The Daily Word: Tuesday, December 21st, 2021
Zechariah 1:1-21
Revelation 12:1-17
Psalm 140:1-13
Proverbs 30:17
For full text click here.
Commentary from Pastor Michael White:
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. – Rev. 12:11
The Bible gives us keys to overcoming. God’s people overcame the enemy by 1) the blood of Jesus, 2) the word of their testimony, and 3) not loving their lives to the death. The first two are pleasant: you can plead the blood of Jesus over your life every day, and you can share about everything God has done for you! But the third is not as enjoyable: “they did not love their lives to the death.”
If you want to be truly victorious, you have to give up your life for Jesus. You cannot love your life to the death! I pray that you would have all the wealth, health and happiness that you could ever desire. But I pray that you would never value your life more than Jesus. In fact, Jesus told His disciples that whoever does not “hate…his own life also” (Lk. 14:26) cannot be His disciple. You can either live your life for you, or His life for you; and you must make a choice!
It’s time to stop focusing on self-preservation and start focusing on Kingdom expansion! The ultimate reason for your existence is not to selfishly cling to your life and survive. It is to selflessly lay down your life that you might thrive. And God’s promise is that whatever you lay down for Him in this life, He will pay you back with much more in the end:
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. – Matt. 19:29
Prayer:
Lord, I don’t want to cling to my life. I want to cling to You! I pray that I would always and only live for You. You are my Creator and my Redeemer! And I will gladly lay my life at Your feet, in Jesus’ name.
© Michael D. White, 2021. All rights reserved.