I know that I have still yet to finish my last blog but I wanted to immediately come home and write about this amazing experience that God has presented before me!
As I was headed out to the bank to put a down payment on my birthday present I was excited to see the beautiful yellow butterflies that flew in front of the car. "What a perfect day", I thought as I drove on. The wonderful weather, the bright sun; not too much heat, not too much humidity. It's marvelous.
As I'm driving along I hear a wonderful sermon on the radion (89.5 His Radio). Pastor Ron Vietti, of the Valley Bible Fellowship, was talking about how we can't change our behaviors without changing our character. The point he was trying to make was just that, that if we're trying to live a Christ-centered life than we can't do that unless we first #1 peel off our old self and become a new babe in the eyes of Christ through baptism. We then can't expect to see changes if we aren't willing to change our cores, our characters. He tells us that we sin and will continue to sin unless we change our ways and that doesn't mean just simply changing our behaviors. He says that God sets the bar with perfection, but we know that as humans we can never reach perfection, however, that we should strive to reach it in this life or the next because the consequences of not trying, of giving up are far too great to risk. We can read these accolades through the beautiful proclaimations found in Psalm 119 and several other places in the bible.
After paying the deposit I hopped back in the car and found myself listening to yet another wonderful message, however, this one was through the teachings of Brother Chris Engrim from livingontheedge.com. It was through this lesson that I reached another defining moment in which I knew I had to come home and write about it. He passionately talked about our actions and behaviors and what they would be if we only had seven days to live. As I listened I asked myself, what would I do if I had only seven more days to live? Would I have been on Facebook checking status' and comments? Would I be on hulu.com watching one of my favorite television shows? Would I spend my time sleeping because the stresses of life were too much to bare? He talked about procrastination and time management so that we can ensure our lives are whole and just through God, focused on Him ALWAYS!
What I've learned is that it's much like the life of those beautiful butterflies I kept seeing fly around my car as I drove to and from home. Perhaps that was God's message to me, that I really look to see what sin is in my life that I need to change in order to draw closer to him. In Pastor Ron's lesson he talked about an article he'd read in a newspaper here recently. He said that there was an 18 year old girl who was reported missing for 8 days after she disappeared from a party in Washington state. He said that when the reporters talked to the parents they presumed that she was dead because no one had heard of anyone living after 8 days of no food or water; the parents and town thought she was dead. He said that somehow a woman in the church in the same town read this article and began to pray for God to help her find this girl. She said that she had dream after dream of God telling her where to look in the woods for this girl and finally He told her to "GO! Find her!" So the woman took her daughter and went to the spot that she'd seen in her dream. When they were there she said she prayed for God to help the girl cry out to them so that they would know where she was and as they called out "We love you", the girl answered "I'm here. I think I'm in trouble because I broke curfew."
He talks about the point of checking our character is because the closer we are to God, the better He can use us. And the less sin there is in our lives, the better we are able to hear His message. He said that after a while if we allow sin to be in our lives, without footing it out each time we sin, it will start to cloud our judgement and will drown out the message that God's trying to put within us.
As I said before it reminded me those beautiful butterflies. Aren't we, God's children, ALL mankind His butterflies? Don't we all start as something so tiny and unseen into a beautiful butterfly that can and will gladly, joyfully spread its wings? In fact once a butterfly reaches the caterpillar state it grows to about 27,000 times the size it was when it first emerged from its egg. Isn't that God's will for us, to strive to grow 27,000 times larger than what we were at the beginning?
I also learned that the wings of butteflies are actually transparent and that their wings are made of irredescent scales that overlap like shingles on a roof to form a colorful wing. Isn't that God's beautiful design in us? He gives us layer after layer of unique and individual design which vibrantly could only have been created through His nourishment? Butterflies also learn how to taste with their feet and that they do not have mouths that bite or chew. "Tasting with our feet? Ew! And how in the world are we supposed to talk on the phone with no mouth?" Well, what if instead of literal we saw it as God wanted us to use our feet for the nourishment of our bodies, instead of our mouths. I think the power in this statement is in our actions. We can't just say we're christian or that we love God. Our nourishment, our strength, comes in seeking Him through our actions.
Lastly, may we see the beauty in God's design by knowing that the buttefly does not spin it's own cocoon as moths do often weaving with silken threads, however the caterpillar sheds its final skin to reveal a pupa. The pupal stage is only found in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa, and imago, which is often referred to as the mature or adult stage. Now, once the caterpillar sheds its final skin to reveal the pupa, the outer skin hardens to form a chrysalis which protects and hides the amazing transformation that is occurring inside.
Isn't that amazing; God's amazing plan for us can be seen through the beautiful transformation of a butteflies life!
In examining my own life and my own sin and really taking a look at the areas that are holding me back I'd like to end with a short prayer.
Dear Father,
Oh how beautiful and amazing your design for this world! I thank you with a heart full of gladness the ability to view such wonderful creations! Father, I close my mouth, humble myself, and simply ask that You search my heart and soul and help me see the areas where I have been wrong, where I have been delaying my own transformation and denying Your nourishment. Father, I thank you for the constant love and strength that you continue to give me each day, Father help me become Your butterfly.
In all your glory I pray through Christ's name,
Amen.
