Good morning…
Yesterday after blogging about Our New Selves matching the metamorphosis of a butterfly, I received a text from a loyal reader from South Carolina, a faithful woman I have never met.
“Good morning, Sue,” she wrote. “I’m sending you part of the Glorify devotional from today, as the Holy Spirit is using the butterfly transformation to encourage us again.”
“God’s surround sound astounds me!” I replied to my texting friend. “What an important message the butterfly whispers, ‘Wearing the identity of Christ like a fresh set of wings, we are changed into a new creation.’ Thanks so much for sharing.”
Then, later in the day, I randomly received another email with a similarly encouraging message.
“You do not just wake up and become the butterfly. Growth is a process.” — Rupi Kaur
“A caterpillar dreaming of becoming a butterfly must overcome immense challenges to accomplish its profound and glorious transformation into winged beauty. Every autumn, trees release their leaves in a vibrant display of brilliant colors and shapes. All manner of creatures in the natural world shed the constraints of their skins to make way for new evolutionary phases. As more complex beings, we share this instinctive, intuitive wisdom of release and renewal. Our unique ability allows us to consciously choose to let go of burdens, to hold fast to what remains resilient, and to nurture the emergence of new dreams and possibilities.”
Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between himself and us, and he has given us the work of making peace between himself and others. What we mean is that God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world. And he has given us the work of sharing his message about peace (2 Corinthians 5:17-19, CEV).
God has done it all! Might we wholeheartedly live into our irreversible new identity?
The peace and forgiveness offered to the people of this world depends on us sharing God’s message of metamorphosis.
…Sue…
P.S. Another longtime friend also wrote me yesterday: “I love this song. I feel like I’m in church when it plays on the radio.”
