5 Crowns of the Christian Life: The Crown of Rejoicing

The Crown of Rejoicing

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

19 For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 

20 For ye are our glory and joy. 

This crown is given to those who faithfully and joyfully are witnesses to the saving grace of God and whose lives point men to Jesus.

Today the little boy in this picture turned 4 years old. It is so hard to believe how fast the time has slipped by me. Those itty bitty newborn outfits, no bigger than a baby doll would wear, have been replaced by grass stained blue jeans and dinosaur t-shirts. Baby rattles and pacifiers replaced by Legos and anything that roars.

Tonight as I sang him to sleep and he clutched his brand new toys, my heart was remembering and rejoicing. Remembering the aching emptiness it had once felt and rejoicing at the overwhelming fullness if feels now. 

Oh that day felt like it would never come. Disappointment, sadness and heartbreak had paved the way for worry, sickness, and anxiety. 20 weeks of bedrest, blood pressure medicine, and endless tests, made for a long and difficult pregnancy. A grueling labor, failed epidurals, and a painful c-section all culminated in one of the most glorious moments of my life. Hearing Kieran cry for the first time, knowing that this time I would be leaving the hospital with a baby to raise instead of one to grieve, was a moment that gave clarity to everything I had endured up to that moment and one I'll never forget.

You see in that moment I loved my son with a fierceness that I couldn't quite comprehend. I had loved him while he was in my womb but up until that moment when he cried, he'd really only been a dream, a dream I had been waiting for so long to come true. But there he was and as I held him to my breast to nurse, as I cradled him throughout the night, as I meticulously charted his feedings and diaper changings, I began to understand all that I had endured. I understood that now, having had my dreams turn to nightmares before, that I would love him more deeply and protect him more mightily than I'd ever imagined possible.  He needed me. And I needed Jesus. 

There have been a lot of changes take place in our lives over the last 4 years, and though there have been hard times and sad times, my heart has been rejoicing at what the Lord did for us when Kieran was born. We had been living in sin, we were out of the will of God, and we were headed for disaster. But when I heard Kieran's first cries, the Lord made a change in my heart. If I hadn't been willing to turn back to Christ for myself, I was now responsible for someone else's soul. And in that instant my heart made a vow to my Savior that I would protect him with all I had in me and with all that He could give me. 

It was just after Kieran's first birthday when we attended church for the first time as a family and it was amazing, near miraculous, that change that took place in our lives.

Now instead of living in the past and wallowing in our sin sick lives, we are rejoicing at what is to come. Now instead of focusing on the wickedness that this world has to offer, we are doing our best to point our children towards Jesus in our rejoicing, in our praise, in our love of Him. Now instead of working our way through a 6-pack, we are collecting Crowns by living Christ centered lives full of rejoicing. We are rejoicing in our hearts that the Lord will save Kieran's soul some sweet day just as He has saved ours, we are rejoicing in our hearts that the Lord is coming again for us one happy day, and we are rejoicing in our hearts that one wonderful day our family will be whole again in the presence of our Savior. 

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We don’t know what the future holds, nor what the purpose of our past is until the Lord uses our story to bring glory and honor to His name. Be joyful in your life, you don’t know who is watching or what testimony you are leaving behind.

5 Crowns of the Christian Life: The Incorruptible Crown

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 

This crown is given to believers who faithfully run the race, who crucify every selfish desire in the flesh and point men to Jesus.

Our lives are the race. Each and every day spent barreling towards the finish line, knowing that at the end is Jesus. But how we run the race is just as important as crossing the finish line.

I have struggled with writing this blog for nearly a month. I wanted to begin the new series with the New Year. And I can't quite put my finger on the reason, be it discouragement, priorities out of order, or because my boys were sick for a very long 10 days. I just haven't been able to sit down and put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard. I desire your prayers very much. I have been doing my best to balance my school work with our ministry, with being a Momma and wife, with being a faithful church member and a devoted daughter and granddaughter, my Momma and I directed our church Christmas play, I've recently begun leading monthly Women's Meetings for my church, and I've taken on the Easter Cantata, not to mention the baby quilt that I am trying to help embroider for my very first great-nephew. 

I have been trying my very best to run my race the best way that I know how and it has suddenly dawned on me that my best is simply not good enough. I can never do all of this on my own. There are just too many obstacles on this race track that is my life. By doing it all on my own, I've corrupted my crown. 

You see, He never meant for me to do it alone or to try to do it all. He wants my devotion, my faithfulness, my very best, but He wants me to let Him carry me when the terrain is too steep or too rough. 

There is a selfish desire within us to prove to the world that we don't need anyone's help, that we can accomplish whatever we set our minds on simply by willpower, that we are self-made men and women. It is a selfish desire to want the world to look at us and only see our accomplishments, only see the trophies we've won in the many races we've run. It is a selfish desire to do a service for our Lord just to see our name in lights, just to get the glory and recognition for ourselves. We think that the service in itself is enough for God, that our doing good works for Him is all He needs. What we fail to realize is that it's not our service or our works at all that God desires, but our desire to do the work for Him with the glory and honor going all to Him. We should have a servant's heart because it pleases Him, because in a servant's heart others are pointed to Christ, because in a race run by Christians desiring to see God glorified there are no losers, only receivers of Incorruptible Crowns. 

