No more excuses no more excuses
beloved we need to hear that because I can't speak for you but
I can testify for myself that there have been some moments in my life
when I have deliberately discerned what God required of me and I excuse myself from the plan
there have been times when my issue is not trying to figure out what God wanted my issues that I
didn't want to do what God had called me to do think about how often we excuse ourselves from
being part of God's plan excuse ourselves from from forgiving those who've done us wrong
excuse ourselves from starting that business or applying for that home excuses excuses excuses
it's easy to come up with a reason why we can't accomplish a dream why we can't be happy why we
can't overcome a problem excuses are a dime a dozen as long as you're making excuses
you will justify staying where you are excuses give us permission to settle for less than God's
best you can find an excuse about anything are you allowing excuses to hold you back
I've lost count about how how many times my excuses in life have limited me and caused me
to not step into some God-given opportunities I've lost count of how many times I've said
things like I'm not ready I'm not the right person it isn't the right time things that have flown
out of my heart and out through my mouth that have limited my walk of faith and produce nothing
more than frustration in my life often we are the only people who sabotage what we can do or
what we can step into it's our human nature to seek to blame other things as to why we can't
move forward but what I've learned that in our humanity we self-sabotage we limit ourselves
because instead of offering God our faith and our obedience all we offer God are our excuses
what's stopping you
are you too tired didn't get enough sleep don't have enough energy don't have enough
time is that what's stopping you right now don't have enough money is that the thing
or is the thing that's stopping you you
I can't I'm too old I'm too young I'm too fat I'm too thin I can't right I can't
there's all I I hear this all the time all the reasons that you can't do something
don't don't tell me you can't don't give me excuses
my mother abandoned me my family hates me I didn't graduate college
I'm too young I'm too old man we can come up with all kinds of reasons why we won't let Jesus change
our life John chapter five there's the story about a crippled man he'd been lying at the pool
of Bethesda for 38 years every once in a while an angel would come by and move the water the first
person in would be healed and one day Jesus came by and saw the man lying there it was obvious that
he was crippled Jesus knew the reason he was by the pool was to try to get well but he asked him
what seemed to be a strange question he said to the man do you want to get well one version says
are you serious about getting well by the way this man responded it shows us why he had been that way
so long he said yes but I don't have anybody to help me I'm at a disadvantage I'm all alone you
see my legs when the angel comes everybody gets in in front of me he made excuse after excuse
I love the way Jesus answered back he didn't respond to the man's sad story he didn't say
well I feel sorry for you you've had a rough life he looked him in the eyes and said in effect
if you're serious about getting well if you're serious about moving forward then pick up your
bed get up and be on your way this man got up took up his bed he walked out of their healthy and whole
I wonder how many things we would get out of defeat depression bad habits if we would just
quit feeling sorry for ourselves quit making excuses and start moving forward
God is asking us today what he asked this man are you serious about getting well
are you serious about overcoming that addiction about finishing school about moving past that
disappointment then there's something you have to do get up on the inside in your attitude in
your thoughts in other words shake off the self-pity quit reliving the negative you're
waiting on God but God is waiting on you if you will get up take up your bed so to speak
start moving forward that's when you'll see things begin to change in your favor
I want us to think about this question here's what he said do you want to be made well
do you want to be made well and I want to just go through a few points here of why I think sometimes
we don't say yes to the question do you want to be made well here's here's number one excuses
excuses we come up with an excuse of why we're different and why it won't work for us and that's
exactly what he did sir I have no man to put me in the water when the angel comes do you realize what
he said was here's what he was saying it's not my fault that I'm not healed it's not my fault
it's someone else's fault do you realize think about this now this is the number one excuse
in society for our problems and this is actually because it's the number one excuse It's the number
one lie of the enemy the number one lie is it's someone else's fault that you're in this situation
can I tell you something no one can hinder the destiny on your life but you it doesn't matter
what anyone's done to you and here's what people tell me all the time Pastor you you just don't
understand my situation maybe I don't understand all the details of your situation but I understand
Jesus I know Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever I know there is no situation too
difficult for him I know that but here's what we do I I hear it it's a lie it's a lie think about
this I I believe that God heals marriages but let me tell you why it won't work for me let me
tell you why I'm different pastor let me tell you why I'm the exception to the power of God you are
not the exception to the power of God there are no exceptions to the power of God there's nowhere and
nothing that the power of God can't fix and nowhere that it can't go so please hear this don't don't
make up an excuse of why it won't work for you he said rise take up your bed well he didn't say
be healed he said are you willing to put some effort into it and you got to think about it it
says Jesus knew he'd been there a long time it's easy to get comfortable in our weakness
so I'm asking you do you want to be made well
what's the area of your life you need to be made well okay stop making excuses
put some effort in it and humble yourself that your experience might not be the way it has
been in the past isn't that crazy he's looking in the face of face and he's talking about the pool
he responds to a savior who asked a simple question
do you want to get well that's like a yes or no question but he goes into all these excuses
and in his excuses he's talking about the pool when Jesus is in front of him
so many times we put our hopes and dreams in past experiences and the way we thought
it should go that we're still looking at the pool when the savior is right in front of us
where is an area in your life where your crippled where Jesus is trying to make you well
think of all the excuses that we make all the reasons that we give for what
we can't do Jesus has a great question for us here's his question do you want to get well
do you want to get well I have to decide I have to I have to decide I want get better
somebody can't want it for you that's why I believe as people of faith there's a question we must answer and
this is the question will I be more committed to my excuses than I am to what God wants to
do in me and through me you can have progress or you can have excuses you cannot have both
we live in a world where everyone wants to find someone to blame for how they're living
but we need to take responsibility for our lives we cannot play the blame game because when you
are constantly looking for someone to blame you give up the power for transformation in your life
you give up the power we need to take responsibility it's the only way to eliminate
excuses everyone wants to why my list my parents fault it's the economy's fault it's
the government's fault it's my boss's fault we need to take responsibility for our lives
and eliminate their excuses so that we can step into that which God has prepared for us
let's stop playing the blame game that's the enemy's game because when we look at who to
blame we surrender our responsibility and we're never going to mature in our faith we're never
going to transform our lives by the renewing of our mind which is a personal daily decision and
step into that which God has prepared for us we eliminate excuses by taking responsibility
let me tell you something I've learned it's way easier to blame someone else than to
get honest with yourself don't get stuck looking for someone or something to blame
see people can't stop your destiny what they said about you what they did to you how they tried to
make you feel doesn't have to affect you the only power that has over you is the power that you
give it if you sit around nursing your wounds thinking about the wrong about how bad it was
that's going to become a crutch that will hold you back I'm not saying what they did was okay
what I'm saying is it doesn't have to control the rest of your life it would be easy to live with a
chip on your shoulder thinking about how wrong it is before long you'll have that crutch that
will cause you to hobble when God created you to run you gotta draw the line in the sand say
that's it no more excuses can't do anything about the past but I can do something about right now I
am going to live my life in faith trusting God to make it up to me friends this day is a gift
once we live it we can never get it back life is too short to waste another day angry offended in
self-pity you may have had a rough start but you don't have to have a rough finish
quit telling yourself what you can't do how you don't have the discipline the training
the education you have everything you need you are well able God has already put it in you