Excuses never excuse: Babbling Moses
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Good to be back, and we are getting into some good stuff here today...
Moses tries to avoid God’s call on his life
Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.
“Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored, like the rest of his flesh.
Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, they may believe the second. But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.”
Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”
“Excuses are tools of the incompetent, building monuments of nothingness. People who use them seldom accomplish anything in life.” - Author Unknown
“Excuses are tools of the incompetent, building monuments of nothingness. People who use them seldom accomplish anything in life.” - Author Unknown
Moses had a few excuses… excu
Excuses are generally about self preservation and protection...
I can keep myself safe if I can just divert attention for a bit. Get the spotlight off of me and on tosomeone else
Fear or being seen, of rejection, of being known, of not measuring up. But fear and excuses also keep you form being the person God had in mind when he put the breath of life in you.
Moses has a series of excuses:
What if they do not listen or believe me?
two physical signs Staff/snake and Leperous hand
I am slow of speach.... “I don’t talk good”
“I will help you speak and teach you what to say!”
Send someone else (Vs.
God’s people exhisted to be a sign of God’s presences, Powers, and Grace. Part of allowing them to be enslaved for 400 years was to show all othere religions and nations that he is. Our freedom in a relationship with God is a testimony of his presence in our lives and the world needs to see it.
But we tend to make a lot of excuses when God asks us to believe him mre than our doubts and excuses.
that is not how I am
I am too ____________ for that
They (insert your favorite person or group) are too far gone to embrace this
Who other people see
What he thinks his ilimitations are
Who he sees
When we start telling God why somethign cannot happen, we need to slowdown and ask why:
Are my desires the same as God’s for me and others? If not, guess who needs to change
Moses is telling God 3 lies:
Who other people see him as
What he thinks his ilimitations are
Who he sees
God already has an answer for all of Moses excuses ANd he has an answer for yours...
Have you been telling God Lies, excuses for why you cannot be someone he is going to use?
Let’s look at those lies agian today, adn let’s see what how we say these same things and Hod God dismantles our excuses with truth:
How other people see me
they are not going to believe me because...
I have already ruined my reputation because....
They will not trust me because....
they are narrow minded....
When you put your story in the hands of God, he rewites it to be perfect for his bigger story and the people he has you walking with
What you thinks your ilimitations are
Not enough money, time, friends, family
not seen as good, from the wrong place
not skilled, educated, experienced enough...
God does not call the equipped, he Equips the called.
Worried you have too many limitaitons? Remember you serve an unlimmited God! Better than American express, membership in God’s family has real privledges.
Who you think you are
Not measure up
unworthy, broken, not ready
“Send anyone else!”
Perhaps you have said these same things, thinking you are not someone to be used by God. You are too messed up, broken, ruined, addicted, shattered, angry, .... you fill in the blank....
God specializes in creating beautiful stories from broken lives. Mosaics are made form shattered glass, brought together to reflect incredible light
If you are here today, and you have been telling God “Not me.... I am too broken, too little, too far gone, too damaged, too mistaken, too far off....” then you are believing Satan’s favorite lies...
And you are telling them to yourself
God told Moses He would be with him. God is with you
He said he would be his answer. God can be yours
God Chose Moses, and he Choses you!
To serve him in the church and in the community
Wait… I do not have any signs....
Fruit of the Spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Beatitudes - Blessed Kingdom Attitudes of mearcy, meakness, Purity, Peace-making, mourning, a thirst for right relationships with God and Man, persecuted for pursuing righteousness....
Thes things do not happen on our own, they happen when God is with us… and then we begin to shine for him’
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
People believe you because the change they see in you
I cannot do it:
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Send someone else:
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.