Paul had been languishing in prison for two years. Out of the limelight. Far away from the location of these religious Jews who hated him so passionately. And SEEMINGLY nobody’s priority.

But when there was a regime change in the government, we see that their priority in life was still their hatred of Paul. It had not diminished in the least.

What were they thinking about and stewing about and contemplating for two years of their lives? It wasn’t about making their lives better or loving their families. It wasn’t about improving their communities or their economies.

Their priority in life was their hatred of Paul. All they could focus on was killing him. Nothing else mattered to them.

And just three days into the new regime, they were making their petition to get Paul back into the limelight and get him dead. The depth of their hatred is shocking!

But the thinking of wicked people hasn’t changed in the least. When there was a recent regime change and Joe Biden came into power, what was his priority? It wasn’t improving the lives of people. It was implementing new rules to murder more babies.

The hatred of the wicked is bottomless. Without the love of Jesus in their lives, wicked people dwell on hatred. It is what they focus on, concentrate on, and dream about. It is what Satan motivates them to do.

How do people live that way? It baffles me how they can stand it. But hatred and hurting others is the focus of their lives.

Wicked people are not concerned in the least about the truth. They make up their own truth that serves their agenda of hatred.

Before the new governor, they accused Paul of many things. They couldn’t prove any of their accusations. They didn’t care whether or not they could prove them.

They knew that if they continued to speak their lies loud enough and long enough, they had a very good chance of changing the narrative and convincing the governor that what was false was actually true.

This tactic is still used today. And usually, those who are trying to live for Jesus are so shocked at the preposterous nature of the narrative that they are not very effective at refuting it.

It is difficult to counter your enemy if you don’t understand how they operate. How are Christians defeated by the wicked? They are only defeated by their IGNORANCE of how the enemy operates.

How did Paul counter their accusations? And how will YOU counter the accusations of your enemy, the devil?

Paul said that he hadn’t “offended” against anything at all.

This word, “offended,” is nearly always translated “sinned.” And this is truly the key to understanding the great power of what He said.

While our personal performance does not qualify us for heaven because only what Jesus did on the cross can do that, this does not mean that we can live a sinful lifestyle without suffering the consequences of those offenses.

Paul was saying that his holy lifestyle made him accusation proof. And there is great power in this kind of lifestyle!

Christian, you will take away all of the power of the enemy to accuse you, if you will adopt a holy lifestyle.

Of course you will never be able to live a holy lifestyle in your own power. But there is power for living a holy lifestyle inside God’s grace.

Are you struggling to live a holy lifestyle that would keep you accusation proof? Just draw in closer to God. You have an open invitation. And that’s where you will find the power for living that you need.