Butterfly Ministries

I AM A MIGHTY GOD, Nothing is too difficult for Me. I have chosen to use weak ones like you to accomplish My purposes. Your weakness is designed to open you up to My Power. Therefore, do not fear your limitations or measure the day’s demands against your strength. What I require of you is to stay connected to Me, living in trusting dependence on My limitless resources. When you face unexpected demands, there is no need to panic. Remember that I am with you. Talk with Me, and listen while I talk you through each challenging situation.
I am not a careless God. When I allow difficulties to come into your life, I equip you fully to handle them. Relax in My Presence, trusting in My Strength.

Jesus Calling Devotional
by Sarah Young

Filed under: Uncategorized on May 14th, 2012 | No Comments »

If you learn to trust Me –really trust Me–with your whole being, then nothing can separate you from My Peace. Everything you endure can be put to good use by allowing it to train you in trusting Me. This is how you foil the works of evil, growing in grace through the very adversity that was meant to harm you. Joseph was a prime example of this divine reversal, declaring to his brothers: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.”
Do not fear what this day, or any day, may bring your way. Concentrate on trusting Me and on doing what needs to be done. Relax in My sovereignty, remembering that I go before you, as well as with you into each day. FEAR NO EVIL, for I can bring good out of every situation you will ever encounter.

Jesus Calling
Sarah Young

Filed under: Uncategorized on May 7th, 2012 | No Comments »

Someone told me about a poem that a certain preacher read at every funeral he preached and with the power of the internet I was able to find it! Hope it touches you as much as it did me. Julie

The Dash
by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak
at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
from the beginning…to the end.

He noted that first came the date of her birth
and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered most of all
was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time
that she spent alive on earth…
and now only those who loved her
know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
the cars….the house…the cash.
What matters is how we live and love
and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard…
are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much time is left.
(You could be at “dash midrange.”)

If we could just slow down enough
to consider what’s true and real,
and always try to understand
the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives
like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
and more often wear a smile…
remembering that this special dash
might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy’s being read
with your life’s actions to rehash…
would you be proud of the things they
say about how you spend your dash?

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Title: Re: The dash, just a beautiful little poem
Post by: JP on May 26, 2008, 06:56:12 PM

Filed under: Uncategorized on April 29th, 2012 | No Comments »

THE LAST WORD

All of us may find our courage tested by the inevitable disappointments and tragedies of life. After all, ours is a world filled with uncertainty, hardship, sickness, and danger. Old Man Trouble, it seems, is never too far from the front door.

When we focus upon our fears and our doubts, we may find many reasons to lie awake at night and fret about the uncertainties of the coming day. A better strategy, of course, is to focus not upon our fears, but instead upon our God.

God is your shield and your strength; you are His forever. So don’t focus your thoughts upon the fears of the day. Instead, trust God’s plan and His eternal love for you. And remember: God is good, and He has the last word.

For God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. So don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me His prisoner. Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God.
2 Timothy 1:7-8

Filed under: Uncategorized on April 16th, 2012 | No Comments »

Disappointments

by Os Hillman

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life. ~ Proverbs 13:12

Life is filled with disappointments. Many of God’s greatest servants experienced deep disappointment in their journeys of faithfulness to God. Joseph, after spending years as a slave and in jail for crimes that he did not commit, revealed deep disappointment when he was forgotten another two years in prison. John the Baptist, when awaiting execution, doubted whether Jesus was, in fact, the Christ because he was sitting there awaiting his death. Elijah, losing all hope and despondent to the point of death, asked God to take his life in the desert; and Peter, who left his fishing business and invested three years of his life only to watch his Savior crucified, wondered whether the purpose of those three years could be justified.
When life doesn’t add up, it leaves the heart sick. When we have done all we know to do and the formula has not worked, it leaves us questioning. These are times that try the very souls of men. There is no human sense to be made of it. We are left with a choice: to cling or not to cling. There are times when holding on to our Master’s robe is all that we can do. It is all that He wants us to do.
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not obtained by sudden flight;
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore,
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern-unseen before-
A path to higher destinies!
~Longfellow
There is only one answer to life’s disappointments. Like the psalmist, we must “Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken” (Ps. 62:5-6).

Filed under: Uncategorized on April 2nd, 2012 | No Comments »

The Butterfly Effect

Ever wonder why the weather is so unpredictable? A wise man once said that a butterfly who flaps its wings in South America can alter the weather in Central Park or even prevent a tornado in Texas! Even the smallest of events can create massive change within a system.

