ISAIAH 44:21-22 – Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me. I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.

THEME OF THE DAY. SILENCING THE ACCUSATIONS OF THE DEVIL. In the Revelation, the Apostle John reminds us of one of the major workings of the devil toward God’s children. He is our accuser – “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God” (Revelation 12:10). And what are areas this evil foe brings as accusations to the mind of the believer? At least two, but before we identify them, let’s be reminded how these accusations are to be defeated – in the strength of the Sword of the Spirit – the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). If we recall our Lord’s temptation in the wilderness, He successfully fought off each attack and accusation of the devil by specifically reciting scripture to him (Matthew 4:1-11). In each engagement with the devil, the Lord Jesus quoted specifically from the book of Deuteronomy. And each response proved to defeat the devil. It will be so for us too when confronted with the accuser of our souls. However, if our minds are not armed with scripture regularly, our armory is empty, and we will listen, then be defeated, by the accusations of the devil. Now let’s consider the two primary areas the devil comes to accuse us as God’s children.

First, he accuses us of being woefully flawed sinners whose many past failings make us useless for the Lord in the present. This area is extremely powerful to paralyze a sensitive Christian. And especially so for the Christian who is being awakened by personal revival and desire to know more the love of Christ. One of the first things in the process of revival is God giving the believer a greater sense of their sin, and particularly, past sins easily tolerated. As revival comes to the Christian, it is like being “born again, again.” We see sins differently. We see the wickedness of sin. God does this, not to paralyze us, but to humble us. And right then, here comes the accuser of our souls. He rushes in and whispers, “See, look at your foolish past. Look at those periods of tolerated sin. Look how worldly you lived. God won’t forgive you, and even if He did, you are so messed up by your past, He cannot use you.” Well, we have two choices in this confrontation with the devil; give in and become a defeated Christian living with regrets, remorse, and no joy. Or, take up the Sword of the Spirit and say with the Apostle Paul, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). We simply combat the devil with forgiving grace and not succumb to his tactic of bringing up our past failings.

The second area the devil, the accuser of our souls, seeks to defeat and spiritually paralyze us is in our daily living out of the Christian life. He comes again with accusations like, “Look at you. You call yourself a Christian. Don’t you see the hypocrisy in your life? What about that outburst of anger yesterday? How about that critical spirit you harbored toward (fill in a name)? And love? Really? You spend more time on your selfish desires than doing what Jesus commands of you. And you call yourself a Christian?” The devil will constantly attack us about our inconsistent obedience to God’s commands. In dealing with this attack, don’t argue with him. He is right. We are inconsistent. Instead remind yourself and the devil, we are not Christians based on our perfect obedience, but on Christ’s perfect obedience. Here the Sword of the Spirit to thrust at the devil is God the Father’s work of putting us in Christ who is our everything, all the time – “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). We live our Christian life out of our position in Christ which fuels our obedience. The more we remember today’s scripture and what our Heavenly Father has done for us, our obedience soars with love. Yes, it will be imperfect, but it can be sincere and that pleases the Lord while defeating the accuser of our souls.

PRAYER: “Father, remind me who I am in You; redeemed and forgiven, never to suffer condemnation before You.”

QUOTE: “Think more on our position in Christ than our performance for Christ and joy abounds”