Enemies of Dreams and Visions

Messages for August 2016: Our Month of Dreams and Visions

Message for Wednesday the 31st of August 2016

Theme: Understanding Dream and Visions in relation to God’s plan – Joel 2:28; Jer.29:11; Acts 2:16-17; Acts 10; Matthew 1:18-25; Lk.1; Jn.5:39; Matt.4:10 & Rev.19:10

Topic: Enemies of Dreams and Visions

Introduction: Last week, we concluded the topic of Pride as an enemy of dreams and visions. Today, we are going to be rounding off this great theme of Understanding Visions and Dreams in relation to God’s plan by looking at what can constitute an enemy to the pursuit and fulfillment of your dreams and visions from the Lord. 

Let us understand that each of us is blessed with a glorious destiny from the Lord. However, the extent to which we would each fulfill our respective destinies is choice determined. Below are some life choices we can make that would work against the realization of our dreams and visions in the pursuit of our individual destinies. My aim here is to help you realize this and live differently so that you can enjoy all that God has in mind for you. 

1. The attitude of pride: Its blinding effects prevent us from experiencing visions and dreams. It also makes God resist us so that He cannot guide us in judgment. In addition, if the pride were to develop after the revelation, it has the ability to truncate the vision and dream and prevent it from materializing. See the example of Saul in 1Sam.15:10-31 and Ps.25:9.

2. Fear: Fear is the opposite of faith. I consider it an evil spirit that comes to confirm demonic presence to enforce the devil’s agenda in a person’s life. Just as God offers us faith with His word to enable us have victory, Satan also offers us fear with his words and circumstances to bring us down in failure. This is why God specifically tells us not to fear in more than three hundred places in the bible. In fact just like faith, fear is given and that is why the Lord tells us to take no thought saying: “what shall we eat...” in Matthew 6:25 & 31. Also, we are told in 2Tim.1:7 that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. We are also assured in Rm.8:15 that we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but we have received the spirit of adoption by which we call God father. This goes to show us how much effort God has put into getting us out of the fear mode because destiny cannot be actualized with fear present in our lives. 

3. Procrastination: This simply means putting something you should do now off to a later time. This attitude steals time from us because time spent doing something else instead of what you should be doing now is time wasted. Remember, destiny is a journey that would terminate on a date you do not know. Therefore, we cannot be irresponsible with our time. No matter what you do with your time, it keeps reading. Time never stops because you stopped to do something else. This is why our outcome in life is a reflection of what we have done with our time. You are therefore giving in to an enemy of destiny when you procrastinate. Note the example of Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24 when he went to get a wife for Isaac and was told by the in-laws to wait ten day and he refused and went back immediately. Then compare it with the unnamed man in Judges who ended up not only losing his wife but generated the consequence of Israel almost wiping out an entire tribe due to the war that resulted from the complications arising from his procrastination. See Judges Chapters 19 to 21.

4. Slothfulness: Slothfulness simply put means laziness. No vision or dream fulfills itself in destiny. We fulfill them through hard work. Therefore to be slothful means failure to actualize the dreams and visions of God for our lives. This makes slothfulness an enemy in the realization of our visions and dreams. The antidote to slothfulness is to take responsibility. When we take responsibility for our visions and dreams by giving it the commensurate hard work it demands, we would soon stand in our dreams. See Prov.19:15; Eccl.10:18 and the example of the man with the one pound and one talent the parables of the pounds and talents in Luk.19:12-26 and Matt.25:14-30 respectively. 

5. Carnality: This is a spiritual state where our decisions are governed by the flesh instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit. A carnal believer cannot walk in the spirit and is therefore an enemy of God. No enemy of God can receive the fulfilment of their divine dreams and visions. In fact, they cannot even receive one from God as they would walk in deception as long as that state persists. But if they repent and start to walk in the spirit, God would show them mercy and help them dream and eventually stand in their dreams and visions. See Gal.5:16-17; Rm.8:5-9; Heb.5:11-14; 1Cor.3:1-7 and 1Cor.2:14.

6. Wrong company: By this, I mean wrong friends or close associates. We are told in 1Cor.15:33 not to be deceived; that evil communication corrupt good manners. Wrong company also includes the kind of books you read, the stuff you listen to and the kind of resources you put before your eyes. The Psalmist counsels that anyone who keeps away from this would flourish whereas those who do not would perish. In fact, the short cut to destruction is to keep company with a foolish person. See Prov.13:20; Ps.1:1-3; Isa.8:11-15 and Mt.23:2-12.

As we come to the end of this month, I believe that what we have learnt would live with us throughout our destiny journey. Meanwhile, someone may be reading this blog who is yet to commence their destiny’s journey because they have not made Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives yet. If that is you, you can do so right away if you wish to by saying the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be saved:

Heavenly Father, 

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name! Amen. 

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nannaand on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirlwww.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or www.facebook.com/kingdomjointheirsfamily email:  jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.    

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!