Today’s reflection is from Rhys Loftus. Rhys serves with our OC team, working directly with our internship program, and is a member of the year-round team.
Today’s Reading: Romans 5:1-5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
-Romans 5:5
Transcript of Video (but you should really watch the video: it has juggling).
Hello, Rhys here.
So I like to really connect things. Mentally, physically, visually, that’s the way I learn by like touching and doing and seeing. And so I thought I would do a little video devotion for us instead of a written text in one.
So we’re going to look at Romans 5. I’ve got my Bible here in Romans 5 and we’ll just read the first three verses.
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 boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
I love this.
Because this is so good. You’ve got God, and he gave us the Lord Jesus Christ. In him, we have gained access into the faith through grace. And then we have this glory of God. And we can show this glory to God throughout our lives, whether it’s in the good or the bad. And it’s actually through the suffering and that we develop perseverance and then we develop character from that and then we develop hope from that.
But through all of this and we have the Holy Spirit and God is pouring, out love into us through the Holy Spirit.
And sometimes I think we just need reminding of that. And I need reminding of that a lot. In a song I’ve been listening to called “Loved” by Fresh Life Worship (see below) I find it really beautiful. And it just sings about how you are loved. And it’s just that reminder that you might need that right now that you are loved. God loves you. Deep down in your heart, you are loved and you have value in that.
The physical representation that we’re going to do today is classic Rhys. We’re going to do some juggling in connecting the gospel to juggling so that you talk a little bit about the Trinity. So I love to use juggling to kind of explain the Trinity. Everyone has their own way. So don’t get too harsh on me critiquing theology and all this on this. Nobody can fully comprehend and understand. But this is one way that I help to kind of visualize it a little bit.
You have three.
God, the father. You’ve got the son and you’ve got God, the Holy Spirit. They’re each three individual things, but they all work in tandem, beautifully together. They are one. They are three in one. The baffling thing that we always struggle to understand and I don’t know if we’ll ever fully understand it, but here we are using juggling to explain it.
So, in the beginning, was God. And then he sent on a son. Jesus. Jesus died for us. And Jesus left behind the Holy Spirit and for us to have. So that’s the one that I really want to focus on today, is the fact that we need to remember that you are loved and that love is poured out to you through your Holy Spirit. So remember that we have God, you have Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit.
So they’re all working in tandem beautifully. They are each individual, but it’s them when we access them that we access to start one. It’s still part of all of it. And they still all work beautifully together. But they each individual ones.
But really, I just want you to focus on the fact that you have that Holy Spirit today.
I want you to remember that that the Holy Spirit is inside of you because sometimes I feel that we can drift over that, that we forget that actually, yes, Jesus came and died on the cross for us and died for our sins. But then it gave us something after that he gave us the Holy Spirit. Inside of you is the Holy Spirit. Use the Holy Spirit and lean into the Holy Spirit, because through that love is poured into you. You are loved. And then you can get strength. You can get hope. You can get everything you need through Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, which lives inside of us.
So do not forget, but remember to access that Holy Spirit today. And whatever you do.
Hopefully, this was helpful to you guys. Hopefully learn a little bit from that. It’s encouraging to you. Hope you guys are all safe. Well. And asked where you are. And thank you for your time today.
Rhys
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