Have you ever thought of the power we have to alter or change someone’s life? We influence the people we are around everyday, either with positive or negative energy. I often think at the end of the day of the people I might have passed by someone that needed that extra hug or something as simple as a smile. We can make a difference by the words we speak, call we make, or card that we send!

Flap your wings …and go that extra mile to share the love of Jesus today!

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before me, that they make see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

In Loving Memory of Trey LePelley
June 10, 1982 – March 13, 2005

Filed under: Uncategorized on March 18th, 2012 | No Comments »

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The plan of God for your life is that you should be held captive by His power, doing that which you in the natural world would never do, but that which you are forced to do by the power of the Holy Spirit moving thru you. Smith Wigglesworth

Watch, standfast in the faith, be brave, be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13

Filed under: Uncategorized on February 26th, 2012 | No Comments »

world.
The Parable of the Twins

Once, twins were conceived. Weeks passed and they developed. As
they grew, they sang for joy, “Isn’t it great to be alive!”
Together the twins explored the womb. When they found their
mother’s life cord, they shouted for joy. “How great is our mother’s love
that she shares her very life with us.”
As weeks passed, the twins began to change. “What does this mean?”
said the one. “It means that our life in the womb is coming to an end,” said
the second. “But I don’t want to leave the womb, I want to stay here
forever,” said the first.
“We have no choice,” said the second. “Besides, maybe there is life
after birth.” “How can that be?” said the first. “We will shed our mother’s
cord, and how is life possible without it? Besides, there is evidence that
there were others in the womb before us, and none of them has ever come
back to tell us there is life after birth. No, this is the end.”
And so the first twin fell into despair, saying. “If life in the womb
ends in death what’s its purpose? It’s meaningless! Maybe we don’t even
have a mother. Maybe we made her up.” “But we must have a mother,”
said the second. “How else did we get here? How else do we stay alive?”
And so the last days in the womb were filled with deep questioning
and fear.
Finally, the moment of birth arrived. When the twins opened their
eyes, they cried for joy. For what they saw exceeded their wildest dreams.

“What no one ever saw or heard.
what no one ever thought could happen.
is the very thing
God prepared for those who love him”
(1 Cor. 2:9)

Filed under: Uncategorized on February 5th, 2012 | No Comments »

God is….an ever-present help in trouble” (Psalm 10:1). But He allows trouble to pursue us, as though He were indifferent to its overwhelming pressure, so we may be brought to the end of ourselves. Through the trial, we are led to discover the treasure of darkness and the immeasurable wealth of tribulation.

We may be sure that He who allows the suffering is with us throughout it. It may be that we will only see Him once the ordeal is nearly passed, but we must dare to believe that He never leaves our trial. Our eyes are blinded so we cannot see the One our soul loves. The darkness and our bandages blind us so that we cannot see the form of our High Priest. Yet He is there and is deeply touched. Let us not rely on oour feelings but trust in His unswerving faithfulness. And though we cannot see Him, let us talk to Him. Although His presence is veiled, once we begin to speak to Jesus as if He were literally present, an answering voice comes to show us He is in the shadows, keeping watch over His own. Your Father is as close to you when you journey through the darkest tunnel as He is when you are under the open heaven! from Daily Devotional Commentary

Filed under: Uncategorized on January 23rd, 2012 | No Comments »

TEMPORARY SETBACKS

The occasional disappointments and failures of life are inevitable. Such setbacks are simply the price that we must occasionally pay for our willingness to take risks as we follow our dreams. But even when we encounter bitter disappointments, we must never lose faith.

When we encounter the inevitable difficulties of life-here-on-earth, God stands ready to protect us. Our responsibility, of course, is to ask Him for protection. When we call upon Him in heartfelt prayer, He will answer–in His own time and according to His own plan–and He will heal us. And, while we are waiting for God’s plans to unfold and for His healing touch to restore us, we can be comforted in the knowledge that our Creater cana overcome any obstacle, even if we cannot.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance….Ecclesiastes 3:4 KJV

365 Daily Devotions

In essence, my testimony is that there is a life after failure: abundant, effective, spirit-filled life for those who are willing to repent hard and work hard. Beth Moore

Filed under: Uncategorized on January 9th, 2012 | No Comments »