phrase, ‘Rooted and Grounded” to be my theme this year.

I absolutely love agricultural metaphors. When I think of being rooted and grounded, I think of being secure, firmly planted, connected, and confident in the love of God through Christ. I want to know how much God loves me, though it is too great to fully understand. Imagine how powerful we would be if we really knew and understood how much we are loved by God. 

Psalms 1:1-3 states, Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
 He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

I want to flourish in God’s grace and radiate His great love. How do I plan on being rooted and grounded in God’s love? Well, by delighting myself in Him, spending time with Him in prayer and His Word. By meditating on His promises, by reminding myself of my identity in Christ, and by choosing to believe the truth of God’s word over the lies of the enemy. I want God’s voice to be more prominent and clearer than any other influence. I want my actions to reflect my connection to Christ. I want my worship to be a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God. I want to be refreshed by God’s healing springs. I want to be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. I want to bear fruit. I want to grow deeper and deeper into God’s love.

I want to be rooted and grounded in love. I want to build on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ.  For with Him, I will not be shaken when the winds of strife and insecurity come. I will stand firm and unmovable because I will abide in the Vine(John 15).

I pray that this year would be a year of unshakeable faith. I pray that this year will be a year of harvest. I pray that we will be firmly established in God’s love, that we will be connected to the Source, knowing that God is holding us, and nothing can snatch us away from His hands. I pray that this would be a year of confidence, of being utterly convinced of God’s immaculate goodness. May we follow His leading. May we step forward in faith. I pray that we will not despair when trials come, but we will run to God and meditate on His Word. I pray that we would encourage each other in the Lord. May we experience healing in our relationships. May we know that the joy of the Lord is our strength. I pray that we will be rooted and grounded in love. May we be steadfast. May we be bold like lions. May we know the truth and may we walk in the freedom of knowing Christ.

Happy New Year!

 

Scriptures

 

Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:21-23 NLT

You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance. Psalm 65:11 NLT

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—  to know the love of
Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21 NKJV