FROG Discipleship

Stop Making Excuses!

• Nick

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0:00 | 24:58
SPEAKER_00

Good morning, Nick with Frog Discipleship. Hope everybody's doing okay. Today I want to share with you something that took place here in Texas not that long ago. It's a current event. And I just thought it was pretty amazing on how everything unfolded. So there was some wildfires in the panhandle of Texas in Amarillo. Well, what happened is that fire ended up catching a railroad bridge and burning it, burning it up, the whole bridge was on fire, right? So I would encourage you to, you know, you can Google, search the images, look on the BNSF Amarillo Bridge. And I mean that bridge was completely destroyed. But what fascinated me the most was not just that the bridge was destroyed. That's that's terrible, but the response. And what I mean by that is so from the time that the bridge burnt to the time that another train was able to run on the new bridge, and understand what I said, the new bridge in which BNSF built was seven days. It took them roughly four to five days to tear down and reconstruct the new bridge. Then in seven days, another train ran on it. And that's amazing to me, right? And the reason why it's so amazing to me is because that's what man was able to accomplish. You know, when we look at the Tower of Babel, you know, man was building, you know, a tower, if you will, to the kingdom of heaven, and God cast, you know, came down and cast man to different ends of the earth and you know messed up their languages. So that's why we have different languages and why we have different races, because if we're cast to different ends of the earth, we know the closer you are to the air equator, the further away from the equator you are, is going to determine the darkness or the light, the lightness of your skin. So from the Tower of Babel, God cast us, and now we have different cultures, different races, different languages, right? But we were able to see early on in scripture what man could achieve when we worked together. Well, even today, man is able to achieve great things. We just witnessed it in 2026 that a bridge, and it wasn't a small bridge, guys. I mean, this was a lengthy bridge, probably several hundred feet long, very, very big bridge that they were able to tear down and reconstruct in four to five days in a train going on at N7. So that just amazed me. And what I want to unpack here today is typically when we see something like that, so many people throw their hands up and say, no, that that job is too big, it's too much work, I can't do it, yada yada yada. And excuses start to fly. We automatically start with excuses and not with solutions. Well, that's a fail. That's an epic fail. If we're coming out of the gate with excuses instead of solutions, or we can't instead of we can, well, that that's a major problem. If and it wasn't a large group of men that worked around the clock to reconstruct this bridge. I mean, I was if I had to guess, I saw a picture of them. I think it was around 100 men, give or take, right? It might have been less than that, really. But regardless, a small number, let's just say it was 100 for simplicity. 100 men were able to work around the clock 24 hours a day until the bridge was demoed and then reconstructed to have a train run on it. Within seven days, it was built and finished and complete in four to five days. Just imagine what the body of Christ could achieve if we came together in unity. Man, sky's the limit. Sky's the limit because not only would we be working in unity, but we got God on our side. If God is for us, who can be against us? Period. I mean, I can go time and time again in scripture and look at David when he slayed Goliath. Right? I mean, it was a phenomenal deal. And that was just what one man did. You know, the all these trained soldiers, their life was warfare, but when they saw Goliath, they trembled. They trembled because they didn't have a solid foundation rooted in Christ, but David did. So whenever he walked up and he saw Goliath, he's like, you know what? God created me for such a time as this. And he recalled the lions and the bears that he had to slay to protect the flock. He's like, this is no different. Went and got five smooth stones. And the reason why he went and got five smooth stones was this is the awesome thing about David. So supposedly, when we look in scripture, we can we can conclude that Goliath had four brothers. Okay, so he got five smooth stones because he was planning on one for Goliath and one stone for each brother just in case they came after him. So what I want to understand, what I want us to unpack in that passage of scripture, is not only did David not plan on missing Goliath with the first shot, but he was prepared for what is to come. Well, when we look at this BNSF, this train bridge, they were prepared. They had a bridge waiting to where, if this ever does happen, hey, we have everything that we need to ship out, to get on scene, immediately, had the right people to answer the call, and