The Crown After The Battle

You're listening to my Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1541. Today's Evil is called the Crown after the battle. Hey there. We're the Alessi's, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional Podcast. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to My Morning Devotional Podcast. My name is Rachelle Alessi, and I get the privilege of being with you this week and I've missed you all. I've been gone for a couple of months because I had my second baby and he was born, he's healthy, he's amazing, he's the cutest. And I have two boys now, and so my hair is up. I was telling everybody here because I don't know time anymore. I have two kids and I'm learning to manage two. So you're gonna see me with my hair up for the next couple of months until I can handle two. But I am so happy to be back with all of you. And I have a couple of verses that we're gonna go over this week, but the theme of this week that I'm going to have is about perseverance. And it's the theme that I had to exercise, you know, as I'm having two kids, but also because it is such a beautiful thing that we get to do is hard, but it's worth it. And today's verse is James 1:12, and it says, blessed is the one who perseveres under the trial, because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. My favorite part of this verse is actually the end. And it says, it's for those who love him and for all of us that are listening today, including myself, we can say that we love the Lord. We're here because we want to know more about Him. We want to learn more about him, get to know him, experience Him. And that's because we love Him. And I love that we get to persevere trials and pass the tests. And through that, the Lord promises to give us the crown of life. I can't tell you exactly what that means. I can't fully expand on that. But what I do know is that it's a promise that the Lord has given us. And for those who love him and want to stay in the fight and want to persevere. All the trials. The Lord has a promise, and that should give us comfort today, because we all go through hard trials in life and they could look different for everybody. There are different times, there's even different levels. Some of them are little trials, some of them are really big trials. But nonetheless, the Lord has a promise for those. And we can be comforted today that we have to stand, that we have the ability, the strength to persevere these trials, that we're not left alone. It actually is saying here that for those who persevere, we receive the crown of life and the promises of the Lord because we love Him. And what a great reward that it is to receive a promise from the Lord, knowing we're not alone in the hard times. And those trials can look so different for all of us. And as I was pondering and thinking about this verse, and just this week in general, I just started to go and think about all the different trials I've had to overcome. And sometimes it's not good to live in the past, right? It's good for us to move forward. But once in a while, it's good just to think of the things that the Lord has helped us overcome, the things that we were able to stand against, the things that we can now say we are victorious over. We have a lot of those things. And it's good to think about how far we've come. Sometimes to give us the strength to say, then I can do it again. Not to live in the past, but to say, hey, if we've come this far with the Lord, we can do it again. And whatever I'm facing today, or this trial that I'm facing right now won't take me out, won't be the end of me. And honestly is probably the little one before another big one. And so from here on, we're only going to face more trials. But that's because the Lord is growing us. He's strengthening us. And guys, through these trials, we get to experience Him. We get to see a new version of the Lord. We get to see a new character of the Lord. We get to see his provision. And sometimes we get to see his protection. And in some trials, we get to see his joy or his peace. Every single trial allows us to see a new version of the Lord. And we get to love him even more because the experiences that we get to have with him through these trials. So today, don't be discouraged by your trial. Just reminisce and think of the ones you have already overcome. And that that's making you stronger today to overcome the one you're facing today. And this one is going to make you even stronger to face the one that you have to face tomorrow. And in all of that, you get to experience the Lord in a new way. So let's pray today. Dear Father God, we thank you today for the trials that we have to face. They're not always easy, they're not always fun, and some of them really hurt. But Lord, we know that with you, Lord, we can overcome anything. We love you, Father, and you have promised us the crown of life as we stand the test, as we overcome and persevere all these trials, Lord, you have a promise for us. That's how good you are. And I believe that you will give the strength to every listener today to overcome the trials that they are facing. And we thank you in advance for the miracles that you're doing. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in Today we pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow. We pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.