The Accuser

"Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: 'Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down'" (Revelation 12.10 NIV).

I recently read this verse in Revelation, and I got a better understanding of what I'm up against when trying to live a sold-out life for Christ. I have an Enemy who accuses me day in and day out. And he is very good at what he does. I've only been on this earth for a short time; my Accuser has been on this earth since time began. He has practiced his schemes on every generation since Adam and Eve, so I am no surprise to him. The Accuser looks at me and thinks, "Piece of cake."

There is no way that I will be able to claim victory over this Accuser on my own. I might as well admit defeat because I am out-smarted and out-matched. Thankfully, God knows that I would lose in my own strength, so He tells me to die to my weak self and live in the power that He has given me (Luke 9.23-24).

Dying to self is very hard at first, but it gets easier when we begin to see first hand what God can accomplish in our lives when our selfish dictatorships are out of the way. Once I learned to forgo my plans and cling to God's, I discovered a life that was worthy to be lived -- a life that produced a harvest for God's kingdom.

When we let go of our limited understanding, we gain the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2.16). The Enemy may out-smart us, but Jesus Christ out-smarts him. Jesus proved this on the cross when He defeated death. Moreover, Christ renews our mind, and we leave the predictable patterns of the world that the Enemy is well versed in. The Enemy knows how to make us fall, but the renewing of our minds in Christ will keep the Enemy guessing (Romans 12.2).

Also, when we realize that we are weaker than our Enemy, we will rightly give control over to the Holy Spirit. God's spirit in us is like having a perfect guide, perfect leader, perfect parent and perfect compass in our lives. We are out-matched by ourselves, but the Holy Spirit greatly tips the scales in our favor (John 14.26). Although the Enemy may be accusing us, God's spirit is constantly interceding for us. I can only imagine that the Accuser's accusations are petty compared to the amazing things God's Spirit says about us (Romans 8.27).

But who are we listening to? Are we listening and believing in the Enemy's accusations or are we listening and believing in God's truth? I once believed that it was normal to allow my mind to accuse myself, but I discovered that I was doing the Enemy's will. I want to do the will of God. I want to proclaim my victory and my value according to God's truth established for me. What is God's truth? He loves me. He loves you. He loves us enough to die for our sins so that we can commune with a holy God through the righteousness we gain by faith in Jesus Christ (1 John 4.10) & (Romans 5.17).

I think if we fully understood God's love for us, we would instantly embrace His will for our lives. He has such an amazing plan for all of us--a plan that we could never comprehend or fulfill without Him (1 Corinthians 2.9). I want to stop listening and believing in the Enemy, so I can keep my ears and eyes focused on how God wants to display His glory through my life. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to listen to what God says about me.

"With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1.11-12 NIV).