We Will Overcome!

It always amazes me how we think we know a verse of scripture. There can be a verse we have heard many times and possibly even used as inspiration in our lives. And then something dramatic happens. We look up the verse and read the lines that proceed the one with which we are familiar. This is what happened to me this evening.

While listening to the song Overcome by New Life Worship, the line "We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony" stuck in my head. I know this is a verse of scripture and decided to make it the topic of my post today. However, when I looked up the whole story surrounding this verse I realized my writing was going to take a completely different direction than I first thought. When I first heard this verse, I thought I would be writing to you about sharing your testimony. After reading the verse within its context I have decided to talk about it in a different way. First, let's read the verses together:

"And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time." Revelation 12:7-12

When you fight against temptation (the devil), what do you use in your fight? I am guilty of relying on my own good intentions in order to "behave." I don't think I need to tell you how well that works for me. All the cartoonish drawings of satan have not helped us in our understanding of the depth of his evil. This is the creature who was involved in a war in heaven and when he failed there, he was cast down to earth to wage war here. There is a battle occurring around us daily. Spend a day aware of all the anger you see displayed in people's lives. Just this morning I witnessed a man stop his car in the middle of a road and get out of his car in order to yell at the driver behind him. The news channels are full of horrible tragedies and acts of sin. It can all be overwhelming at times if these stories are where we choose to focus our attention.

How do we overcome a world full of sin? By the blood of Jesus! We must be willing to lay down our own lives or idea of what our lives should be, in order to live out a life of testimony for Jesus. The devil knows his time is short. We may feel the attacks never end, but it is because satan KNOWS he LOSES! Just as verse 12 tells us, he has great wrath! We must never rest in a mode of "safety" or thinking we are too good for an attack. The reality is that the more we are doing for the Lord, the angrier we make satan. He knows the power of the name of Jesus! It is the power that cast him out of heaven and will defeat him here on earth as well! Not only did he lose out on his first kingdom choice, but he loses the second one also!

When it comes down to sharing our story, we must never forget the role Christ has played in our story. The fact that we are still living is proof of His love over our lives. The question is whose influence are you letting speak through you? Are you a testimony of satan or a testimony of the power of the blood of the Lamb?