Charissa Steffens: "Don't Let the Enemy Steal Your Dreams!"

"Don't Let the Enemy Steal Your Dreams!"

Charissa Steffens, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

I believe we are in a season of preparing and planning to build something new – both in the physical and in the spiritual. For my family and myself, part of this journey has been the building of a new home. There have been many steps in the process, and many hours of discussion and planning have gone into purchasing a new property and developing it in preparation for our new residence. While we thought we had everything under control, we recently received some bad news. I knew in my heart that God's plans for us were for good, and although the news was unexpected to us, it was not to God.

Catching the Thief of Dreams

As we tried to navigate our way through the situation, we kept coming up against barriers which left us unsure of what to do. It seemed that everywhere we turned we received a negative report. That week my husband told me that he had been having a series of dreams where people kept stealing different things from him. In the dreams, people were stealing possessions, and in the last dream, someone had stolen his identity. As he was telling me about this, I immediately knew that this related to what was going on with our circumstances.

As we began to pray into this, the Holy Spirit said, "Don't let the enemy steal your dreams." I immediately knew that the enemy was trying to make it appear as if our dreams – the dreams that God had placed within us – could not come to pass. The enemy was trying to make us doubt God's promises and forget our identity as His children.

Life More Abundantly

I immediately began to take authority over the enemy's plans to steal, kill and destroy the God-given dreams that we had, and declared John 10:10 over the situation – Jesus brings life to the full!

I had a strong sense that this encounter was a word for many others who have been on a journey with God, moving into a new season. I see that you are pioneering something. You are building or establishing something that God has placed in your heart to do, and you have come up against unexpected opposition that seems insurmountable. (Photo via Unsplash)

The enemy wants us to believe that when circumstances are against us, we have misunderstood God or gone down the wrong road. This is not the truth.

Three Key Elements of God's Nature

This is where it is vital that we understand these three key elements of God's nature:

1. His thoughts toward us are good (Psalm 139:16-17). He saw us before we were formed and fashioned us into being. His thoughts toward us are beautiful and beyond our understanding.

2. His plans for us are good (Jeremiah 29:11). Even when our plans feel like they are falling apart, His plans are not. Despite the Israelites being in exile, God had plans that would see them walk in His goodness and rebuild the Temple.

3. He is good to us (Psalm 145:9). Goodness is God's nature; He is good to one and all. His every action is soaked in His grace, which enables all things that He has promised to come to pass.

Speak Out in Faith

The Spirit is alerting us to the enemy's tactics to move against the dreams that God has planted in our hearts. It is a time to stand upon the nature of God and speak out, in faith, what you know God has placed in your heart. Don't let the enemy steal your dreams. Sing out over what you know God has promised you and keep moving forward in faith. He is the God who fulfills His word, and as you speak this truth over your circumstances, you will see the enemy flee before you.

Know that His plans for you are good and you will build that which He has given you to do. Keep surrendering your fears and expectations to Him and let Him work it all for good (Romans 8:28). You will find that this time is just a bump in the road of a wonderful journey that you are on with God.

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Charissa Steffens
Abiding Matters
Email: info@abidingmatters.com.au
Website: www.abidingmatters.com.au

Charissa Steffens is a writer and teacher with a passion for the prophetic and Scripture. Through her ministry, Abiding Matters, she loves to see people come closer to Father God. She hosts the podcast Abiding Conversations with Charissa Steffens and writes for various online Christian publications. To contact Charissa, or learn more, visit Abiding Matters.

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