Mission Possible: Love God

Devotional

Day 1: When 900 Misses Prepare One Miracle

The story of 900 failed basketball shots reminds us God works through persistent faithfulness, not instant success. What seems like wasted effort often becomes the runway for divine intervention. Three days of failure didn’t stop Dude Perfect’s final shot, just as years of struggle don’t disqualify God’s promises. Our "impossible" situations become testimonies when we refuse to quit. Trust the process of faithfulness, even when results feel delayed. [02:27]

“Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.’” (Mark 10:27, ESV)

Reflection: What “impossible” situation have you been counting as lost? How might perseverance today position you for God’s unexpected breakthrough?

Day 2: Lovers, Not Just Servants

A marriage survives when partners choose daily affection, not just duty. The Hebrew word “ahavah” reveals God desires emotional intimacy, not mechanical obedience. Like spouses who say “I love you but don’t like you right now,” we risk reducing faith to cold service. The Ephesian church excelled in works but forgot their first love. True relationship with God thrives on delight, not obligation. [13:16]

“Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” (Revelation 2:4, ESV)

Reflection: When did your faith feel most alive with affection for God? What practical step could rekindle that emotional connection this week?

Day 3: Burning Plows to Follow

Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burned his plow to follow Elijah, eliminating retreat options. Full surrender means destroying our “plan B” mentalities. Secret bank accounts in marriages mirror the ways we withhold areas from God. Following Jesus requires burning the systems we’d lean on if faith gets hard. There’s no halfway discipleship. [29:09]

“So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people.” (1 Kings 19:21, ESV)

Reflection: What “plow” have you kept intact as a safety net? How would destroying it deepen your trust in God’s provision?

Day 4: The Danger of Business-Partner Faith

Consumer Christianity treats God as a cosmic vending machine – input prayers, expect blessings. The teacher of the law asked Jesus which commandment mattered most, revealing our tendency to negotiate with God. Zephaniah 3:17 shows God’s delight isn’t transactional but relational. He sings over us not because we perform, but because we’re present. [20:26]

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (James 4:8, ESV)

Reflection: When have you approached God primarily for what He could do for you? How might shifting to “wasteful” adoration change your prayers today?

Day 5: The Father Running

The prodigal’s father didn’t wait – he ran. God’s posture toward us isn’t reluctant tolerance but eager embrace. Religious mindsets assume we earn God’s attention through perfect church attendance or flawless obedience. Yet Zephaniah reveals God’s default mode: rejoicing over us with singing. Our presence alone brings Him joy, not our productivity. [22:31]

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20, ESV)

Reflection: What would it look like to approach God today simply as a beloved child coming home, rather than a worker reporting for duty?

Sermon Summary

Jesus’ words in Mark 12 put the most important command right in front of God’s people: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The command can feel impossible, just like an 856-foot basketball shot that misses hundreds of times before it finally drops. God, however, makes possible what people cannot pull off by determination alone.

The mission to love God stands first because Lighthouse Vineyard Church exists to love God, love people, and shine Jesus. The heart in Deuteronomy’s command does not call for mere good behavior toward God. The Hebrew idea of love carries affection, the kind of love held for a lover or friend. God does not merely want people to serve Him correctly. God wants people to actually like Him, to be emotionally connected to Him, and to love Him with genuine affection.

God’s gift of free will makes that kind of love possible. Adam and Eve received a real choice in the garden because forced affection is not love. God still gives people room to choose Him, even though that freedom can lead to unwise, unhealthy, and unspiritual choices. God desires unforced affection from His creation.

The warning to the church in Ephesus shows how easily believers can keep doing good things while leaving their first love behind. The mindset of a servant serves out of duty. The mindset of a slave obeys out of fear. The mindset of a business partner asks, “What’s in it for me?” The resentful mindset keeps serving outwardly while remaining angry with God inwardly. God calls His sons and daughters beyond all of those mindsets into a relationship of love.

God’s presence among gathered believers gives church attendance a heart-level test. Christ does not need people to show up merely to check a box, avoid guilt, get coffee, see friends, or hope for a blessing. God delights when His people come near simply because they want to be with Him. The Father in the story of the prodigal son runs toward the returning son, and God still runs toward those who come to Him.

The command also calls for an all-in love. Elisha burned his plowing equipment and slaughtered his oxen because he was not keeping a backup plan for the life God had called him into. God asks whether the calendar, bank account, future, energy, and relationships are all on the table. “Everything” means everything. Love for God cannot hold pieces back and still expect a vibrant relationship with Him.

