The Real Butterfly Effect

“Look, Mimi!” my four-year-old grandson trumped as he and his dad marched into the kitchen. My son Matt held a large pickle jar stuffed with milkweed leaves up to my face so that I could peer in. “Oh! Did you find a Monarch caterpillar?” I asked trying to match his enthusiasm. In truth I was probably as excited as he was for indeed there was not just one but two of the black and yellow striped crawlers.


It had been many years since I had shared in the wonderment of the metamorphosis stages of this beautiful butterfly. When my children were little, every autumn we would hunt for a Monarch caterpillar. It was a family tradition. Even today the process continues to amaze me. As many believers probably do upon finding one, I automatically think of Romans 12:1-2 KJV~ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed [metamorphoo-to change into another form; transform] by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.


The entire family was enthralled with the new crawler-vision displayed on the kitchen counter. Munch, munch, munch. The two creepers seemed to be in a race to see who could eat the most. The smaller caterpillar (I’ll call Beta) went into chrysalis mode overnight attaching itself to one of the leaves. “Why did she stop eating so soon?” I wondered to myself, for she was almost half the size of her jar mate. As Alpha (my name for the bigger worm) continued to devour another entire stem of milkweed greenery, I could not help but be concerned about Beta. A lesson was forming in my spirit and mind. You know—one of those old teachings that the Spirit of the Lord desires to re-instill, but somehow it goes deeper than when you first learned it.

Finally, Alpha did her magic and hung upside down onto a horizontal stick and formed her chrysalis.


My family and I were surprised when a few days later Alpha’s gold-speckled celadon case became transparent revealing the trademark black markings of the Monarch.
Although Beta had cocooned first, Alpha was transforming sooner. Beta’s tiny chrysalis remained pale green with only a smudge of grey showing. I wondered if she was going to live or not.

Matt took the marvelous pickle jar display out to the back deck with the rest of the crew following. He wanted to let the morning sun welcome Alpha into the great outdoors. The chill of the morning ushered us back into the house. At lunchtime we were happy to see Alpha had broken through the chrysalis shell and was hanging upside down showing off her new wings. She didn’t move much, though, for it was too cold to flap her wings; so she remained in the jar to allow the sun to dry them. Beta looked the same. Would she ever emerge?

The next day I peeked out the window just at the right time. “Alpha is spreading her wings!” I announced. We tumbled out the back door. Matt slipped his finger under Alpha and lifted her up out of the jar. She had truly transformed into the largest most magnificent Monarch butterfly I had ever seen.


Immediately she stretched her wings and fluttered to the nearby ornamental pear tree. Beta, I was glad to see, had made progress showing the black and orange through her pupa. Maybe she would make it, I hoped.

When Beta did finally hatch, her wings were crumpled. They never straightened out.


Matt tenderly placed her onto one of the blossoms of the butterfly bush that grew tall enough to overhang our back deck. I checked on her a couple of hours later and she was gone. Did a bird find her? Did a breeze cause her to fall to the ground?

Our Creator makes lessons evident in that which He created all around us.
For what can be known about God is plain to them [men], because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Rom 1:19-20 ESV

The transforming stages of the butterfly reminded me of how we need to hungrily pursue renewing our mind—putting on the mind of Christ everyday. It is only as we diligently seek Him that we are transformed. When the enemy comes at us, the battle always begins in our minds.


Without taking every thought captive to Christ, as it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, our fleshly thoughts take precedence and we falter. When we walk by the flesh, it is like being bound to the earth with crumpled wings.

Rom 8:11 KJV - But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Rom 8:12 KJV - Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13 KJV - For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14 KJV - For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 KJV - For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

As we walk by the Spirit, we glorify God. We FLY! Rom 8:18 KJV - For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

There are many lessons He teaches through the life of this majestic butterfly. Too many for one posting. From this let us learn we should not hesitate to bask in the loving presence of the Son in the secret place, and as the wind of the Spirit lifts us ~

Let us not be afraid to FLY!

How I Get What I Want

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you: - Matthew 7:7 KJV

How do I get what I want? I nag. There is a time for nagging. What? you say. But what about Proverbs 27:15--A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.

Let me explain. When I was a young wife and new mother, I went to visit a friend who was a grandmother. I left our four-month old son with my husband for what was to be a half-day vacation for me but turned out to be only a two-hour break (need I say more?). It was a pivotal day for me though, for in our conversation my friend Bev advised, "Never nag your husband. Nag the Lord instead." This has turned out to be some of the best life-long advice I ever received.

Matthew 7:7-8 says- Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

There is something to be said about consistently seeking the Lord about something that is on your heart.

 
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much James 5:16 records.


Luke 18:1 reads - And he spake a parable unto them [to this end], that men ought always to pray, and not to faint...

The first memorable time I put this knowledge to use was the time I believed we should buy our first house. My husband Tom and I had purchased a mobile home but were renting the lot it sat on. It was only a matter of time before our mobile home would be too old for it to remain on the lot. I mentioned to Tom that I thought it would be a good time to purchase a small house and then I said no more. I remembered the sage advice of my friend and did not nag my husband!

For about a month (maybe less than that) I sought Father God in the name of Jesus Christ to work within my husband regarding this desire of my heart. I was resigned to God's will in the matter and to submit to His timing.

To my surprise within that short span of time, Tom did what I had been praying for by handing me the newspaper one day and saying, "Honey, why don't you see what you can find in the way of houses for sale since I don't have the time. You do the foot work and then we'll go together to see what you have found." Inside myself I was dancing and jumping up and down for joy--it worked! Nagging the Lord worked!

