MONDAY MOTIVATION

JOIN PASTOR GUY EVERY MONDAY FOR BIBLICAL ENCOURAGEMENT, INSPIRATION & INSIGHT
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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

Idol Worship or Idle Worship?

Idol Worship or Idle Worship?
From the May 2nd reading
 
 
What things have you been chasing after? What has drawn your attention and your fervor from Him?
 
SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 19:29
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (NIV)
 
 
OBSERVATIONS:
  • Earlier Jesus told the rich young man that if he wanted to be perfect then he needed to go sell all that he had. Then to come follow Him. (Vs. 21)
  • In Psalm 106:20 it says they exchanged their Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass!
  • We exchange our Glory for a green piece of paper or a corner office in a concrete building
  • But those who have walked away from all of that will receive a hundred times more!
  • The disciples had walked away from everything!

 

APPLICATION:

  • Anything we worship or value more than Him is idolatry
    • Money
    • Careers
    • Things
    • Pleasure
    • Children
    • Even spouses
  • We need to be willing to follow Him wherever that leads
  • We need to be willing to do anything in order to follow His will
  • Be content and stop chasing better and faster things
  • Stop justifying idolatry!
 
MOTIVATION:
The following letter was written by a young pastor in Zimbabwe who was later martyred for his faith: I’m part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made—I’m a disciple of his. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must keep going until he comes, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until he stops me. And, when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.[i]
 
Following Jesus is not about joining a church or going to youth group or listening to Christian music. It’s not about wearing Jesus on your T-shirt or putting a fish on your car: it’s about being willing to put your life on the line for Him. The decision to follow Christ is radical, unequivocal, and unmistakable.
 
In Psalm 106 it says the people of Israel exchanged His Glory “for an image of a bull, which eats grass”! (106:20) I love this picture! If you will remember back in Exodus 32, the Israelites had made a golden calf while Moses was on the mountain with God. He had taken too long, and in their desperation they decided to take things into their own hands. They made a golden idol and began to worship it instead. It is hard for us to imagine why a nation that had just witnessed one incredible miracle after another would choose to worship something that eats grass!
 
But how many of us have exchanged His “Glory” for a cheaper imitation? As humans we are famous for chasing after things and other people. We chase after “green paper” and corner offices. We pursue things that do not last, and people that can not meet all of our needs or expectations.
 
Jesus calls us to a life where we are willing to put our life on the line for Him – a radical life! Not the life that we have bought into – the life of greed and always wanting more. But His call does not come without promises. One author explains Matthew 20:29 this way: “Jesus now extends his encouragement to all his self-sacrificing disciples. The promise is not literal (one cannot have one hundred mothers). God is no man’s debtor: if one of Jesus’ disciples has, for Jesus’ sake, left, say, a father, he will find within the messianic community a hundred who will be as a father to him—in addition to inheriting eternal life.”[ii] God never calls us to radical obedience without some type of reward. Not that we do it for the reward, but it is good to know that God recognizes and rewards the faithfulness of His children.
 
So, what banner will you carry? When Christ returns will He have any trouble recognizing you? Or will you be too busy chasing the things that this world has to offer?
 
PRAYER:
Pray that God will show you where your idols are. That He will reveal to you what you have been chasing after. And then confess and put those things aside for Him.
 
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: Radical Faith
[ii] Frank E. Gaebelein, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. Vol. 8. P. 426



 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
 
 
 

INNOCENT

December 3, 2018

 
 
 
 
 

HOPE?

December 10, 2018

 
 
 
 

FREEDOM

December 17, 2018

 
 
 
 

MORE THAN A MANGER

December 24, 2018