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Key Takeaways

1. God wants affection, not mere duty. The command to love God reaches deeper than serving, obeying, or being nice toward Him. God wants His people to be in love with Him, with real affection and a desire to please Him. Duty can keep a person moving, but affection brings the heart into God’s presence. [12:35]
2. Free will makes genuine love possible. God gave Adam and Eve a choice because love cannot be programmed or forced. Human freedom carries real risk, but it also gives people the ability to offer God something genuine. God desires willing affection from people who choose Him because they care about Him. [14:29]
3. First love can fade through activity. The church in Ephesus endured hardship and did many things right, yet it had forsaken its first love. Spiritual activity can become a substitute for spiritual affection when service continues but love grows cold. God does not ask His people to quit serving, but to serve from a heart that still loves Him. [15:41]
4. God runs toward returning children. The Father does not receive His children like servants, slaves, or business partners. God delights in those who come near, and His heart is like the father who ran toward the prodigal son. His presence turns gathering with the church into more than an obligation because He truly wants to be with His people. [22:31]
5. Loving God means going all in. Elisha burned the equipment that could have pulled him back to his old life. God asks for more than a small religious portion of time, money, strength, and future plans. A vibrant relationship with God requires putting everything on the table and trusting Him with all of it.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:10] - An Impossible Basketball Shot
[04:02] - When Life Feels Impossible
[05:43] - Impossible Commands in Scripture
[07:01] - Mission Possible: Love God
[07:58] - The Greatest Commandment
[10:31] - Love God With All Your Heart
[12:06] - Affection for God
[13:16] - Free Will and Genuine Love
[15:14] - Leaving First Love Behind
[16:25] - Unhealthy Mindsets Toward God
[18:49] - Why Come to Church?
[21:16] - God Delights in His People
[25:13] - Love God With Nothing Held Back
[27:46] - Elisha Goes All In
[30:02] - Putting Everything on the Table

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Mark 12:29-30
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’”
[07:58] [09:00]

Deuteronomy 6:4-5
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
[11:03] [11:07]

Revelation 2:4
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
[15:38]

1 Kings 19:19-21
So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again, for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
[27:46] [28:28]

Luke 15:20
And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.
[22:31]

Observation questions

In Mark 12:29-30, what four areas of a person’s life are named in the command to love God? What does the repeated word “all” emphasize?
What had the church in Ephesus continued to do well, even though it had left its first love? [15:14]
What are the differences between the servant, slave, business-partner, and resentful mindsets toward God?
What specific actions did Elisha take with his oxen and plowing equipment after he was called? What did those actions make difficult for him to do later? [28:28]

Interpretation questions

Why does God’s command to love Him include the heart as well as the soul, mind, and strength? What is the difference between being loving toward God and being in love with God? [12:06]
How does the reality of human choice make love for God genuine rather than forced? [13:41]
How can a believer faithfully serve, endure hardship, and remain active in church while still slowly losing first love for God? [16:08]
In Luke 15:20, the father runs to meet his returning son. How does this picture reshape the way a believer approaches God after sin, disappointment, or distance?

Application questions

When you think about God, do you sense affection and gratitude toward Him, or mostly duty and obligation? What might help you reconnect with Him as someone you genuinely want to be with? [12:35]
Which unhealthy mindset is most tempting for you right now: serving out of duty, obeying out of fear, looking for something in return, or quietly carrying resentment? What has been feeding that mindset? [16:43]
When you gather with other believers, what are your usual reasons for coming? How could you come with a more deliberate desire simply to be in God’s presence? [19:20]
Is there a disappointment, prayer request, loss, or painful situation that has left you irritated or resentful toward God? What would it look like to bring that honestly to the Father who runs toward His children? [22:31]
What part of your life feels most guarded or off-limits to God right now: your calendar, money, future plans, energy, or a relationship? What makes that area hard to place on the table before Him? [29:40]
Elisha did not keep his old way of life available as a backup plan. Are there any “backup plans” that keep you from fully trusting God’s direction? What is one practical step of trust you could take this week? [29:02]
If you asked God, “Are You the most important person in my life?” what parts of your daily life might answer that question most honestly? [33:05]

Sermon Clips

39s

“When it comes to following Jesus, we cannot hold anything back. We can't say, well, if this doesn't work out, then I'm going to, you know, or I'm just gonna hold this in reserve and keep track of this myself because I'm not sure I can trust God with all of it. We've gotta go all in. So here's my question. When it comes to my relationship with God, am I holding anything back? Am I holding anything back? Are we all in?”

39s

“Well, I think we should ask that question to God. You say, hey, God. Do you feel like you're the most important person or thing in my life? And wait for an answer. And I believe God will speak to us to us in those in those times. Because God wants to be the most important person in our lives. And loving him requires us to hold nothing back. Hold nothing back.”

23s

“It's the same thing in our relationship with God. Guys, we cannot hold pieces back and expect to have a vibrant relationship with God. If we're gonna love him with all our heart, soul, mind, strength, then everything has to be on the table. Like, it's all his. It's all his.”

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Mission Possible: Love God | Clint Schwartz