A few days ago, the blog posts looked at the passage in Romans 5:1-5:
“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
“And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God … because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
If we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we have gained access to grace and forgiveness from our sins; we have gained access to peace with God. And as a result, God pours out his own love into our heart! God pours out the presence of the Holy Spirit into our life!
It is a lot like the water falling over this waterfall. God literally pours out his own love into our hearts! The power and presence of the Holy Spirit pours into our life … just like this waterfall! That is amazing!
Titus 3:4-6 states it like this:
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
If we have turned from our sin and accepted Jesus’s free gift of salvation, we are just like the waterfall in the photo above. We have God’s own love now pouring down generously into our life! We now have the power and presence of the Holy Spirit pouring into our life!
That is amazing!
What does this look like?? How can we practically see this love in our life?? How can we practically see this power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our life??
This can be practically seen when we are kind in our everyday circumstances. When we are kind to that really difficult person! … it’s a supernatural kindness which can only flow out of love! When we are kind in the face of being mistreated … it’s a supernatural kindness which can only flow out of love! A supernatural kindness which can only flow out of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our life!
This can be practically seen when we are patient with others. When we are patient with that person who is trying our very last nerve! … it’s a supernatural patience which can only flow out of God’s love! When we don’t lose our temper and let our tongue loose on that person! … it’s a supernatural patience which can only flow out of the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in our life!
This can be practically seen when we are forgiving towards those who hurt us. When there is so much pain and hurt! We simply don’t have the power on our own to forgive. Forgiveness takes the presence and power of the Holy Spirit! Forgiveness flows out of God’s own love!
We don’t feel like forgiving. But, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we forgive anyway. Because God forgave us! We forgive as an act of obedience!
We can’t do it on our own. We can only forgive as the Holy Spirit flows God’s own love down into our heart!
Have you ever met someone who has been so consumed with bitterness for so long that they have become an utterly empty, miserable person? When we refuse to forgive, we “quench” the Holy Spirit. We literally block off the flow of water over the falls. We “build a dam” at the top of the falls and totally block the flow of the water.
Imagine blocking off the flow of water at the top of the falls. The entire basin would become barren and dry. The cool refreshing pool at the bottom would be completely dried up, rocky, and hard.
As it is now, the pool at the bottom is a place of peace, a place of refreshing. But when we block the flow of the Holy Spirit into our life, our life is dry and rocky and empty. Our life is no longer a place of peace or refreshing.
When we are wounded & hurt by someone, our immediate “blink” reaction is to withhold our love from them. To withdraw. To “wall them off.” To “block the flow of love.”
To withhold our love from someone is to block off the flow of God’s own love. To withhold our love from someone is to block the flow of the Holy Spirit in our life.
But, when we go with the flow … when we surrender our hurt & our wounds & and our feelings, and let God’s love flow freely through us … God’s love will cascade beautifully down into the life of others!
Here you can see the water from the first falls has meandered along a twisting, rocky streambed and is cascading down into another life! This is what God’s love is like!
God pours out his very own love into our life … a love which meanders throughout our twisting winding days … days which are rocky and difficult! God’s love is there in our twists and turns! God’s love is there in the rocky difficult stretches!
And God’s love bubbles and sings over the rocks with joy! God’s love sparkles in the sunshine with peace! God’s love flows with gentleness!
And God’s love spills over into the lives of others!
Kindness spills over into the lives of others!
Love spills over into the lives of others!
Hope spills over into the lives of others!
From the love, kindness, hope, and encouragement of God’s love spilling over into their life … they, in turn, now have an overflow of God’s love spilling from their life over into the life of someone else!
The third pool is completely hidden, out of the sight of the first pool. This “third pool” person is someone whom the “second pool” person knows, but whom we will never meet.
You never know the downstream-impact that’s occurring as you allow God’s love to flow through your life.
You never know the forever-impact a kind word will have! You never know the forever-impact a simple act of love will have!
You never know the downstream-impact, as you “go with the flow” of the Holy Spirit in your life.
Here you can see that the third pool person has “spilled over” into a fourth pool person.
And here, at the fourth pool, something interesting comes into play. At the fourth pool, notice … an additional waterfall from somewhere else off to the right, is feeding into that fourth pool also!
This additional waterfall from somewhere else off to the right, could represent God’s love flowing down from another someone else’s life! The fourth pool is being fed by two different sources.
God’s love flows down through many different lives! Into many different lives!
We might want to view ourselves at the top of the chain … with God himself pouring his love into us solely … and then it’s our “job” to “pour out” love to others.
But no – God’s love flows down through many different lives! Into many different lives! God is pouring out his love into our life through other people too!
Receive God’s love pouring down into your life from others! Receive the prayers of others over you – pouring the Holy Spirit’s power down into your life! Receive the kindness of others – pouring God’s love into your life!
Receive the simple acts of love from others – pouring down with the flow of God’s love into your life!
And here you can see the fourth pool … overflowing with God’s love into the life of yet another person downstream.
You never know the downstream-impact that’s occurring as God’s love flows through your life! It might be a downstream-impact into the third and fourth generation!
From where we are in our own personal life, we can’t see it. We have no idea the downstream-impact which is going on. But Heaven sees!
I wanted to zoom-in on the fifth pool at the bottom, which is being fed by the overflow of the fourth pool. Notice – this fifth pool is in the shape of a heart. I thought that was amazing! It’s all about love! It’s all about God’s love flowing into and through the lives of people!
“God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” – Romans 5:5
“I pray that out of his [abundant flow of water!] he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
– Ephesians 3:16-19
