God created you for a specific purpose. Even more than you, he cares about the fulfillment of that purpose! Living in God’s dream for your life is the most exciting and rewarding part of living. This kind of life is made possible when you live in unity with God. This is where life gets exciting because unity with God enables God to live heaven’s life through you!

There are four things that the enemy of our souls uses to try to derail God’s plan for our lives. These are fear, discouragement, doubt, and complaining. Those four dream killers are the enemies’ weapons of choice and are empowered by trusting in self. This is what we call the performance-based life. What does that mean? It means that for a person to feel good about themselves, they must perform good enough. This means that if they live for God good enough, they feel good about themselves, but if they are not, they are discouraged and depressed. It means that you are trying to earn God’s favor rather than receiving it. (See Rom 7:8,11) Trusting in works to be right with God causes a person to live in the prison of failure!

Gal 3:23 Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.

Please take a moment to read Numbers chapter 13. It is the fascinating story of Israel’s leaders inspecting the promised land and the majority’s lousy report. Because the children of Israel lived under the law and consequently by their self–righteousness, these four dream killers kept them from the beautiful land God had promised to give them, and they ended up dying in the desert. Be assured, the enemy is against you also, and these same dream killers are out to destroy you and your future!

1. Fear – Num 13:31-32  Thinking that the Giants were more powerful, they were afraid to do what God told them they could do.

2. Discouragement – In verse 33, they said, “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.” The fear and discouragement within them were assuming the thoughts of those giants. Instead of trusting God, they chose to trust in themselves. This made them see themselves as those who would be conquered instead of a conqueror.

3. Doubt – The people chose to doubt the very words God told them, for God had told them to go in and take the promised land for he would be with them. In Numbers chapter 20, we again see the Israelites doubting God by not believing in his ability to meet their need for water. Instead of declaring their trust in God, they used their mounts to complain.

4. Complaining – When the people chose to doubt God and live in fear and discouragement, the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back was complaining. The Israelites did not understand the power of the tongue and ending up declaring their own demise.

Proverbs 18:21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Though God longs for you and me to fulfill the incredible destiny he has for us, fear, discouragement, doubt, and complaining are sure ways to derail that plan! The children of Israel refused to believe God and instead relied upon their own strength. Trust in God is the only way to ensure victory!

So the question is, will you believe God today? Will you trust that his character is pure and loving towards you and that he can accomplish through you what he has told you to do? If you trust God, you will see God’s glory revealed in your life, and you will live in victory over the…

FOUR DREAM KILLERS