Rev. 12:11 NAS
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 to death.
(emphasis mine)

Survival is the primal human instinct,
a strength and compulsion, fevered by nature.
And! The last surrender to God.

Preservation of life at the cost of the soul
is our human way.
Normal to all and admirable to most.

The Fear of Death is Satan's noose on humanity
and we were born with it
wrapped around our neck.
Throughout life, the noose is pulled to
keep us manageable.

Parent, teacher, leader, spouse, even shepherd,
all jerk the rope of fear and all fear is about death.
Death by poverty, death of reputation,
death of relationship, on and on.
And the death of life itself.
To lose is . . . to die.
To be robbed is . . . to die.

Every threat is a specter of death that tightens
the noose already in place and we live choking
and gasping to save our own skin . . . or face.
At any cost - be it integrity or honesty -
we keep safe the all-important BREATHING LIFE
and we will sacrifice the self to stay alive.

Death and Fear died on the Cross

That innate fear of death,
the basic life long torment
was swallowed on the Cross by our Savior.

Death is swallowed!
Conquered!
And fear of death is gone.

Heb. 2:14 & 15
Since then the children share in flesh and blood,
He Himself likewise also partook of the same,
that through death He might render powerless
him who had the power of death, that is, the devil;
and might deliver those who through fear of death
were subject to slavery all their lives.

Every loss, every change brings death

The skill of life is not finding how to live.
The skill of life is learning how to die . . .
and doing it constantly, quietly.
Jesus said daily.

The supreme test of love is the test of dying.
Not living for God, but dying for Him.
And even dying BY Him because
of His Sovereign reign over life AND death.
All kinds of deaths.

God appreciates sacrifice and labor.
God receives our testimony and
rejoices in our worship.

But Love for God is only real when
tested by the death blows of life,
and whether I am found willing to die
to dreams and pleasure,
rights and justice.
For Jesus' sake, even at His Hand,
while still in the pain of being alive.

Willing to die
or . . . losing Him . . . within me.
The existence of both is impossible.

Him or me

I can die to gain my immortality in the Lord
or survive to lose my destiny, my life and Him.

I must count His life as the worthy one to save.
His reputation at the expense of mine.
His vindication, not my own.
His will at the cost of my wishes.
His worth by the loss of mine.

To let go of what God takes,
to give up what He asks,
to live how He ordains,
and accept an unapplauded end . . .
is to "die" by loving Him more than you,
and to love not your precious life
"even unto death."

This is . . . the uncommon and even unknown way
to conquer evil - by personal loss.
To die under the accuser's tyranny
is to transcend his evil power
and rise to a resurrection life that is
unconquerable, and even untouchable.
Being dead already by voluntary loss,
you cannot be hurt by any murder.

Satan has no door of accusation,
no entrance for torment
and no ground of mastery
in one who lives dead.
He is powerless against
the blood and the word of Christ
and . . . my personal grave.

Only Love will prefer to die than
live unpleasing to that One, that Only One
who loves and lost all for love, who also
"did not love his own life . . .
even unto death!"

Overcoming rests on resurrection

The Overcoming Bride is a Resurrection Bride
and only through an old, yet ever fresh grave
does she rise in God's newness to
the Very Resurrection Life of the Son and
gain the Bridegroom's welcome.

"If anyone keeps My words
he will not see death"
John 8:52

 Copyright © 2002 Martha Kilpatrick