DEVOTIONAL INSIGHTS & REFLECTIONS

We Shall Overcome/Triumph, November 27

God has made us to be overcomers... to overcome any and every situation/circumstance life (and/or the enemy of our souls) throws at us---not to be overcome by---say loneliness, depression, the darkness of this world (you name it), hate, envy, lust, greed.

The War in Heaven
"…And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: '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 has been thrown down, he who accuses them day and night before our God. They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death. Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea; with great fury the devil has come down to you, knowing he has only a short time.'”… ~Revelation 12:10-12 (Berean Study Bible)

Verse 11 in the King James Version says, "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."

I used to see this scripture in a narrow form, but as I meditate on these words today, I believe "the word of their testimony" encompasses not only our testimony about Jesus, but the testimony/the words we speak every day and the way in which we live (our behavior) for these are the things that are "testifying" about who we are and in whom we believe.

By the help of God's Holy Spirit, "We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." (Philippians 4:13)

Today, I listen to the Word more than I read, study and meditate on the Word. I am working on that... But the more we allow His Word to get deep on the inside of us through prayer, meditation, study and simply reading or listening to the Word, the more we are being changed into His image. The more our testimony/behavior begins to line up.

When you don't know what to pray, pray the Word. Rest assured, His Word does not return void/empty, but it goes forth to accomplish His purposes. (See Isaiah 55:11.) He hovers over his Word, to perform it. (See Jeremiah 1:12.)

As an aside: It behooves us to always remember (never forget) to pray for the young men and women in our military---mention them, lift them up to God every day and as often during the course of the day as possible. I see them serving us on a peace-keeping mission in unpredictable territory. Let's not see any more of them maimed mentally, physically and/or dead.

Some "love their lives to the death." They may think living for God will encroach on their preferred lifestyle. Let us not be found in that "number," loving our own miserable lives to the death.

When we come to God, He takes us just as we are... warts and all. Then as we submit ourselves to Him day-by-day and begin to really "know" Him, we not only want to become more and more like Him----but it happens naturally. It is a natural progression.

Oh, how He loves us...