No More Excuses

By Nina Keegan

Is not an excuse really just a little white lie the enemy uses to blindfold us and keep us in mediocracy?

A friend of mine was recently telling me that her son just cannot take tests. He excels in His classwork, but when it comes to test-taking his mind goes blank and he fails. This was the reason he was doing so poorly in his classes.

Somewhere along the line this lie was spoken over him or he just decided it himself; but over the years defeat became etched into His mind like a river carves itself through a mountain base. Deeper and deeper it flows. Then it became a bonafide reality gripping itself to his leg like a ball and chain ... and eventually an excuse to fail.

Excuses in our lives give us permission to settle for less than God's best. It seems we always have an excuse for our shortcomings. We always have something or someone else to blame for our less-than-stellar lot in life. It is never our fault. We continuously brand our insecurities through seemingly justifiable alibis. We declare that this is how it always is for us, for our families. We inhale the status quo and exhale the mundane.

Most failures come from from a history of excuses and a lack of perseverance.

Closed doors don't always mean NO. Most of the time they mean that God has a bigger and better door. We must move forward and keep knocking.

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." Matthew 7:7

We get so immersed in the past and caught up on old technicalities that we can't see hope staring at us through the dirty windows of our own self-appointed limitations. We are confined only by the walls we build ourselves. We can get so stuck in the rut of excuses that we even make excuses for our excuses.

The Bible is littered with excuse-makers, starting off with Eve claiming it was all the serpent's fault and its erroneous ability to deceive her.

Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Genesis 3:13

God is saying enough!

It's time to receive the victory God has in store for you. You can do all things through Christ who gives you strength! He can give you supernatural qualifications. He can cause you to be at the right place at the right time. If you speak life into your situation and speak faith into your circumstances, the favor of God and the blessings of Heaven will chase you down when you stop excusing them away.

The grace of God will supply all you need. Consequently, you will have no need for further rationalizations for lack of personal victory in your life.

Trust the Word of God and the plans that He has for your life! God's plan says He will give you a new hope and a bright future.

Success will ultimately come to you when your dreams become bigger than your excuses.

Put to rest forever the old, makeshift justifications. Peel back the layers of excuse after excuse that are holding you back from God's best! Become a new creation in Christ and let the blood of Jesus and His salvation promises justify you, vindicate you and excuse you from your excuses!

Through Christ You are made new and made whole in every area of your life. Stop excusing away your dreams. Instead, grab hold of them. Start speaking life into your life. Let the promises of God settle in your heart and declare these truths and let them override your regrets and rationalizations now!

When you give up your excuses you will find your results!

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Then I said, "Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth." But the Lord said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord." Jeremiah 1:4-10