So as we run the race of life, we must be faithful and trusting that our Lord and Savior will be there to lift us over the hurdles, to carry us when we become weak, to catch us when we fall. He is there, the beaming Father in the stands, cheering us on, encouraging us through His Word, the Holy Ghost coaching us, molding us, and He is there with open arms when we reach the finish line, holding in His nail scarred hands this Incorruptible Crown that we've run so hard to receive. 

 These last few weeks, I've neglected my heart, I've neglected my race. But although I may feel like I've sidelined myself, I'm not stuck on the bench. I feel Him in my heart and I know I've got a race to finish, a crown to receive, a Savior to glorify and honor. 

I'm dusting off my running shoes 

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The neglected heart will soon be a heart overrun with worldly thoughts; the neglected life will soon become moral chaos. -A.W. Tozer

5 Crowns of the Christian Life: Sneak Peek

The Incorruptible Crown

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 

25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 

This crown is given to believers who faithfully run the race, who crucify every selfish desire in the flesh and point men to Jesus.

We run the race to win. But why do we want to win? Is it to glorify God or ourselves? Do we want to win so that others can see us and our accomplishments or do we want them to look through us and see Jesus? Our lives are the race. My own teaching Sunday School and writing the blog…am I faithfully doing these things for the right reasons, the incorruptible reasons or corruptible? If I didn’t want to be recognized why would I put my name to the blogs? And I think that it is ok to be recognized for the work we do for the Lord, as long as we remember it is Him we do it for, it is Him that we owe our blessings and our very lives to. If what we are doing isn’t bringing glory and honor to him then we are running the race for incorruptible crowns…

The Crown of Rejoicing

1 Thessalonians 2:19-20

19 For what [is] our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? [Are] not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? 

20 For ye are our glory and joy. 

This crown is given to those who faithfully and joyfully are witnesses to the saving grace of God and whose lives point men to Jesus.

Have you ever heard of someone leading another to Christ by being ill and hateful, grumpy, whiny, crying and carrying on about how miserable they are? Me either. We know good and well that Christian life is not always a walk in the park. We know it and we expect it. But we rejoice at what is coming, not at what we’re living in presently. Don’t sit and stew about what happened in the past. Don’t sit and worry about what is going to happen tomorrow. Live in the here and now with Jesus and rejoice that He has saved your soul! We don’t know what the future holds, nor what the purpose of our past is until the Lord uses our story to bring glory and honor to His name. Be joyful in your life, you don’t know who is watching or what testimony you are leaving behind.

The Crown of Life

James 1:12

12 Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 

Revelation 2:8-11

8 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 

9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and [I know] the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but [are] the synagogue of Satan. 

10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast [some] of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 

This crown is for those believers who endure trials, tribulations, and severe suffering, even unto death.

Our only purpose in this life is to point others towards Him, in every thing we do, in every season of life we are in, no matter what that may be. Did I ever believe that losing my children would somehow bring gory and honor to my Savior? No I didn’t. I never thought for a second while I was in the midst of my first miscarriage, or when I was burying my son, or when I looked at that ultrasound screen nearly a year ago expecting to see the flutter of a healthy heartbeat and instead saw black emptiness, that I would ever use my life, my loss, to tell others about Christ. But here I am and I have learned that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. And I can only hope and pray that I am doing good in the lives of others, that I am following His will and purpose, that somehow, somewhere in the lines of my blogs that I am pointing others to Jesus. Because if I am not it will be me, that has caused my loss to be for naught, to be in vain. Not Him.

The Crown of Righteousness

2 Timothy 4:8

8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

This crown is for those who look for the appearing of Christ, who anxiously await and look forward to the day when He will return for His saints. It is given to those who have lived a good and righteous life for God while here on this earth.

Advent is the preparation of our hearts for Christ’s coming. It is generally celebrated in the four weeks leading up to Christmas but truly Advent should be celebrated year round. We should continually be preparing our hearts for Him, looking for His coming, and love knowing that just any minute He could appear. We should be like kids waiting for Christmas morning.

The Crown of Glory

1 Peter 5:1-4

1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 

2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight [thereof], not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 

3 Neither as being lords over [God's] heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 

4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 

The Pastor’s crown; it is given to the ministers who faithfully feed the flock of God and possibly includes all those who teach the Word of God in their respective ministries.

I may be wrong but I do believe that this crown is not only given to the God called preachers who have faithfully served as Pastors but also to the “elders” in Christian life. The deacons, the Sunday School teachers, the Song leaders, missionaries, evangelists, young preachers. I also believe this crown is for those Mommas and Daddys who may not hold a position in their church but who teach their children and nurture and raise them in the admonition of the Lord, for the grandparents who pray unceasingly for the lost in their families, for the older generation in the churches who are teaching the younger generations. Each and every one of us have a ministry in our lives and it is up to up to faithfully and intentionally live out Christ’s love for us for the world to see Him in us. We want them to want what we’ve got! And we want them to get it!