I kept for nearly a year the flask-shaped cocoon of an emperor moth. It is very peculiar in its construction. A narrow opening is left in the neck of the flask, through which the perfect insect forces its way, so that a forsaken cocoon is as entire as one still tenanted, no rupture of the interlacing fibers having taken place. The great disproportion between the means of egress and the size of the imprisoned insect makes one wonder how the exit is ever accomplished at all -- and it never is without great labor and difficulty. It is supposed that the pressure to which the moth's body is subjected in passing through such a narrow opening is a provision of nature for forcing the juices into the vessels of the wings, these being less developed at the period of emerging from the chrysalis than they are in other insects.
I happened to witness the first efforts of my prisoned moth to escape from its long confinement. During a whole forenoon, from time to time, I watched it patiently striving and struggling to get out. It never seemed able to get beyond a certain point, and at last my patience was exhausted. Very probably the confining fibers were drier and less elastic than if the cocoon had been left all winter on its native heather, as nature meant it to be. At all events I thought I was wiser and more compassionate than its Maker, and I resolved to give it a helping hand. With the point of my scissors I snipped the confining threads to make the exit just a very little easier, and lo! immediately, and with perfect case, out crawled my moth dragging a huge swollen body and little shrivelled wings. ⬇️cont below⬇️ #streamsinthedesert #dailydevotional #romans818 #godslove #hiswaysarehigher
All men and women are born, live suffer and die; what distinguishes us one from another is our dreams, whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things, and what we do to make them come about... We do not choose to be born. We do not choose our parents. We do not choose our historical epoch, the country of our birth, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing. We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the time and conditions of our death. But within this realm of choicelessness, we do choose how we live.” ― Joseph Epstein ↩️#teshuvah #elul #nachamu #thekingisinthefield 👑🌾 Finished listening to part 1&2 of Every Descent on the Nachamu Ami Messianic Synagogue podcast. What podcasts have you been listening to during this season?
➡️TRUST GOD WITH WHAT OTHERS THINK⬅️ When we stop talking, we abandon ourselves to reality and to God. We position ourselves to attend rather than to adjust things with our words. We stop our shaping and negotiating, our “spinning.” How much of our energy goes into that! We let things stand. We trust God with what others shall think. Of course there is a time to talk, as there is a time to be with others. But we are not safe and rich in talk and companionship unless our souls are strong in solitude and silence. If we have heard the good news and have come to trust our Savior, he will meet with us through extensive solitude and silence to stabilize his love, joy, and peace in us. His character will increasingly become ours—easily, thoroughly. You rarely find any person who has made great progress in the spiritual life who did not at some point have much time in solitude and silence.
A pastor who has been discovering all this writes, “As I have slowed my life down through silence and solitude, I have discovered both the wickedness hidden by a hurried life as well as the wonder and delight my Father has in me. Oddly, through intentional times of practicing spiritual disciplines, my walk with Jesus has become more spontaneous. He is present in more of my day. I have loved others better, and seen progress made in overcoming anger and the desire to have things my way. In a nutshell, Jesus has greater access to and control over my life. I’m more in tune to the still small voice of the Spirit.” -excerpt from The Great Omission #bestillandknow #quietheart #shabbatshalom #bestillmysoul
Amen! This sentence jumped out at me last night. So many people in my life are living in such a pit of depression and it’s incredibly disheartening to see them choose to believe the lies of the oppressor day after day. Life is hard and sometimes difficult seasons drag on but we can choose to have joy in the midst of sorrow, peace in the midst of turmoil, and hope in the midst of drudgery. The victory begins in the battle of our minds. Our thought life, our mental state must be under the authority of the Word. Only we can choose our thoughts. No one can MAKE us mull and meditate on the lies the enemy feeds us. The Word says the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. In modern language it means that recognizing that God is in control is the foundation of having a mentality that is content and grateful rather than anxious and worried. When I’m giving counsel to people that are fighting mental battles I always tell them certain things. 1. Get in the Word and MEDITATE on what it says. 2. Speak to your mind and tell it what the Word says. When the lies are bombarding your mind FIGHT against them with TRUTH. 3. Go sit outside. Why number 3? Bc seeing all the creatures diligently carrying out the same tasks day after day reminds us that God is in control. The birds, the squirrels, the dragonflies, the lizards- all these tiny creatures teach by example the joy and peace one can experience in just taking care of what must be done today. Being mentally overwhelmed is not what God has for you. If your life is simple and slow and the same day after day you must seek Yah to show you the path to contentment. If your life is busy and every day is packed with unanticipated events, you must seek Yah for contentment. There is contentment to be found in all of our lives, but sometimes we need help finding the path to that sweet spot. The one path that will never ever lead you to contentment is dwelling on circumstances. Circumstances are the red herrings of finding contentment. They are absolutely irrelevant to our mental, emotional, and spiritual health. #gototheant #instabible #biblegram #dailydevotional #morningdevotional #choosejoy #choosejesus #choosepeace
You may find hundreds of faultfinders among professed Christians; but all their criticism will not lead one solitary soul to Christ. I never preached a sermon yet that I could not pick to pieces, and find fault with. I feel that Jesus Christ ought to have a far better representative than I am. But I have lived long enough to discover that there is nothing perfect in this world. If you are to wait till you find a perfect preacher, or perfect meetings, I am afraid you will have to wait till the millennium arrives. What we want is to be looking up to Christ. Let us be done with faultfinding. -D. L. Moody “Hatred stirs up contentions, but love covers all transgressions.”
Proverbs 10:12 “Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others]. “
1 Peter 4:8 “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. But now these three remain— faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:11-13 #loveeachother #thegreatestoftheseislove #dlmoody #dailydevotional #morningdevotional #biblegram #instabible #proverbs #bekind #forgiveness
