Tag: don’t quit

Of Butterflies and Battles

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The easy road is not always the best road to travel.

I get it. We all get tired and completely exhausted at times. Decision fatigue is a real thing, and the call to think through, examine, or make an educated guess on one more decision makes you feel even more exhausted.

Enters, the draw to travel down the easy road. The one where the decisions are made is less, or the struggle seems to be alleviated sooner rather than later.

But trying to exit a struggle prematurely is not always the best option. Just ask the butterfly whose fight to emerge from its constraining cocoon literally means the difference between success and failure, life and death. It must go through the struggle to completely come out in all its beauty!

There is nothing beautiful in a struggle except the joy that comes as an end result. No battle is fun. That’s why they are called battles: they consist of fighting—fighting physically, fighting mentally, fighting emotionally, and spiritually. This is something that most people would prefer not to do.

But if you ask Gideon if he felt the fight was worth it after God gave him the victory with very limited resources, I’m sure he will tell you yes, all the way (Judges 7).

Or, how about Jehoshaphat, who was promised he didn’t need to fight in the battle but was still instructed to go against the enemy with nothing more than a praise (2 Chronicles 20:1-2)?

And speaking of praise, what about the impenetrable walls of Jericho coming down with nothing more than an obedient march followed by a great shout of the same (Joshua 6)?

All these battles seemed impossible to win at the onset. If anyone had dwelled on that possibility, surely, they would have caved under pressure and bowed out before things got too intense and before gaining the victory.

But “the just shall live by faith!” That is what we are told four times in Scripture (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38). The repetitiveness of it should tell us of its importance. Great things in Scripture are done through faith (Heb. 11). Faith to follow through and to continue moving forward where God is leading. Taking yourself out of His plan could mean the loss of a great victory and opportunity.

If you must, take a break, catch your breath, seek spiritual counsel, but do not quit.

Don’t exit the fight, my friend. Wait until God brings you through. In the end, you will see something more beautiful than the wings of a butterfly. You will see God’s plan come to fruition in your life.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

Blessings~

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Do Your Best | Motivation Monday

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“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” Colossians 3:23

In Matthew 25 there is the parable of the talents. Some were productive and some were not. The ones who were, the master blessed with even more. The one that wasn’t lost everything.

We only get out of this life what we put into it. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully,” (2 Corinthians 9:6). I believe this principle can apply to every area of our lives.

Too many are looking for blessings without putting their best foot forward. Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

God honors the persistence and diligence of those who work to put their best foot forward: “For the labourer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7). He rewards those that do their best. Whether in the parable of the talents or in Colossians 3:23, when we do our best, heartily, and bountifully, we can look forward to reaping the best.

If you don’t like what you have been reaping, check to see what you have been sowing. Have we been half-stepping or given it our all, “as for the Lord?”

Life can be overwhelming sometimes. Ask God to help you with your daily schedule and the work you must do and DO YOUR BEST TODAY! Don’t let your talents go to waste!

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“Your Anointing is Dangerous, but it’s Worth It!”

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A shepherd boy who had been forgotten when Samuel came to call, David was treated as a “less than” by everyone who knew him the most, except God.

God, looking past his outer array saw something special in him. He instructed Samuel to “Arise, anoint him: for this is he,” (1 Samuel 16:12). Following God’s lead, “Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward,” (1 Samuel 16:13).

Not only had he been empowered and anointed by God’s Spirit on that day, but ever since then, his life has never been the same. Because of the anointing on his life, David experienced ups and downs; he experienced victories, and he experienced times of loss. But, in the end, he is still known as one of Israel’s greatest kings; as the bloodline through whom our Lord Jesus Christ came, and as a man after God’s own heart, Acts 13:22.

What David gained, Saul lost. As David became empowered by God’s Spirit, Saul was stripped of this anointed pleasure and replaced by something evil, 1 Samuel 16:14. This made David a continual target of hatred and adversity. What started out as a relationship of love (1 Samuel 16:21) quickly turned to envy and hatred after David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines because the women of the city sang, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands,” (1 Samuel 18:7).

Saul knew he was on a downward spiral and as a bird of prey perched to claim his next victim, “Saul eyed David from that day and forward,” (1 Samuel 18:9). Even when David was sent to relieve Saul of the distressing spirit that had come upon him, his life became an endangered treasure as the javelin of hatred whisked through the air intent on taking his life, 1 Samuel 18:10-11.

The LORD was with David. The people loved David. The anointing was on David, but that didn’t mean people wouldn’t try to squash what God was trying to accomplish in his life. David was at times a fugitive, constantly on the run, but he escaped time and again in what I am attributing to the providence of God.

At one point, in a dark cave in the wilderness of En-gedi, David had the opportunity to rid himself of the provocation of Saul once and for all. Yet, David refused to come against anything or anyone who had once been anointed by God, 1 Samuel 24:6.

This did not immediately vanquish Saul’s pursuit of David. Not until Saul perished in the battle against the Philistines did David become free of this enemy who pursued his life, 1 Samuel 31.

Hear this, we may not be aligned to be a great king of Israel or the like, but the Bible tells us, “Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people,” (1 Peter 2:9a). The anointing on your life makes you and me something and someone special before God.

The rest of 1 Peter 2:9 states, “That ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.” Because God has poured His oil of anointing, through the power of His Holy Spirit, upon each and everyone that belongs to Him, we are designed to make a mark for Him in this world.

This anointing will bring enemies and battles, and yes, at times may seem dangerous, yet, “He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God,” (2 Corinthians 1:21). God is the one that has anointed us, and “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).

Through Jesus Christ; through the power of His Spirit in us, we have been called and blessed to walk in the power of all God designed each one of us to be. Don’t let your circumstances dictate your anointing. Don’t let the Saul’s of your life pierce through what God has divinely appointed for you. David ran for his life yet God’s plan for him never faltered. He was set aside for the Master’s use, and so are we.

There will always been adversity against God’s anointing, but if God anointed you choose today to walk in all that He has blessed you to be. Your anointing may seem dangerous at times, but in the end, it is well worth it. Just ask David.

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