THE REVOLUTION IS HERE...

beloved.
the time is now.
the spirit's calling:
wake up, child.
it's your turn to shine.
you were born for such a time as this.

oh, Father. thank you so, so much for bringing us to this day.
this day for which we have spent countless hours in preparation.
Father, i can hardly imagine what you will do with this week.
thank you for using us. thank you for choosing us.
i just ask that everything we do from this point forward is only to advance your kingdom.
empower us with the spirit in that way, Father.
equip us in the ways we will need it this week, Lord.
prepare us for the healing of the broken that you will administer through us this week.
we are so unworthy and humbled before you.
embolden us to walk in the plan you have willed for us since the dawn of creation.
thank you for loving us, Lord.
teach us how to love you back.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Monday, November 2nd- Love God
Morning Chapels- Speaker: Lucas Binkerd
Night Gathering- OCC, 8pm//Speakers: Student Testimonies

--------------------------------------------------------------

Last May, I talked to Floyd Barringer about creating devos for the day leaders to be read during the week of Love Revolution.

and of course, he faithfully obliged. :) here follows the fruit of that labor.

thanks floyd :)


Monday

Love God



“But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD.” Jeremiah 9:24 NKJV



“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with strength.”

-Deuteronomy 6:5 NKJV





It all starts here. Genesis starts with the immortal words, “In the beginning, GOD created...” John starts with the Word, the Logos, that was God. The Church has historically told the story of Christ starting first with that He was the Son of God. The first of the Ten Commandments proclaims that Yahweh is God. . Clearly, there is something important about starting with God and to remember that we are to love Him. Why?



Jeremiah wrote in a time when Judah was spiritually bankrupt. The prophet proclaimed to a audience that was all too hostile or apathetic to listen to him. The previous chapters paints a sad picture. The people of God have forsaken Him and instead turned to idolatry, debauchery and injustice. People only served God with their lips. Jeremiah repeatedly called for the people to first turn back to God, to seek Him first. Chapter nine of Jeremiah culminates is this stunning command, that the wise, mighty and rich should not glory or boast in their talents, might, wisdom or riches. Instead, even the great must remember Who gave them their prosperity and instead boast and glory in a deep understanding of Yahweh and what He does and what He delights in.



So why do we first start with loving God? A good Sunday school answer would be because we are told to. A good theological answer would be because we cannot truly love until we first turn to God, for it is God alone who can teach us to truly love Him and truly love others. Anyone who has struggled with sin and selfishness knows it is a hard fight and we end up finding out we are powerless to do it ourselves. It is God alone who can save us and teach us to truly love.



However, I suspect these answers are just the beginning. They are all very good answers, but for the purpose of this week, they are not complete answers. Look back at the passage from Jeremiah and remember that lovingkindness, (compassion) judgment, (justice) and righteousness are things God does because He delights in them. The Lord smiles when we turn to Him, even in our most feeble and weakest of gestures. He then helps us to be like Him. The ultimate end of humanity will be when we are like Him, incorruptible and free to do good and nothing but good.



It is also a command to love with everything, everything that we are. It is a hard calling and often we can overlook things in ourselves that we have not surrendered to God. I remember slipping a bill in my coat pocket to give for the offering on a Sunday. Just before the offering, reaching to grab the bill, I felt another coin and pulled both out. It was a dime, the smallest coin we have but deceptively more valuable than a penny. Funny how that works, we don't notice those little things in our lives and when we do discover them, we find out that they have much deeper consequences than what we could have first imagined. It is with this reason that we must constantly turn to Him to show us what must be changed, if only to cast to Him all that we can so that He may increase our surrender and love to Him.



The bottom line is this. In turning to God, in loving Him, He strengthens us to love Him even more, and in doing that, we are turned to compassion, justice and righteousness. Everything, absolutely everything good and pure flows from here and so we must first start here with the love of God. If we miss it here, everything we wish to accomplish, much less the goals and purpose of this week will come to pieces.



So here let us stop and pray. Here let us meditate and learn and understand. Here let us listen to God and turn to Him, that He may speak to us on how we can love Him more. What things must we lay aside so that we can truly love Him with all our Heart, with all our Soul, with all our Mind and Strength, that we may love Him with our all? Let us listen to what He must speak to us. Let us first love Him with everything we have so that this week and the rest of our lives may be a reflection of Him, the One who first loved us and is the perfection of holiness and love.

--
Love Revolution- A Week of Compassion, Confession and Forgiveness
NOW coming to IWU November 2-6, 2009
visit our blog at http://loverevolution09.blogspot.com/