Showing posts with label miracles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label miracles. Show all posts

Wednesday

I Love Butterflies - A Dose of Encouragement


Where do I begin?


I cannot remember when I was not interested in something which had a butterfly on it.



Most people who know me well will be able to tell you that

 I love Butterflies.







I have Butterfly 

     necklaces,    rings,    scarves     &    brooches

 - not sure how many I have but because of these items many people know I love butterflies 


Over the years my family have bought me scarves, vases, bags and necklaces at Christmas time all decorated with butterflies.


Even the Ladies who came to the International Christian Club of Brussels knew I loved them as I was often found with a butterfly brooch pinned to my jacket.
When I was leaving Belgium to return to live in Northern Ireland I was given a lovely white lace Butterfly brooch from one of these ladies as leaving gift.



Isn't it beautiful?




My daughter even had a mug specially printed for me with butterflies on it for my Birthday one year and I featured it in a humorous blog post called 3 More Coffee Mugs








I have bought myself bags with butterfly designs, clothes with butterflies & room decorations with butterflies.








Then there was the time Fred and I spent a lovely afternoon in our home in Belgium taking pictures of the butterflies that were on a bush just outside our lounge window -  I was going to miss the Butterflies






It just makes me smile to see butterflies around the house and in our garden with our Buddleia (butterfly) bush here in Northern Ireland too and we manage to get some nice pictures of the bush in full bloom




 with butterflies around it each summer.









Why do I love Butterflies?

Because they are beautiful, intricately patterned, delicate creatures.

They are also a great reminder of new birth in that they start as caterpillars and turn into beautiful butterflies.

Just like I was once a person marred by my sin and through God's Love and the Grace of Jesus I was able to experience a new birth and share Christ's beauty.

I love to share about the butterfly in Kids Work that I would do to explain to the children that God offers them a new life in Jesus through His blood because of His Love for them.

Children hear that Jesus died on the cross but they need to know that He did this for them individually and that His beauty can become their beauty.  They need to know that he didn't stay dead but rose again and is still alive today so that they can know He talks to God about them and shares in all their feelings.

Children need to feel loved and secure above all else and Jesus wants them to accept His love and assurance that He will never leave them.


But you and I need to know exactly the same thing.


There is something very important that we all need to know.


You and I need to know we are loved and that we are safe and that there is a God planned future for us.

You and I need to experience this new birth and know that we can be beautiful in the eyes of our creator because of His Son.


There is one last Butterfly I would like to share with you today




This Butterfly sits on the Vanity Unit in our ensuite and I see it every day at the start of my day and the end of my day.


I believe in miracles.

Do you?


The Butterfly is an example of a miracle in that it changes from an ugly creature to a beautiful one.

Can you believe in Jesus and experience Him work this miracle in your life too?












Sunday

Sunday Scripture - Matthew 8 v 27


Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always be special to me.


Today I am looking at Matthew 8:27







In chapters 5 -7 of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus taught the people and they could see he spoke with authority but then he continued His ministry to them through signs and miracles in chapter 8.

It is a chapter of healings (the leper v. 1-4,  the centurion's servant v. 5-13, Peter's mother-in-law v. 14, many who were demon possessed v. 15 & 28-32) which verse 17 tells us was to fulfil the words of the prophet Isaiah.


This chapter also shows the faith that people already had in Him.  The leper, the centurion, the demon possessed as they came to Him for their miracles.   

Why?

Because of faith.

Looking back we can see that the teaching of Jesus recorded in the previous chapters stirred up faith in the hearts of those people who came to Jesus in chapter 8.

Yet then in verse 27 we read




The disciples may not even have known exactly who He was, and the people certainly didn't, but they had heard Him and witnessed His power through the miraculous and this led to their faith.

So what excuse then is there for the people who do know who He really is?


The teaching of the Word of God and the work of God around us should stir up our faith too.



We need to stir up our faith.


What about the difficulties we have been through?
What about the difficulties we are facing right now?
What about the difficulties that will come to face us in the future?


Nothing about these difficulties should hinder our faith because we will be stirred up in our faith if we read God's Word and take heed of His miraculous deeds.


We should be able to say:


Who can this be but the Son of God!











Tuesday

Who Does The Miracles? - 31 Days in Acts




The Book of Acts has the full title of the Acts of the Apostles but sometime I feel that can be a misleading title and may draw our attention to the Apostles so that we may give them the credit for the miraculous acts we read of in this Book.

The book itself shows us that the Holy Spirit was the instigator of everything and the Apostles were the people through whom the Holy Spirit worked.


After reading the first section of Acts chapter 5 in yesterday's post where we see the work of the Holy Spirit in uncovering sin today we cover a section which focuses us back to how Christian life should be.


 Acts 5 v 12-16

Reminds us of previous references of one accord, one heart or one soul together as in

Acts 1: 14;    Acts 2:1;    Acts 4:32-36



12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch. 13 Yet none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them. 16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.



Solomon's Porch was a certain part of the Temple. 
Although we know that in the Temple there were different parts for the women and the men when we read of the people being saved here there is no difference between men and women.

Believers added in multitudes also reminds us of other places with similar mentions such as
Acts 4 v 32

and now adding miracles of healings and from yesterday we can remember

Who did the healing? 
The healings were not done by the Apostles who were men.
The healings were done by God.
The Apostles were used of God by the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit was obviously evident in the Apostles and Peter was used in Healings.
It was not Peter who did the healing here but God the Holy Spirit.


It is good to be reminded of the Work of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 5 v 17-21

This is a passage that is not preached about as often as those similar passages in Acts 16 with Paul and Silas and Acts 12 with Peter.

17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, 18 and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. 19 But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.”
21 And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

Who arrested them? 
High Priest & Sadducees

Why?   Indignation!
Such a strange reason to arrest someone.


Who brought them out? 
An Angel

What were they to do?   
Stand in the Temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

What are the words of this life?
Words of the resurrection of Jesus because these are words of life in Jesus.

Another instance where we can remember a similar incident when Peter & John went to pray in the Temple is in Acts ch 3 which resulted in the healing of the lame man and speaking to all the people about the resurrection of Jesus which leads to salvation of souls.








It is good to be reminded of the importance of the Work of the Holy Spirit and the important work Of the Apostles but we must also be constantly reminded of the important work believers are expected to do to spread the Gospel.

Yes it is important for us to preach the Gospel which includes the powerful message of the resurrection of Jesus and the salvation offered to all.


It is good to be reminded of our role as believers.









You can find the other blog posts in this series at