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.

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From Ordinary to Extraordinary

Posted on Oct 1, 2018 by Guy Deckard in #mondaymotivation | 357

From Ordinary to Extraordinary

From the Sept. 27th reading

What is God asking you to do as an ordinary believer?

SCRIPTURE:

READ: Luke 10:1-24

Luke 10:21

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. (NIV)

OBSERVATIONS:

When the 72 returned with their excited reports of what ministry they had accomplished (v. 17) it brought Him great joy!
Jesus praised the Father because of what He had chosen to do.
God uses the children, the weak to accomplish great things

APPLICATION:

God wants to use people like us to accomplish great things
God doesn’t usually choose politicians or powerful people to accomplish great things – He uses the ordinary (See Judges, Esther, the 12 Apostles, etc.)
God wants to use us!

MOTIVATION:

I remember this particular Christmas in our family. I was sixteen, and I had saved up some money for Christmas from a part time job washing dishes. My stepdad had become my “dad” over the last several years, and I wanted to do something special for him. So I went out and bought him this really nice charcoal Weber grill. It was the best one on the market at the time. It was in this huge box, and I wrapped it as carefully as I could. I put it under the tree and I couldn’t wait for Christmas morning, and for him to open it. It finally came and I stood there with my camera in hand, and a huge grin on my face. He seemed really surprised to find his name on the package, and especially perplexed that it was from me. My mom explained to him that I had bought it with my own money. He quickly unwrapped it, and the moment he saw the picture on the box his face lit up! I was so proud at that moment. The look of pure joy on his face was priceless.

When I read this story of the 72 being sent out to preach the gospel, and to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus to come into these towns several things jump out at me. One of the things that comes to my attention is found in verse 2 where it says, “He told them, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Notice that it is “laborers”, not spectators, who are to pray for more laborers! Too many of us are praying for somebody else to do the job that we are unwilling to do ourselves.

Another thing that I notice in this passage is that Jesus chose 72 ordinary men. Even though the word used here is the same word for “apostles”, does not mean that they were Apostles. It merely means that they were “sent with a commission”. Jesus didn’t choose religious leaders or men of influence to go and perform great acts of service. He chose ordinary men like us to go and do some amazing things for His Kingdom!

One commentary said this about the 72: “The people who were following Jesus were not the important people of the nation; they were not considered the wise and learned. They had become like little children to enter into the kingdom, and thus they knew the Son and the Father. The disciples were living in an opportune day which many Old Testament prophets and kings longed to see—the day of the Messiah.”[i] God used new believers who were still brand new in their faith, and showed them things that people had longed to see and do for many generations.

And lastly, what I notice in this passage is something that I never really noticed before. It is found in verse 21, “At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit…” What brought Jesus such great joy? It was seeing these young men come back from completing a mission that He had sent them on, and to witness their excitement and jubilation at what the Spirit had done through them. That is what made me think of the look on my step-father’s face when he opened that gift on Christmas morning. That is how I picture how Jesus must have looked when he heard these men tell their stories, and the pride that He felt towards them. He was full of joy!

I don’t know about you but I love it when I put a smile on someone’s face. Especially if it is someone that I look up to and respect. When I see that look of pride and joy on their face because of something that I did, well let’s just say that it pretty much makes my day. And that is how I picture this event that we read about in this passage.

When I read about these men and what they accomplished it spurs me on to want to do great things for my Savior. I want to be the one to put a smile of joy on His face. I want to be a part of that team that comes back excited and jubilant about what we had just seen the Lord do through us!

I have tasted some of this before. I have witnessed God do amazing things through a team of ordinary men and women. I have heard their retelling of the stories, and have seen the utter joy and amazement on their faces.

The good news is that Jesus is still in the business of using people like us. His strategy has not changed over the years. He is still looking for ordinary people to do extraordinary things. We just need to stand up and say, “Send me Lord Jesus!”

What is God asking you to do as an ordinary believer? What is He asking us to do as a group or as a church? What task does He have in store for us, which is bigger than we are, but He has prepared us to do?

Father, send out more workers for your harvest is ready!

PRAYER:

Ask God to show you what special task has he laid out for you. Or what team does He want you to join in order to accomplish His plan?

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] Martin, J. A. (1985). Luke. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 233). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

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January 2018