Breaking Free from Excuses: Embrace God's Calling

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Hello, beautiful people, and welcome back to the Diary of a Black Woman's Podcast.

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I'm your host, Connie Morris, and today we're diving into another episode in

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our series, The Games We Play with God.

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This episode is titled, The Game of Making Excuses.

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How often do we find ourselves saying, I can't do that, or this isn't the right

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time, God, When God calls us to step out in faith,

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making excuses may feel justified in the moment, but it can keep us from walking

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in the fullness of God's purpose in our lives.

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We'll look at the study of Moses who had a list of excuses when God called him

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and explore how God's response shows his patience and provision for our weaknesses.

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If you ever felt unqualified or unprepared for what God is asking of you, this episode is for you.

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So let's begin with Exodus 3, verses 10-11, and we're also going to look at Exodus 4, 10-13.

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When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, Moses was full of excuses.

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Exodus 3, verse 11 reads, But Moses said to God, Who am I to go to Pharaoh and

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bring the Israelites out of Egypt?

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And then later Moses protested in verse 10, Exodus 4, 10, it says,

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pardon your servant, Lord, have I never been eloquent, neither in the past nor

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since I have spoken to your servant, I am slower of speech and tongue. So Moses, you know.

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And he was, remember, he was given to the Pharaoh daughter, given to Pharaoh daughter.

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And so he was raised in eloquence. So he had everything he needed to be able to speak to Pharaoh.

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But at a point, he felt that he wasn't. He was in the wilderness for over 40 years.

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So he felt like he lost his confidence, right? And so Moses started to doubt

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his ability and even asked God to send somebody else.

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But God's response was clear in Exodus 4, verse 11 and 12.

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He said, who gave human beings their mouth? Who makes them deaf or mute?

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Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord?

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Now go and I will make you speak and I will teach you what to say.

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We, think about this. Moses had the ability, why? Because God saw it in him.

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God saw that I have chosen you for this particular time, this particular day, this particular event.

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Why do you think he chose Moses, right? God doesn't call the equipped.

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He equipped the call. And so we get it twisted. We think that we have to be

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this particular way They have this particular style, but God doesn't look at that.

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He looks at you. He looks at the heart. He looks at who he's equipped.

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He says, I've called you.

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The day you were born, he already had your mark.

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Your mark was that you were going to do this particular thing and do this particular way.

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And there was no way out of it for you, right?

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You can ignore it and delay it and mess it up. But many times,

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we can't mess with what God already has for us. It's still a gift.

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It'll show up some kind of way in some kind of form and be like,

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dang, girl, you should have been this. And you know that in your heart.

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But we love that God looks at Moses and he says, Moses, I'm calling you out.

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And he says, Moses says, well, you know, Moses began to look at himself saying,

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you know, I can't look at this.

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I can't speak. I can't do this. I stutter.

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I do all this stuff. And then God says, who made your mouth?

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And so what excuses are you keeping you from saying yes to God? What is your excuse?

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Excuses often come from fear, insecurity, or lack of trust in God's power.

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So let's break it down. Number one, fear of failure.

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2 Corinthians 12, 9. We worry about falling short, forgetting that God's strength

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is made perfect in our weakness.

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Insecurity. Like Moses, we focus on our limitation instead of God's limited power.

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We can get out of God's way when

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we don't know. We're like, how am I going to say what I'm going to do?

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I remember when God called. He says, write these devotional.

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You think it's a simple devotional. You write them like la, la, la.

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I read them from my mom about the first 40.

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And then I said okay Lord I'm 40 and done and he said oh he's still talking

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and I'm still writing and we're going like what are we going to do with these devotionals now,

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and he said I want you to make them into podcasts I started to make sound like

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Moses I don't like my voice I don't think I want to be speaking on the mic.

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I started making excuses and all kinds of stuff.

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And I was making up excuses, but at the same time, deep, deep,

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deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep. And we know how we feel.

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We know that God doesn't take no for an answer.

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He doesn't. But as you are saying no, you're still walking in obedience because

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you know that you know that you know that you're going to do what he has told you to do.

