Evening
December 28

Revelation 12:10-12 10Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. 11They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."


After a battle in heaven, the devil and the angels that followed him are cast out. With the heavenly battle won, a loud voice announces the coming of salvation and power and the kingdom of God and the authority of His Christ. It is not that the devil is finished. In fact, then he will really go to work in the earth. But for all intents and purposes, he is defeated. Without access to heaven, he has no real power to continue.

The devil is called "the accuser of our brothers." He lives out the picture we see in the first chapters of Job (Job 1:9-11). He is always making accusations against our integrity and the motivations of our hearts. That is the source of some of our guilt and doubt. Once he is cast out of heaven, he can't continue to do that.

How are we to overcome such an incredible being? We overcome with the blood of the Lamb. It is the purchase of our redemption. When he accuses us, we point to the blood shed for us and remind him that we have the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). We overcome with our testimony. No one can deny our experience. We have seen our lives transformed. We know it is a work of the Holy Spirit in us. But finally, we overcome by refusing to cling to our lives. Death is our graduation. When the Destroyer takes our physical life, he can do no more. We win.

Consider: Are you overcoming with the blood of the Lamb, the word of your testimony, and by refusing to cling to your life here?