© By Danna Shirley
#49 - CROWNS
The Bible speaks of
several crowns . . . crowns that we can receive one day.
Crown
Imperishable 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives
the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes
for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable
crown, but we for an imperishable crown.
Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats
the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I
have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
RUN THE RACE
Crown
of Rejoicing 1 Thessalonians
2:19-20
“For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ
at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”
IN HIS
PRESENCE
Crown
of Righteousness 2 Timothy 4:5-8
“But you be watchful in all things, endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am
already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is
at hand. I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid
up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me
only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
FIGHT THE
GOOD FIGHT - FINISH THE RACE - KEEP THE
FAITH
Crown
of Life James 1:12
“Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive
the crown of life which the Lord has
promised to those who love Him.”
RESIST
TEMPTATION
Crown of Glory 1 Peter
5:2-4
“Shepherd the flock of God which is among
you, serving as overseers, not by
compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being
lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when
the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”
BE A SERVANT
The last
crown guarantees our receiving of the first crowns . . .
Crown of Thorns Matthew 27:29-31
“When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His
head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked
Him, saying ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ Then they spat on Him, and took the reed
and struck Him on the head. And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe
off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.”
CRUCIFIED
FOR US!!!
Props: One crown to represent first references or
five crowns to represent each reference and then a crown of thorns.
#50 - ARE YOU DRIFTING
“But the boat was now in the middle of the
sea, tossed by the waves, for the
wind was contrary.” (Matthew 14:24)
Have you ever
tasted of the good things of God? Have you experienced His presence in a
profound way?
I go through
spells of hungering after and drawing close to Him in study, worship, prayer,
and church attendance . . . and at other times I am too easily distracted by meaningless
activities, television, computer nonsense, and just a good afternoon nap.
I go from
being totally blessed by God’s presence to beating myself up because I have drifted away.
How quickly
and easily we let the contrariness of the wind toss us around in our daily
living...
. . . distracting us from doing what we wish
. . . tempting us to do those things that are
unsought.
Don’t let
yourself be tossed by the waves and the wind to drift through your spiritual
life unmoored and unanchored. Set an objective to regularly spend time with God
. . .
. . . in prayer
. . . in reading the Word and studying the
scriptures
. . . in meditation
. . . in fellowship with other believers.
Remain moored
to Jesus and delight yourself in Him . . . and . . . His delight in
you will be reflected back as your special blessing.
Prop: Driftwood.
#51 - DISCIPLINE
I recently lost twenty-five
pounds through a weight loss program. I was thrilled as the ounces and then
pounds began to slip away from my frame. It seemed easy to avoid those foods that had tempted me in the past because I
was seeing great results and I was encouraged as my clothes size went down.
When I reached my
goal, I thought it would be easy again
for me to maintain my weight because I had been on an eating plan which I felt
I could continue. Wrong!
The process it took
to reach my goal was also the process it would take to maintain my goal. I had
begun to add my favorite foods back into my diet and I quickly gained back five
pounds.
Discipline! It doesn’t seem to be joyful
for the present but painful. If victorious, however, it yields the peaceable
fruit of righteousness because we are trained by it!
I began to
appreciate the DISCIPLINE that I had
learned in my eating habits and realized quickly that my training was a gift and not a punishment.
Props:
Bathroom scales.
#52 - PLANTING and WATERING
“So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the
increase.” (1 Corinthians 3:7)
I had a reunion recently with two friends that I had known in Japan . Dot drove
from Florida to meet me in Mississippi
and then we drove to San Antonio to stay with
Hope and do some sight-seeing of the Alamo and
the River Walk . . . and to catch up on our lives.
As we were walking from the parking lot, another lady fell in step
behind us and asked which way to the river. We told her we were going in that
direction and asked her to join us. Her name was Kathy. Throughout the day we
shared our faith and did not reduce any of our conversation about our love for
God.
The last stop of the day was a Mexican souvenir market. Kathy and I sat down to rest as Dot and Hope
continued to walk the path of small shops. She asked questions about heaven and
I answered what I could. Just as I was
beginning to come to the end of my knowledge, Hope appeared beside me. I
motioned for her to take my place and said, “You’re up!” She continued with “the
rest of the story.”
Before we all parted, we were able to pray with Kathy and assure her
that the day was no accident but it had been orchestrated by God for her
benefit. I planted, Hope watered, but it is God who gives the increase. This is
as it should be, God is in control . . . but don’t miss His divine appointments!
Props: A plant and watering can.
#53 - IN CONCLUSION . . .
If you do not know this Jesus of Whom I
speak, I encourage you to get to know Him. There is only one way . . .
YOU
MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!!
So
how do you do that?
You
acknowledge your need for God . . . Why? Because you’re lost without
Him. You’ve followed your own desires (sin) and gone your own way down many
wrong paths. You have reached the end of yourself and have no place else to go
and no one else to turn to . . . EXCEPT TO GOD! He’s waiting for you . .
. truly waiting for your sincere outcry.
It’s
a win-win situation . . . SO
ACKNOWLEDGE HIM!!!
