EPHESIANS 1:
15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
| DAY 4—Love Keeps Hope from Being Put to Shame. |
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Romans 5:5—And hope maketh not ashamed (hope is not confounded or put to shame); because the love of God is shed abroad (poured out abundantly) in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.
The pouring out of God’s love unto us will wipe out any shame, either of our hope in Him or in our sufferings for Him. Suffering for Him, though it may go unnoticed, brings a joy with it that causes us to love Him more.
When God’s love is shed abroad in our hearts, it becomes a quickening and invigorating source for all we’re called to be or to do. His love becomes the spring of all our actions, the motivation of our obedience. It is the principle through which we love Him, for we love Him because He first loved us. This enables us to love Him because it is a love that springs from Him. It is His own love. Love is of God—I John 4:7.
The love He imparts to us becomes a fire that consumes all that is unholy in us and refines in us every passion and appetite so that our everyday lives become wholesome for His purposes. By God’s love we are furnished to every good word and work. It produces in us the mind that was in Christ. It enables us to obey the pure Law of God in its spiritual sense by loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and our neighbor, any and every soul of man, as ourselves.
What does this have to do with hope? Simply this: our hope is never put to shame or confounded because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts. The love that comes from God and the hope that permeates our soul are connected. Only God could bring about such a wondrous combination. It was a divine idea in the forming of man. Don’t you believe that in His Kingdom this is all coming back together in us?
GREAT REDEEMER, You knew when You began Your work in me that I was hopeless. Thank You for seeing some value in me. It was a value that I had no idea existed in me, but You esteemed me enough to redeem my soul. How I praise You for this! Now, would You please carry on a work of redeeming love in this one, and in this one...
Putting on the Breastplate of Faith and the Helmet of Love—I Thessalonians 5:8
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