Rooted in Christ: Spend time with Him to Absorb His Riches and Grow for the Body

As believers in Christ, we have been rooted in Christ as the rich soil, and we grow with the elements we absorb from the soil; we need to take time to absorb Christ as the rich and all-inclusive soil into whom we have been rooted, for He is a land in which we do not lack anything. Hallelujah!

The good land of Canaan is a type of the all-inclusive Christ as the compound, life-giving Spirit with a bountiful supply to be everything to us.

In this land, we lack nothing, for everything we need is here, in Christ and from Christ.

Just as the good land of Canaan provided everything to the children of Israel both for their existence and their worship of God and fulfilment of His purpose, so the all-inclusive Christ as the rich soil into whom we’re rooted is everything to us.

We need nothing else apart from Christ. We need no one else apart from this all-inclusive One.

Christ is everything to God – He is the centrality and universality of His economy, and all His heart’s desire is in Him.

Christ is the embodiment of God and the manifestation of God, and in Him, God is delighted in full.

God loves Christ and focuses on Christ so much that, after passing through the processes of incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension, Christ was made by God Lord of all, the One enthroned in the heavens.

He is now a Man-God, a God-man, in the glory, seated on the throne of God. This One has been given to us for our enjoyment and participation.

By believing into Christ, we are joined to Him organically; we are one spirit with the Lord through our believing into Him (1 Cor. 6:17).

By believing into Christ, we were grafted into Him as the vine, and we are the many branches of Christ, the vine, to be part of the universal increase of God in man in the universe (John 15:4-5).

By believing into Christ, we became the many children of God to be the family of God, His household, for Him to have a corporate expression on the earth.

By believing into Christ, we became part of the kingdom of God for Him to have a realm on earth where He can rule and reign.

By believing into Christ, we were planted into Him to be the plants rooted into the rich soil of the all-inclusive Christ.

Hallelujah, we have been rooted and grounded in Christ as the rich, all-inclusive soil, and all we need is in Him!

We simply need to send down our roots into Him, absorb Him, and develop root hairs to extract and absorb all His riches to be constituted with Him and become His fullness, His expression.

Wow, what a Christ we have, and how intimately we are joined to Him, even one with Him, to become the same as He is by absorbing Him into our being!

Having Been Rooted in Christ as the Rich Soil, we need to Absorb Christ to be made Full in Him

Col. 2:6-7 reveals that Christ as the good land – a land in which we do not lack anything (Deut. 8:9) – is the rich soil in which we have been rooted so that we may grow with the elements that we absorb from the soil (Eph. 3:17).

We need to see that we have been rooted in Christ; He is the rich soil into which we have been rooted at the time of our regeneration.

Now we grow with the elements that we absorb from the soil. God is the real Farmer, and Paul was one of His co-workers (1 Cor. 3:6-9; 2 Cor. 6:1).

Paul planted the believers into Christ as the soil.

Some co-workers of Christ worked together with Him to plant us into the rich soil of Christ at the time of our regeneration.

Now that we are rooted in Christ as the rich soil, we need to day by day take time to absorb Him, the One into whom we have been planted.

We need to take time to enjoy the Lord as the all-inclusive land so that all the elements of Christ as the rich soil may be absorbed into us for us to be made full in Him in our experience (Col. 2:10; 4:2).

We need to not only believe into the Lord and be rooted in Him; we also need to be made full in Him.

We are being made full in Christ by absorbing Christ, the rich soil into whom we are rooted.

We need to take time to absorb Christ. He will give us the good land, but we need to fight for the land.

He will give the enemies into our hands, but we need to fight. He will give Himself to us, but we need to send our roots deep down into Him by spending time with Him to absorb Him.

We need to cooperate with God, taking the initiative to come to Him and enjoy Him.

If we want to absorb the riches of Christ as the soil, we need to have tender, new roots (see 2 Kings 19:30; Isa. 37:31; Jer. 17:7-8; Mark 4:16-17; 2 Cor. 4:16).

We may not know much about farming and plants growing, but we all know that a plant needs to have many roots in order to absorb the riches in the soil.

We need to have tender roots, new roots, for us to absorb more of the riches of Christ. May we not allow ourselves to get old before the Lord; rather, may we renew our heart and our love for the Lord every morning and every day.

May we daily exercise our new heart and our new spirit to start the day and contact the Lord.

As we come to the Lord to contact Him, He may expose the hidden sins in our hearts, and He may shine upon the anxieties of this age; we need to deal with these things in order for Him to grow in us.

When the trials come, as signified by the sun rising up on the seed that grows into a plant, we should grow in life and ripen, not be scorched by them.

If we do not have roots in the Lord, if our roots are not deep into Him, when the trials and tests come, we will be burned instead of growing more.

