Fighting an invisible enemy can be quite the task. It helps to be able to recognize when he is charging at you lest you find yourself swinging at your own shadow. It also helps to know the weapons at your disposal. There are two fronts the accuser will use to cast aspersions but we are only vulnerable on one of the two fronts.First he brings accusations against us to God.On this front, we are covered. Jesus has and continues to cover us fully and his defense is impenetrable. This case is won, we are justified. The second one is where the problem lies. He brings accusations against God to us, planting thoughts in our minds that insinuate that God is withholding from us, that He is impossible to please and therefore why even try.He paints the picture that God's love can be severed from us because of a slip up in conduct giving the impression that we are orphans abandoned to fend for themselves.This is our real battle,"overthrowing arguments, and every high thing lifting itself up against the knowledge of God, and taking captive every thought into the obedience of Christ." In other words we are battling thoughts and beliefs that are contrary to the heart of the father as displayed by Jesus who is "the express image of the unseen God".(2 Cor 10:5, Col 1:15). The idea being, if our image of the father is distorted then our development will be stunted because we are transformed into the image we behold. This is why Paul states that he constantly prayed for the Ephesians (Eph 1:18) for "the eyes of their understanding to be flooded with light so that they may perceive correctly the heart of the father-paraphrase. The Father's love for us is indescribable. His mercies are never ending. His justice cannot be faulted. His faithfulness reaches to the sky!
However, if we take the bait from the accuser, it is then that the "fruit starts to look good for food and for gaining wisdom" or we find ourselves with no option but to "turn stones into bread". And we know that never ends well. The contrast is when we see the father clearly,our lives begin to straighten out, our soul wounds are healed, wrong belief patterns are corrected and we stop acting a fool. We develop properly and bear fruits that last. The father's glory is the sunshine to our leaves as branches, we flourish in there.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow."(Js 1:17)
He is good!
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