The Lord is my shepherd;there is nothing I lack.
He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
He renews my soul; He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake.
Even when I go through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff - they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Yes, goodness and kindness will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.
- Psalm 23
Coming to the place where the new life we have in the spirit overcomes the old nature and who we once were through relationship with and awareness of the presence of the Lord, and the renewing and recreating of our soul is a wonderful journey, although it's not always easy, and it's not always fun. I say recreating rather than restoration, because what our spirit is restored and being transformed from what was to what was always meant to be, it's not being restored to anything we knew or experienced. From the moment we were old enough to understand conscious choice, our souls have been broken, missing the essential ingredient of life worth living, and quite frankly, I have no desire to go back or be restored to that. It's a process of change and transformation that is real and permanent, as drastic and dramatic as the caterpillar becoming the butterfly.
And the new life within us, this new identity, our butterfly spirit, takes the relationship with and the power provided by our inner roommate, the Holy Spirit, and the renewing of our mind that grows out of the new heart and the understanding of the love of Daddy who we are in Him, changes our thoughts, our actions, our reactions and therefore changes our very nature. We are no longer caterpillars. Ok, so the job may not be done on the outside. Spiritually we are butterflies rising our of the blood of Christ, beautiful, new, able to fly and reflecting the glory of God. We do not hide the process and transformation in a cocoon, but rather from the point we begin to follow Jesus until we close our eyes on earth for the last time, we walk, completely new and transformed the butterfly on the inside, in our heart and soul, and morphing through the change over the rest of our life in our minds and emotions. This process means we will need to realign and continue to purposefully renew our minds and hearts and emotions and will with our Creator, because it is His power and love that performs the metamorphosis. But we progress, and we grow in Him and learn to lean on His grace to do those things that we could never do for ourselves, like love God and love others like Jesus did, like laying our lives down joyfully in service and seeking first and foremost relationship with Daddy and His reign in our life, choosing, by the guidance of the Spirit, the right paths.
And in this new identity comes a new way of life that leads to a new happiness. We don't have to get angry and throw a fit when things don't go our way anymore, because we can trust that Daddy is going to work it so that however it goes it will bring us into deeper relationship with Him and bring about something good in our life. Instead of blowing up and bickering when we believe we're right and someone else is wrong, we can speak the truth in love or listen to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit which may tell us that they're not ready to hear, so don't preach and don't push but love, love, love until they want to know how you can love like that. Then show them Jesus. Remember that we are not called to argue or scare the hell out of anyone, but to love the hell out of them by demonstrating Jesus in our lives. Instead of spiraling into despair when we suffer loss, lose our dreams, make a mistake or get mistreated or rejected by others, we remember that we are loved by Daddy, forgiven, and like Jesus can forgive and show loving grace to others, even our enemies and those who deserve it least. When we feel the pressure of life, overwhelmed by need, confused and afraid, we don't have to turn to drink or drug or that bowl of Bluebell ice cream, or whatever it is you instinctively reach for in the darkest days in the Valley of the Shadow, but we reach out to Daddy for comfort, refuge and provision.
God's ways are not naturally our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts. But as we progress in the morphing from caterpillar to the butterfly we learn to rely on Him, to listen to Him, to pause and wait on the wind of His Spirit to carry us where we need to go and when, and to love and serve and be like Jesus. And our thoughts change so that our actions and reactions become more and more like His, like a butterfly's rather than a caterpillar. There is no pain, not fear, no evil, no past, dream dying in agony, no situation we can't control, no circumstance coming against us, nothing....no how no way, that can separate us from Daddy's love for us, that can stop the process of the butterfly rising within, that we can't endure and find deeper relationship because of and give God glory in the midst of.
So today, and every day, let us exercise our new wings. Let us stretch out to feel the wind of the Spirit and soar where He wills. Let us love Him and love others and seek that relationship above all else, so that we are constantly being renewed and refreshed. It may not always be our first instinct or desire even to take the time to saturate our minds with the truth of God's word and meditation on His love for us. We may feel too busy, or too stressed, or it may seem like the situations we are currently facing are more pressing, but the joy and peace and strength that come from regularly renewing our minds and spirits in relationship with God is worth it as we are transformed from the creatures we once were, crawling through the dirt struggling to survive to the butterfly reflecting His awesome wonder and love.
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