by Patti Hedgepath Lusk
What's Your Excuse?
“And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go
unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out
of Egypt?” Exodus 3:11
A teenage girl was having a problem
and became very upset. Her
mother went to her room to help her settle down.
The girl told her through many tears and great sobs, “I would
just run away, but I don’t even have a suitcase?”
It is amazing how we can make our threats then find an excuse
when it’s something we really didn’t want to do in the first place.
Maybe excuses are okay when they
keep us from doing wrong, but not when they keep us from doing right.
Some things are easier to talk about than actually doing.
There is much talk in Christian circles about prayer, Bible
study, committing wholeheartedly to Christ, breaking certain habits,
establishing real Christian homes . . . and the list goes on.
Are you making excuses today?
If you don’t have a suitcase, it’s okay to use it as an excuse to
stay home instead of running away, but don’t let excuses keep you from
Christ.
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“What excuses do I use when God speaks to me to do
something?”
An excuse is actually an invalid reason we use to
keep from doing what we know we should be doing.
If there is a reason we should not do something, God certainly
wouldn’t tell us to do it.
Moses felt inadequate to do what God called him to do, but that was no
reason to keep him from doing it, because God promised to be with him
and God is more than adequate.
Tell the News
“How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the
gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”
Romans 10:15b
Who told the news that Jesus would
come and release us from the bondage of sin and death?
God told it first in the Garden of Eden just after Adam and Eve
sinned. It was told by the
prophets. Just before Jesus
birth, the news was proclaimed by angels.
Then, Jesus came. He
began to teach the gospel of the Kingdom.
After His death and resurrection, the disciples carried the good
news. It has been passed
down in both written form and verbally for many generations.
Now the distribution of the gospel
rests in our hands. We are
those who know Him and have the responsibility to carry on.
As you remember the angels singing their joyous message that
first Christmas, remember it is you and I that need to be spreading the
news this Christmas. Jesus,
the Christ, has come and we can be free from sin . . . and He is coming
again.
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“Am I a bearer of the good news?
Do I speak about Jesus and what He has done in my life to
others?”
Christmas is a wonderful time to spread the gospel,
but every day is a good time to be a witness for Jesus.
So, spread the news every chance you get!
Safe In Christ
“Then said David to the
Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a
shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of
the armies of
While driving through a residential
section of town, a rabbit was sitting in the road.
As I approached, it panicked and ran down the road in front of
me. When it realized it
couldn’t outrun the van or make it go away, it turned and dove into some
bushes in a yard. There it
was safe!
When Satan attacks us, it is foolish
to think we can outrun him, outwit him or make him go away in our own
strength. We cannot.
But we do have authority over him when we are abiding in the
secret place with the Almighty God.
When we are covered by Jesus’ blood, Satan cannot get to us.
We are safe in Christ.
So, don’t try to fight something bigger than you on your own.
Take refuge in the Lord and the battle is won.
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“What seems to be bearing down on me in my life?
Have I taken refuge in the arms of God, or am I tying to fight it
myself?”
It is our human tendency that tries to figure out
every problem and fight every battle in our own wisdom and strength.
When we begin to live in the
No Matter What
“I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
There was a story where a boy had to
bring a note home from school because he was caught cheating.
He waited before he gave it to his mother, and in that interval
she told him she loved him.
He asked, “no matter what?” and she answered, “no matter what.”
After she read the note, she proved that love even though he
didn’t always understand.
They went through a painful time, but finally discovered he had trouble
learning because he had dyslexia.
He couldn’t do well in school and had tried the wrong way to
cover it up. The problem was
solved when the root of the problem was found out.
God loves us “no matter what”, too.
But He wants us to understand the reason we sin so we can fix the
problem. The reason we sin
is that we are born with a sin nature.
When that is dealt with through Jesus’ blood, we can be free.
So, when God convicts you of sin remember it is because He loves
you “no matter what!”
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“How confident am I in God’s love for me?
Do I know Him well enough to trust Him to work everything for my
good?”
Understanding the reason for a problem is half the
battle in solving it.
Sometimes we get too focused on the crisis and we can’t see any way out.
