An old Story with a New Focus…..A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. So the man decided to help the butterfly. 
The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body, and small, shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that at any moment the wings would expand to support the body, which would contract in time.
Neither happened.
In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.
It was never able to fly.
He did not understand that in his well-intentioned kindness he had changed the order of things. He was unaware that the restricted cocoon and the struggle required to get through the tiny opening was needed to force fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved the freedom from the cocoon.
Story Author unknown – Below is adapted as per Scripture …..
God’s blueprint in Creation always has a purpose and it’s always for good and it is the same in the lives of those who Love Him.Of course we are not really Butterflies, they don’t even have the same pain senses that we have but I like this allegory because it shows we can escape the old sinful life that we had before which kept us in darkness and which caused us to suffer because of our sin, Jesus is The Key and He tells us how we are to do this in Scripture and He has set us free so we can.
Psalm 9:8-10 And He shall judge the world in righteousness, He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy Name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee.
Struggle is part of a messed up world, Satan puts us to the test, we reap what we sow or others hurt us.
Lamentations 3: 33 For God doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of men.
We also need to be perfected in Love by putting our evil flesh nature to death through the empowering of The Holy Spirit as we choose to walk in Love which is The Fruit of the Spirit. This means we need to choose to do so even though we may want to take the wide easy road which has no commitment to Love God or others but it will leave us crippled. If we choose God’s guidelines we can be assured that we never walk alone.
Isaiah 43:1-3 – Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.”
Overcoming obstacles with the Lord’s strength in us, makes us strong not of ourselves but in His Love that offers Hope to see us through. We do not walk alone unless we choose to which means we will never fly …..
Because we can never fly alone.I needed Love…..I realised just how much I was Loved…..I encountered problems to solve and asked for God’s wisdom and I received it and I thank Him for keeping His promise.
I needed strength…..I experienced life’s difficulties and so I asked for strength to overcome and He gave it to me eternally in Jesus Christ.
I had material needs…..I was given opportunities to work and received blessings to enjoy and share.
I needed courage…..I was given Strength to overcome danger.
I needed Compassion…..I was given friends and met troubled people who I could offer Help to and they were there for me too and Jesus never left my side.
I needed encouragement …..I uplifted others in Prayer and I was encouraged by their growth and others did the same for me.
I needed to be blessed by others…..I was given opportunities to do good and in so doing I was blessed too.
I received everything I needed and also my Godly heart desires.
Romans 8:28.And we know that in all things and always God works for the good of those who Love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Jeremiah 29 :11-12 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a Hope.
Psalm 37:4-5 Delight thyself also in the LORD and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD Trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass.
I Posted this message again this time for T as we have been sharing about Butterflies, to Thank her, she is a Special Blogging Friend and I have also been very blessed by her Love for Children in need, T may not have known Jesus for a long time as some have but He has always known her and T faithfully chooses now to walk in His Love as she reaches out helping and seeking help for the Children cared for by Compassion.
T’s link – http://astorybyme.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/a-very-special-letter/
Freedomborn 
Great story about the butterfly and how life’s struggles are how we grow.
p.s. Thanks, T, for this repost.
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Thanks sf for visiting and sharing, yes we have to put our carnal flesh to death so we can escape the cocoon but we have been set free by Jesus, so we can, no Temptation will be greater than we can bear.
I also enjoyed Karina’s message that T reblogged, I wish Karina had Posted it before I did mine, I would have mentioned it but I still may use it later on.
Thanks again – Christian Love – Anne
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I always love that butterfly story , for I am always reminded that God in His perfect creation, has planned what is the best growth pattern we need. Sometimes we ignore that and think we know better , however well intentioned .Spiritually its no different ! Thank you God that you were the perfect Creator!
Blessings
Ron
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Yes so True Love, when we let our carnal flesh have control we struggle and suffer, not God’s will but our choice and the self inflicted pain is necessary if we are going to see the need to put our flesh to death, so we can emerge into the beautiful creation that He has planned for us to be.
Blessings – Anne
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Thanks, Anne! Beautiful, appropriate Verses! ❤
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Thanks Nancy, I will be in touch soon with a special link so we can have a chat.
Blessings – Anne
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As Promised Nancy the Link for us to share together.
Blessings Anne – http://alifeofhopeandjoy.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/the-garden-sanctuary/
Blessings – Anne
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I needed to read this today. Sometimes I complain for all the problems I’d been to or facing in the present not realizing in all, God was there to help me though & make me a stronger, better person. Thanks for sharing God’s generous love & kindness. All the best to you & your family.
