The Victor's Crown

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. James 1:12 Some of my friends are touring the Holy Land right now, so I've been living vicariously through them & their Facebook pictures.  Tonight, in Choir, we practiced our music for our Maundy Thursday / Easter program. Y'all. It's powerful. The lyrics & the Truth it tells just gets all over me. There was one song we practiced tonight that stuck in my head & the lyrics were right-on as far as touching everything I'm dealing with right now on my journey of sanctification. Yes, I took a picture of the music during practice, so that I would remember to go stalk it later. I am that strange person. I'm pretty sure Tim (our friend & Worship Pastor) saw me & probably would have stopped to point & laugh if he did not have 12 songs on the agenda to practice. (I hope it's ok to take pictures of this! Good thing I'm a terrible photographer-especially when I'm trying to be discreet in the middle of rehearsal!) The name of the song is Victor's Crown. [Music & lyrics by Darlene Zschech, Israel Houghton, & Kari Jobe (arranged by Travis Cotrell)]: You are always fighting for us Heaven's angels all around My delight is found in knowing That You wear the Victor's crown You're my help and my defender You're my Saviour and my friend By Your grace I live and breathe To worship You At the mention of Your greatness In Your Name I will bow down In Your presence fear is silent For You wear the Victor's crown Let Your glory fill this temple Let Your power overflow By Your grace I live and breathe To worship You Hallelujah You have overcome You have overcome Hallelujah Jesus You have overcome the world You are ever interceding As the lost become the found You can never be defeated For You wear the Victor's crown You are Jesus the Messiah You're the Hope of all the world By Your grace I live and breathe To worship You Hallelujah You have overcome You have overcome Hallelujah Jesus You have overcome the world Every high thing must come down Every stronghold shall be broken You wear the Victor's crown You overcome You overcome [x4] At the cross the work was finished You were buried in the ground But the grave could not contain You For You wear the Victor's crown Hallelujah You have overcome You have overcome Hallelujah Jesus You have overcome the world Every high thing must come down Every stronghold shall be broken You wear the Victor's crown You overcome You overcome [x6] ________________________ If you were to look back & read in my blog-probably in just this past year-you will see how this song covers so much of my spiritual journey. -With my dealings with spiritual warfare, this reminds me that God is fighting on my side & is the ultimate winner. -With my weeding out any idols in my life, the very lyrics say:  "Every high thing must come down Every stronghold shall be broken You wear the Victor's crown You overcome You overcome"  Amen!! What hope!! -& finally, the thing that means the most of course is about how Christ died for me & defeated death & has overcome this world!!! In case you didn't know, everyone in my house is snoring...I mean, asleep! ;) & I'm just having my own worship service. It's all I can do to keep quiet & not disturb them. This God; this Helper, Defender; this Conquering King; this Gracious, Merciful Savior...loves me! & He loves you too.