“And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” (Romans 5:5)
Still building your list of all the earth-shaking things that God does in and for us at the moment we trust in Jesus for our salvation? Any of the things Paul has already described would easily draw us into a lifetime of grateful service to the King. But the list isn’t finished.
Today we learn not only that God loves us – he must love based on everything he’s done for us, right? – but also that he’s installed his love in our hearts, inside of us. It’s not just an external “I love you,” it’s an internal “my love lives in you.” I don’t get it, fully, but it suggests that he is closer to us than we can imagine.
How? For one thing, he himself is with us, personally, right now, in the form of his Spirit. It’s the Comforter Jesus promised to his lonely disciples. It’s the ultra-high self-powered broadband connection to the God of the universe which empowers us both to understand his Word and obey it. And it – he! – is the guarantee that one day this spiritual connection will become the face-to-face, wiping-our-tears, sharing-our-space relationship we were always built for.
Think: Do you tend to under-estimate the difference having God’s Spirit with you makes in your life right now, today? What could you do to be more intentional about walking in the Spirit’s power?
Pray: Thank God for his love, installed in your heart, and for his Spirit with you every moment of every day since the moment you trusted in Jesus for your salvation.
Do: Add the next two items to the list you started at the beginning of the week: 6) God’s love in our hearts, and 7) God’s Spirit with us.