The Accuser

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The Bible calls our enemy, Satan, the accuser. Accusations get hurled at our minds often, and as a result we are tempted to live in a condemned state...to feel like we are letting God down, not being everything He has called us to be. It is tempting to think we are disappointing God most of the time. This could not be further from the truth. God delights in us. He loves to see the movements of our heart, even as we are working out how to live in agreement with Him.

If you have kids, you know exactly what I mean. If you watch a toddler learn to play with other kids, you watch them fight, you watch them act selfishly. You might correct them, but chances are you've had a moment where you actually chuckled in watching them learn how to be a human....even when a toddler is bad, even as a fallen parent, you don't stop delighting in them. And you absolutely feel joy when they realize they are wrong and apologize from the heart. You know they are learning. You know a toddler will eventually see the world the way you do. Someday they will see what you see and agree with you about what is right and wrong. Because you know more of the story, you can actually laugh about the movements of the heart of your child, even ones that would be unacceptable for an adult.

It is no coincidence that God uses the analogy of father to talk about who we are in Him. You are His prized child, the apple of His eye. When you mess up and feel sorry about it, you aren't condemned, you are DELIGHTED in. He loves the movements of your heart as you reach for Him. He sees you in the end, glorified. He is committed to your success, even to the point of the sacrifice of His only Son for you. The movements of your heart, even the ones that miss the mark, are building your testimony, if your intent is to agree with God. He knows the difference between immature faith and rebellion.

I'm not going to let the accuser define me. I'm going to let my Father define who I am. I am going to agree with Him! I will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony!

(Revelation 12:10-11) Then I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens, "It has come at last—salvation and power and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down to earth—the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony....

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