“ ’ REVELATION 12:10 NAS Rising above guilt and shame (3)
British Author Henry Fielding said, ‘Guilt has very quick ears to an accusation.’ A man who worked in an office used to play a trick on new employees. He’d approach them and whisper, ‘They know what you did,’ then walk away smiling. First, the person would look bewildered. Then they’d become anxiety-ridden as thoughts raced through their mind, ‘Who are they?’ ‘What do they know?’ ‘What are they saying?’ Solomon said, ‘The wicked are edgy with guilt…even when no one’s after them…’ (Proverbs 28:1 TM). And everybody is vulnerable; even the innocent tend to have a knee-jerk tendency to conceal and protect. The Bible says, ‘ “…the accuser of our brethren…accuses them before…God, day and night.“ ’ Then it goes on to tell us he’s ‘ “…been thrown down…“ ’ How? ‘ “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…“ ’ (Revelation12:11 NIV). It’s time to speak up! To testify to the power of Christ’s cleansing blood. Satan is a defeated foe; as a child of God you no longer have to live under the burden of his condemnation. It’s not God who’s making you feel guilty; He wants you to know you’re loved and forgiven. That’s why Paul writes: ‘…Who shall come forward and accuse…those whom God has chosen?…Christ…is at the right hand of God…pleading… for us’ (Romans 8:33-34 AMP). So stop beating yourself up! Jesus came to lift you, to let you know the penalty for your sin has been removed and its power broken. In God’s eyes you’re loved and accepted!