Are You Chasing Butterflies?
Isaiah 53:6 – “And all of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.”
As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God, a thought came to my mind that I could not move past. It is revealing, challenging, and perplexing.
“Some people live life chasing butterflies!” Pursuing dreams can be noble and commendable if they are God-inspired dreams rooted in the heart, nature, and character of God. On the other hand, if they are fantasies, they become stumbling blocks and reefs in our love feasts. Some have chased butterflies so long that they can no longer see the truth. Their butterflies have become their truth. Their life is always in the future, even though their assignment is in the present.
God’s call is not contingent upon anything external. Within Himself, all things exist. Focusing on our butterflies blocks our view of immediacy. Now is the accepted time. God is a God of the now. He embodies past, present, and future, but our assignment is in the present. We don’t know what tomorrow holds. We have no promise of tomorrow. We have an assignment that requires trust now rather than a fantasy of tomorrow.
If we watch the clouds, fear the winds, and are held back by the rain, we fail. Little is much if God is in it. Remember the little widow and the prophet? God took the little and made it much. Remember the loaves and fishes for the 5,000 and 4,000? They refused to chase butterflies and achieved the purposes of God. Gideon took 300 and defeated a mighty army. One can chase a thousand, and 2 can put ten thousand to flight.
The issue is total surrender and complete trust. Otherwise, it is not faith, it is God AND…(whatever the butterflies are). If we hear and heed, He will provide. Matthew 6:33 is the key! No more chasing butterflies for me! Speak, my LORD, and I will be quick to answer thee!
LORD, help us to never become distracted and chase butterflies but to focus on You!
Everything Is Better With Love
1 John 2:7-11b – “Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God, I was arrested in my spirit. The thought of real salvation filled my thoughts. The question: “How many are truly saved?” Would not leave me.
As I examined John’s discourse and instructions to the believers, I was challenged. This may seem almost aside, but 1 John 1:1-4 gives a directive and reveals a need. John had experienced Jesus, and out of that experience, he preached. Preaching from theory impacts no one. Preaching from experience leads to life.
John gave some identifying characteristics of being saved. 1 John 2:3 – Keep God’s commandments. (Not law keeping but heart living.) 1 John 2:7-11 reveals a neglected truth. Hate negates the testimony and invalidates the claim of salvation.
In 1 John 3, we realize that obedience (from the heart) is evidence of salvation. 1 John 3:14-18 gives a picture of demonstrated love. That reveals Jesus in the heart (salvation).
1 John 4:7-8 is impossible to escape from or explain away. Are we truly saved? There can be no hate. Let’s narrow that down a bit. If we do not have active love, it is either a precursor to hate or it is hate!
In 1 John 4:11-18, we discover that LOVE is the most prolific evidence of salvation. In verses 19-21, we come face to face with a staggering truth: no love for others, no Jesus in our hearts. No Jesus, no salvation. True salvation allows no room for hate. There is no room for all the levels or stages of hate.
I hear people say, “I don’t hate them, I just want nothing to do with them.” Examine that. Is that love? Be honest. No love, no Jesus. We know we have passed from death to life by two things. We keep God’s commandments, and we love one another. Love is active! Do we have hate in our hearts? Dislike negates love. No love, no Jesus.
Lord, help me to love everyone! Help me to hate, no one! Remember, Love is not tolerance. Just being tolerant is not evidence of love.
Are You Striving After The Wind?
Ecclesiastes 1:14 – I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind.
As I read, prayed, and mused on the Word of God today, I was challenged by the Word and Spirit of God. Many are “striving after the wind,” chasing a life that does not exist. In Ecclesiastes 1, Solomon offers a powerful reminder: “Time marches on with or without us.” In verses 8-9, he reminds us that we are not originators, only users. All originates from God!
In Ecclesiastes 2:24-26, he reminds us that there are no answers for the paradoxes of life. Therefore, we should live life to the fullest every day. He drives that point home in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, reminding us that there is a time for everything and that timing is not ours to decide. In verse 14, we realize the eternality of God’s works. In verse 22, the revelation that sets us free is: be content where you are with what you have. Be at peace within and choose to rejoice. It is a choice!
Ecclesiastes 5:10 is revelatory. “He who loves (longs for or fantasizes about) money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This, too, is vanity.” Then, in Ecclesiastes 9:2, we are reminded that everyone dies! Therefore, focus on the eternal and our assignment, not some what-if or when. Live now!
