"The imperishable crown"

Recently God spoke powerfully to me through a couple of visions.

1st Vision:
I saw a company of people running a race. Their faces shone like the sun. As I gazed upon them, I had a strong sense of God���s presence. It was so powerful. Then the Lord let me feel the hearts of these people. Their hearts were full of peace and joy. Then, the scene suddenly changed to the second vision.

2nd Vision
I saw a second company of people who were also running a race. This group of people was a little different from the first one. They were always looking around them as they ran. They looked to their left and to their right, as well as, behind them. They ran swiftly, and most of them were smiling. Then the Lord let me see their hearts. I did not feel their emotions at first, but then I felt an intense pain in them. As I looked, I could see their hearts were bleeding.

I asked God "who are these people?" Immediately, 1 Cor 9:24-25 was impressed upon my heart.

1 Cor 9:24-25 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.

Then God spoke to me: "The first company of people you saw was running the race for the imperishable crown. They accept and experience My unconditional love daily. They love Me with all of their heart, mind, soul, and strength. They understand that they are sons and daughters and not orphans. They live a lifestyle of loving selflessly, seeking meekness, thirsting and hungering for righteousness, and are poor in spirit. They have an understanding of their eternal inheritance. They relate to Me with the same intimacy with which My Son Jesus relates to Me."

"The second group you saw is running the race for the perishable crown -- the crown that man can give them. While they smile on the outside, they really hurt on the inside. They compete with each other and live striving for man���s acceptance. They are not orphans but they have an orphan mentality. Not believing that they have the promised inheritance, they fight for all they can get in this life.
Men crown them often, but every crown that man crowns them with only decays. There is no eternal significance. I love them with everlasting love. I long to spend time with them. I want to heal their hearts, but they are running so hard for the perishable reward that they do not make time to spend time with Me and receive my love, kindness, and acceptance towards them."

He continued to speak to me, saying, "I'm raising up a company of people in the nations of the earth that will not run the race for the perishable crown but for the imperishable crown, the one that will last forever. I'm the One who gives the crown that does not fade."

Right after that I felt led to look up the rewards that were given to those who overcome in the seven churches of Revelation. These rewards are imperishable. They can never decay. Below is a list of these seven churches, along with the rewards due to those in these churches who overcome:

Ephesus- the tree of life
Smyrna- the crown of life
Pergamos- hidden manna, and stone with a new name
Thyatira- rule over nations, and receive morning star
Sardis- faithful, honored, and clothed in white
Philadelphia -a place in God's presence, a new name and the New Jerusalem
Laodicea- share Christ's throne

All the rewards are imperishable -- rewards that will never decay!

Then Paul says this in 1 Cor 9:26: Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty.
Uncertain runners run without a vision of the reward. They cannot envision the finish line. Those who run with certainty, on the other hand, hold a picture of eternity in their hearts. Can you imagine what it would be like if the entire body of Christ ran their race with certainty? If our minds and hearts were set on the reward that is imperishable, we would live with steadfast focus in this life, rejecting the lust of the flesh and the spirit of this age. What would it be like if the whole body of Christ were to live in obedience, faithful to the voice of God, embracing the lifestyle of the Sermon on the Mount, loving selflessly, praying without ceasing, giving freely, seeking meekness, fasting, blessing those who persecute us, turning the other check, humbling ourselves .... This is a passionate dream of God's heart!


Prayer:
Lord, I pray that You draw us out of the temporal into a revelation of what is eternal. I pray that the eternity that You have written on our hearts will shout to our consciousness. Help us, God, to live our lives in obedience and faithfulness to You all the days of our lives. Lord, I pray that we will experience Your love in the highest measure, that we will know Your burning passion towards us. Thank you Jesus for your love for us.