To be honest I don't always get what I want. However, God's Word is true. If we align our desires with His will, our prayers will be answered in His perfect timing. 

Angels

I’m not one for worshipping anyone or anything except the One True God. I do, however, believe there is a spiritual realm that will manifest on our physical plane. God’s angels will do this.

Have I seen an angel? I believe I have. One day I was out and about with my two sons when they were only little boys—Matthew was five and Jonah was three. I wanted to drive the car from the parking lot we were in to an adjacent lot. There was what looked like a speed bump between the two lots, so I proceeded to drive over it. Bad move. My station wagon got hung up on the so-called speed bump.

“Oh no, God, Tom is gonna kill me!” I cried out in prayer. There was no way I was going to get out of this mess without some help. Suddenly, a group of boys of staggered height walked up to us. They looked sort of like a teen rock band because every one of them had bright blonde hair.


“Is there something we can do to help you?” the tallest one asked. “Oh, yes. Could you give us a push over this hump I’m caught on?”

After we were all buckled in again, the boys gave the car a good heave and it was free. “Oh thank you so much!” I paused to show my appreciation and said I wished I could reward them monetarily, but the tall boy told me not to worry about it. Happy to be on my way again, I slowly drove to find a parking place. When I stopped I noticed Matthew had twisted out of his seat belt and was looking out the back window.

“They're gone,” Matt stated with a sense of amazement. “Yes, they’re gone,” I agreed looking in the same direction. “No, Mommy, they dis’ppeared. They walked ‘cross the road and then they were gone!” This time I took a hard look. There was no sign of the tow-headed youths anywhere. Then I got to thinking. It was a school day. What were these adolescents doing here on a school morning? Playing hooky waiting for me to make my dumb move? I don’t think so. It wasn’t a teen rock band, I believe it was a band of angels my Lord sent to rescue me. Y’know, so that my husband Tom wouldn’t kill me:)


Hebrews 13:2 KJV - Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

What inspired me to share this is a friend just sent me an angel story along with a video link:

Hi family, this video is of a guy who had been spending time worshipping Jesus for 10 hrs a day for quite some time. He had committed to doing this for a few months or something. Anyways, his wife began coming in the room and worshipping with him. One day while they were doing this they began to hear angels singing with them. He decided to invest money to go into a professional recording studio and record him worshipping. Just him and his acoustic guitar and see if he would hear the angels again and be able to record it. He planned to go in there and do 4 songs. On the last song he heard them. You can hear it about 5 mins or so into the song. He is from Johnny Enlow's church in GA. He is singing in spanish.


Not only is it amazing when you start to hear the angels, but this guys voice is beautiful. When you listen to it, listen to it from a place of worship. People have really been encountering the presence of Jesus when hearing this.
http://youtu.be/j8Xh5-1nBtc


Psalms 148:2 KJV - Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

Something About the Ocean

"Something about the ocean makes me rise up and praise," choruses Ten Shekel Shirt in their song entitled Ocean.

At a beach early one morning I watched my husband as he held the camera up to take a picture of the blazing sun peeking over the ridge of clouds. "It just doesn't look as beautiful on camera as the real thing," he commented.

The prophetic in me rose up. "It's like when we show forth the love of God. People see Him in us but we are not, nor can we ever be, as brilliant and beautiful as He is."

There was a time in my life that I felt defeated because I could not love my Yah enough. I would come before Him daily striving to love Him more. But one morning He spoke clearly to me.

"Daughter, it is not possible for you to love Me as I love you."

A great weight lifted off me then. His love truly surpasses our understanding. Our job is simply to show and tell God's love. This will cause us to emit the incense of Heaven. It will rise up like fragrant fingers pointing to the Lord of Glory.

Something about the heavens, continues Ten Shekel Shirt,

Makes me stand in awe again
Something about the sunrise
Reminds me of Your faithfulness
Something about the ocean


And I'm lost in love again...

The Vine

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

My husband Tom and I went to a winery recently. The day was perfect. We had a simple picnic in the shade near the grapevines which were still bearing their deep purple fruit. There is something about the setting of a vineyard that is so satisfying.

As our Messiah walked and talked with the people of His time, He used many agricultural analogies such as this one from John chapter 15 because Israel was an agrarian society. One does not need to be a farmer, however, to understand that a branch of a plant or tree must remain connected with the main stem or trunk in order to survive. If we as God's people could only grasp this truth and retain it!

One morning after moving into a new house I was in the bedroom praying. I felt the pressure to hurry, but pushed it aside as I knelt down among the stacks of still unpacked boxes surrounding me.

My manner is to simply take time to be with Him in the morning. To seek the Lord's face. Sometimes the Spirit of the Lord will lead me to read a specific section of scripture or to intercede for a certain person or situation. Or we simply love on one another heart to heart. I never know what will happen.

"Lord, here I am."

Almost immediately I heard, "Daughter, I want you to go see Carol this morning."

I popped my head up above the boxes and said out loud, "Really?!" I was so delighted with my 'assignment' that I didn't ask why I was to see this new friend. I simply went. It turned out that my new neighbor was badly in need of encouragement and I had the privilege of ministering to her.

Just as the children of Israel were to follow the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, we are today to follow the Spirit of God in all we do. As we continue to take every thought captive to Christ, we abide in His presence--we are allowing Him to be the vine.

Abiding in His presence--now that is satisfying--and fulfilling. The promise that goes along with this is amazing~~

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,

ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.