Do you know that God has a dream for you? Yes! God created you for a specific purpose and therefore cares more about your success than you do. Living in God’s dream for your life is the most exciting and rewarding part of living. Because God created you for a specific purpose, living in unity with him makes fulfilling your purpose possible. Everything you were created to be and do naturally flows in and through your life when you live in unity with God.

As we have discussed, the enemy of our souls, the devil, does not want us to fulfill our God-given purpose. Therefore, he plans attacks against our God-given dreams to derail us from God’s best for our lives. The weapons he uses most to kill our dreams are fear, discouragement, doubt, and complaining. Those four dream killers are the enemies’ weapons of choice and are made possible by luring us into the life of trusting in ourselves. Trusting in one’s self 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 feel like they are living for God good enough, they feel good about themselves, but if they are not, they are discouraged and depressed. Trusting in works to be right with God is a surefire way 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.

Numbers chapter 13 records 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, therefore, by their own righteousness, these four dream killers kept them from the beautiful land God had promised to give them. Because their trust was in themselves instead of God, they ended up dying in the desert, separated from the land God had promised them. Just as the children of Israel were snared by trusting in themselves, so the enemy is against you and desires to use the very same tactics to destroy your future! If you get a moment, please read the story found in Numbers chapter 13. Here are the tactics the enemy used.

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 trusting God, they used their mouths 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 ended 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 to fulfill the incredible destiny he has for you, fear, discouragement, doubt, and complaining are sure ways to derail that plan! Trust in God is the only sure way for you to fulfill your destiny!

God is trustworthy! He will never let you down, and his word will never fail! He sent his only Son to the cross because of his great love for you! He wants you to prosper and fulfill your purpose more than you want it for yourself! Will you trust God? If you do, God’s glory will be revealed in your life, and you will live in victory over the…

Four Dream Killers