The hardest thing in life to do is overcome the excuses that are keeping you sidelined and move forward in life. You want things to change, you just can’t get past all your excuses. Do you have a child who is hard to get up in the morning? You have to go back more than one time and say GET UP, it’s time to get up. Maybe you are the one who punches the snooze in the morning for 5 more minutes. There are people who want to get up, they just find a reason not to do so right now. My devotion this morning was on John chapter 5. A man had been lying by the pool of Bethesda as an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus asked him if he wanted to be healed, he blamed his condition on other people. He said that while he was trying to get up, someone else would get up before him. Jesus then eliminated all his excuses in verse 8. (Then Jesus said to him, GET UP! Pick up your bed and walk.) Blaming others for the condition our lives are in does nothing but keep us invalids, useless, and visionless. We need to do what Jesus told this man to do. Get up, pack up what we have been laying around on and get going. For change to happen in your life, you can’t be a prisoner of your circumstances. Know that God is willing to help you today. You just have to decide to trust Him, get up, and actively pursue the freedom He’s giving you. If your alarm is going off today, get up and face your circumstances. You will not be facing them alone. Pastor Don [image: image.png]