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
Hidden Identity
Hidden Identity
From the March 13th reading
Where do you find your identity? Where do you find your worth? Read this week’s motivation to find out.
SCRIPTURE:
Galatians 4:4-5
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. (NIV)
OBSERVATIONS:
- When the time had fully come – in God’s sovereign timing
- God sent His Son to us
- Born of a woman – virgin birth (Prophesy in Isaiah 7:14)
- Jesus was born under the Mosaic Covenant
- He came to redeem us (purchase) us from the Law
- That we might receive the full rights of sonship
- We are full heirs
- We are under His loving care
- We are adopted!
APPLICATION:
- We have been redeemed!
- We have the full rights as the children of God
- He cares for us and blesses us
- He disciplines His children
MOTIVATION:
The beautiful, green hills of New Zealand, a country known for its sheep industry, are dotted everywhere with white sheep. During the yearly lambing season thousands of baby lambs are born. Unfortunately some lambs die at birth. Many mother sheep are also lost during lambing season-they die giving birth. In an attempt to save the orphaned lambs, the shepherds match baby lambs that have lost their mothers with mother sheep who have lost their lambs. It’s not as easy as it sounds, though—a mother sheep won’t accept a lamb and nurse it unless it is her own. How, then, do shepherds get a mother sheep to accept an orphaned lamb as her own? The process is as old as shepherding itself. The mother’s own lamb, which has died, is skinned, and the skin of the dead lamb is draped over the living lamb as it is placed by the adoptive mother’s side. The mother sheep then smells the skin and accepts the orphaned lamb as her own. (Taken from Youth Specialties Hot Illustrations)
Lambing season in New Zealand is a great picture of what Christ has done for us. Because of Christ’s blood, God accepts us as His own. Once we were orphans, but now we are God’s adopted children.
One of the greatest blessings for the believer is our adoption. “The New Testament word for adoption means ‘to place as an adult son.’ It has to do with our standing in the family of God; we are not little children but adult sons with all of the privileges of sonship.” (Warren Wiersbe: The Bible Exposition Commentary) We were once outsiders without any eternal hope, and now we are true sons and daughters in the Father’s household.
Warren Wiersbe goes on to say: “The expression the fullness of the time (Gal. 4:4) refers to that time when the world was providentially ready for the birth of the Saviour. Historians tell us that the Roman world was in great expectation, waiting for a Deliverer, at the time when Jesus was born. The old religions were dying; the old philosophies were empty and powerless to change men’s lives. Strange new mystery religions were invading the empire. Religious bankruptcy and spiritual hunger were everywhere. God was preparing the world for the arrival of His Son.” In God’s perfect planning He picked just the right time and place for the Savior to come to our rescue.
Ironically the Roman Empire itself helped prepare the world for the birth of the Savior. Roads connected city with city, and thanks to both the Greek and Roman conquests, the Latin and Greek languages were known across the empire. Christ’s birth in Bethlehem was not an accident-it was an appointment! The stage was perfectly set for the gospel to spread all throughout the known world. God had a plan from eternity past and He set the pieces in motion at just the right time.
All of this was done so that you and I could know our Abba Father in a new and rich way. All of this was so that we would no longer be slaves, but be sons and daughters. Not just friends of the King, or even distant cousins, but His treasured children.
In a powerful praise and worship song called, No Longer Slaves, the song says, “I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God!” There is amazing truth found in the chorus of this song. We are His children. We no longer have to fear death. We no longer have to fear failure or the approval of others. We are His child. What more could there ever be!
PRAYER:
Pray that you would find your true identity in Christ. Our worth does not come from having a “good self-esteem”, but finding our esteem in Him. Pray that He will show you how much He truly values you as His son or daughter in Christ.
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. (928)636-2949 or email me at pastorguy@cvgrace.com
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