bing, bang, boom, four to five days, that bridge was done. In seven days, the train was going on it. Just imagine if the body of Christ was that prepared. When we go to church every Sunday and every Wednesday, it's not just to talk, it's not, it's not a book club, guys. Church is not a book club, it is a place that we go to refuel, re-energize, collectively come to the body of Christ to be able to go out into the world and produce. And if we need help, we call upon the body of Christ and say, hey, can you help me? Will you help me? Yesterday was Memorial Day, and I had the privilege to go to the American Legion here in town and set up a little booth. I do mental performance coaching and I help athletes and veterans. Well, watching the veterans, what I really liked about that is they are bonded. It didn't matter what branch of the military they were from. It didn't matter if it was the Coast Guard, the Marines, the Army, the Navy. It was irrelevant. They came together because they, their common good, their common thing that brought unity was they're an American. It didn't matter if they were white, it didn't matter if they were black, didn't matter if they were Spanish, they were an American. And they served and they fought for this country, and that was what brought them in unity together. That's what we as Christians have to do. We have to have that mindset that we are here meant to be in unity. We expect everything to be butterflies and rainbows. Do we think that this crew that went and built that bridge, you think it was easy? It didn't matter if it was raining or if, I mean, it obviously wasn't raining because there was a wildfire that took place. But regardless of the situation, they were determined to overcome that situation and deliver a product. That's where Christians waver, if you will. We want to be comfortable in our faith. Being comfortable in your faith does not grow you. It does not mature you. It does not strengthen you. Being comfortable in your faith makes you lazy, makes you complacent. You have to constantly be growing. To grow means that you are expanding. That's what grow means. It's either getting taller or it's wider. It's getting bigger in some shape, form, or fashion. So if we are to say, hey, I want to grow in my faith with the Lord, well then do it. You're not going to grow if you're comfortable just sitting on the couch doing nothing. Or, hey, I'm going to listen to a podcast, and that's all the growing you do. Apply it. This podcast is not meant for you just to have something to listen to throughout your day. It is meant to give you God-centered information that you can then go out and apply to your life. David didn't slay Goliath on his will, his way, his power. No. God allowed him to do that. God gave him the accuracy to throw that rock and hit Goliath dead between the eyes to then be a great king, not a perfect king by any means. He was still a sinful man, just like you and I are. He had his flaws. But what made David unique is he brought everything back to the cross. Brought everything back to the cross. When he messed up, he took it to Jesus. And that's what we need to do. So this morning, what I want to do is I want to spend the remaining of our time looking at 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 16 through 18. I want to read that to you. And it reads, Therefore, we do not lose heart, even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light afflictions, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and external weight of glory. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. So let's dive into this and unpack and apply everything which we already said about David, about the train track that was fired, the bridge that was burnt that was reconstructed. Well, we break this down, therefore we do not lose heart, even though the outward man is perishing, the inward man is being renewed day by day. Your situation, okay, your current state, the outward man is perishing. Well, every day you are older. Every day you're you got more pains and and and you know ailments that are plaguing you every single day. Apostle Paul, he himself had a physical ailment that hindered him, but he counted it as a blessing. He viewed it as God was demonstrating this, put this ailment on him for a reason, and he just embraced it and used it for the glory of God. So when we look at this and see that the outward man is perishing, stop using that as an excuse. That's a fact. And well, if it's a fact, I can use it as an excuse. No, it's still an excuse. Nobody's perfect, everybody has bad days. But when you sit there and say, Well, I can't because of whatever, I'm too old or I hurt or whatever, all you're doing is creating an excuse. Your best excuse is your worst excuse for you because you have convinced yourself that you can't. When you can't make an impact for Jesus, if all you say is, I can't. The apostles were I can people, I will people. Paul was an I can, I will person. Jesus was a I can, I will person. Was it pleasant? No. Did it have anything to do with comfort? Absolutely