The opposition, the affliction, the suffering, and the persecution should help us grow; however, if we do not have roots deep into Christ, we may backslide or suffer a death blow instead of growing.

May we be like trees planted by the stream, sending our roots into the soil and being richly supplied, so that, when trials and tribulations come, we would remain flourishing, and we would not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will we cease to bear fruit.

To send our roots deep down into Christ as the rich soil, we need to forget our situation, our condition, our failures, and our weaknesses, and simply take time to absorb Christ with His riches (Luke 8:13; Matt. 14:22-23; 6:6; Col. 2:7a, 19).

We need to forget about anything else and just take time to absorb the Lord.

Paul practiced this; though he had many great attainments and many wonderful and high experiences of Christ, he forgot what was behind him and stretched forward to the Christ who was before to gain Him and obtain His riches.

Many times we focus either on our successes and good experiences of Christ, or we may introspect and realize the weaknesses and failures we had. Oh, Lord.

May we forget our situation and condition and simply take time to absorb Christ.

The more we absorb Christ with His riches by spending adequate time with Him, the more we will grow with the growth of God in us for the building up of the Body of Christ!

If we look at our situation, we will get discouraged, thinking we can’t make it, take it, or be it.

We need to turn our focus on the Lord and just enjoy Him.

We need to take time to absorb Christ.

We need to spend much time with Him in secret, even as the Lord did in the Gospels (Matt. 14:22-23).

Lord Jesus, we want to absorb You with all Your riches. Thank You for rooting us into You, the rich soil. Hallelujah, we are rooted in Christ and now we can grow with and because of the riches we absorb from Christ as the rich soil! We give ourselves to You to enjoy You and absorb You today. Amen, Lord, we take time to enjoy You as the all-inclusive land into whom we’re rooted. May all the elements of Christ as the rich soil be absorbed into us. Oh Lord, we want to experience absorbing the riches of Christ so that we may be made full in You in our experience! We want to develop tender, new roots day by day. Make Your home deep down in our heart. We allow You to grow in us, spread in us, and make Your home in every part of our heart. Oh Lord, we forget our situation and condition and simply take time to absorb the Lord! We forget about our failures and our weaknesses and simply take time to absorb You! We want to absorb Christ with His riches so that we may grow with the growth of God in us for the building up of the Body of Christ!

Spend Time with the Lord to Absorb His Riches and Grow with the Growth of God for the Body

Our time with the Lord in the morning should not be rushed.

In the physical world many times we may ignore our breakfast, grabbing a doughnut, a croissant, or an apple with our coffee, thinking that will do it. but with the Lord, it should not be so.

Our God is not simply a term or an object of worship; He is real, rich, and substantial, and we have been rooted into Him as the rich soil for us to absorb Him with all His riches.

For this, we need to take time to absorb Him; we need to spend time with the Lord to absorb His riches and grow with the growth of God for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Instead of spending so much time in our thoughts, emotions, and intentions, we should turn from ourselves to the Lord to spend time with Him in spirit.

We need to pray, love the Lord, adore Him, praise Him, offer Him thanks, and speak freely to Him (Psa. 27:4; Exo. 33:11, 14; Matt. 6:6; 14:22-23; Mark 1:35; cf. Eph. 4:20-21).

It is good to take thirty minutes at the beginning of each day to enjoy the Lord and be in His presence, absorbing Him with His riches into our being.

At least ten minutes of quality time with the Lord are required for us to absorb something of His riches day by day.

Our contact with Him shouldn’t be rushed; rather, we must exercise our spirit to stay in the Lord’s presence to absorb Him.

We need to pour out our whole being to Him; whether we are sad, happy, or having no feeling at all, just open to Him and speak with Him.

Adore Him. Thank Him for everything.

When we start thanking the Lord for outward things, we will realize how precious is He to us, and how much He does in us and for us even inwardly.

He is faithful toward us, so there’s always something to thank Him for and adore Him for; however, we should not rush our time with Him.

We can’t absorb His riches if we’re in a hurry.

We need to take time to absorb the riches of Christ in our time with Him so that these riches may be deposited into our inner being for us to grow with the growth of God for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Isa. 30:15 says that in returning and rest we will be saved, and in quietness and in trust will be our strength.

Psa. 131:2 says that our soul need to be quieted to enjoy the Lord. It’s not our mouth that needs to be quieted but our soul.

This is why the Lord, who is our Shepherd, takes care of our every need, and the first thing He does is to cause us to lie down (Psa. 23:1-2).

He cares for us to make sure we lack nothing; so He quiets our soul and causes us to lie down to enjoy Him and absorb Him.

