Open Heaven 9 December 2022
MEMORISE: “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.” – Romans 2:1 (KJV)
BIBLE READING: Genesis 3:9-14 (KJV)
9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Read yesterday’s Open Heaven Devotional here
It is in the nature of the fallen man to blame others for their misdeeds. Right from the beginning in Genesis 3:9-14, when God asked Adam why he had sinned, he said, “It is the fault of the woman you gave me”. God turned to the woman and asked, “Eve, why have you done this?” She responded, “The serpent deceived me”. The only fellow who didn’t give an excuse was the serpent. The serpent could have said, “The devil entered me”, but the animal proved to be more responsible for its actions than man.
When you see a person who is always giving excuses, you have seen a failure. Giving excuses is one major characteristic of failures. In the story of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30, the servants who had five and two talents simply gave a report of their trade to the master. The only person who had an excuse was the one who failed. He could have succeeded, but he chose to cook up an excuse; he decided to fail. Anytime you are tempted to give an excuse, remind yourself, “I am not a failure”. If you know that no matter what happens, you will not give an excuse, you would sit up and do your very best. Many people use the government and the state of the economy as excuses for their financial situation, whereas some others are coming out of poverty under the same government and economic situations. Never permit yourself to give excuses at all, unless you want to end up a failure.
If somehow, you were unable to get something right, instead of giving an excuse, own up to your fault. When it goes right, you receive the commendation, so when it goes wrong, you should be prepared to take the blame too. If you arrived late to a meeting and are asked “Why did you come late?” Don’t say, “The traffic was heavy”. You should have researched the route and factored the traffic into your travel time, even if it means you would have to get on the road hours ahead of the meeting. When you are asked, “Why are you not fasting” and you say, “I have issues with my stomach” rather than admitting that you are not disciplined enough to stay away from food, that is an excuse.
Decide today: no more excuses!
PRAYER POINT: Stop giving excuses and you will see the tremendous changes that will happen in your life.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: 2 Corinthians 13 – Galatians 3
Thank you for studying today’s Open Heaven – No Excuse – written by Pastor Enoch A.
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Open Heaven 9 December 2022