not. Christ went to the cross. The apostles were martyred. Paul was stoned, he was beaten, he was put in prison. I mean, come on, guys. We want Christianity to be butterflies and rainbows, and we want it to be comfort. The outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. What does that mean? The inward man being renewed day by day. The inward man is the spirit. See, when Christ comes into your life, he implants the Holy Spirit in your life. The old has died and the new remains. That new that remains is the Holy Spirit has you've had you've underwent, uh, undergone a heart transplant. The the heart of stone has been removed and it has become a heart of flesh. The heart of flesh allows you to feel conviction and and and understand that, hey, I shouldn't have done that. You know, the a conscience, if you will. So the Holy Spirit is what guides you in that. So when the when the Holy Spirit dwells in you, you are being renewed day by day. The Holy Spirit in Scripture is referred to as your helper to help you be kingdom-minded, kingdom-focused, kingdom-driven, making an impact to uphold the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control. But what the Holy Spirit doesn't do is make excuses. That's man. That's man-centered. Man is full of excuses. The Holy Spirit is full of solution. Even if that solution is let go and trust God, we are to walk by faith, not by sight. We focused on the harvest, the end game. We want the end result. But we're we're what we need to be focused on is sowing the seed, planting and watering. Because scripture says, I Paul uh planted Apollos water, but who? God gave the increase. We are to plant, we are to water, God is to give the increase. But if we're not planting and we're not watering, God has nothing to give the increase to, especially if you're not planting and watering your own spiritual growth. In order for the inward man to be renewed day by day, you have to spend time with Jesus in studying his word in prayer, being amongst the body of Christ. For this is verse 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more and exceeding weight of glory. See, I understand life is hard. People are struggling physically, financially, emotionally. It doesn't matter. I mean, their marriages might be struggling, their kids might be, you know, angry at them, or life is difficult. God never promises you an easy life. He does promise you, you know, he tells us, you know, he provides for the birds. Are we not greater than they? He gives them food. He gives them shelter. Are we not greater than they? If he provides for the birds, he'll provide for us. But providing for us what we need versus providing for us what we want is different. See, when we see a struggle, a problem, a dilemma, whatever you want to call it, we have an op, this is a growing moment. This is an opportunity for us to live out our faith and make an impact in people's lives, to make an impact in your life. Spiritual growth has the opportunity to take place here and now. It's just like when you pray for patience. God doesn't just give you patience, he gives you the opportunity to be patient. If you pray for your anger to be under control, well, guess what? He's going to put opportunities in front of you that are going to make you angry, so therefore you can learn to control your anger in those situations. He's not going to do it for you, but he is going to provide for you the proper ingredients for you to effectively mature in your faith and become a better person for your light affliction, which is but for a moment. What does that mean? Scripture tells us this life is a vapor, temporary, here today, gone tomorrow. We need to not just be focused on our current situation, but be focused on the kingdom, being kingdom-minded. My whole goal, guys, whenever I do funerals, every funeral I've ever officiated in the past 15 years in ministry, it all boils down to two things. A, are you a Christian? B, what is your legacy? Period. You know, if you're a Christian, it gives your family a whole lot more peace. For sure, I've seen that time and time again. But outside of Jesus and that peace for not just the individual who is in the kingdom of heaven at that point, but for the family that's left behind, it all boils down to the legacy. What is the standard that you want that you have set in the here and now that you are going to be remembered for later? Now, understand the words I said, that you will be remembered for later. That's what is going to take place. People are going to remember you for something. Is it a good something? Is it a bad something? Is it because your testimony is immoral and corrupt? Man, that person's sorry. He was a liar, he was a cheater, a manipulator. All they did was a swindler, that was just a swindler. Or is it of good standing? Scripture tells us that our testimony needs to be above reproach. Yes, that's speaking specifically towards deacons and overseers, but really and truthfully, that very much applies to every Christian because Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He wants to take