The Story of a Butterfly

Becoming the person you dream to be…

Tolulope Oyewole

TAOO Publishing

Scripture quotations are taken from various translation of the Bible as indicated on the pages. All copyrights acknowledged.

© January 2015, TAOO Publishing. All rights reserved.

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Published by TAOO Publishing

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my late mom, Mrs Moronke F. Oyewole, an

enigma who inspired me to be the best I can be and to my

wonderful little sister, Miss Funke T. Oyewole, a true friend and

support system.

Content Page

Bible Abbreviations used in this Book Appreciation Introduction Chapter 1 – Starting from the Source Chapter 2 – A Glimpse of the Future Chapter 3 – The Furnace of Life Chapter 4 – The Struggle with Self Chapter 5 – Crucify the Flesh Chapter 6 – Walking by Faith Chapter 7 – Building your Faith Chapter 8 – The Fight of Faith Chapter 9 – The Challenge of Faith Chapter 10 – Be Patient with Yourself Chapter 11 – How to Overcome Weaknesses Chapter 12 – Building a Healthy Relationship with God Chapter 13 – Attaining Maturity – Manifesting the Nature of God Chapter 14 – Tell Others your Story Chapter 15 – The Summary of it All: Don’t Get in the Way! Memory Verses Quotes to Remember

Introduction

One day, as I was walking to the train station, the Lord began to teach me about the process

to maturity. I had been praying to God about certain areas in my life that I wanted to see

change and how I want Him to use me for His glory. So the Lord gave me a revelation, titled

‘The Story of a Butterfly’.

Imagine this; a caterpillar is lying flat on its stomach angling its body to watch its parents

igniting the atmosphere with the colours of their wings. You’ll bet the caterpillar will want to

fly too! Imagine the caterpillar praying to God “Lord give me wings like my parents so I can

fly” An innocent prayer born out of the desire to achieve the same maturity of its parents. But

it is not the prayer alone that will turn the caterpillar into a butterfly. The caterpillar will have

to endure the journey to maturity, much like many in life, before it can become the butterfly

that its being is surging to become, which incidentally is God’s dream for it also.

And so I resolved that for me to gain the maturity that I am so thirsty for, I would need to go

through a similar journey also.

So what’s next?

Similar to me and the caterpillar, you may be thinking that you don’t have everything you

need to fulfil God’s will for your life, but it is not a matter of what you have but about

building on what you have, because you already have it. For example, a caterpillar already

has the genetic makeup that will determine its fate should it complete its transformation into a

butterfly. Its main priority is survival and it may endure much hardship from the weather and

various forms of prey before it can fulfil its purpose. We can use the example of an athlete

also. Usain Bolt. An individual who many may think was destined to become an athlete. But

even with his God given ability, Usain still has to train to ensure that he remains at the top of

his game. Like the caterpillar and its prey, Usain will always have contenders and naysayers

eager to derail him from his purpose. It would not be wise for another talented athlete

desperate for Usain’s title to pray to God that he becomes fast as his competitor and sits at

home watching television until his prayer comes to fruition. Instead a better prayer would be:

“Lord, help me in my training so I can become as fit as I am suppose to be.”

The same principle applies to intelligence, wisdom, strength, courage, excellence and every

other virtue we can think of. They are already in us and all that is needed is to develop them.

Think about it, if God can be so detailed by giving a plant everything it needs to survive, how

can you then think He wouldn’t have given you, a being created in His image and likeness

(Genesis 1:26) all you need to fulfil His purpose for your life.

All it takes is time. But time in itself does not bring growth, because growth is not automatic,

but a conscious decision to grow. For instance, I cannot say I am healthier than someone else

because I am older than him if I have not been taking care of myself in the way I should. In

this regard, the factor of time will actually be working against me, because I have not used it

wisely. In the same way, one cannot claim spiritual maturity because he or she has been a

Christian for donkey years. It is what we do within the time frame that will make the

difference. Thus, time is a factor in growth, but how it is used will determine the result.

In this book, we will be exploring how we can grow into the person God wants us to be and

how the Holy Spirit is the author and finisher of this process. Note, just as Paul mentioned to

the Philippians, I do not claim to be fully mature, but I am making every effort to achieve

maturity, because this is the reason for which Christ has taken hold of my life (Philippians

3:12). So though we may fall several times, let us stay willing to be the best for God and the

Holy Spirit will help us attain maturity. It is all matter of time and practice!

I have purposely added a lot of scriptures in this book so as to give accurate explanations

about this subject. I will strongly advise that you do not skip any of the scriptures in this

book, no matter how familiar they may be. I also ask that you don’t only read the scriptures

from this book alone, but you will need to get your Bible and read those scriptures there as

well and probably mark them so you don’t have difficulties finding them again.

