DEFEATING THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHREN “the accuser of our brethren is cast out, which accused them before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:11) Participating in accusations in any form is witchcraft Accusations can be Anointing killers either individually or corporately Life & Death are in the Power of the Tongue (Proverbs 18:21) SELF ACCUSATIONS: Have you ever been accused whether you were guilty or innocent??? If so, how did you handle it and because of it, did you learn in how to handle future accusations??? None of us are immune to accusation; reason, we have an accuser who accuses us day and night before our God. Our accuser uses our past mistakes, our weaknesses, and our wounds to manipulate us to agree with the accusations to keep us from growing in Christ and in His image. Many in the Body of Christ struggle in their identity that God loves them and accepts them. For you to see yourself the way God sees us, study the Life of Jesus to develop a right view of God. A healthy view of God in who He is and in how He see us, will stabilize our hearts when the accuser begins his accusations against us. When Christ chose you to be His Beloved, He knew what He was getting Himself into. He knew that there is going to be a lot of work to be done in you to mature in the likeness and image of who He is. Therefore, Jesus will never leave you, or abandon you, or discard you because you have weakness. No, He’s committed to you to finish in what He has already begun in you. Now knowing that Christ is for you and not against you, it’s our responsibility to make a conscious effort to be committed and faithful to the process in which Jesus is changing us in His image. In times past, when I recognized that God was dealing with my heart, I found myself in warfare accusing myself which resulted in guilt, shame, and condemnation. In reality, I was agreeing with my accuser when I did not intentionally decide to agree with him. I was duped into accusation because of my weakness or past mistakes; when all a long Jesus was just pointing something out in me to bring to Him as a sacrifice. When Jesus places pressure on areas of your heart, He never comes to accuse or in the spirit of condemnation. Jesus comes as Refiner’s Fire and Fuller’ soap. (Mal. 3:3) Knowing that Jesus is committed to mold, shape, and change us for His Glory, you and I must endure the accusations of the enemy and not be tempted to give into the lie. If we give in to the lie, then TRUTH is not able to fully function in us that we may develop healthy hearts, healthy minds, and healthy relationships. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (3 John 1:2) The knowledge of God’s WORD through Revelation establishes TRUTH in that we may stand before Jesus to experience more of Him in Spirit, love, and in correction while we resist the accuser of the brethren. Self-accusations are sent by the enemy to hinder us from moving forward in our development in Christ Jesus. ACCUSATIONS TOWARDS GOD: Not only is the enemy busy in trying to get us to agree with him about ourselves, but he also uses another strategy to convince us the opposite of who God is. The accuser will use accusations like: 1. God isn’t who He says He is 2. God doesn’t love you 3. He doesn’t hear your prayers 4. God struggles in accepting you the way we are, therefore, how can He forgive you of your sins 5. God is always angry just waiting for you to trip up 6. Etc. These accusations are far from the Truth. God is who He says He is: 1. He is LOVE 2. He loves us 3. He forgives us 4. Hears our prayers 5. Sees us as sons and daughters 6. Delights in giving us vision and purpose 7. Longs to abide in our hearts in rest 8. Works alongside of us so that we will be the best we can be in Him God will not violate our free-will. He will only take areas of our heart in what we give Him. But if we have a wrong view of God, then we will not have the confidence or the faith to give up these areas of our hearts that truly belong to Him. But if we have a strong view of God, you and I will walk in confidence, in faith in the power and authority of the Lord Jesus to overcome any form of accusation. Accusations about God has the ability to hinder God from taking possession of our hearts that we are responsible to give Him. ACCUSATIONS TOWARDS OTHERS: One of the greatest weapons the enemy can use against the Church is the release of accusations towards one another, which can result in many casualties. He desires to destroy the Church from the inside out. He will use our weakness against us to tempt us to make accusation while he may use our weakness in someone else’s eyes to accuse us of wrongdoing. Through the years his strategy has worked in the Body of Christ. We see the results through division that is between churches and denominations. And as long as there is division, offense, and hatred between individuals and churches, he can just sit back and watch the church implode from the inside out. If the enemy can persuade us to throw fiery darts at one another, he knows that will hinder any move of God, or at best, abort or cause a miscarriage in what God is accomplishing in that particular congregation. These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination to Him: (Pro. 6:16-19) 1. A proud look 2. A lying tongue 3. Hands that shed innocent blood 4. A heart that devises wicked imaginations 5. Feet that be swift in running to mischief 6. A false witness that speaks lies 7. He that sows discard among brethren Light expels darkness, this is the reason that the accuser strategizes through weakness, offense, and accusations because he does not want to lose territory that he has gained in the heart or in the region around an Anointed congregation. Satan knows in what destroys his kingdom, and it is unity among the brethren which results in the release of the Anointing that can destroy his kingdom. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in UNITY. It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the BLESSING, even LIFE for evermore” (Psalms 133) Notice, the Anointing is released due to being in UNITY. God loves UNITY amongst the brethren, reason, it’s His Body that He loves and cherishes. Schisms in the body hinder growth and movement unto perfection in Christ. This is why we should guards our hearts of offense, and forgive quickly. Accusations towards others hinders a corporate body of believers from moving forward to take possession of their Destiny. APPLICATIONS: Let’s remember, accusations are like arrows that could pierce one’s heart that is capable of wounding an individual or a corporate body of believers. Do not allow your tongue to be used as a weapon in the enemy’s hands to wound, hinder, or destroy someone else’s Destiny. When an accusation or accusations begin to bombard your thought life, first, examine yourself as you humble yourself to see if what was said is true. If the accusation is true, admit it, repent, confess, and then turn from it. If it is false: 1. Submit yourselves therefore to God 2. Resist the devil 3. Be not defensive – pride defends itself 4. Forgive 5. Pray for the accuser 6. Bless your accuser 7. Continue to keep a state of mind – full of love 8. Learn to rest in the warfare DAVID’S EXAMPLE: Read: 2 Samuel 16:5-14 2 Samuel 19:16-23 Word of Wisdom: Live a life of periodically asking the Lord to search your heart, and to know your heart: that He may try you, and to know your thoughts. We do this to see if there be any wicked way in us, that we may be lead in the way of everlasting life. (Psalms 139:23-24) “Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the Lord. Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens” (Lam. 3:40-41) If we will live by this standard in Psalms 139 & Lamentations 3:40-41, we will experience more success, quicker victory when accusations come knocking on door. Live a life of BLESSING and be a BLESSING and curse not. “Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not” (Romans 12:14)