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

Made for More Than This

Made for More Than This
From the June 27th reading
 
What has God shown you? What great thing has He equipped you for?
 
SCRIPTURE:
READ: 2 Timothy 3:10-17
 
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NIV)
 
OBSERVATIONS:
  • “All Scripture is God-breathed”
    • All of it is the inspired Word of God
  • It is all useful – every bit of it can be used to make disciples
  • We were given the Word so that we would have everything we need to be able to do the works that He has called us to do.
    • 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

APPLICATION:

  • Trust all of scripture to be the Word of God.
  • Don’t skip over any of it
  • The Word is there to equip us to do the work that God has called us to do
  • We need to spend time in His Word every day. This will further equip us.
 
MOTIVATION:
As I am writing this, I am sitting in a bunkhouse at Camp Blessing Texas. We are here with a group of other volunteers and summer staff that are here to serve special needs campers. All week long I have witnessed young people serving and taking care of the needs of others. Say what you want about the young people of today, what I have witnessed this week, and many summers, is that there are a whole lot of young Christians out there who are more than ready to place others above themselves. Today, I witnessed a fourteen year old girl who was helping with the horse riding be more patient than most adults. We were trying to get this young man to get onto a horse, and he was very much afraid. He sat on the platform debating whether or not to get on the horse. This whole time there was a team of cabin leaders, counselors, and volunteers trying to coax him onto the horse. It took more than twenty minutes for them to succeed. Meanwhile Amy was standing there patiently holding the horse in place between the loading ramp and the steps. She said encouraging words, and smiled the whole time. I was amazed at this young woman’s fortitude and patience. Afterwards, I had the privilege to watch her share from the scriptures and to talk to the campers about how we can trust God to hold us just like their horse did. This kind of patience is rare and can only be attributed to the Spirit of God working in someone’s life. Amy is doing a work this summer that God has called her to do, and so are many others.
 
This week’s passage is a reminder that God has given us His words, they have been written down, and they are useful. Our scriptures were given to men, and as they were inspired by His Spirit, they recorded them down. One author explains inspiration this way, “Paul reminded Timothy that all Scripture is God-breathed (theopneustos, “inspired”), that is, God’s words were given through men superintended by the Holy Spirit so that their writings are without error.[i] Warren Wiersbe helps us to understand even further this way, “The Holy Spirit of God used men of God to write the Word of God (2 Peter 1:20–21). The Spirit did not erase the natural characteristics of the writers. In fact, God in His providence prepared the writers for the task of writing the Scriptures. Each writer has his own distinctive style and vocabulary. Each book of the Bible grew out of a special set of circumstances. In His preparation of men, in His guiding of history, and in His working through the Spirit, God brought about the miracle of the Scriptures.”[ii]
 
God gave us His word so that we may be “thoroughly equipped for ever good work.” When I look around Camp Blessing I see young men and women who have been equipped to do God’s work. They have grown up in churches all across Texas, Tennessee, and yes, even Arizona; where they have been discipled and have been taught God’s Word. They are taking what they have learned and are putting it into practice in ways that would make any parent proud! It has been an incredible honor and privilege to work alongside them.
 
We too have been called to use all that we have learned, and studied. Studying doctrine, going to Sunday school, and mid-week Bible studies are important, but studying just for the sake of knowledge falls short of God’s purpose. Wiersbe comments on this passage further: “The purpose of Bible study is not just to understand doctrines or to be able to defend the faith, as important as these things are. The ultimate purpose is the equipping of the believers who read it. It is the Word of God that equips God’s people to do the work of God.”[iii]
 
Church is like any other organization. There is always more work to do. There are always diapers to change, walls to paint, and folks that need a listening ear. Find a place to plug in and do what God has been equipping you to do! Find your place, get involved, and see what God can do with you, and those around you. Just like at Camp Blessing, God can do amazing things through us, if we are just willing.
 
 
PRAYER:
Pray that God will show you your place here at Grace or wherever it is that you go to church. What is it that God has equipped you to do? Ask Him and He would be more than happy to show you!
 
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] Litfin, A. D. (1985). 2 Timothy. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 757). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
 
[ii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 252). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
 
[iii] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 253). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
 



 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