whose voice do you hear?

i’ve spent a little time writing about the importance of not trusting your heart, but instead trusting what you know. (read about it here, here, and here.)

today, i have had a series of short thoughts on the topic i figured i’d share. here goes:

we all sin.
the Enemy of our souls loves to remind us of all those mistakes.
he is called the Accuser. and that’s what he does.
“you’re a loser.”
“you’re never going to be any better.”
“you’ll never amount to anything.”
“you’ll never move beyond this. and if you do, there will be something else.”
on any given day, you’ll feel the brunt of a hundred accusations slap you in the face.
the woman caught in adultery (john 8) heard those accusations.
“you’re a harlot.”
“you’ll always wear the scarlet letter.”
“you don’t deserve blessings, peace, or life.”
but there stood Jesus, as quiet as a church mouse.
an Advocate.
standing between the accused and her accusers.
with one sentence, the crowd drops their rocks and walks away.
“where are your accusers?” he asks her.
the same question is for us today.
whose voice do we hear?
the voice of the Accuser?
or the voice of the Advocate?
do we listen to what we feel (the life-sucking accusations)?
or do we listen to what we know (the holy abandon)?
as max lucado says, “you are who He says you are.”
there is no longer any condemnation for those who listen and follow the Advocate.
don’t believe what the Accuser wants you to feel.
believe only what the Advocate wants you to know.