The Prophetic Word - Day 161: Metamorphosis is necessary for survival.

“Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”” ‭‭I Samuel‬ ‭10‬:‭6‬, ‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Surprisingly, one of what many suppose to be a very delicate creature—the butterfly—actually can migrate thousands of miles. Indeed, this migration is necessary for the continuation of the species, allowing them to winter in more moderate climates.

The monarch butterfly is probably the most ubiquitous in terms of representing butterflies in general.

Now, not only does the monarch butterfly go through metamorphosis, taking it from a crawling caterpillar to a lovely floating creature, it also, even as a caterpillar, goes through five stages, known as instars. Yes, the caterpillar will shed its skin four times.

With each shedding, the caterpillar gains length and weight, getting bigger and heavier until the time it reaches the appropriate size and weight to go into the pupal stage.

When reaching the ideal size and weight to go into the pupal stage, the caterpillar attaches itself underneath the leaf of a plant. There, it will shed its skin for the last time, revealing the green chrysalis from which it will emerge as the beautiful creature we know and appreciate.

Whereas I know you might appreciate butterflies as much as I do, you’ve probably already guessed that this is about more than butterflies.

You see, we come to the Lord as babes and begin the process of spiritual development.

As God’s children, we have access to His Holy Spirit Who enables and oversees our spiritual development.

We also have the written word of God to instruct us in righteousness.

“as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” ‭‭I Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭2‬-‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

However, as we grow in the Spirit, we should be able to begin to receive deeper understanding, developing into more mature children. To aid in that process, we also have been given the five-fold ministry of the Church.

“And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

As we grow, we should gain in stature, becoming stronger in faith, as well as more abundant in fruit (good works). Sadly, many Christians’ spiritual development becomes stunted so that they cannot receive greater understanding or revelation, much less be capable of doing exploits

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

In our opening scripture, we see the story of Saul, the first king of Israel.

Saul, in order to serve as King, needed to become a “new man.” And, just as Samuel had prophesied, that is exactly what happened!

Child of God, we are living in the Last Days before the coming of Jesus Christ. That being the case, we cannot continue to operate in the status quo with no real urgency concerning our spiritual development. Yes, this is the hour for us to press forward into becoming who God has created us to be.

The survival of the monarch butterfly depends on its ability to go from an earthbound creature (spending most of its time navigating a singular plant), to a winged marvel capable of flying a couple of hundred miles a day in their thousands of miles migration.

Our spiritual survival in these perilous times in which we are living, depends on our ability to leave the “still-struggling-with-sin” stage, to go on to know the Lord. In so doing, we can be ready for whatever we must face, as well as being prepared to do whatever the Lord instructs; and, yes, ready to “fly,” ready to do EXPLOITS!

“…but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” ‭‭Daniel‬ ‭11‬:‭32‬b NKJV‬‬

We’ll look further into this tomorrow.

Peace to you. Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him! #ThePropheticWord