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Yes so True Island Traveler, these words are also a great reassurance for us…. And we know that in all things and always God works for the good of those who Love Him, who have been called according to His purpose…. All good things come from God, not bad.
So good to see you Blogging again dear friend , I was thinking about you today enjoying your Summer while I’m freezing and you didn’t even ask me to come and bask in the Sun with you, oh well I guess the electric blanket will have to do.
Christian Love from both of us – Anne
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This is really beautiful and I liked how you used the analogy of the butterfly too. I had never really thought about the butterfly the way I do now until that day I watched the butterfly after work and then went to find out more about them. Your butterfly posts have even added more to it. Thank you so so very much for sharing with me I will never look at a butterfly the same again. I also have learned so much about God in all this too. God blessed me when he led me to your blog the first time and continues to bless me and everyone else who reads your blog and gets to know you. God bless you my friend.
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Hi dear T, this Story of the Butterfly, was not my allegory, it was written by someone who believes God willingly allows or causes us to suffer and deliberately hurts us to mold and shape us but He tells us this is not True and this is why I adapted the rest and corrected their error.
Why I still used this story was because although Butterflies do not have pain senses like ours, it still shows we can escape the old sinful life that we had before we knew Jesus, which keeps us in darkness or in the cocoon and causes us to suffer because of our sin, we can’t escape this bondage without Jesus, He is The Key and He tells us how we are to escape and wonderfully He has already set us free from the shackles so we can escape, His answer I have shared in Posts and in comments many times.
You have blessed me too T more than you realise, perhaps one day we will both understand just why we were destined to meet Blogging.
Thanks for sharing – Christian Love Always – Anne
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Beautiful post, Anne! I have always loved the example of the butterfly needing to struggle in the darkness before being empowered to emerge and fly in freedom! As you said, “God’s blueprint in Creation always has a purpose and it’s always for good.” This tenderly reminds me that when I am going through dark times and hardships, God has not forgotten me- in fact, He may not be cutting me immediately free because He is doing something amazing and wonderful in the immovable darkness, empowering me to gloriously emerge in illuminous flight in His Time!
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” – Rom 8:18
As I type this, Anne, I see a beautiful spiritual analogy in the butterfly… Just as it “dies” to its old self, leaving its former flesh in the cocoon, so do we who are in Christ die to our sins and our old selves, leaving our old carnal ways behind. Just as the butterfly emerges flying free as a glorious new creation, so do we who are in Christ now emerge as His glorious new creations, flying in the freedom of His Holy Spirit! — Death and resurrection symbolized in baptism!
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:36
“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” -Rom 6:3-11
“But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” – Rom 8:10-11
“I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” – Phil 3:10-11
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” – 2 Cor 5:17
Hallelujah! I am His butterfly!! ❤ xoxo
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I apreciated the Scriptures you shared Nancy, they fit in perfectly with those I have shared below. Of course we are not really Butterflies, as we know they don’t even have the same pain senses that we have but I like this allegory because as you shared it shows we can escape the old sinful life that we had before which kept us in darkness and which caused us to suffer because of our sin, Jesus is The Key and He tells us below how we are to do this and He has set us free so we can.
John 8:34-36 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
We must die to our old sinful way of life by putting our evil flesh to death by The Spirit so Satan can’t get a foothold and so we can be perfected in Love and have no fear of the Torment of Hell and yes wonderfully we have been set free so we can do this as Jesus in the Scripture below and those you shared confirms and it is why we are to reckon ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ Jesus.
1 John 4:17-19 Herein is our Love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in Love; but perfect Love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in Love. We Love Him, because He first Loved us.
Romans 8 :12-15 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. or if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
What is also wonderful and confirmed in those Scriptures is God knows those who are His and not one of us will be lost, we will be perfected in Love because we will choose to be and so He will empower us to be by The Holy Spirit so we can be and by having done what Jesus tells us to do which is ASK, SEEK, KNOCK the Door will be opened and our new Lives will have begun we no longer have Adams seed we have God’s seed or Nature.
1 John 3:9 No one who is Born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he CANNOT go on sinning, because he has been Born of God.
Colossians 3:4-6 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
2 Corinthians 7: 1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting Holiness in the fear of God.
Galatians 24 -26 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
When we are Born again we don’t sin, if we do before we are perfected in Love we can be forgiven Jesus is our Advocote but it shows we are still in darkness or still in the cocoon .
1John 3 – No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.
1 John 2:4-6 He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the Love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.
Romans 6:22-23 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto Holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Christian Love from us both – Anne.
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