The Secret of Getting Dressed

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atan reserves some of his most vehement attacks for that moment when we step into the secret place—because he hates what happens when saints connect with their God.

Suddenly our sins, failures, and shortcomings begin to play before our eyes like a technicolor video. Many believers subconsciously avoid the secret place because they don’t want to face the barrage of shame and guilt that the enemy typically hits them with in the place of prayer. So one of the first things we must do in the morning is clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ. When clothed with Christ, no accusation can touch us.

The Scriptures have warned us that it’s Satan’s style to accuse us “before our God day and night” (Revelation 12:10). He doesn’t accuse when we’re contemplating compromise; but he does accuse us when we’re preparing to come before God. So the first step to overcoming the hurdle of accusation is to realize that it’s par for the course. The accuser tries to pull this one on all of us. It’s an occupational hazard of the secret place.

Satan’s accusations function on at least four levels:

• He accuses God to us. Satan will point to the way God is fathering us, and he will say, “Look at how God is

Secrets of the Secret Place

treating me!” (His accusations always sound like your own voice and your own thoughts, but they’re actually his thoughts interjected into your mind.) “I can’t believe God is making me go through all of this. God is a tyrant. There is nothing good about the way He is treating me. How can I possibly trust Him when He is handling me this way? He is not fulfilling His promises to me. I don’t think He ever will, either.” Satan wants us to adopt an accusatory posture toward God. That’s why loving God in the midst of your pain is so powerful spiritually, doing warfare to Satan’s schemes.

• He accuses us to God. He tells God, in our hearing, what abysmal failures we are. He recounts all our shortcom- ings, in technicolor and full detail. He paints us as being an embarrassment to the kingdom of God. God is not fazed in the least by Satan’s revilings, but sometimes we are. Sometimes we fear that God might be agreeing with our accuser. We begin to wonder if God is mad at us. If our hearts are not established in grace, we can feel dislodged from the love of God for us.

• He accuses us to each other. He will accuse other saints to me, causing me to doubt their walk with God. If Satan can get me to question the motives of my brothers and sisters, the next step is to convince me they question the same things in me. Thus, he designs to cause breaches of relationship in the body of Christ.

• He accuses us to ourselves. This is what Satan is especially good at. He is an expert at berating us for our sins and weaknesses—especially when we are desiring to draw close to the Lord.

Each one of us will find our own unique way of dealing with the enemy’s accusations, but here are some fairly standard means of defusing his lies.

• Confess and repent. Satan’s accusations carry a sting because they usually contain a certain fraction of truth.

The Secret of Getting Dressed

So go ahead, get violent. Confess your sin, call it in its worst terms, and repent of it. So what if it’s the umpteenth time? I know who I am. I am not a sinner who struggles to love God; I am a lover of God who struggles with sin. I am primarily a lover of God, not a sinner. That is my bottom-line identity. So, I will do violence one more time to any known sin or compromise and confess it freely to God, receiving His forgiveness.

• Get under the blood. Oh, thank God for the blood of Je- sus! His atoning blood is altogether powerful, eternally effectual, and it alone has the power to cleanse the defiled conscience. The blood of Christ is my basis for entry into the presence of the King. I come boldly now to the throne of grace because I enter by His blood through the veil of His flesh. I am welcome in the highest courts of glory because of Christ’s shed blood!

• Get dressed. What I mean is, put on the full armor of God according to Ephesians 6. As you read this portion of Scripture, I want you to notice that the reason for putting on the armor of God is so that we might pray.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the prepara- tion of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:11-18).

Secrets of the Secret Place

Getting dressed all starts with the belt of truth. The truth of God’s word is the thing that will enable you to gird up your waist, to prepare you to run. Satan’s assault is comprised of lies and half-truths. Speak the word of truth; win the battle for the truth! Stand with confidence in the truth of who you are in God.

See yourself clothed in His breastplate of righteousness. You are the righteousness of God in Christ! Put on each piece of the armor, one at a time—the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit.

Notice that the passage calls us “to stand.” You don’t have to go looking for a fight; just step into the secret place and the fight will come to you! Suddenly you’re thrown into a wrestling match. This is the time to stand firm. Stand upon the truth, come under the blood, and fight the good fight. Stand firm until the enemy admits defeat and leaves you for a time.

When you put on the armor of God, here’s what you’re actu- ally doing: you’re putting on Christ. “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” (Romans 13:14). Jesus is your every article of clothing; you are clothed with Christ. When the Father looks at you, He sees Jesus. And you are stunningly attractive to Him! He favors, yes, He even prefers you! He is so pleased to have you in His embrace. The secret place is where we celebrate the fact that He killed Himself to win our hearts to Himself.

Our clothing in Christ is now “tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering,…love” (Colossians 3:12,14). This is how we become clothed in the white garments of Revela- tion 3:5. Here’s the secret: When we realize we’re clothed in the very garments of Christ, our confidence level before God soars to the heavens. Satan’s accusations cannot lodge within us, and they just bounce off our shield of faith. We are accepted by the Father, and now we can enjoy the peaceful dialogue of intimacy with Jesus.

Hit with accusations? Get dressed!

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Дата добавления: 2015-10-23