It would benefit us to read, study, and meditate on 2 Peter 1:3-11. There, we see what God has granted or graced to us and discover that by or through them, we are able to partake of the divine nature!
Jesus is coming back. Delay is an opportunity for doubt to gain a foothold. But if we focus on the reason for the delay, doubt is destroyed. The reason is (vv 8-9). God does not want even one soul to perish, but for everyone to come to repentance. That shifts the focus from escape or even promotion to purpose and mission. Our primary purpose is to share the message of the kingdom with people and lead them to freedom.
Now is the time. The assignment is the focus. Nothing is to be allowed to distract or delay our pursuit of His purpose and call. Nothing! Anything that distracts or delays our pursuit of His purpose must be repented of and cast aside. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness. He is our purpose, provision, and power!
LORD, help us to pursue you, not strive after the wind of fantasy!
How Much of Our Heart Does God Have?
Proverbs 23:3-8 – Do not crave that ruler’s delicacies, for that food is deceptive. 4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. 5 When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! 6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies; 7 for he is like someone who has calculated the cost in his mind. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you; 8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted your pleasant words.”
As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, several things, not unrelated but covering the whole gamut of life, caught my attention.
Proverbs 21:2 – “Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts.” We tend to limit that to the spiritual, but it covers Everything! God is not interested in opinion; He is focused on the heart, the motivation. Why do we think, do, and pursue what we do?
If God has the heart, the motivation becomes pure. To assume He has our hearts is a mistake. Can we depart from a pursuit or pattern of thought, or do we insist (God said or promised)? What if He didn’t? What if it is us convincing ourselves? He said Because we want something.
Proverbs 23:3-7 provides a powerful but challenging revelation. The power of desire. In verse 4, we are warned about obsessive craving for wealth. (These tie back to what we just said.) We convince ourselves that what we want is God’s promise. Is it? Does He have our whole heart?
Proverbs 24:27 – “Prepare your work outside and make it ready for yourself in the field; afterwards, then, build your house.” First, do the assignment given to you, focus on your purpose, not your palace.
Proverbs 26:2 – “A curse without cause (legal ground) does not alight.” Consider that in this light. If you are self-deceived and calling your way, hope, dream, God’s promise, but it is based on self, not Him, that gives legal ground for the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy.
1 Peter 2:8 gives powerful insight. “For they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word.” In Proverbs 28:19, we read, “He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.”
Even if they obtain their fantasy, it will be empty and leave them empty. The chief goal of life is not what we desire or dream, but what He purposes. Paul’s revelation is important. In everything, I have learned to be content. Why? Total trust!
Does God have our whole heart? Lord, help us to surrender our whole hearts to You!
Do You Love Discipline?
Proverbs 12:1 “The one who loves discipline loves knowledge, but the one who hates reproof is stupid.”
As I read, prayed, and meditated on the Word of God today, the heart, faith, words, and thoughts gripped my consciousness. Proverbs 11 begins with the destructiveness and power of Pride. Pride is a mysterious thing, shaping the thoughts, feeding the lust of covetousness and envy, and thereby bringing us down in destruction.
Because of Love, God disciplines us. Proverbs 12:1 is a difficult pill for many to swallow. “Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge.” Is that saying we long for discipline (punishment)? No, that would be a misunderstanding of discipline and its purpose.
Discipline is correction, which enables us to learn a principle that brings us peace and productivity. The one who craves knowledge (especially the knowledge of God) understands that discipline opens the door to truth and liberates.
God desires to develop pure hearts that are yielded to His purposes. The blessings of God are often realized in the midst of a trial. The gist of Proverbs 14:4 could be summed up this way – “No milk without some manure.” Trials are fertilizers for faith.
God desires to bring us to a place where we are not “two-hearted” or “double-minded.” He wants to bring us to the place where we have learned to trust Him totally. Proverbs 12:5-8 reminds us that righteous thoughts open the door to deliverance and give access to insight that leads to victory.
The heart is the key. If we give God our whole heart, He will guard it and guide it. If we allow pride, envy, jealousy, lust, covetousness, or develop the idea of fairness and entitlement, we will become ensnared by our thoughts, which will imprison us and prevent us from accessing God’s fullness.
What fills our thoughts holds our hearts and determines our destiny. The heart is the key.
Lord help us to desire knowledge to the point we are willing to receive discipline!
Roy's Covenant Corner 