Jesus has conquered Satan and death.  There is assurance of salvation for believers.  Why do myself and many believers feel defeated and hopeless?  This morning as I engaged in personal devotion, God brought me to Revelation 12:7-17.  I spent some time to reflect the image of the battle between Satan and God’s people.

The devil (Satan) is real.  He does exist.   Satan is alive in the end times.  Satan is alive today. Satan was alive since the beginning of human history.  Satan was there during the time Adam and Eve lived.  Satan’s goal is to keep people from coming to know Jesus personally.  He tempts and fools believers.  There are times I have fallen to the tricks of Satan.

Today, Satan is stumbling people from worshipping God through worries of this life, physical danger, emotional affliction, social injustice, and perceived intellect.  All people including godly saints have fallen to the traps of Satan.  Only Jesus Christ has not fallen to the traps of Satan.  Christ overcame Satan by his blood and the testimonies of believers (v.11)

Personally, I fell to the temptations of Satan in 2013 that hindered my relationship with Jesus Christ.  I have entertained with the following thoughts:

I will follow you better when our church grows stronger.  I will follow you better when my best friends come to Christ.  I will follow you better when the teens are on fire for you.  I will follow you better when I am not as busy with family obligations.  I will follow you better when I do better in ministry.

Every condition I think I must fulfill comes from the devil.  When I am left on my own without a strong devotional and prayer life, I would fall to the default lies from Satan.  When I received from God’s guidance and words of truth from brothers and sisters, I can ignore those lies and keep on meditating and working on things that builds up one another in Christ.  I will follow you Jesus by your grace alone!  I need brothers and sisters to remind me of this truth.

At the end, Satan will be banished forever because he knows his time is short (v12).  Until then, the battle against Satan is ever present.  As we approach closer to the end times, there are more challenges in life and more temptations to come.  We need to cling on to the Words of Christ tightly.  We need to intercede for our brothers and sisters in prayer.  Our only defence against Satan is our relationship with Jesus Christ.