So when people coach us or we have a personal coach or someone speaks into your life, what it does is it accelerates the process of change, rather than trying to just do it all on your own. Don't be distracted, just keep focus. Here we are, let me give you two examples of people. I want to show you two who missed their destiny because they missed vital relationships. The first one is Jonathan. Jonathan, through covenant with David, was destined to be on the throne beside him, but he died in a battlefield next to his father. He missed his destiny because of loyalty to something that was about to pass away, loyalty to the old. It was what you'd call a misplaced loyalty. Some people are holding to relationships and connections that long ago should have been let go of, because they're no longer part of where you are and where you're going. False loyalty can lock us - I've seen people cover up in their family horrendous abuse because of false loyalty.
See, false loyalty means when we violate the word of God in conscience in order to maintain a connection with someone. We need to actually understand the importance of dealing with this issue in our lives, of actually ensuring we're connected where God is moving and with what God is doing. Another example is Demas. Demas was another guy who missed his calling. Demas was a friend of Paul. He was next to the apostle Paul. Paul writes Paul and Demas and Timothy and the other ones who [were here, 00.26.26] then later on he says this. He said Demas has departed from me having loved this world. So Demas had a apostolic call. He was moving in the supernatural, but when it got hard he began to think of how easy it would be in the world and so he left the call of ministry and went back away from that. The Bible says he actually left his destiny. He left what he was called to be. What a unique opportunity working next to the apostle Paul - a bit challenging but [laughs]. But he left it. He quit. He just quit when it got tough.
I've seen heaps of people - how many people have seen a Christian quit when it got tough, and if you think about their life they just never have gone right since then? I can think of heaps of them, because they disconnected from vital relationships, often because they got offended or needed to change and they didn't change. An example of person who fulfilled his destiny was Elisha. Elisha remained connected to Elijah and would not let go, and he got something that took him into the future. Here are the last couple of destiny decisions. The next one is you need to develop a plan. Without a vision - Proverbs 29 tells us without a vision we perish. We miss the opportunities in life unless we have some kind of plan in our life, so I encourage you to think about planning. It's a decision to plan. Everything that's going to get you somewhere is going to take a plan. The Bible says the plans of the diligent make a person rich. It says the simple person passes on and he misses opportunities.
Every one of us needs to set some kind of goals. Goals are just the plan you have with some steps to get there. No planning financially, your finances will be in a mess. No planning concerning a marriage, your marriage will be in a mess. No planning concerning family, you'll have heaps of kids. [Laughter] I can tell you now. [Laughter] See, so but in order for us to go forward we need to actually plan how we're going to go forward. Let me ask you this: if your finances are going to go forward what plan do you have in place? If your marriage is going to deepen in intimacy what plan do you have in place? If your spiritual life is going to improve what plan do you have in place? If your relationships are going to develop what plan do you have in place? Young women, if you're looking for a man what plan do you have in place to grow yourself as a person? Men, if you're looking for some woman, don't look for the woman; what plan have you got in place to grow yourself so you'll be a great catch?