Breakfast For Your Soul

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.  Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation. All power to Him forever! Amen.

[1 Peter 5:6-10]

A man was sitting in a garden. when he saw the incredible sight of a cocoon with a tiny opening through which a butterfly was trying to emerge.

He watched for over an hour, captivated, as the butterfly struggled to come out of that tiny hole, bit by bit, flapping its wings, shaking itself, fighting, struggling, to free its body out of that little opening. And after about an hour of the frantic struggle, there seemed to be no more progress. It looked like the butterfly had probably got as far as it could on its own.

So the man decided to help the poor butterfly. He went closer to the cocoon, and with gentle hands, tore open the hole in the cocoon, just a bit wider, to allow the butterfly to emerge easily. The butterfly came out. It had a shriveled body, tiny wings and looked weak and tender.

The man eagerly waited for the butterfly’s wings to open, expand, get bigger, for it to fly away. But that did not happen. In fact the butterfly remained weak and shriveled, unable to fly.

What the poor man did not realize is that in his attempt to help the butterfly, he had in fact harmed it.

The struggle to break free from the cocoon is nature’s way of preparing the butterfly to learn to fly. As it fights to emerge from the restrictive cocoon, fluids from the body get pushed into the wings, making them stronger, expanding them, enabling them to fly. Without that struggle, the butterfly remains weak, unable to fly.

“Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand”, Pastor Jackson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1hYyhR7jf0

“God Specializes”, Pastor E. Dewey Smith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK-mWlEFDuQ

“My Soul Is Anchored”, Douglas Miller

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p6yKAr4QvA

“This Mornin When I Rose”, Missippi Mass Choir

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwMzirVEyeg

Desert Oasis -Isaiah 55:2 9 of 116   The Kingdom of God, the Church, is an oasis in the middle of the dry desert of the world. God invites those who are thirsty to come and partake of His bounteous table.. January 1, 2007

Don’t Worry -Matthew 6:26,27 12 of 116   It can be easy to let yourself fall into the trap of worrying about money. We must learn to trust that God will take care of us, and provide for us, just as He takes care of the birds of the air. January 1, 2007