The Powerful Blood of the Lamb [Revelation 12]

⁷And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,  ⁸and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. ⁹And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

 ¹⁰Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. ¹¹"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. ¹²"For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them, Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time." 

When I know I only have a short time left to do something I have noticed a change in the way I live.  When we learned about my dad's cancer and we recognized we only had a short time with him I became a lot more determined to get back to the West Coast to see him.  I was struck by the fact that the devil, accuser of those who have faith in Christ, will have a short time to unleash his wrath.  It reminded me of something I wrote down when I read the gospel of John, this same author.  in John 16:10-11, Jesus told his closest disciples that He was sending the Counselor, His Holy Spirit.  When He would come one of the things He would do is convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.  The judgment part was because "the ruler of this world has been judged."  His end has already been decided.  

But the best part is this:  at the same time "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come." During the short time that Satan won't be held back, neither will God's salvation, power or His kingdom and Christ's authority be held back!

We praise You Father, that tucked into these verses is the truth that we have overcame him (the devil) "because of the blood of the Lamb" and because of the word of our testimony, and even when faced with death we do not love our life more than death (being fully united with You, God).  Great is Your victory over the accuser of the brethren.  Your power and Your salvation is greater than the ruler of this world. In our short time on earth may we live in light of this truth.