“They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb… and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Rev 12:11).

“And by the word of their testimony;” and on account of the word, etc. The one phrase is the natural complement of the other. “The blood of the Lamb” would have been shed in vain without the testimony, the outcome of the faith of his followers; that testimony would have been impossible without the shedding of the blood. And they loved not their lives unto the death; their life even unto death. That is, they valued not their life in this world, even to the extent of meeting death for the sake of giving their testimony.
All who will can be overcomers. Let us strive earnestly to reach the standard set before us. Christ knows our weakness, and to Him we can go daily for help. It is not necessary for us to gain strength a month ahead. We are to conquer from day to day.
When James and John came to Jesus with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in the kingdom, He did not refuse their request, but He told them it would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism.
Do we want that kind of competition? The greatest things are always hedged about by the hardest things, and we, too, shall find mountains and forests and chariots of iron. Hardship is the price of coronation. Triumphal arches are not woven out of rose blossoms and silken cords, but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships that you are enduring in your life today are given by the Master for the explicit purpose of enabling you to win your crown.
Do not wait for some ideal situation, some wild-eyed difficulty, some far-away emergency; but rise to meet the actual conditions which the Providence of God has placed around you today.
Your crown of glory lies embedded in the very heart of these things– those hardships and trials that are pressing you this very hour, week and month of your life. The hardest things are not those that the world knows of. Down in your secret soul unseen and unknown by any but Jesus, there is a little trial that you would not dare to mention that is harder for you to bear than martyrdom.
We become overcomers by helping others to overcome, by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The keeping of the commandments of God will yield in us an obedient spirit, and the service that is the offspring of such a spirit, God can accept {7BC 974.4}
Right there, in the very center of our trials, lies our crown.
To live and love like Jesus in the middle of our sorest trials.
May God help us all to overcome, and to one day wear it.