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And so you just keep prepping. You keep talking to yourself.

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You keep encouraging yourself.

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Because if you fail, fear of failure, if you fail, you can say,

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well, I guess that wasn't the Lord.

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Fear of failure. Number two, insecurity. Yeah, got those. Like Moses,

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we focus on our limitations instead of God's power.

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I was like, Lord, nobody want to hear my voice.

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And he was like, Connie, just do it. I was like, Lord, you know.

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My 101,000 excuses, right? And number two, we distrust. We distrust. Oh, my gosh.

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Excuses reveal lack of faith in God's ability to equip and sustain us.

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So I started the podcast last July. I don't quite remember the date. I got to go pull it up.

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And I just said, I'm not just making excuses.

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I didn't really understand how the podcast system worked. I didn't really want

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to go quite live and have my face out quite yet because I don't have a lot of

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time. I'm working full-time.

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But once God released me of any full-time work, I'm probably going to,

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we'll be going live with, you know, Face Zero and then just having some fun

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with my audience and becoming that real person out there.

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But when I made my 1,000 download, I was like, wow, Lord, I wasn't expecting

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1,000 until, I'm at 1.1 now, wasn't expecting that until July.

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So I was like, I want to get it to 1,000.

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At least by July, you know. And I was excited. I'm like, wow, people are listening.

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And so we make excuses because we don't want to fail. But remember, who gave you the idea?

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God did. Does God ever fail? No, he doesn't.

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Whose insecurity is it? It's not God's. It's yours.

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It's your insecurity. And then who do you distrust?

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We distrust God's faith and ability. So, like I said, I just started talking

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and podcasts do require a lot of planning.

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It's not an easy task, but at the end of the day, I do my part and then I just let God do his part.

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So, Philippians 4.13 reads, I can do all this through him who strengthens me.

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We know the story of Moses. We know Moses, he was successful.

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He got over himself. We know he started out using Aaron as his voice.

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And then pretty soon he began speaking on his own.

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I remember it used to take me to do four or five podcasts. It would take me

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hours because I wanted it to sound perfect.

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I remember starting out trying to add music to it and make it sound fun and upbeat.

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But then after a while, it was like, I just want to just preach the word of

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God. I don't need all the sound effects.

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And then at the end of the day, it's just how it is.

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I just preach the word of God, make some devotionals available for you. Keep it simple.

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Keep it simple. And that's pretty much what I'm doing, trying to keep it simple.

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The whole goal is to get you to get interested in what God is saying, right?

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And then making you successful. So you go do what God has called you to do.

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And so when it comes to fear, insecurity, or lack of trust in God's power,

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most of the time, most of the time, it's just us.

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We want to be we'll see the at least I did I looked at other podcasts there

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are 4 million and 3 million and I started out and I was happy I got one down

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mode and I got two down but remember do not despise the small beginnings.

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Everybody started small and so I still have another podcast it's slow rolling

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but we just doing something different with that one too do what God tells you to do Does he ever fail?

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No. So trust him. And remember, you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

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What are the costs of excuses? Making excuses might feel harmless,

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but it comes with a cost. Number one, it's delayed obedience.

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Excuses delay God's plans. Not because he can't move forward without us,

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but because he wants us to grow through the process.

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So like I said, excuse me, delayed obedience is disobedience. but God chose you.

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He chose me. He wants you to grow.

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Connie, I want you to grow. I know there's going to be a lot of extra work,

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but it's something that you're going to learn.

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And what I've learned through this process is that God speaks all the time.

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Wow. And he's interested not just in me, but he's interested in each and every one of my listeners.

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And so delayed obedience is disobedient, but it's not about you.

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It's about you and God's relationship.

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Number two is missed opportunities. When we say no to God, we miss the blessings

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and grace that comes with obedience. We miss what God is trying to do in us.

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Our little fear and excuses, we miss what God is trying to do in us.

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Wow, I cannot tell you how much my relationship with God has grown since last

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July. It was growing already, but this is like committed time with God for real.

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It's just committed time because I get up at about 4, 4.15, and I'm praying.

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I'm not even praying for a devotional.

