by Roy Almasy

Pastor Steve Tompkins led our devotional this morning with a Warning and a Hope. The Warning: We have a very real, powerful, cunning, smart, enemy who is in daily spiritual warfare with us, Satan, who rages against us to devour us. The Hope: There is victory in the blood of Christ, ultimately and daily as we live a life out of the gospel.

Our Purpose (Romans 15:30 paraphrased): I urge you brothers, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayer to God the Father for the glory of the name of Jesus

1 Peter 5:8-9
Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith . . .

Dr. Don Carson says: “The primary problem the church faces in every age is the rage of Satan.”

Revelation 12:1-12
¹And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ²She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. ³And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. ⁴His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. ⁵She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, ⁶and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. ⁷Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. ⁹And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world-he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. ¹⁰And 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 brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. ¹¹And 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. ¹²Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

• How do you understand or experience the rage of Satan in your life?

• Where are you most vulnerable?

• What does it mean to conquer “by the blood of the Lamb?”

Hebrews 10:19-22
¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

• What does conquering by the “word of our testimony” mean?

Matthew 10:32-33  Jesus says: Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
Hebrews 3:14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.
Matthew 24:13-14  Jesus says: But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

• What does it mean in our comfortable society “to love not our lives even unto death” and how does this give us victory over Satan and his rage?

Revelation 17:8 And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world . . .
Colossians 3:2-3 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. ³For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
2 Corinthians 4:18  . . . we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

• What does it look like to practice this individually?

• What does it look like to practice this in community?

Prayer Requests for our Campus:

1. Thank Jesus for the $500k lead gift toward a building for the Shoreline Campus! Pray now that Jesus will bring much glory to His name as we seek to raise matching funds to reach our goal of 1 million dollars.
2. Continue to pray for Jesus’ prefect timing in finding and securing the right permanent facility for Shoreline in the right location.
3. Joyful, Spirit-filled, missionaries dwelling in unity, loving people as an expression of the gospel
4. Campus:  Pray that volunteers would step forward and meet needs.
5. Pastor Kerry – Prepares to launch Open Redemption Night in Shoreline next month & that many will benefit from this vital ministry; Redemption Groups and counseling
6. Justin – Winter administration, Amy pregnant, Amy recovering from surgery for tumor on her spine.
7. Mark Bergin – Elder candidate, Biblical Compassion Content
8. Husbands and wives relationships with each other and Jesus as they are continuing to respond to the Peasant Princess sermon series, with humility and repentance.
9. Steve – Focus, priorities, energy, health, wisdom, rest and guidance from the Holy Spirit to connect the sermon back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ each Sunday.
10. Pray for those in our campus with health needs: A pregnant woman due in mid-January with pneumonia, a woman with rheumatoid arthritis, a woman recovering from surgery, a woman with painful arthritis and insomnia.