As I was headed out to the bank to put a down payment on my birthday present I was excited to see the beautiful yellow butterflies that flew in front of the car. "What a perfect day", I thought as I drove on. The wonderful weather, the bright sun; not too much heat, not too much humidity. It's marvelous.
As I'm driving along I hear a wonderful sermon on the radion (89.5 His Radio). Pastor Ron Vietti, of the Valley Bible Fellowship, was talking about how we can't change our behaviors without changing our character. The point he was trying to make was just that, that if we're trying to live a Christ-centered life than we can't do that unless we first #1 peel off our old self and become a new babe in the eyes of Christ through baptism. We then can't expect to see changes if we aren't willing to change our cores, our characters. He tells us that we sin and will continue to sin unless we change our ways and that doesn't mean just simply changing our behaviors. He says that God sets the bar with perfection, but we know that as humans we can never reach perfection, however, that we should strive to reach it in this life or the next because the consequences of not trying, of giving up are far too great to risk. We can read these accolades through the beautiful proclaimations found in Psalm 119 and several other places in the bible.
After paying the deposit I hopped back in the car and found myself listening to yet another wonderful message, however, this one was through the teachings of Brother Chris Engrim from livingontheedge.com. It was through this lesson that I reached another defining moment in which I knew I had to come home and write about it. He passionately talked about our actions and behaviors and what they would be if we only had seven days to live. As I listened I asked myself, what would I do if I had only seven more days to live? Would I have been on Facebook checking status' and comments? Would I be on hulu.com watching one of my favorite television shows? Would I spend my time sleeping because the stresses of life were too much to bare? He talked about procrastination and time management so that we can ensure our lives are whole and just through God, focused on Him ALWAYS!
What I've learned is that it's much like the life of those beautiful butterflies I kept seeing fly around my car as I drove to and from home. Perhaps that was God's message to me, that I really look to see what sin is in my life that I need to change in order to draw closer to him. In Pastor Ron's lesson he talked about an article he'd read in a newspaper here recently. He said that there was an 18 year old girl who was reported missing for 8 days after she disappeared from a party in Washington state. He said that when the reporters talked to the parents they presumed that she was dead because no one had heard of anyone living after 8 days of no food or water; the parents and town thought she was dead. He said that somehow a woman in the church in the same town read this article and began to pray for God to help her find this girl. She said that she had dream after dream of God telling her where to look in the woods for this girl and finally He told her to "GO! Find her!" So the woman took her daughter and went to the spot that she'd seen in her dream. When they were there she said she prayed for God to help the girl cry out to them so that they would know where she was and as they called out "We love you", the girl answered "I'm here. I think I'm in trouble because I broke curfew."
He talks about the point of checking our character is because the closer we are to God, the better He can use us. And the less sin there is in our lives, the better we are able to hear His message. He said that after a while if we allow sin to be in our lives, without footing it out each time we sin, it will start to cloud our judgement and will drown out the message that God's trying to put within us.
As I said before it reminded me those beautiful butterflies. Aren't we, God's children, ALL mankind His butterflies? Don't we all start as something so tiny and unseen into a beautiful butterfly that can and will gladly, joyfully spread its wings? In fact once a butterfly reaches the caterpillar state it grows to about 27,000 times the size it was when it first emerged from its egg. Isn't that God's will for us, to strive to grow 27,000 times larger than what we were at the beginning?
I also learned that the wings of butteflies are actually transparent and that their wings are made of irredescent scales that overlap like shingles on a roof to form a colorful wing. Isn't that God's beautiful design in us? He gives us layer after layer of unique and individual design which vibrantly could only have been created through His nourishment? Butterflies also learn how to taste with their feet and that they do not have mouths that bite or chew. "Tasting with our feet? Ew! And how in the world are we supposed to talk on the phone with no mouth?" Well, what if instead of literal we saw it as God wanted us to use our feet for the nourishment of our bodies, instead of our mouths. I think the power in this statement is in our actions. We can't just say we're christian or that we love God. Our nourishment, our strength, comes in seeking Him through our actions.
Lastly, may we see the beauty in God's design by knowing that the buttefly does not spin it's own cocoon as moths do often weaving with silken threads, however the caterpillar sheds its final skin to reveal a pupa. The pupal stage is only found in holometabolous insects, those that undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four life stages; embryo, larva, pupa, and imago, which is often referred to as the mature or adult stage. Now, once the caterpillar sheds its final skin to reveal the pupa, the outer skin hardens to form a chrysalis which protects and hides the amazing transformation that is occurring inside.
Isn't that amazing; God's amazing plan for us can be seen through the beautiful transformation of a butteflies life!
In examining my own life and my own sin and really taking a look at the areas that are holding me back I'd like to end with a short prayer.
Dear Father,
Oh how beautiful and amazing your design for this world! I thank you with a heart full of gladness the ability to view such wonderful creations! Father, I close my mouth, humble myself, and simply ask that You search my heart and soul and help me see the areas where I have been wrong, where I have been delaying my own transformation and denying Your nourishment. Father, I thank you for the constant love and strength that you continue to give me each day, Father help me become Your butterfly.
In all your glory I pray through Christ's name,
Amen.
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