Day 303: The Overcoming the Overcomers do is just the beginning. You gotta stand your ground.

The book of Revelation talks about the “overcomers” and the crowns they wear and how they throw their crowns at Jesus feet.  I get the throwing the crowns at Jesus feet.  I thought it was an act of worship.  That is probably part of it but more than that it is recognition of who the crowns really belong to.  Those who overcome huge obstacles to big for them at a cost much grander than any scale they have access to know for a fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the one who gained that victory and owns the crown.  We are simply a vessel he chose to use, a clay pot, if you will, Jesus chose to use in the battle he overcame.  

It is fun for a flash in time to revel in the victory but that is not all folks. That is not even the most important part.  After taking the ground there is a fleeting shall we say honeymoon where we celebrate and enjoy the spoils. We can start feeling pretty good about ourselves if we are not careful.

But that is not all there is to it.  Once you have taken the ground and won the victory then you must stand your ground and defend it.  You must earn the right to be there.  You must show you are in fact the rightful owner or the ones you displaced will reclaim what you have taken and rule with an even stronger hand.  

There is also the exhaustion and fatigue spiritually and physically involved in a battle that rises to the level of the overcomer.  If we think we have done our due and our battles are over it can be very hard to get back up, put on the armor again, and go out to war.  

Nothing is finished as long as we are here in the second creation.  Thinking we made it before we get there is fatal both physically and spiritually.  This is not a sprint. It is much more than a marathon. It is not over until we are in that place where The Lamb is the LIGHT there of, no falling there, no pain, no sorrow. Not even the memory of anything in this creation. Then we can relax and enjoy our victory and what we have overcome to get there, but we won’t waste out time in perfection to do that.  Once there none of this matters. Until we are there everything matters. Never let your guard down. Never allow yourself to think you made it.  Overcoming is just the beginning of the battle.  Now the real war begins.