our great Defender.

"in the Hebrew scriptures, satan was the angel who was the counsel for the prosecution against men in the presence of God. he was the adversary of men." -w. barclay.

i came across this passage in a revelation commentary this morning, and i found it interesting to think of satan in this way, as a prosecutor in the presence of God, bringing before heaven all the evil things that humanity has done and bringing to God's attention the selfishness that consistently resides in our hearts.

our accuser.

highlighting what we once were,
emphasizing our crooked choices,
and reminding us of all we do not deserve.

and it was such a beautiful and moving thing for me to then compare that image to Jesus.

our beautiful, compassionate, generous, powerful, victorious, and faultless Defender, sitting at the right hand of God, intimately speaking with Him on our behalf.

making hollow all those accusations of guilt.

and God, the great and merciful Judge, choosing to listen to the voice and the witness of His Son, the great Messiah of humanity, rather than the adversary.

no longer is it our own lives that stand as witness.

it is now the life of the unblemished Lamb, Son of the MOST HIGH GOD, that stands on trial as evidence in the Kingdom.

and the verdict comes in: not guilty.

and the verdict comes in:

GRACE.

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"the forgiveness which is in the Cross has left satan the accuser no possible accusation to make." -w. barclay.

"be strong in the grace of Jesus." -paul.

joy for jacob.

"thus said the Lord:

the people escaped from the sword,
found favor in the wilderness;
when israel was marching homeward
the Lord revealed Himself to me of old.

eternal love I conceived for you then;
therefore I continue My grace to you.
I will build you firmly again,
o maiden israel!

again you shall take up your timbrels
and go forth to the rhythm of the dancers.
again you shall plant vineyards
on the hills of samaria;
men shall plant and live to enjoy them.

for the day is coming when watchmen
shall proclaim on the heights of ephraim:
come, let us go up to zion,
to the Lord our God!

cry out in joy for jacob,
for I am ever a Father to israel."

-excerpts, jeremiah 31.

our King, before us.

"I will assemble jacob, all of you:
I will bring together the remnant of Israel;
I will make them all like sheep in a fold,
like a flock inside its pen -
they will be noisy with people.
One who makes a breach
goes before them;
they enlarge it to a gate
and leave by it.
their King marches before them,
the Lord at their head."

-micah 2.

kept.

"to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Messiah our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!

amen."

-jude, vs 24-25.

having all.

"and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."

-2 corinthians 9.

here am i.

the past 2 years came close to killing my hope.

time and again, the months and the days and the hours spent wrestling with sin and its pain knocked me hard to my knees.

and yet.

from this humble kneeling, i am learning to receive God's gift of glory, and come to know in full that it is stronger, fuller, and more vibrant than the rest, and that it will lift me up again, freely, and with everlasting attention.

long-term goals.

"i want to know Messiah and the power of His resurrection!"

-our zealous brother paul, in his letter to the philippians.

all of your desires.

"all that delights you in earthly things can never satisfy you, for all of your desires are in God.

the comforts you have here are only drops inflaming, not satisfying, the appetites of your soul, but the Lamb will lead you to fountains of living water."

-john flavel.

reconciliation: brought near to peace.

"Therefore, remember that formerly you who are gentiles by birth were separate from Messiah, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Messiah Jesus you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Messiah.

For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.

He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Messiah Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit..."

-brother paul, ephesians 2.