The Invisible Fight

Sometimes I wish I had a black stone for every word I said that was not up building and a white on for everything I've said that was encouraging, and see witch house would be erected first. Isn't it strange how we can break a heart, shatter trust, deeply hurt someone, or loose a friend and not see, hear, or perceive it in any physical way.

There are meager battles going on in each of us, everyday, and we simply cannot see how the other person is fighting with his burdens. Paul talks about fighting the good fight.

So what are we fighting?

I know my personal giant is in my head, and I must daily scramble to keep gracious, positive, forgiving and unselfish thoughts in my mind. Mustering up to keep pride, envy, criticism and worry from entering my heart. Romans 12 warns us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed be the renewing of our minds.

Who am I fighting?

"Not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers." So does this mean that I'm not to be at odds with a sister or brother but with the devil? The struggle is not against one I strive to love who is made of flesh, but against the evil one who would have discord and sews seeds, in the form of thoughts, to destroy unity.

Lies, Lies, Lies
I'm so sick of lies,
is that all the devil can do.
Spare me
Never do I ever want to hear another lie
There isn't one I haven't heard.

That's from Elisa Doolittle, I sing it when I'm fed up from listening to the enemy tell me how worthless I am.

Why should I fight?

I know there is a war between evil and good, and if I don't try fighting for the good, evil will overcome me. It's like a house, if no one keeps it up, it will be destroyed. The kingdom of heaven is in my heart, if I let The King rule in it, I will reap the blessings. Oh, but where is the new heart I was promised? Will I always have to fight? Out of the heart come all kinds of unclean things. I will just have to do battle till the Lord sees fit to change my heart. He's the one who hardened Pharaoh's heart and I'll leave it in His loving care

It is incredible how silently and subtly the battle is lost or won. How vast and invisible the work of the Lord. I read a passage in Sirach the other day that said we shouldn't look down one people because the Lord does wonderful things that human beings never notice. Wow!!

Born again

I’ve been wanting to blog forever about my beautiful butterflies. I wanted to explain what I meant in my former blog (see Butterfly house) about how the life cycle of a butterfly reminds me of our new birth in Christ. Remember Nicodemus’ talk with Jesus in the night about being born again? I find a great example of this in the metamorphosis of butterflies.

First of all, they are born once, as we are from our mother’s womb, they are born of an egg that their mother has laid on the milkweed. They are just a tiny warm at first and grow to be a fat two inches by feeding on the milkweed.

Well, the milkweed is significant to me because the word of God is referred to as milk in one of Paul’s sermons. We, as spiritual babies, also need this milk to help us grow and become mature and strong. One interesting thing here about this milkweed is that it makes the larva poisonous to its predators. Our souls also have a ‘predator,’ is it not Satan? Is there safety from him by feeding on the word of God?
Once the worm is fed and fat it finds a safe place and spins a web that will hold it in place while it is changing. It attaches it’s back end to the web and hangs in a J, (for Jesus of course) until it is ready to become a new creature. “If any man is in Christ he is a new creature” Off with the old....... .....and on with the new. Since "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" we are to put off our old sinful nature and become a new person. The worm sheds it's skin while it hangs from it's anchor......this is what I’d call the second birth.

Just as the cocoon stays fastened we must hang on to the rock through any weather, storm or wind. We must cling to the word of God through temptation and trials; stay still and focused on our source of strength in sunshine or rain.
It takes about two weeks for the chrysalis to become a butterfly depending on how warm the temperature. The warmer the sooner it will turn. And all of a sudden……
The skin or house it was in dries up and dies, and out comes something beautiful that can take to the skies. This stage reminds me of our death, our body, or earthly shell, becomes old and useless, and when we die we can go to the mansion that God has built for us somewhere in the heavens.
The butterfly then reproduces (lays more eggs) and migrates all the way to Mexico. Jesus mentions a “regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory” but that mystery is far beyond me. I just know for sure that the butterfly goes into a warmer environment for the winter.