Overcoming Excuses - Herbert Cooper

Overcoming Excuses 1 Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may GROW UP in your salvation, (NIV) Matthew 25:24–29 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I HID it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ 26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ 28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 29 To those WHO USE WELL WHAT THEY ARE GIVEN, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who DO NOTHING, even what little they have will be taken away. (NLT) 4 EXCUSES YOU NEED TO BURY 1. BURY THE BLAME GAME 2. BURY THE VICTIM MENTALITY 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV) 3. BURY THE COMPARISON TRAP 4. BURY THE FEAR OF FAILURE 2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (NKJV) 5 DIGGING PRINCIPLES TO FULFILL YOUR POTENTIAL 1. DIG UP TAKING OWNERSHIP OF YOUR LIFE Galatians 6:5 For each will have to bear his own load. (ESV) 2. DIG UP IDENTIFYING THE EXCUSES THAT ARE HOLDING YOU BACK Psalm 139:23-24 “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” 24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. (NLT) 3. DIG UP CLARIFYING YOUR WHY Habakkuk 2:2 Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. (NKJV) 4. DIG UP THE RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS Hebrews 10:24–25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (NIV) 5. DIG UP TAKING STEPS TOWARD YOUR VISION James 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. DO what it says. (NIV) James 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by ACTION, IS DEAD. (NIV) Ecclesiastes 11:4 Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest. (NLT) Psalm 37:23 The STEPS of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; (ESV) Proverbs 16:3 COMMIT to the Lord whatever you DO, and he will establish your plans. (NIV)