everybody's testimony, your reputation. Because if your reputation is flawed, your legacy is flawed, and therefore you are no longer making a positive impact in this world for the kingdom of God. You know, your light affliction is a season. Lean on God and overcome it. But don't be so consumed in your affliction that you can't move forward. Taking two steps forward and one step back is still one step positive in the right direction. Okay, so let me say it again. Taking two steps forward and one step back, you're still one step in the positive. Okay, meaning you're still making progress in the right direction. But what we do is we focus on this light affliction. Again, whether it's your finances, whether it's your marriage, whether it's your physical health, maybe you just don't like somebody in your workplace, it doesn't matter. You focus on that, and it's a poor, poor, pitiful me. Get over yourself. Jesus, if anyone had the right to complain about their situation, it was Jesus. But what did Jesus say? Forgive them, for they know not what they do. Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. Being a Christian is about being an overcomer. It's time for you to step up and answer the call and stop being focused on your light affliction, because it is working for us a far more and exceeding eternal weight and glory. Your testimony is going to not just help you grow, but help others grow. Verse 18. While we do not look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Eternal. Every day in which we live, it should be about the kingdom of God. How am I making an impact in the kingdom of God? This morning I was, I had the privilege to get up and you know cook my son breakfast. And, you know, he got his little tablet out. He likes to watch a show when he's eating his breakfast. And I told him, I said, Hey, you forgot to do something. You need to pray, you need to thank the Lord for the food, right? Because I needed to correct him, because if I didn't, I'm just being complacent and I'm allowing bad behavior to take root. Well, we have to be consistent. We have to be firm, fair, and consistent, right? And that correction was not about the here and now, it was about creating a good mindset for the kingdom of God because this temporary moment, this life is temporary. We can't just focus on the things that we visible visibly see, excuse me. We need to focus on the unseen, the kingdom thing. Guys, spiritual warfare exists. Again, Satan comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He is doing everything he can to keep you from growing in your faith, to making an impact in the lives of others around you. It is up to you to stop focusing on the outward man that is perishing, but be renewed, renew the inward man day by day. Renew the inward man. Lean on the spirit. Call on the spirit to help. Well, Nick, what do you mean, call on the spirit to help? Cry out to Jesus. Cry out to Jesus. Lord, what would you do? When I was in high school, we had these little bracelets. It was WWJD. What would Jesus do? Ask yourself that question. How would Jesus respond? Just because you can say something doesn't mean you should say it. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. God could have done a lot of things, but he didn't do it because it wasn't going to grow the kingdom. Period. He could have pulled himself off that cross, but if he would have pulled himself off that cross, he wouldn't have died and our sins wouldn't have been redeemed, right? Could he have done it? Yeah, but he didn't do it because it wasn't for the best interest of everybody. So just because you can say something or do something doesn't mean you should lean on Jesus. What would Jesus do? The time is now for the complacency to stop and for actions to take place. Renew the inward man, stop focusing on the things that are seen and focus on the things that are unseen, the kingdom of God, the glory of God, and make an impact. You know, this is it, and I'll leave you with this. So, you know, if you've ever flown on a commercial airplane, one of the things that they tell you that if you're ever, you know, facing turbulent uh, oh, I don't know what it is, a rocky plane, I'm having a hard time remembering turbulence, I believe, you know, and that airbag comes down, that face mask, they always tell parents, you need to put it on yourself first before you put it on your children. Because if I'm trying to put that face mask on my child and yet I'm oxygen deprived, and my child is panicking, and I pass out, I've done nobody any good. I have to put it on myself first to then put it on my child. We need to be taking care of ourselves spiritually. What does that look like? Read scripture, pray, spend intimate time with Jesus. Go to church, surround yourself with other godly men and women. Because you cannot give what you do not have. You can't share what you do not know. You have to be spending time with God and His people. Take care of yourself. Start growing yourself so, therefore, you can start growing other people. Consistency compound. Thank you for listening.