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I'm not. I'm not praying, Lord, what's the next devotional? I'm just praying

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because I like spending time with the Lord.

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Out of my learning comes a devotional.

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Out of my learning and my connection with God comes a devotional.

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And it come with some powerful titles. Just that relationship births what God wants to do.

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So I'm not praying for a devotional.

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Out of whatever he's working through me comes something that's birth.

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Oh, that's so good. Intimacy gives birth to a devotional.

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Just got that down low, bam. See what happens? And then number three,

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strained relationship.

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And so when you don't do what God tells you to do, your excuses create a strained

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relationship that can affect others, especially when our obedience is tied to their breakthrough.

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Oh, so think about this. The people who are downloading and listening to this

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podcast, I don't know your story.

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I wish you would just kind of put it on the comments because the obedience that

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people are learning and listening to the word,

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I don't know what your breakthrough is, but whatever God told me to do is connected

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to the thousand downloads that people have already listened to.

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Delayed obedience, dang, God can't move forward without us.

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Not that he can't move forward without me, but he wants me to grow.

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So he shows me, Connie Morris, that he wants to show me he want to grow me up.

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Number two, missed opportunities.

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When I say no, I miss a chance to grow. Number three, look at how my life has

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blessed others one at a time, one person at a time.

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This podcast, it reaches all over the world.

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And so everyone gets a chance to first hear the voice that I really don't like

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my voice, but also that you get to hear how you can be a voice to others, too.

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It says, anyone who loves me would obey my teachings.

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My Father would love them, and he would come to them and make a home with them.

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It says that if you obey God, he will come and live with you.

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He will abide with you. There's a song out there that says, I will manifest

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myself. God wants to manifest himself to you personally.

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Obedience deepens our relationship with God and brings his presence into our life.

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His presence, his manifested presence into our lives.

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How powerful is that?

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How many of you guys want to overcome excuses?

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So how do we start playing this game of making excuses?

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Here are three steps. Number one, acknowledge you're afraid.

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Be honest with God. Be honest with God about your insecurities and your doubts.

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And I was like, Lord, here we go. Here we go.

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Telling you I used to play it, listen to my voice, try to do edit on it, editing it.

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And I was like, if I keep adding it, it'd just be one word. Hello.

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I saw that sounds perfect. Everything else sounded like I don't like the way I sound.

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So instead of me just trying to be the super editor, I didn't edit.

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I don't edit you get raw material maybe I should edit one day I'll get an editor but,

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I just want you to hear it. Like, this is what I do. I just speak what the Lord

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is saying. I make a mistake. It's all natural.

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You know, so number one, acknowledge your fears. I'm sorry. Acknowledge your fears.

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Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. So automatically, just be honest with God.

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Lord, I don't know where this is going to go, but 1 Peter 5,

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7 says, hey, I'm going to cast that care on you.

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It was your idea. you work it out.

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Focus on God's strength. It says, my grace is sufficient for you,

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for my power has been perfect in your weakness.

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So now I have to worry about that. Shift your perspective from your limitation to God's power.

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So you've already cast your anxiety on God.

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Now you're shifting your perspective. Say, Lord, this is going to be in your

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power and your strength.

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And number three, the hardest part here, it says take the first step.

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Obedience starts with a single step. Trust that God will provide as you move forward.

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The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.

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I got to repeat these because these are so powerful. How do you overcome excuses?

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Any excuse that you make, many times we make excuses because we have these fears.

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We have this acknowledgement that we might fail, but we have to just somehow,

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some way, I was sharing with a friend the other day, when will you begin to trust God? When?

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When? When would you begin to trust God? Like I shared with you in my other

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podcast, I was working a job just kind of as a holding point.

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I didn't know what I wanted to do, but this job became to be really hard,

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not because of the job itself, it's just the management style job.

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People. And I don't know what's going on out there in the real world because

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I usually can handle a lot of the pressures, but this job was really, really different.

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It was just a lot of pressure and strain for no reason. I mean, there was no reason.

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And I just went to God and I said, Lord, this is not working for me.

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Thank you for giving me this job. And just like you gave me all the other jobs,

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I'm quite sure there's other jobs out there.

