"The Love of God" - 2

"And Hope maketh not ashamed; because the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5) You see; what I believe happen to Peter is that he lost hope; hope that Jesus was going to establish His kingdom; hope that he was going to be given eternal life with the Christ. To really understand what 'Agape' Love is, there are two things I believe we must know: the first is, where does it originate? and the second is, what is the heart of man? The first question is easy enough to understand; because the Bible says in the opening verse, "the Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost", which is God's Spirit; and the Love mentioned here is 'Agape' Love. So, if we need an answer to where 'Agape' Love originates, we can say that it originates with God, by God, and from God; whichever way suits your fancy. However, the heart of man is a little harder to define; because it is not our physical heart. I think we all have a different view of what the heart represents, and it really does not matter what that view is, as long as it has the same center core; because that is what the heart of man is: the center core of man's existence. As I was looking up this word for 'hearts' this morning, I could not help but notice something: there is no differential between the heart and the mind within this definition; they are both listed as if they are one of the same. After some serious thinking, I started to wonder about my wife and her mind, which, although it is severally damaged, it is not the center of her existence; and neither is the heart that is within her chest. The center of her existence is her soul, which is something hidden within her, yet lies clearly visible by God. This center of her existence is the most vitally important part of who she is, because it is who she will continue to be, long after leaving this earth. As I was thinking about that, and how little man knows about the brain's complete functions, I could not help but think about how little we know about the soul. Really; we have no idea what it looks like, or where it even is; is it in the center of our body? in our heart? in our mind? After thinking about this, I wondered what Jesus meant by, "To Love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, mind, soul and strength"; and if what He actually meant by this, was to Love God with all that is within me!!! Now this is interesting, because the Love that is within me comes from God! I just can't wrap my head around this!!! "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26)