The things that we love tell us what we are

The things that we love tell us what we are. - Thomas Aquinas

 

THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN – Neil Anderson

Revelation 12:10

The accuser of our brethren . . . who accuses them before our God day and night

Next to temptation, perhaps the most frequent and insistent attack from Satan to which we are vulnerable is accusation. By faith we have entered into an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. As a result, we are dead to sin and alive to God, and we now sit with Christ in the heavenlies. In Christ we are important, we are qualified, we are justified. Satan can do absolutely nothing to alter our position in Christ and our worth to God. But he can render us virtually inoperative if he can deceive us into listening to and believing his insidious lies, accusing us of being of little value to God or other people.

Satan often uses temptation and accusation as a brutal one-two punch. He comes along and says, "Why don't you try it? Everybody does it. Besides, you can get away with it. Who's going to know?" Then as soon as we fall for his tempting line, he changes his tune to accusation: "What kind of a Christian are you to do such a thing? You're a pitiful excuse for a child of God. You'll never get away with it. You might as well give up because God has already given up on you."

We have all heard Satan's lying, hateful voice in our hearts and consciences. He never seems to let up on us. Many Christians are perpetually discouraged and defeated because they believe his persistent lies about them. And those who give in to his accusations end up being robbed of the freedom that God intends His people to enjoy.

The good news is that we don't have to listen to Satan's accusations and live in despair and defeat. Satan is not your judge; he is merely your accuser. When Satan's accusations of unworthiness attack you, don't pay attention to them. Instead respond, "I have put my trust in Christ, and I am a child of God in Him. I have been rescued by God from the fire of judgment, and He has declared me righteous. Satan cannot determine a verdict or pronounce a sentence. All he can do is accuse me--and I don't buy it."

Prayer: Lord God, when Satan accuses me and reminds me of my past, help me resist him and remind him of his future.