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Scripture Reading:
Romans 5:5 (New Heart English Bible)
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5. and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
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Thought for the day:
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Throughout the Scripture, there are little details that are remarkable and consistent. Paul’s writing is exceptional and we see the same messages being given in many of the epistles but in different ways. God’s Spirit is inspiring him to include themes and topics in various places. Romans 5 is an example of a subtle pointer to something mentioned in 1 Corinthians. In Verses 1 and 2 of Romans 5, we read of ‘Faith’. In verses 2 and 4 we encounter ‘Hope’. Here in verse 5 we move on to ‘Love’. Faith, Hope and Love are found in that order in the wonderful chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians.
Talking to people in work, I quickly realise that many of them are living an existence of little or no hope. They have a wishful thinking attitude that should see them through their circumstances but those of us who have been justified by faith have been reconciled to God and received a wonderful hope. It is this hope that does not disappoint us. It is not wishful thinking, but an unshakeable trust in a God who will never, ever let us down. Hebrews 6:19 says ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure’.
In our verse today, we also read an incredible phrase – ‘God’s love has been poured out into our hearts’. A friend of mine was recently travelling on business and he was in a really nice restaurant. He sent me a photograph of his meal along with a caption that read ‘My cockatiel eats more than this’. I’m sure you can work out that he wasn’t happy with the portion size! On his plate was a very small piece of steak, five small leaves of rocket lettuce, two strips of red peppers and some onion. That’s it. It’s as if everything was on ration.
Things are not like that with God. He has poured out His love into our hearts. It’s not being rationed drop by drop. It is ‘gushing’ out from God and into our hearts. This doesn’t just apply to His love, this is true in respect to God’s gifts in general. You can’t out-give God and when we consider everything that He continues to give us, it is no wonder that we read the words ‘this hope does not disappoint’.
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Prayer and Application:
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On so many occasions I’ve asked us to keep a journal and to record key moments in our walk with God. Once again, I think it would be good to jot down just a few of the things that God has poured into our lives. You’ll be amazed when you see what He’s done.
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