“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting! Psalm 139:23-24
My cousin Jean on my mother’s side of the family use to baby sit my sister Mary and I, often recounts a particular excursion to the park when we were young. As always, she reminded me to not wonder off and try to catch butterfly’s, but as always, I said, “I can do it by myself.” So, without looking, I just walked on out. Trying to catch one of those beautiful creatures She knew I would do it… so she kept her eyes glued on me. And how did she know I’d do it? Because like God, she knew me well. She knew that I like to be free and do things my own way. When I took that first step off the curb, she yanked me back onto the grass to avoid the piles of broken glass. Needless to say, I had to hold her hand after that. Have you tugged one of your children back before? Have you ever been tugged?
If so, you know that tug is not out of anger, but out of love.
Even though my cousin knew what wrong I was about to commit, she protected me. She accepted my desire for independence and gave me the latitude to express it, but ultimately, she cared for me enough to hold my hand. Likewise, God hems us in, in order to shelter and protect us. Even though God knows all our weaknesses and sin, he accepts us and welcomes us into his family. God knows all the things we hide and all the stuff we feel guilty about; even still, he loves us. God’s knowledge is, therefore, not a threat—but a comfort. (The Psalmist recognizes how magnificent God’s intimacy is. He writes, “God’s knowledge is too wonderful for me.”) God knows our secret fears, our struggles, and our needs. He knows our greatest joys, our passions, and our laughter. His knowledge is so expansive that we cannot understand it. But let us rejoice in this knowledge rather than run from it. Let us celebrate God’s intimacy. After all, the King of the Universe has chosen to be in relationship with us!
Butterfly Passage
A Christian Journey Continues….
A “butterfly “In the Holy Spirit.
Soaring higher than others;
We each flutters the best pathway that one can.
Put side by side, Why?
Each one is Atypical!
Each one is uniquely Loved!
Each, with the help of Him
is Exquisitely Blessed!
Tugged, toward newness, “seeing/seeking the kingdom of God”.
I write the above poem to reminds us of the majesty of the Holy Spirit that with it we rarely “happen”. We all appreciate majesty, but change can be difficult and we therefore tend to challenge it. Why? Because humans are people of inclination, and new circumstance alters the patterns in which we do things, we are secure in the predictable- newness tends to make life uncomfortable. However, without variation we cannot grow. Without it there can be no true repentance or sanctification. Some changes or independence in life however, can feel almost unbearable. Especially done by yourself!
Jesus promised the Spirit as a permanent guide, teacher, seal of salvation, and comforter for believers (John 14:16-18). He also promised that the Holy Spirit’s power would help His followers to spread the message of the gospel around the world: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The salvation of souls is a supernatural work only made possible by the Holy Spirit’s power at work in the world.
Moreover, evidence of change within us is seen in the way we increasingly reflect the likeness and glory of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). For as the apostle Paul said, “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Romans 8:9). To be considered as children of God, we must be led by the Spirit of God. And it is through the power of God’s Spirit that Christ lives within us. The transformed or makeover life mirrors the attitude of the apostle Paul: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
God is always with us, wanting us to get to know him. The song “Beautiful Mystery” by Caedmon’s Call reminds us of this. One line reads, “You're like the water I can feel but not grasp. Still You say, all I've got to do is seek and knock and ask.” This is God’s desire for our lives: to spend time with him.
"I sought the Lord, and afterward I knew,
He moved my soul to seek Him, seeking me.
It was not I that found, O Savior True,
No, I was found of Thee."
PRAYER: Father, we can hardly understand that you identify us so appropriately, and still love us as though we have not once sinned. We lay out all of our anxieties, struggles, and needs before you, trusting that will live with us even in the midst of them, in the name of Jesus, Amen
God Bless You and This Ministry!
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