Our soul is in a rush, in a hurry, and we want to do this, get that, accomplish that, etc.

The Lord, however, wants us to be quieted down and at rest, even lying down to enjoy Him and absorb His riches.

Sometimes in our time with the Lord, we do not feel nourished because our soul is so restless, not at all in peace or quiet.

May we be like Mary, sitting at the Lrod’s feet, and may we recline on His breast as John did, so that we may enjoy His presence with fullness of joy and infinite rest.

May this describe our time with the Lord; we come to Him not just to read some verse and pray to get some supply but rather, just to be with Him, absorb Him, and be filled with Him.

As we spend time with the Lord to absorb His riches, we grow with the growth of God. God in Himself does not grow, but He grows in us.

He grows in us by giving Himself to us, by giving what He is to us and constituting Himself into us so that the element of God may increase in us.

As we grow with the growth of God, the Body of Christ grows and is built up.

The growth of the Body depends on the growth of God, the increase of God, within us in a very subjective way (Col. 2:19; Eph. 2:20-22; 4:16).

The growth of the Body of Christ is the growth of God’s building; the actual building of the church is by the believers’ growth in life.

As we absorb the riches of Christ by spending time with Him and as we cooperate with Him throughout the day to allow Him to make His home in our heart, we grow with the growth of God, for God grows in us.

We hold Him as the Head, and out of Him comes something, some element, some dispensing, for us to grow in life with the growth of God.

In this way God causes the growth by getting into us; the more He is added to us, the more He grows in us.

May we open to Him concerning this and just tell Him,

Lord Jesus, grow in us. Give us today’s growth in life so that the Body may be built up. We exercise our spirit to remain in Your presence today. We want to absorb the riches of the all-inclusive Christ as the soil into whom we’re rooted! Oh Lord, save us from rushing our time with You. We want to spend adequate time with You, even a solid time with You day by day. May there be an inner absorption of Christ, an assimilation of the riches of Christ into our inner being. Thank You, Lord, for all that You have done for us. Thank You for what You are to us. We praise You. We adore You. We worship You. We praise You for all that You have accomplished and attained. Keep us conversing with You throughout the day. Cause our soul to be quieted before You and bring us into the enjoyment of Yourself. We want to absorb the riches of Christ so that we may grow with the growth of God for the building up of the Body of Christ. Amen, Lord, cause the growth in us. Grow in us day by day for the growth and building up of the Body!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta in the message for this week, and portions from, Life-Study of Colossians, msg. 52 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Laboring on the All-inclusive Christ Typified by the Good land for the Building up of the Church as the Body of Christ, for the Reality and the Manifestation of the Kingdom, and for the Bride to make Herself Ready for the Lord’s Coming (2023 Winter Training), week 8, entitled, Experiencing and Enjoying the All-inclusive Christ as the Good Land — a Land in Which We Do Not Lack Anything.
• Similar articles on this topic:
  – Absorbing God by Breathing Prayer, article via, Holding to Truth in Love.
  – Planted into Christ, a portion from, Life-Study of Colossians, Chapter 52.
  – Why We Need a Hidden Life with the Lord Jesus, via, Bibles for America blog.
  – Msg 3: Prayer to Absorb God and to Express God by Praying to God as a Friend So That We Can… a message via, Heavenly Foods.
  – Take time to absorb Him, a new song via, Hymnal.net.
  – Having been rooted in Christ and being built up in Him, a portion from, Life-Study of Colossians, Chapter 52.
  – Taking Time to Absorb the Lord, via, Living to Him.
  – Take Time to Behold Him – Hymn 643 (New Tune), via, youtube.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Take time to behold Him, / Speak oft with Thy Lord, / Abide in Him always, / And feed on His Word. / Wait thou in His presence, / Submissive and meek, / Forgetting in nothing / His blessing to seek. / Take time to behold Him, / The world rushes on; / Spend much time in secret / With Jesus alone. / By looking to Jesus / Like Him thou shalt be; / Thy friends, in thy conduct, / His likeness shall see. (Hymns #643 stanzas 1-2)
  – I’m dwelling with Jesus my King; / I’ve found where He dwells with His own; / I’ve opened the door of my heart; / He’s made it His temple and throne. / Like Mary I sit at His feet, / Like John I recline on His breast; / His presence is fulness of joy, / His bosom is infinite rest. (Hymns #904 stanza 2)
  – The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want; / He makes me down to lie / In pastures green; He leadeth me / The quiet waters by. / My soul He doth restore again, / And me to walk doth make / Within the paths of righteousness, / E’en for His own name’s sake. / Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale, / Yet will I fear no ill; / For Thou art with me, and Thy rod / And staff me comfort still. (Hymns #527 stanzas 1-3)