I’m back, blogging my way through James  (v e r y s l o w l y…)

 Blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] is the man who is steadfast under trial and perseveres when tempted; for when he has passed the test and been approved, he will receive the [victor’s] crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

James 1 :12, AMP, my emphasis.

Crowns are used as symbols many times throughout the bible.

God crowns humans with glory and honour (Ps 8:5), salvation (Ps 149:4), love (Ps 103: 4) and everlasting joy (Isa 35:10), to name but a few.

The bible talks about how grandchildren are a crown to the aged (Pr 17:6) and how Christians are a crown to the apostle Paul (1 Th 2:19).

But in James we see this idea of the crown of life being given to those that persevere under trial.

We see this crown of life again in Revelation:

“Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. Be aware that the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, and that you may be tested [in your faith], and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful to the point of death [if you must die for your faith], and I will give you the crown [consisting] of life.”

Rev 2: 10, AMP.

The above is Jesus speaking to a specific church in a place called Smyrna.

Can you imagine getting that message from Jesus himself?

Jesus gave messages to seven churches in the book of Revelation and Smyrna is one of two churches that are not rebuked by Jesus in some way.

But, these people were suffering. And in their struggle they receive the news that ten days of tribulation will come and – by the way – it could lead to potential death… Wow!

But let’s focus on the positives… There’s a crown of life up for grabs. 

It wakes me up to the fact that I could be doing everything right, but ultimately in this world there will be trouble.

What is the crown of life?

Now, my AMP study bible suggests that a garland of green leaves would have been given to winners in athletic events. So Smyrna would have known that Jesus was referring to a winner’s crown.

But the crown of life Jesus is talking about is not physical. It’s spiritual.

It’s a spiritual winner’s crown.

Now, when I think about crowns, I instantly think about what the crown protects: The mind. 

A crown, to me, is like a circle of victory over the brain.

Perhaps the crown of life is a winner’s crown for those of us who resist the enemies crafty lies?

Imagine with me, for a sec…

• What would it be like to only think about things that bring, or lead to, life?

• What would it be like to never have a negative thought?

• What would it be like to be totally free from condemnation, self-criticism or judgement?

Some of my friends tell me that they do not have this issue, but: have you ever started a train of thoughts that is entirely false? It’s often known as: “jumping to conclusions.”

This is what I mean: 

• You imagine someone thinks a certain way (Example “Maybe they don’t like me,” or “I am going to guess that person has this specific problem.”)
• Next, you treat them differently as a result of your imagined theory…
• BUT… You have no evidence to suggest that they do think that way in the first place… 

Thing is: Some of us are super discerning and that is a heavenly gift given by God. We can feel or sense what is going on in a room. We are spiritually sensitive and have the ability to unite people in a way that just screams Jesus.

Yet, when we get it wrong – We really get it wrong.

I’ve been struggling with this recently.

If I could purchase a crown that made me focus on the facts and think positively I would order that baby in a heartbeat. Special delivery please.

But James talks about perseverance. And Jesus backs James up with a comment about being faithful to the point of death. Ouch!

And so the question is will we resist these sneaky mind-traps and keep giving every thought over to Jesus?

Because – I don’t know about you, but – I’ve done the guessing games before. I’ve arrived at wrong conclusions about what people are thinking, feeling and doing. Of course, it only leads to disappointment and heartache.

Thoughts of this nature haven’t led to victory.

If you’ve struggled with negative overthinking and imagining scenarios in which people are talking hate about you, leaving you out or don’t want anything to do with you, then let’s do this…

1. We have to give our pain to Jesus. We have to tell Him it hurts, write down all of our thoughts and feelings and let Him in.

2. We have to get to the root of this negative thinking. Why do you think what you think? What evidence in your life supports your negative imagination? Ask the Holy Spirit. You might have to do something like forgive.

3. Pray for new thoughts – Write them out. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to Bible verses to speak over yourself the next time you are tempted to think those unreal thoughts. This is what I feel challenged to do at the moment.

4. Ask for new memories that overwrite the old pain. New revelation of how Jesus loves you and never says a bad word about you. For me, that is mind-blowing.

In all of this we need to believe that He will do what we cannot.

I believe the crown of life is a victorious mind that is not only set on Christ but is guarded and protected by Him. Encircled by His power; Wrapped in His hands. Nothing can come against that. Just pure victory.

How much would you be willing to pay for that?

As we “go there” together and work on stopping the anxious, false overthinking, we need to remember one particular crown written about in the Bible.

A crown of thorns.

This crown was placed upon Jesus head:

The soldiers led Him away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium), and they called together the entire [Roman] battalion [of 600 soldiers]. They dressed Him up in [a ranking Roman officer’s robe of] purple, and after twisting [together] a crown of thorns, they placed it on Him; and they began saluting and mocking Him: “Hail, King of the Jews!” They kept beating Him on the head with a reed and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing in [mock] homage to Him. 

Mark 15: 16 – 19, AMP, my emphasis.

He paid the real price so that we could have this victorious crown. He was mocked and lied to – the worst insults were hurled on his precious head. 

He paid in full. We do not have to earn the crown, but simply persevere in the freedom that Jesus has already bought for us.

Learn to surrender, learn to trust and stand firm in trial.

Are you with me?

(Disclaimer – Spiritual as it may be, I’m also really hoping there’s some serious diamonds going on in this crown of life… this is heaven we are talking about. No leaves please Jesus!)