Tomorrow is my 29th birthday and naturally on birthdays, we are sometimes acknowledged for our existence with gifts and celebratory moments. As I enter and embrace this last phase of my 20's, I wanted to share the gift of God's truth. As I was looking through my Bible several months ago, I came across two things, a name analysis of my first name(I'll share that in a later post) and an assignment I completed in 2010 for my discipleship class entitled, "Disciple's Cross". Our assignment was to study the scriptures relating to discipleship,creating a teachable diagram of the cross with the focus of sharing what we learned with the class. So as I studied the scriptures and thought about how it applied to my life, I asked God how can I convey discipleship creatively through my point of view. He instantly gave me the image of a butterfly, which made sense to me because I've always used the image as an analogy for my life and walk with Christ. The essence and stages of butterflies represent freedom and when I think of salvation, its being free in Christ.
A butterfly begins its life as a caterpillar, slowly crawling on the earth. Like that caterpillar, we slowly walk the Earth day by day too. In order to reach the end destination(butterfly stage), we have to go through a process. First, we have to make Christ the center of our lives (John 15:5, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me."-Spend time with the Master.
Next, we study the Word daily. (John 8:31-32, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."_Live in the Word.
The third element is prayer. John 15:7, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you."_Pray in Faith.
Spending time with the Lord, studying the Word, and praying in faith are the key elements needed to experience a transformation within. Like the butterfly, we have to form a "cocoon", setting ourselves apart, allowing a deeper spiritual process to occur.
After the process, the butterfly is ready to emerge, showcasing its beautiful wings (love & knowledge of Christ). John 13: 34-35, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."_Fellowship with Believers
John 15:8, "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."_Witness to the World
John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."_Minister to Others
The love and knowledge of Christ through the Word, prayer, fellowship, and witnessing births ministries: teaching/preaching, worship/intercession, nurture, evangelism, and service.
It is through these ministries
and spiritual disciplines that we begin to master life and prepare for God's use in the Kingdom. Like the caterpillar who goes through a process to become a butterfly, showcasing its beauty to the world, our ultimate goal is to deny ourselves, position ourselves through a process, and sharing Christ to make disciples. This is where true freedom lies. Below is my illustration of the Disciple's Cross.
God bless
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