God will show us the root and help us eliminate the problem if we
will ask Him.
Communication
. . . and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am
able to do this? They said
unto him, Yea, Lord. Then
touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.”
My son had stored a large amount of
items in my mother’s back bedroom pending a family yard sale we were
planning. I told him he
needed to price the items the next morning while I as at work.
The next morning I called him at home and didn’t reach him, so I
called my mother. She hadn’t
seen him. I called numerous
more times to no avail. I
wondered why he was not where he was supposed to be and doing what I
told him to do. When I got
home, he had all the items priced.
He had been in the back room all that time.
My mother didn’t see him when he came.
He was right where he was supposed to be, doing what he was
supposed to be doing.
It’s amazing the confusion a lack of
communication can cause. If
we don’t stay in communication with the Lord, we may misunderstand Him,
too. But He’s always right
there doing what He promised, and you can count on it!
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“Have I felt like God was nowhere around when I
needed Him the most? Have I
ever felt He was not keeping His promise to me?”
When we are distant from God, we will misunderstand
Him just about every time.
He never breaks a promise, but seldom does everything how and when we
expect Him to. He is at work
on our behalf when we cannot see it, we just need to learn to trust Him.
Unchanging Standards
“[Jesus said] If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
I remember when I was in primary and
elementary schools, all girls were required to wear dresses.
When I reached middle school, they began to allow girls to wear
pant suits, but it had to be a pant suit made to go together.
Nothing more casual was accepted.
Things have certainly changed in the dress codes.
As a matter of fact, things have changed in a lot of areas.
There is one thing that has not
changed and never will. That
is the standard of God. We
can only come to Him through the shed blood of Jesus Christ; and once we
are born again, we cannot serve and worship Him just any way we choose.
We must obey His Word and follow the character of Jesus before
our service and worship are acceptable to Him.
We must walk in the power of His Spirit to be able to do that.
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“Am I acceptable to God?
Do I keep His commandments?”
Legalism is binding.
Being born again and following Christ is freedom.
If we obey out of duty alone, we will be miserable.
If we obey out of love, we will be fulfilled.
The Handcuff Incident
“Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of
the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Psalm 124:7-8
A friend of ours was babysitting her
grandchildren while their parents were out of town.
Their daddy was in law enforcement, so the little boy loved to
play with toy guns and handcuffs.
Of course, his playmate was his grandmother.
He told her to put her hands behind her back and he put on the
handcuffs just like they had done numerous times.
When she mentioned they were a little tight, he announced that
was because they were real handcuffs and he didn’t have a key.
After a miserable couple of hours and some help from others, she
was free at last!
Her grandson meant no harm and
wasn’t old enough to understand the consequences, but Satan uses a like
strategy with our final captivity in mind.
He toys with us and gets us used to his games, then he snaps on
the cuffs and we are ensnared.
However, there is good news even when we are locked up tight.
Jesus has come to set us free and we can be free at last!
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“What is binding me?
Do I need help to be freed from the snare of the enemy?”
God is our ever present help in time of need, and
that includes the times we fall into Satan’s trap.
We can call out to Him and He will break the trap to set us free.
Fame? Or Shame?
“But I say unto you, That every idle word that men
shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou
shalt be condemned.”
Have you noticed all the tee shirts,
handbags, clothes and accessories people wear that have slogans on them
bragging about how spoiled they are, what a rotten mood they’re in or
just how all-around bad they are?
It is amazing how we have lifted up wickedness in our culture.
The behaviors that used to bring shame now bring fame, but that
will not always be the case.
Jesus said we will give an account
in the day of judgment of every idle word we speak.
So, what are we saying?
Is our conversation lifting up the world’s lack of principles or
God’s holy principles? The
word idle here means ‘inoperative’.
It is useless or unproductive.
Why waste our time, energy and words on things that are useless
when we can advance the
CHALLENGE TO CHANGE:
“What is my daily conversation?
Do I need to change what I am saying, or is it uplifting Jesus?”
It never hurts to take inventory of our words,
because it is so easy to fall into the conversation of those around us
that may seem harmless, but is not good for us or for others.
We all need to watch our words.
They have more influence than we may realize.