Love Poured Out (Part 2)

Hope in God does not leave us disappointed. Romans tells us that the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and that changes everything. God pours out His Spirit, His mercy, His grace, His abundance and His love. When that love fills the heart, something begins to happen. We begin to walk in the rhythm of the Kingdom. Love is not just something God speaks. Love is something God gives, reveals and releases.

From the very beginning, the heart of God has always been the same: to be near His people. From Eden, to the tabernacle, to the temple, to Jesus, and now through the Holy Spirit in us, God has always wanted to dwell among us. Where His presence is near, His love is revealed. And where His love is revealed, hearts are awakened.

John 1:14 says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

That word dwelt carries the picture of tabernacling, of God coming to live among His people. In the Old Testament, God’s presence was in the tabernacle, then in the temple. But His heart was never to be distant or limited. He wanted to be in the centre of everything His people did.

Jesus was the fulfilment of that desire.

God did not just speak love. He sent love.

In Jesus, the presence of God was no longer confined to a place. It was revealed in a person. Everywhere Jesus went, His presence went. His love went. That is why people were drawn to Him. His presence was attractive. Sinners were drawn to Him. Broken people were drawn to Him. Hope was drawn to Him.

And now, through salvation, we have become the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Throughout the Gospels, there is a clear pattern. When people truly encountered Jesus, they responded. And their response was love poured out back toward Him.

The Woman with the Alabaster Jar

In Luke 7:37-38, a sinful woman came to Jesus with an alabaster jar of expensive perfume. She knelt at His feet, weeping. Her tears fell on His feet, and she wiped them with her hair. Then she kissed His feet and poured the perfume out on Him.

What a picture of love.

Her tears were love poured out. Her worship was love poured out. Her offering was love poured out. Jesus said she loved much because she had encountered much.

That is still the response today.

When we become aware of how much He has loved us, how much He has forgiven us, how much He has poured into our lives, our only fitting response is:
Lord, how can I pour my love back on You?

Not just through routine.
Not just through religious form.
But through real devotion, real surrender, real praise.

John 12 gives us another picture through Mary, the sister of Lazarus.

After Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead, they were reclining together at a meal. Then Mary came and poured perfume over Jesus’ feet, perfume worth a year’s wages. It was costly. It was precious. It represented something deeply personal and valuable. And yet she poured it out on Jesus.

That is what love does.

Love does not hold back what is precious.
Love does not calculate what is convenient.
Love pours out.

Judas criticised the act and said it could have been used for something else. And that is often what happens when love is poured out. People who do not understand devotion will often criticise it. They will measure it by logic, utility or cost. But Jesus defended her. He said, “Leave her alone.”

There is a powerful warning here.

It is possible to be near Jesus and still not love Him rightly. It is possible to be around the things of God and yet only take, receive and consume, without ever pouring anything back in gratitude, surrender or honour.

We can receive blessing, favour, provision and breakthrough and slowly begin to act as if we are entitled to it. But the right posture is never entitlement. It is humility.

Everything we have has come from Him.

If He has blessed your life, your family, your future, your work or your business, then the response is not distance or self-importance. The response is worship. The response is surrender. The response is still to pour out at His feet.

When Mary poured out her perfume, the Bible says the house was filled with fragrance (John 12:3).

That is what happens when love is poured out toward Jesus.
The whole atmosphere changes.

Lovers of Jesus change atmospheres.
Lovers of Jesus change homes.
Lovers of Jesus change communities.

There is something powerful about a life that is not merely religious, but deeply in love with Jesus. That kind of love carries fragrance. It carries presence. It carries heaven.

One of the most beautiful pictures in this message is found on Resurrection morning.

Mary Magdalene stayed at the tomb, weeping. The disciples had already left. They had gone back in disappointment. But Mary stayed. Why? Because love stays near Jesus, even when everything looks dead.

That is such a powerful picture for all of us.

Sometimes love is tested at the tomb.

Sometimes things do not look alive. Sometimes prayers seem unanswered. Sometimes circumstances feel final. Sometimes disappointment tries to pull us away. But love stays. Love waits. Love remains in expectation.

And it was there, at the tomb, that Jesus spoke her name.

She became the first person to see the risen Christ. Why? Because love stayed close enough to hear His voice.

The disciples went home disappointed.
Mary stayed at the tomb in expectation.

That is a word for many hearts.

Do not go back to the room of disappointment when God is calling you to remain at the tomb of expectation. Stay near Him. Stay close. Stay waiting. Stay loving. Because often it is in those very places that resurrection life breaks through.

God never intended His love to stop with us.

If God so loved us, then we ought to love one another (1 John 4:11). The mark of a disciple is not just gifting, not just activity, not just attendance, but love. Jesus said the world would recognise His disciples by their love for one another (John 13:35).

What kind of love?

A love that forgives.
A love that serves.
A love that shows compassion.
A love that cares for the broken.
A love that prays for the sick.
A love that stands with others even when everything is not fully understood.
A love that chooses to keep loving.

We live in a world marked by hostility, division, loneliness and rejection. What the world desperately needs is not more noise. It needs the love of God revealed. And that happens when God pours out His Spirit, fills hearts with His love, and then His people begin pouring that love into the world.

This is what a love revival looks like.

Titus 3:5-6 reminds us of “the renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.”

God pours out His Spirit.
The Spirit pours out the love of God into our hearts.
And then that love begins to overflow everywhere we go.

This is the cry of a hungry people:

Lord, pour out Your Spirit.
Pour out Your presence.
Pour out Your love.

Let hearts encounter the Father.
Let prodigals come home.
Let cities be touched by the love of God.
And let a love revival begin.

Love poured out is the story of the Gospel.

God poured out His love through Jesus.
He pours out His Spirit into our hearts.
And now He calls us to respond with love poured back to Him and love poured out through us.

May we never lose our wonder.
May we never become entitled.
May we never move from devotion to distance.
May we stay near Jesus, even at the tomb.
May our lives carry His fragrance, His presence and His love.

This is our story.
This is our song.
Praising our Saviour all the day long.