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Daily Devotions with Dr. Josh Taylor

Cast Your Crown

Published 9 days ago • 2 min read

​Cast Your Crown​

Josh Taylor

Published on September 11, 2026

Revelation 4:11 (CSB)
“Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.”

When a lesser king entered the emperor’s presence, he took off his crown. The gesture said one thing: I am not the one in charge here. That is exactly what the elders do before the throne (Revelation 4:10).

Their crowns are stephanoi, the wreaths awarded to victors. They were given, not seized. Every earthly triumph is a trophy of grace. Later in the book a dragon appears wearing diadems, seven bands of claimed rule, and he does not surrender them (Revelation 12:3). The elders release what grace gave. The dragon clutches what rebellion claims. One posture bows and is honored. The other grasps and is cast down. There is no third posture before God.

Then hear the reason the elders give. Not the cross. Not their own salvation. Creation. You exist by His will, which means you are here because God wanted you here.

It also means everything in your hands is on loan. Your health belongs to God. Your land, your children, your name, your remaining years. Laodicea said the opposite and did not know it (Revelation 3:17).

This is where anxiety loses its grip. I will tell on myself: anxiety is my natural default, and I confess it as sin. It grows from a secret belief that it all somehow depends on me. Worship answers by carrying the weight of the world back to the One who made it. I did not make it. Anything good in my hands came from His. Why would I be the one to ruin it? The anxiety is on earth, not in heaven. History is not slipping from God’s hands.

So take the whole week into that room. Hebrews says you have already come to Mount Zion, and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than your sin does (Hebrews 12:22-24). Your sin tells you to stay back. The blood says come. Turn from it, draw near, and put your crown on the floor.

Reflect

Name the thing you are gripping hardest right now. Ask whether you are holding it as a wreath you were given or a diadem you are claiming. Then open your hand and thank God for it out loud, because that is what worship actually is.

Pray

Jesus, mediator of the new covenant, I have held what You gave me as though I had earned it. I have carried weight that was never mine to carry and called it responsibility. Thank You for blood that speaks a better word than my sin. Take what is in my hands. I lay it down. Amen.

The post Cast Your Crown first appeared on Preach Well.

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Josh Taylor is an ordained minister and pastors Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Demorest, Georgia. He holds degrees in pastoral ministry from Toccoa Falls College and in Christian apologetics from Biola University, and a DMin in biblical preaching from Anderson University in South Carolina. He is married to Mandy, and they have two kids: Scottlynn and Haddon.

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Daily Devotions with Dr. Josh Taylor

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Josh Taylor is the Senior Pastor of Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Demorest, GA, and an author with degrees from Toccoa Falls College (B.A. in Pastoral Ministry), Biola University (M.A. in Christian Apologetics), and Anderson University (D.Min. in Biblical Preaching). He has published A Preach Well Church: How Churches Can Stop Burning Out Pastors (Wipf & Stock) and Mercy Mild. At PreachWell.com, Josh writes on Scripture, Christian living, and church health.

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