MONDAY MOTIVATION
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Welcome to Monday Motivation—a devotional blog to keep you encouraged throughout the week! My name is Pastor Guy Deckard and I am incredibly excited for you to join in every Monday.
Below, you will find the most recent Monday Motivation post and if you continue scrolling, you will find an archive of blog posts by date. If you’d like to get a better understanding as to how this blog came about, click HERE to read the first Monday Motivation post.
I invite you to follow along with me every Monday! And if you would like to dive even deeper into your study of God’s Word, purchase the same daily study that this blog is based, just click HERE.
#mondaymotivation
Set Free!
Set Free!
From the July 5th reading
Who do you belong to? What were you set free from?
SCRIPTURE:
READ: Hebrews 2:10-13
Hebrews 2:11
Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. (NIV)
OBSERVATIONS:
- Jesus makes us holy
- We are of the same family as Jesus
- Jesus calls us His brothers
- One day we (the church) will be His bride (Rev. 21)
APPLICATION:
- We are His brothers and sisters
- Therefore we are no longer slaves
- We are adopted into His family
- We can choose to be bond servants but we are not slaves
- We were once slaves to sin and death, but we have been set free.
MOTIVATION:
Back in the 1800s, a young Englishman traveled to California in search of gold. After several months of prospecting, he struck it rich. On his way home, he stopped in New Orleans. He came upon a crowd of people all looking in the same direction. Approaching the crowd, he recognized that they had gathered for a slave auction. He heard “Sold!” just as he joined the crowd. A middle-aged black man was taken away. Next a beautiful young black girl was pushed up onto the platform and made to walk around so everyone could see her. The bidding began. The miner stood silent as anger welled up inside of him. Finally, one man bid a price that was beyond the reach of the other. The auctioneer called out, “Going once! Going twice!” Just before the final call, the miner yelled out a price that was exactly twice the previous bid. The crowd laughed, thinking that the miner was only joking. The auctioneer motioned to the miner to come and show his money. The miner opened up the bag of gold he had brought for the trip. The auctioneer shook his head in disbelief as he waved the girl over to him. The girl walked down the steps of the platform until she was eye-to-eye with the miner. She spat straight in his face and said through clenched teeth, “I hate you!” The miner, without a word, wiped his face, paid the auctioneer, took the girl by the hand, and walked away from the still-laughing crowd.
He seemed to be looking for something until he finally stopped in front of some sort of store. She waited outside as the dirty-faced miner went inside and started talking to an elderly man. Peering in, she saw the miner pull out his bag of gold and pour what was left of it on the table. The clerk with a look of disgust picked up the gold and went in a back room. He came out with a piece of paper, and both he and the miner signed it. The young girl looked away as the miner came out the door. Stretching out his hand, he said to the girl, “Here are your manumission papers. You are free.” The girl did not look up. He tried again. “Here. These are papers that say you are free. Take them.” “I hate you!” the girl said, refusing to look up. “Why do you make fun of me!” “No, listen,” he pleaded. “These are your freedom papers. You are a free person.” The girl looked at the papers, and then looked at him. “You just bought me…and now, you’re setting me free?” “That’s why I bought you. I bought you to set you free.” The beautiful young girl fell to her knees in front of the miner, tears streaming down her face. “You bought me to set me free! You bought me to set me free!”. The miner said nothing. Clutching his muddy boots, the girl looked up at the miner and said, “All I want to do is to serve you—because you bought me to set me free!”[i]
At one time we were all slaves to sin and death. But Christ came to redeem us—to pay for our freedom. He bought us with his own blood, that we might be free. Galatians 4:4-5 says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Jesus not only set us free from the penalty of sin, but He made it possible for us to become the children of God!
We were once slaves to the devil himself (V. 14). But we have been given freedom. We were once enslaved to a life of sin, but now we have been given the freedom not to sin. But here is the kicker! God didn’t stop there. He took the next step and adopted us. We are His heirs in Christ Jesus. “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17a).
The question for today is whom do you belong to? Another way of saying this might be, “Who is your daddy?” We are “of the same family”. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, and God almighty is our Daddy. I don’t know about you, but I want my Daddy to be proud of me. How about you?
PRAYER:
Pray that you would fully understand your adoption in Christ. Pray that you would be able to live a life worthy of that adoption starting this week.
Each week’s Monday Motivation is taken from the reading schedule found in the Life Journal. If you are ready for the next step in your discipleship, then order yours today or see me for a copy.
www.lifejournal.cc
If you would like help in growing in your faith, or if you would like to know how to have faith in Him, then please contact us at (928)636-2949 or email me at pastorguy@cvgrace.com
[i] Youth Specialties Hot Illustrations; Bought to be Freed
Devotionals by Date
January 2018
MONDAY MOTIVATION INTRODUCTION
THE GREAT SHEPHERD
January 1, 2018
THE GREAT PLANNER
January 8, 2018
PROTECTING YOUR ROOTS
January 15, 2018
FACING YOUR GIANTS
January 22, 2018
February 2018
PLEASE STAND
February 5, 2018
BE A GAME CHANGER
February 12, 2018
FINISH STRONG
February 19, 2018
STRETCHER BEARERS
February 26, 2018
March 2018
DIGGING YOUR WAY OUT
March 5, 2018
REAL PEARLS
March 12, 2018
HIDDEN IDENTITY
March 19, 2018
MYSTERY GARDEN
March 26, 2018
April 2018
THE TEST!
April 2, 2018
PASS IT ON!
April 9, 2018
CRACKED POTS!
April 16, 2018
LAY THEM DOWN!
April 23, 2018
LETTING GO
April 30, 2018
May 2018
IDOL WORSHIP OR IDLE WORSHIP?
May 7, 2018
WATCH AND PRAY!
May 14, 2018
DON’T SAY GOODBYE
May 21, 2018
TRAPPED
May 28, 2018
June 2018
GOT A MATCH?
June 4, 2018
CHOSEN?
June 11, 2018
I’M THIRD!
June 18, 2018
CHANGED LIVES MATTER
June 25, 2018
July 2018
MADE FOR MORE THAN THIS
July 2, 2018
SET FREE!
July 9, 2018
HEAVENLY PLACES July 15, 2018
LOOKING IN THE MIRROR
July 2, 2018
NO SURPRISES HERE
July 2, 2018
August 2018
INSTRUCTIONS INCLUDED
August 6, 2018
THE PEOPLE PLEASER
August 13, 2018
ONE CHURCH
August 20, 2018
BROTHERLY LOVE
August 27, 2018
September 2018
NEWLYWEDS!
September 3, 2018
WHEN GOD SPANKS US!
September 10, 2018
TAKING A STAND
September 17, 2018
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
September 24, 2018
October 2018
FROM ORDINARY TO EXTRAORDINARY
October 1, 2018
STAND YOUR GROUND!
October 8, 2018
FAITH UNDER FIRE
October 15, 2018
HOMELESS FOR A DAY
October 22, 2018
November 2018
A HEAVENLY MARRIAGE?
November 5, 2018
HOLY SMOKE!
November 12, 2018
MIRROR, MIRROR…
November 19, 2018
SECRET AGENT
November 26, 2018
December 2018