Dream Killers

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

Have you been invaded by dream killers? 
Do you know who your dream killers are? 
Do you know how to overcome them?

Dream Killers

Joseph’s brothers, being jealous of him and offended that he dared to believe a dream that he may one day rule over them, sought to do the one thing that would ensure that the dream never materialized: kill him.  

How would you like to be the victim of a plot to take your life to ensure that your dreams could never materialize? The truth is that at some stage, in one way or another, we will all become victims of dream killers. Satan works each day to plot and strategize how to kill you, or to kill your destiny before it can take shape, to ensure that your dream is never realized. That is why the Scriptures say, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)  

Thank God that His grace, which always abounds to us, is even greater when we are being attacked by the enemy. 

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. – 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV)

And of course, when God does allow us to go through attacks, as He did with Joseph, He does it in order to work it together for our good.  

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. – Romans 8:28 (NASB)

Though some of us will face physical attacks and betrayals like Joseph, the real battles that we all have to overcome do not originate in the physical realm, but in the spiritual and mental realms. The battle that takes place in the arena of the mind and the spirit is known as spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). And while the enemy will work overtime to war against you and to not only harm you but also to try to kill your dreams, only you can allow the dream to be killed. 

In John 10:10, Jesus told us that “the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” The enemy uses various tactics that I call “dream killers” to try to stop our dreams from being realized. We must learn how to identify them and not give place to them in our lives. 

These dream killers are:

1. Doubt (James 1:2-8) – The devil wants us to lose confidence in ourselves and our dreams so that we may stop dreaming and pursuing the dream. Be willing to be wrong but reject doubt at all costs. Doubt is double-mindedness. Doubt creates instability that guarantees your dreams will not be realized.
   
2. Fear (2 Timothy 1:7) – The devil wants us to be afraid of success and/or failure more than we fear God.  We are called to fear only one person – God.  Be willing to fail and quickly recover so you can embrace the responsibilities of success as you realize your dreams.
   
3. Unforgiveness (Matthew 18:35; Mark 11:25-26) – The devil wants us to hold grudges against those who harmed us. Forgive and forget. You may be hurt again, but you will never regret forgiveness.  This will protect your destiny as your dreams are realized.
     
4. Greed (1 Timothy 6:9-10) – The devil wants us to fall in love with the trappings of success as our dreams are realized and to love things more than we love God and people. We are called to love people and use things – not to use people and love things. Never be motivated by money, instead, only be motivated by a love for God and people. This will keep your dreams pure.
   
5. Sin (1 John 3:4) – Through engaging in sin, the devil wants us to compromise in our Christian walk and in our hearts. This keeps us from being intimate with God and pleasing Him. This also keeps God from getting the glory as our dreams are realized. Reject sin at all costs. This will keep your dreams sanctified.
   
6. Unbelief (Mark 9:23-24) – The devil wants us to doubt our faith, so that we may question who God is and no longer recognize Him as the source of our dreams and the manifestation of them. Even when you doubt, seek the help of God to give you the grace to believe. This will keep you in fellowship with God as your dreams are realized. 
   
7. Discouragement (1 Samuel 30:6) – The devil wants to use the daily challenges of life and our failures to discourage us from pursuing our dreams. Never, never, never give up.  Never give up no matter what. Ask God daily to give you the perseverance to persist until your dreams are realized. 
   
8. Procrastination (Proverbs 6:6-11) – The devil will distract you with other things that bring you temporary pleasure to keep you from doing the heavy lifting to bring your dreams to pass. Have a mind to work. Work is worshiping God with your talents, and procrastination is an attempt by the enemy to cause you to worship yourself rather than God. Working unto the Lord is a powerful safeguard that will empower your dreams to come to pass.
    
9. Lust (1 John 2:15-17) – The devil wants you to crave the trappings of success as your dreams are realized by abusing and defiling your body and mind. We need to remember what the Bible tells us – “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)). Cultivate an appetite only for the things God allows and be moderate in all things, so that you can enjoy the fruits of your dreams without violating your temple, or your vows and obligations to the LORD. 
   
10. Pride (Proverbs 16:18-19) – The devil wants you to believe that you did it through your own ability, to think more of yourself than you ought to think (Romans 12:3), to forget how you got there and who brought you there, and to focus more on your talents and smarts then on the One who gave them to you. Remember that pride comes before the fall. It is a human smokescreen that allows us only to see what we want to see. This is a sure way to destroy everything that God has blessed you with.  

Joseph did not allow the dream killers to get to him, and not only did his dream come true, but God used him to save a nation and a people who became a catalyst for the coming of the Messiah. Our dreams are never about us, they are always about those whom God wants us to bless. Who may be missing out on a blessing because you have not realized your dreams?

And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. – Genesis 45:4-8 (NKJV)

My prayer for you today is that you will know how to recognize dream killers when you see them and that God will give you the grace, strength, and discipline to shield yourself from them, so that your dreams may be realized for His glory.