Holy Spirit Fills Our Hearts with God’s Love
Daily Scripture
Romans 5:1-5
Did You Know?
The Council in 381 reflected that the Holy Spirit was a major subject for the apostle Paul. “In numeric terms, rûaḥ refers to the Spirit of God an estimated 90 times in the Hebrew Scriptures…. In contrast pneuma refers to God’s Spirit 112 to 115 times (depending on the understanding of some passages) in the much smaller collection of letters [by Paul].” *
1 Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. 3 But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, 4 endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 5 This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Emotions are volatile. Even the reformers Martin Luther or John Wesley (like us) did not always feel that “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts.” “The story of Scripture, Luther began to understand, is not how we make our way up the mountain by getting grace and then topping it off with love and works. Scripture is the story of how God came down to meet us—while we were yet sinners.” ** Paul told Roman Christians the Holy Spirit can fill our hearts with the reality of God’s love, however we feel.
- The Holy Spirit’s divine presence is a gift to all believers, helping you experience God’s love in a personal way. How aware are you of the Holy Spirit’s work in your life? Can you recall a time when you felt particularly guided or comforted by the Spirit? How might actively opening your mind and heart to the Spirit’s presence change your daily walk with God?
- Paul twice used forms of the Greek verb kauchaomai in Romans 5. In verse 2, the Common English Bible renders it “we boast in the hope of God’s glory.” Verse 3 reads, “We even take pride in our problems,” which may be even harder to believe. In both spots, the verb implied “to rejoice, be very happy.” *** Has the movement Paul described from trouble to endurance, to character, to hope ever helped lead you to trust that the Holy Spirit has “poured out” divine love in your heart?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for your willingness to die for me before I was even born, and to draw my heart to you. And thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to guide me into your kind of life. Amen.
GPS Insights
Mikiala Tennie
Mikiala Tennie, who serves as the Student Discipleship Program Director with Resurrection Students, wrote today’s Insight. She has nearly 20 years of ministry experience and loves encouraging others in their spiritual journey. Mikiala is blessed to be an adoptive aunt and godmother to many kiddos and lives with her 10-pound Yorkie, KiKi Okoye Tennie.
Since Sunday I’ve been in Little Rock, Arkansas with a bunch of adult leaders, Resurrection Students staff and 60 middle school students. It’s our 7th and 8th grade serve trip working for the community. Some of us are painting homes, others are building wheelchair ramps, gardening, and putting beds together for children who don’t have them.
Yesterday, we paused our work to visit the Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site. In 1957, nine Black students were the first to be integrated into an all-white school here. The museum is small but packs a punch. It’s unbelievable that this issue was being solved in our not-so-distant past.
Part of the museum was a self-guided tour with an audio component that took us around the school to walk in the footsteps of those nine students on their first day of school. We were specifically following in the footsteps of Elizabeth Eckford who inadvertently arrived earlier than the other eight students, so she was doing this walk alone. We learned how excited she was to start school–she was a typical teenager who was worried about what outfit she should wear to look her best. She wasn’t worried about her safety because she believed the people who told her there would be people there to protect her. When she arrived and saw the guards, she assumed they were the ones who would keep her safe. Instead, she quickly realized they were there to prevent her from getting inside the school. Her only option was to turn around and walk back away from the school… toward the angry mob threatening her life and yelling racial slurs. All because she was going to school.
With the mob spitting on her and doing everything possible to diminish her, she spotted a park bench a few blocks away. She thought to herself, if she could just get to that bench, she would be safe. I’m sure the walk felt like forever, but she kept thinking about reaching her goal. When she finally got there, she sat and was immediately surrounded by the press who ended up being a barrier between her and the angry mob. There Grace Lorch, a local teacher and civil rights activist, got off the bus and moved to protect her.
When I heard how Elizabeth fixated on that park bench in the midst of her fear I immediately thought, it must have been the Holy Spirit prompting her. Elizabeth’s mom had gathered her family to pray before she left for school. Scripture tells us that God’s love is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit. I cannot imagine the fear and other feelings Elizabeth experienced that morning. But it reminded me that in our worst moments, we can listen for the Holy Spirit because that is the gift God has given us.
I believe the Holy Spirit was working within Grace Lorch that day as well. Allowing her to arrive in time to find Elizabeth on that bench and giving her the courage to withstand the vitriol that was redirected to her for protecting Elizabeth. She too received threats and had racial slurs thrown at her. In both of these women, the Holy Spirit nudged them in the direction they needed to go. That’s part of the gift of God’s love.
I pray that you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit today. May God’s love nudge you in the direction of peace and protection when you need it. May God’s love nudge you in the direction of courage and bravery to stand up for those loved by God but oppressed by people and systems meant to counter God’s love.
May God’s love move us all in the direction God means us to go.
© 2025 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Terence P. Paige, article “Holy Spirit” in Dictionary of Paul and His Letters. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993, p. 405.
** Steven Paulson, Luther for Armchair Theologians. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004, p. 62-63.
*** Barclay M. Newman and Eugene A. Nida, A Translator’s Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Romans. New York: United Bible Societies, 1973, p. 93.
