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!
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