Trust your advocate, not your accuser (1)

The apostle John wrote, “I heard a loud voice shouting across the heavens…‘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’” (v. 10 NLT). Satan has only one aim: “To steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). He’ll steal your peace, kill your dreams, and destroy your future. And he has deputized a horde of silver-tongued demons to help him. He enlists people to peddle his poison. Friends dredge up your past. Preachers proclaim all guilt and no grace. And some parents distribute it twenty-four hours a day. Long into adulthood you still hear their voices: “Why can’t you grow up?” “When are you going to make me proud?” So what’s the answer? Jesus! He’s “in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us” (Romans 8:34 TM). Let that sink in for a moment. In the presence of God, in defiance of Satan, Jesus Christ rises to your defense. He takes on the role of a priest. “And since we have a great priest over God’s house, let us come near to God with a sincere heart and a sure faith, because we have been made free from a guilty conscience” (Hebrews 10:21-22 NCV). A clean conscience. A clean record. A clean heart. Free from accusation, free from condemnation—not just from our past mistakes, but from our future ones. “Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for [our] sins with his blood” (Hebrews 7:25 TLB). So don’t listen to your accuser—trust your advocate!