God has poured out his
love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 5:5
Smitten—fascinating word. Have you ever been smitten? Besides meaning head over heels in love, the word has some strong synonyms: overwhelmed, awe-struck, enamored, infatuated, captivated, filled with passion, even gaga over.
Once you let God in, you ought to be smitten, awe-struck,
infatuated, captivated by the Father. After all, He is, with you. Look what He
did for you: poured out his love into our
hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. God gives us His Spirit; the
Holy Spirit fills our hearts with God’s love. The Greek word for poured out is ekcheo, best defined as “to gush”. The
Message says, we can’t round up enough
containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the
Holy Spirit. Holy love gushes, splashes all around inside.
Oswald Chambers, My
Utmost for His Highest April 30, corroborates: “The springs of love are in
God, not in us. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts
naturally, it is only there when it has been shed abroad in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit does what He can to splash every nook and
cranny of our hearts with the Love Bug. The problem we have—well frankly, we
can resist the process even if the Spirit is present and love has been poured
in. In that case, God’s love is encapsulated, walled-off, dormant.
Our spiritual defenses are pretty subtle. Sad to say it is a
matter primarily of me, myself, and I
getting in the way. Even a smidgeon of ego, a tad of bitterness, a bit of
ingratitude, or a little self pity, and you lose that loving feeling.
It is up to you ladies. You’ve got to keep your hearts
tender, attuned to the Spirit. Boot out all your inglorious selves; never let
them creep back in again. Let that old Love Bug incubate, permeate, really splash
around. Be totally smitten.
Nancy P
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