December 21 - Overcoming the Enemy
Revelation 12 gives us a glimpse of what happened in the spirit realm and the nature and purpose of our enemy, Satan, the great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head. He came to earth with a third of the stars of heaven that were fallen angels now on earth as demonic spirits. The dragon persecuted the woman, a symbol of Israel with the sun and the moon and twelve stars under her feet (Joseph’s dream).
Here we see Christmas in Revelation, of the Messiah coming out from the root of David, who is to rule the nations with a rod of iron. After the child is caught up to heaven, Satan kept persecuting the woman. There in heaven, we see Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon and his angels. After the defeat of the dragon and his angels, he was thrown down on earth. He is the ancient serpent that appeared in Genesis, also called the devil and Satan, he is the deceiver of the whole world. His angels were thrown down with him. He is also the accuser of the brothers, who accuses them day and night before God.
This is the most complete description about the origin and purpose of the devil in the bible. Here we know that Satan is against the purpose of God, his intention is to do evil and drag down as many people as he could to hell. His major work on earth is to deceive and to accuse. He knows that his time is limited, so in anger, he speeds up his dealings by attacking the church of God and becomes the adversary of every believer. Once we become a follower of Christ, we are at war with him for we are no longer in Satan’s kingdom but in God’s Kingdom.
There is a way to overcome Satan and his work on earth. John says, “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the Word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” This is a description of those brothers who have overcome the devil. They all have these qualities: living a holy life by pleading the blood of Jesus for cleansing and forgiveness; upholding and speaking the Word of the testimony, keep on proclaiming Christ; and finally, they are not self-centered. They do not love their lives more than they love the Lord and they are not afraid of death. The devil is afraid of this kind of believers for the only way to defeat God’s children is to make them sin, stop them from testifying the Word of God and to take them on the path of self-preservation. Because of the fear of death, people become enslaved to the devil all their lives.
Are you engaged in spiritual warfare with the devil? Do you know that the devil is tempting you to sin every moment? Do you have the determination to overcome him? Live a holy life, declare God’s Word and do not be afraid of death.
Ps 144:9-15 Zech 1:1-21 Rev 12:1-13:1 Prov 30:17