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I'm retired. I really don't have to work, But I want to work,

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but I don't want to work under this type of pressure.

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And he walked me through the process of getting rid of that,

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you know, resigning in a professional with integrity mode of,

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but still keeping, you know, keeping my mindset right, you know?

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And so was that a fearful way, but not knowing where I was going?

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So that's a trust, right?

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Work under this pressure pain and lose, like, this was unnecessary stuff.

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And I just said, Lord, I'm just going to trust you with this. And I did it.

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And then he, and I told you another devotional. He says, Connie,

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I have a ram in the bush for you.

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Just because you trusted me. I have a reward you openly tucked away for you.

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Just because you just, you asked me, I told you what to do and you did it. And I'm like, wow.

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Once you do that first step in obeying God, the rest of the steps is easy.

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Because it reminds you of this exercise we used to do when we were kids.

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We would tell you to turn around and we asked you to fall back into our hands

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and we would catch you as a trust act.

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You know, and that shows that I trust you. And that's the thing we do with God.

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God says, turn around. Now, let's close your eyes. Now, let me catch you.

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And that's what faith really is. I'm going to catch you.

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You're going to fall. It's going to feel like no one's there to catch you.

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You might almost hit the floor.

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But you know that you are going to be caught by God.

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And so how do you really get rid of your fears?

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You acknowledge I'm afraid, but you also acknowledge that, Lord,

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I know that you're going to catch me if I fall, right?

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And so I don't know why I keep sharing that story. Is this powerful?

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Because I've never done that before.

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And so you cast your anxiety on him. So you acknowledge it, I'm afraid,

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but I'm going to trust that you're going to catch me.

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Number two, I'm going to focus my strength.

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I'm going to shift my perspective, not on my power, on my limited power.

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I'm going to trust that you said it, then you're going to make it successful.

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I'm ready to do it. Let's partner with the Lord, right?

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And then number three, the hardest part is take that first step.

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Just do it. Let's do these decrees.

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I went through that really quick because I get to preaching and I don't know why to stop.

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Okay, so I decree that I will trust God's timing knowing. I trust God timing,

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knowing he equips me for every task.

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So you know that he will equip you for the task.

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Yes, he will. And you will be surprised.

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Sometimes now, now, now, now I listen to my voice. I go like, dang, that was good.

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I don't listen to the sound of my voice. I listen to the content.

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So that's the difference. I said, wow, that's a good word. So I decree that

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fear My insecurity will not hold me back from obedience.

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What's stronger in you? Is it that fear or is it that obedience?

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Let that obedience rule.

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And number four, number three, I'm sorry. I decree that I will walk in faith,

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take bold steps towards God's purpose for my life.

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I think I want to say these again because many times we are stopped by our excuses.

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We are stopped because of our excuses. I decree that I will trust God's calling,

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knowing he acquits me for every task.

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I decree that fear and insecurities will not hold me back from obedience.

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And I decree that I will walk in faith, taking better steps towards God's purpose for my life.

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I want you to reflect this week or today, what is God calling me to do that I have been resisting?

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How can I take one step of obedience this week?

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What's my challenge? Write down one excuse that's been holding you back.

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Replace it with a truth from God. For example, if you said, I'm not qualified,

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replace it with, I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.

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And so begin to talk yourself into what God has said.

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Remember, I just gave you an example that, you know, just believe that if you fall, God has you.

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So let's close this out in prayer.

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Heavenly Father, I thank you for your patience when we make excuses.

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Forgive us for doubting your power and focusing on our own limitations.

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Teach us to trust you fully and

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to walk in obedience, knowing that you equipped us for every task. ask.

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Help us to replace fear with faith and to take bold steps towards your purpose.

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In Jesus' name, amen.

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Thank you for joining me for this episode, excuse me, on the games we play with God.

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If today's message spoke to you, share it with someone who needs it.

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Subscribe so you don't miss any future episodes.

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Next episode is Games 14, the games of seeking approval from others.

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Until next time, stay faithful, stay bold, and take the first step at trusting God.

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No more excuses. Amen.