God’s Love Poured into our Hearts

 John 16:12-15, Romans 5:1-5

In John 16 Jesus tells his disciples about the Holy Spirit who is to come. The Spirit is referred here as the Spirit of Truth since it will guide them into all truth. The Spirit will glorify Jesus since it will take what Jesus is and declare it to them. Where did Jesus get this truth? He got it from the Father. So, in a roundabout way Jesus receives it from the Father, the Holy Spirit receives it from Jesus, and we receive it from the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5 goes on to tell us another wonderous thing the Holy Spirit does. The Spirit will pour God’s love into our hearts. It tells us also what we have received through Christ. We have peace with God due to Christ’s work on the cross and our faith which has justified us.

We have also obtained access to grace. This is what Paul stood firm in so he could boast in his afflictions. He has been guided into this truth by the Holy Spirit. He basically reframes the sufferings he is enduring by telling of the benefits of suffering. First affliction produces endurance – seeing one’s ability to stand firm in grace. Then endurance produces character, embracing that something good will come from it. This leads them into hope – seeing the light at the end of the tunnel by not only anticipating the good that will come from it but knowing it will since hope doesn’t put us to shame. Why? We go back to the other marvelous thing the Spirit does – pouring God’s love in our hearts. This love keeps us going through these steps of suffering. Due to all of this Paul can brag about his sufferings – seeing the end results. He can even have love for his tormentors since he is filled with God’s love.

In I Corinthians 13 it tells of the power of love – especially the love of God the Spirit fills in us. “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. Love never fails.”

Our power to endure sufferings comes from the love of God poured in our hearts. We are told to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves. By loving God, we can have the power to not only survive suffering but to also love others. May we draw upon God’s love poured into our hearts to endure afflictions and go through the steps Paul writes about and have the ability to share God’s love for us to others. Amen

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