What does Revelation 12:13-17 mean to us now?
Real spiritual warfare has more to do with the battle of the will. Rarely will we see the fire and brimstone that we expect; rather, we see what we want to see. Our will is the prime motivator; our needs are motivators and our desires are agendas. God’s precepts are there, perhaps even known to us, but they go unheeded, unapplied, and/or unused. God’s desire is for us to be formed in Jesus Christ, and in Him as Lord. Satan wants us to be centered on anything but that; he wants us disobedient and distorted to the things of God, and God wants us surrendered and dependant with faith upon Him. This is the battle, where the line is drawn, where what we choose will determine whether we serve Satan or Christ. There is no in-between, no middle ground, and no other choice for us to undertake.
If Satan can’t deceive us, he will resort to anything that works—from persecutions to being overworked and having no time for our Lord. Satan will even fill our schedule with good things to keep us distracted from the ultimate good of growing in our faith and being a positive influence of Christ to others. So, watch out how you are being used, how your time is allocated. If you think you are doing well by keeping the kids very busy in sports and all kinds of great activities, but there is no time for church or the things of faith, how good are your good works? When the main call and work is misplaced and forgone, you may be being deceived by Satan and rationalizing it. Be in prayer that your deeds are lined up to biblical character and precepts and not of your will and the ways of the world. Or else, we will be advocates of Satan rather than ambassadors of Christ. The devil is in the details; are you in our Lord (2 Cor. 5:20)?
Keep in mind that Satan’s role is to take and steal, and God’s role is for us to build and grow. Satan doesn’t want us to have what he has freely given up himself and cannot have back such as intimacy with God, ever abundant love, triumphant life, goodness, and purpose with relationships that glorify Christ. Satan wants all the glory for himself.
He seeks for us to have rotten relationships, emptiness and purposeless lives of despair filled with anger, betrayal, and hopelessness. He says we can have fun and fulfillment, but just think it through; how much fun is losing and taking what we do not earn only to have it rot and be meaningless or going from one meaningless activity to the next looking for a “high” and satisfaction that never comes? We can have satisfaction in Christ and His abundance infusing us—something that Satan once had but rejected, and he fervently hates all those who have it and excel in Him! So, beware to his ways—how he wants us to hate, disguising it with misplaced emotions, confusion, and hurt, so we are taken away from our family, our opportunities neutered or push aside, and our fullness in Christ ridiculed, replaced with what is fleeting, hurtful, and meaningless.
Christ wants you triumphant in your Christian life and seeks to save you and give you what you need so you can grow and have meaning and abundance of life. In contrast, Satan wants you to be miserable and dysfunctional; he seeks to take away anything that can help you to have what he has given up. Why would anyone fall for Satan’s methods? But, we can take heart and assurance in Christ that Satan has been defeated; he has lost, and he can’t have you or your church unless you give it to him by seeking him and not HIM. The bottom line is this: Satan can easily manipulate and destroy us. We have no chance or hope against his ancient wisdom and power. However, when we are in Christ, he does not have a chance against us! Satan can easily handle us, but he can’t handle HIM!
Questions to Ponder:
- Why does Satan seek to seduce us away from God by any means? What is his goal and purpose? How has God shown you Satan’s depravity, stupidity and desperateness?
- How has Christ’s victory over Satan influenced outcomes in your Christian life? How would you explain the consequences for Satan and those who follow him?
- How does real, spiritual warfare have more to do with the battle of will than our personally battling Satan? Why do most Christians seem to just expect fire and brimstone? What are some other things that we should expect?
- How has Satan sought to keep God’s Word out of reach or in the dark? Has he been overt or just caused you to neglect? How can we discern between Satan’s influences and our own depravity or laziness?
- What can be done to help prevent your church from being negatively influenced? What should the Church do about this continual threat? How can you watch out for how you are being used and how your time is allocated so you are serving God and not the ways of the Dragon?
© 2006 R. J. Krejcir Ph.D. Into Thy Word Ministries http://www.intothyword.org
The woman of Revelation 12 is now here. God is precise: It is a woman Rev 12 that delivers the true word John1:1, Rev 12:5, Rev 12:13 who restores Acts 3:21 all things to the world before Christ’s return. This woman exposes the lies of Satan who has deceived the whole world Rev 12:9. This woman creates a new thing in the earth by fulfilling God’s promise to Eve Gen 3:15, Jer 31:22, Isa 14:16. Moses and Elijah are together with the word Matt 17:3 they all three are in this one woman. She is like unto Moses Num 12:3. She was raised up Acts 3:22 from the Laodicean church that becomes lukewarm because they refused to hear her Rev 3:14-17. She is bold like Elijah Matt 17:11, Luke 1:17. As Elijah was alone declaring the true God to the people 1 Kings 18:22 so also her witness alone turns the hearts of the fathers to the children Mal 4:5-6 to prepare a people for the Lords return before the great and dreadful day of the Lord Matt 17:3, Luke 9:30. Those who will not hear Acts 3:23 the true word of God she now deliveres to the world free of charge, as a witness, at the heel of time from the wilderness Rev 12:6 will not be allowed inside the walls of God’s coming kingdom from heaven Rev 21. This true testimony of the true value of the blood of the Lamb delivers the truth that not one child of God will be put in a hell fire no matter what their sins. It never entered the heart or mind of God to ever do such a thing Jer 7:31, Jer 19:5. God created evil Isa 45:7 to teach his children the knowledge of good and evil Rom 8:7, Gen 3:22 so that at their resurrection they become a god Matt 22:29-30, Ps 82:6. Prove all things. You cannot rightly judge this unless you read all that has been written by this woman first Pro 18:13. http://thegoodtale.blogspot.com Check out the bruising of Satan and the reason for all of mankind’s sufferings.