We are starting a new series called Blueprint, and in this session we will be talking about getting beyond good intentions. Do you know that it is easier to start something than to finish it?

We all know that Peter had good intentions. But when the gavel hit the desk, he denied Christ three times. So we are going to talk about Peter and how, through tenacity, he eventually came around even though he fell.

Today’s message will be extremely practical because we are beginning a good year and we need to get beyond good intentions.

Then Jesus said to them, “This very night you will fall away on account of me. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have risen I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” (Matt. 26:31-32) 

And Peter replied, "Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will." (Matt. 26:33)

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me there times.”

"Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You." (Matt. 26:35)

Peter had wonderful intentions but when push came to shove, he ran the other way. He denied Christ three times to a servant girl and ran; however, because of his tenacity, he later goes full circle and comes back around.

But what I want you to know is that we and Peter have the same inclinations; that we also have good intentions but sometimes stumble. So then how do we get beyond good just intentions? It is important how you start, because if you start wrong, everything else is wrong. So as the old scientific theorem states if your basic premise is inaccurate then every conclusion thereafter is going to be inaccurate.

Two Commitments

1.    Start with obedience.

Every single one of us must be obedient to what God has called us to do --- your purpose, this season of your life, and the race that is set before you.

That’s why Hebrews says, "...let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Heb. 12:1).

Did you know that there is a race set before you which is different from anyone else’s? We need to know what that is because in the end, God will not hold us accountable for what we have done as much as He will hold us accountable for how much of what He has asked us to do that we have done.

Today I’m not going to talk about your whole life except for one small sliver of it. If you get this right, everything else will follow suit. Likewise if you get this wrong, everything else will begin to unravel.  
 
 

Eighty five percent of your life, anybody can do such as reading your email, eating breakfast, or going to a movie. Ten percent of what you do, someone with training can do. But 5% of what you do, nobody else can do. And that 5% is what you and I will be held accountable for by God.
 

What is that 5% that only you can do? Let me give you my 5%.

· Only I can be a husband to my wife Anna.

· Only I can be a dad to my kids.

· Only I can keep myself physically fit.

· Only I can take time to enjoy life.

If you get it right, everything else falls in line. You get it wrong and compromise, then it doesn’t matter how much money you make. You will lose it all.

-   Know what your 5% is.

If you are a student, then only you can study and increase your ability in the academic world. Only you can love your parents as a daughter or a son. Only you can keep yourself spiritually fit. Only you can increase your knowledge and understanding. No one else can do it for you.   And once you establish what that 5% is then…

2.    Have good intentions and dream again!

Then you can invest in everything you want. Because if you love life, if you love the purposes of God, and you love what God has designed for you in your future, then you will not hold back anything in this 5%. Everything you invest in the 5% will come back to you 30, 60, or 100 fold. Our problem is we invest in the wrong places and expect to get 30, 60, or 100 fold. But the Lord says no, you invest in the assignment – your race that I have set before you – then I will guarantee you the 30, 60, or 100 fold.

"[Love]...believes the best in all; there is no limit to her hope" (1 Cor. 13:7 ISV). 

Likewise if you love these 5%, then it knows no limit. So start now. Don’t be late on it. How do you start?  When you start with that 5%, always…

A.    Start with the end in mind.

Draw a picture of the end first – what you would like to see in the end. Just like an architect does when he creates a blueprint of what the completed building will look like even before the construction of the building begins, create a blueprint for yourself of what your 5% is, then follow that blueprint. Likewise, God has a blueprint for your future in life.

The Bible says, "His works were finished from the foundation of the world" (Heb. 4:3).

God created us in His image. He designed your preferred future before you were born. He puts in you all the influence, gifts, talents, and future according to His will and purpose. He puts everything He has for you into a seed called potential. And you are born of that seed; it’s everything you will be, but you have not become, done, or gone through yet. We are each born with that seed – and everything that we need to be all that God has created us to be is in us – but it is in “potential” form.

Now when I am born, can I stray from that? Absolutely.  It’s called sin, where I say no to God and I will do it my way.  I’ll compromise and take a short cut. That’s why the Holy Spirit prompts you not to do things or to sin, but rather, tries to convince you that God’s way is always the best way. The Holy Spirit pulls and tugs on your conscience to keep you from sinning. And if I continue to resist and push hard enough, sadly, the Holy Spirit lets me win. When you repent and come back, the Holy Spirit says follow me. And when you have followed God exactly as He told you, then you will be made complete in Christ.

The same is true with you and me before we invest in the 5%. How do you want things to turn out? How do you want your children to be? You better have a vision. The Bible says the mind of man plans his ways but the Lord directs his steps (Prov. 16:9). So if the mind doesn’t plan, what is the Lord going to direct? So I plan everything out and I write it down.

The second step is…

B.   Establish evaluation tools.

It is anything that you can check yourself by.

The Bible says, "Set up for yourself road marks, place for yourself guideposts" (Jer. 31:21).

You need to set it up by yourself. No one’s going to do it for you because when the end comes, I got to own my own stuff. Therefore, I need an evaluation tool.

Here at New Hope, we have a life calendar set up for getting beyond good intentions. I set it up so that in the middle of the month there is a centerpiece and I have written on it my last 5%. I did it in such a way that you have to write it on both sides so that whatever the side of the week you are at, it’s looking at you and reminding you to invest in the most important 5% of your life (which will take care of the other 95% of your life). So in one year, I will have written my 5% 24 times. It’s designed that way so that I (and you) stay true to it. And just below, I have practical things to remind me to do such as organize my office and files. Let me give you a recipe for a miserable life:  try to please everybody else instead of being obedient.

When you get the evaluation tool, stay committed to doing it and…

-   Get tenacious (commitment)!

That’s what brought Peter back. He made a mistake but he was tenacious.

-   And then make sure you do something toward it daily!

That’s why I have that calendar to do something daily for my 5% even if it is to pray for someone.

-   Start small but start now!

Don’t kick the can down the road anymore. Make sure that everything you do is designed for the end in mind. Why? Because men, when you pack all your things and walk out of that office or shop, you are going to walk into something else. And if your marriage is not healthy, what are you going to walk into? Make your last parking spot a healthy one. And so I am making sure that I am nurturing that every single day and I picture it in my mind.  It doesn’t always work out that way, but nonetheless, keep your sails tilted towards that happy and healthy end in mind. That’s what Peter did and he came back around a few miles later.

And when you have learned to succeed…

C.   Learn to celebrate.

This is how we progress from glory to glory. But we should progress from glory-celebrate to glory-celebrate to glory-celebrate. We need to celebrate and have laughter in our lives. So if you can learn to celebrate in your 5%, it will change your life immensely.

So let’s work on the 5% today. And as Peter did, even though he had good intentions, he fell. But because of his tenacity, he set his sails back to Jesus and came back around.  Even though he went out, when the Holy Spirit said come back, he came back. We want to be a people who celebrate because we are people learning to get beyond good intentions.

Discussion Suggestions:

1.    How do we get beyond good intentions?

2.    What is your 5% that nobody else can do?

3.    How do you start going beyond good intentions?

4.    Why should we do everything designed with the end in mind?

5.    What is the purpose of a life calendar?