So what are some of the things that would hinder you going forward in your destiny? I've come to the conclusion there's never one cause of success, and there's never one cause of failure. There's heaps of them, so let me just list a few of them. I'll just list them out there, won't go into a lot of them, but these are some of what I call the destiny hurdles, that when you come to one, you have to JUMP IT, or you'll fall on your face, it's as simple as that. So here we go, I'll just give a few of them. They're not in order of importance, but they are definitely things I have observed over years that have stumbled people I know. Okay, I'll just go through them one after the other, and they're not a list of do's and don't s. They're just things that I would say, this is a hurdle; when you come to face this hurdle, see it as something to jump over. It's not a big deal. It's just something you have to make the decision to elevate and move over that, not pretend it's not there, or take another course. You have to do this. Get the idea? Okay then, so don't react as we give you some of these.
Number one, you must take full responsibility for your life. [Inhales sharply] No! I just wanted to put it all in God's hands, and leave it all up to Him! No, it's your life, you've got to run it. Sure, put it in the Lord's hands, but you've got to take full responsibility. What does that mean? You've got to own your desires, own your passions, own your gifts, own your thoughts. They're your thoughts, they're your thoughts. Own your feelings, they're your feelings. Own your choices, they're your choices. I take full responsibility for my thoughts, feelings, choices, desires, how I come through in life. See the problem I've noticed is, many have a victim mentality. They don't take responsibility, so whenever anyone challenges them over how they're coming through in life, or how they're behaving, it's poor me, you don't understand, it's not my fault. It's my father and my mother's, my background, I'm Maori, I'm Cook Island, I'm Pakeha, I'm Irish - it doesn't really matter what it is, it's just a lot of foof, foof, foof, foof, foof.
The first hurdle - [sound effects] If you won't take responsibility for your life, who's going to? I'll tell you - the devil's really ready there, to gain access to your life in every area you won't take responsibility. So number one, you've got to own and take responsibility for your life. No one else is to blame. You are what you are, you are who you are, you are where you are, because of choices you've made. Don't go blaming God, don't go blaming the devil, don't go blaming anyone or anything. Take full ownership; I'm here, and this is who I am, and I'm going to own it all, then I can do something about it, okay?
In Romans 14:12 it says we must all give account of our lives to the Lord. I guess then, you need to plan and set goals. I know some of you won't like that - but I flow. Well, everywhere in life success comes about by planning, and being specific in your plans, knowing exactly what you want, and having a plan to get there, and some steps to get there. That's how life works. Why does it work that way? Even unsaved people know it works that way, and even if you haven't got them all written down, people who are successful have always got them anyway. The ones who are more successful, usually write them all down. Ecclesiastes 5:3, a dream comes through much activity. Proverbs 16:9, a man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps, so here's the thing. The man's heart plans - we have to plan our way, so if you're going to develop or go anywhere in life, plan your finances, plan your relationships, plan your career, plan your studies, plan, plan, plan, come up with a plan. Set some specific targets and goals in mind. Why? Because if you don't have them, you'll swerve off course and get distracted, so goal setting, planning is a hurdle to jump over. If you fail to do it, you will waste the journey. You'll do a lot of things that actually never got you where you really needed to get.