Romans 3:23
Believe
that He has provided the help you need—A SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST . . . Because God loves you so
much and knew that you needed someone to stand in your place to “save
you” from your sins, He sent Jesus, His only Son, Whom He also loves so
much, to die on a bloody cross just for you . . . individual and precious you
. . . fearfully and wonderfully made you. He paid the price over 2,000
years ago just for this day to arrive . . . for you! Today is your
born-again birthday.
It’s
a win-win situation . . . SO
BELIEVE IN HIM!!!
John 3:16
Confess
your sins and repent of your sins . . . He already knows them anyway but He wants you to realize your
state of sin and your total need to surrender to Him and be cleansed from
all unrighteousness. List them if it helps so you can confess them one by one. Then
tear up the paper into little pieces and burn them. Know that they are ALL
covered under the blood of Jesus Christ and are scattered as far as the east is
from the west, to be remembered no more.
To repent means to
change one’s mind . . . turn around . . . and go in a different direction. Get
serious once and for all. Confession and repentance are like a cleansing bath
in the most peaceful and beautiful pool of refreshing waters. You jump in with
all of your sins (black, dirty, grimy, gunky,
smelly) and you
come out squeaky clean, white as snow, with
a feeling of
being renewed, refreshed, restored, and forgiven . . . a feeling that
you never want to go away. As you continually confess your sins, God continually
forgives you of your sins . . . day by day.
It’s
a win-win situation . . . SO
CONFESS AND REPENT OF YOUR SINS!!!
1 John 1:9-10
Receive Jesus
into your heart . . . that’s
all you have to do. You will then have clean hands and a pure heart before God
and you will desire to follow after the things of God. You will have forsaken
your old ways and the stubbornness that led you down that path to destruction
and now you have surrendered yourself into God’s hands and His plan for your
life. Ask Him to come in and take up residence in you.
Now you can pray this
prayer with all sincerity . . .
“I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that my Heavenly Father sent Him to
purchase me out of my sins through the blood He shed on the cross, that His
blood has saved me from my sins, has forgiven me of my sins, and has ushered me
into eternal life with Him in heaven. I receive Jesus Christ NOW as my Lord and
Savior.”
It’s
a win-win situation . . . SO
RECEIVE CHRIST INTO YOUR HEART TODAY!!!
John 1:12
Walk the walk
and talk the talk . . . it’s
not a game. You can’t live your life one minute for God and the next minute in
the world. You can’t speak of the good things of God and then blame Him for the
bad. You go to God at all times for all things. It’s a
continual daily walk and the things that will keep you strong in
the Lord are to . . .
. . . pray every day (1 Thessalonians 5:17)
. . . read
God’s Word every day and obey it (2
Timothy 2:15)
. . . witness
for Christ through words and deeds (Acts 1:8)
. . . trust God for every need in your
life—spiritual, physical, mental, emotional,
financial, and social
(Mt 6:26-34)
. . . confess your sins on a daily
basis (1 John 1:9-10)
. . . attend church and be in
fellowship with other believers (Hebrews 10:25)
. . . be baptized in the Holy Spirit
to receive power (Acts 1:8)
The results
are that as you draw closer and closer to Jesus, you will walk in the fruit of
the Spirit . . . love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23)
. . . and you
will find grace, mercy, hope, guidance, direction, health, protection,
prosperity, friendships, etc.
It’s
a win-win situation . . . SO
BE CHRIST-LIKE IN THOUGHT, WORD,
AND DEED!!!
Romans 6:4
God
didn’t promise you a rose garden . . . but He did promise that He would
never leave you nor forsake you. You are in this world so you have to live with
all the death, destruction, disaster, and disease that you hear about every
day. You won’t escape until you make “The Great Escape,” when Jesus comes to
take you home to be with Him in heaven.
But while you
are here, He’ll give you the grace and power to get you through each
day. He wants to use you to make a difference in the lives around you. Sometimes
the very thing that you may see as a tragedy in your life, God will use
for good . . . in your life and in someone else’s life, too. Oh, the joy
you’ll experience when you see how God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to
perform.
It’s
a win-win situation . . . SO
TRUST AND OBEY!!!
2 Timothy 1:12
THAT’S IT!!! That’s all you have to do to be
saved, born again, redeemed.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved,
you and your household.” (Acts 16:30-31)
And
the adventure begins . . .
Now you can live
and be satisfied right there . . . but there is more if
you want more!
You shall
receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you . . .and you shall be a witness for
God. What is this power? It is called the Baptism in the Holy Spirit and Jesus
is the Baptizer. If you want more of Him, just ask. He will fill you up with
rivers of living water on the inside until it overflows out of your belly and
through your mouth to touch the world around you. He desires to use you in a
mighty way.
You will receive
this gift . . .
. . . to witness
for Christ to the world around you (Acts 1:8)
. . . to be an
intercessory prayer warrior over those things God will lay on your heart
(Romans 8:26-27)
. . . to be built
up in your faith (1 Corinthians 14:4)
It’s
a win-win situation . . . SO
BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT!!!
Matthew 3:11
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