My prayer is that as these truths I am about to share with you are transforming my life every

day; they will also transform yours by the power of the Holy Spirit.

He saved us because of his mercy. It was not because of good deeds we did to be right with

him. He saved us through the washing that made us new people through the Holy Spirit.

(Titus 3:5 NCV)

Chapter 1

Starting From the Source

For by him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in earth, visible

and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all

things were created by him, and for him. (Col ossians 1:16)

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. (John 1:11)

Who trains the Bird to fly, or the Lion to hunt, or the Woodpecker to peck wood? You might

say from seeing their parents doing the same thing or they were probably born with the

instinct to do what they were created to do. Even if you say they learnt it from seeing their

parents, who then trained their parents or even first of their kind?

Animals were all created with the instinct to live up to their full potential. Thus, the Eagle

uses all its features for it to have a fulfilled life and other animal do likewise. However, the

irony of life, well for me, is that even though human beings are the most intelligent of God’s

creatures on earth, we are the only ones that do not have a clue why we are on earth. No

wonder some of us do not believe that God exists.

When you watch the news and see the events that are taking place in the world, you will

discover that not only do we not have a clue why we are here; we are actually working

against the very purpose of our existence. Developing weapons of mass destruction,

dehumanisation, corruption, wars, economic mismanagements and injustice in various forms

all give strong evidence of the cluelessness of the human race. Think about it, if there is a

meaning to life, would it include any of the previously mentioned? Do we really think the

Author of Life will create something that will destroy what He created?

Apart from the mainstream events and issues, our own individualistic greed and abhorrence

for each other shows how wicked we really are! To put it in clear terms, we are the only

creatures that are completely disconnected from Life.

The Cornerstone of Atheism

Many people have a strong case for their cluelessness. It is called the theory of evolution.

Though it was first classified as a pseudo-science, it found its way into mainstream science

and it is being taught in schools all over the world as the very genesis of what we know to be

life on earth.

Ok. Question: would you believe me if I told you that my laptop, with all its features and

components just appeared without a creator or manufacturer? Of course not, you would think

I was insulting you! Therefore, as a computer testifies of a manufacturer, though unseen, so

also does the earth testify of a Creator, though unseen.

The Heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done. Each

day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. They don't speak a word,

and there is never the sound of a voice. Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it

travels around the world... (Psalm 19: 1-4 CEV)

They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the

world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made,

they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they

have no excuse for not knowing God. (Romans 1: 19 – 20 NLT)

Every time the sun sets or rises again, every time we experience the different seasonal

changes, coming at their own appointed time, every time we look at the beauty of the stars,

the creation is testifying of its Creator. Even when we harvest that which has been sown, we

are witnessing nature testify of its Creator.

If you pluck a leaf from a branch and study it with a microscope, you will discover how

detailed a leaf is and that all the components of the leaf play a big part in the growth of the

plant. Surely a mere accident could not possibly create something in such detail. Frankly, it

makes more sense to believe that God created the earth than to think it was created by

accident. Even studying a butterfly, you will see the detail in which it has been created. All

these examples provide profound evidences for existence and the sovereignty of God.

The Danger of Evolution

Evolution elucidates that life was created by accident and thus infers that it has no meaning. I

strongly believe that such ideologies promote many of the atrocities we see in the world

today.

If life is meaningless, why then should we hold ourselves to strict moral codes, such as: thou

shall not kill or thou shall not lie? Even though we know that these things in themselves are

wrong, what is the point of obeying them since life is meaningless?

If life is meaningless, that means people like Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and many

others all wasted their time trying to fight for what they believed to make the world a better

place.

If life is meaningless, why then should a cancer patient fight to stay alive? Or why should we

bother searching for the cure of diseases such as AIDS? If life is meaningless, why should

we work so hard to become successful, since we all have one fate?

If life is meaningless, then why are we afraid of dying? I mean death should be our way of

escaping the meaninglessness of life and free ourselves from the torture of endless toil and

heartache that we face every day. After all, the end of life is only in the graveyard!

Life must be meaningless if all we see were created by accident, so whatever put us on this

planet must be the most wicked creature or being or whatever in the whole universe or galaxy

or whatever, because we are left for nothing to live for, since everything was made by

accident.

If life is meaningless, why then should I not satisfy all my pleasures even if it is at the

expense of my meaningless neighbour’s life? Like the scripture says:

... Let's eat and drink. Tomorrow we die. (1Corinthians 15:32 CEV)

Why should I be my neighbour’s keeper when his life is also meaningless? Hey, as long as I

get what I want, why should I care who gets hurt, after all, I only have one life to live and

anyone standing in my way must be crushed. Only that I am not arrested by law enforcement

agents, although to me their argument will be flawed since life is meaningless.

Though I didn’t know them personally, I feel like I can safely assume that people like Adolf

Hitler, Sadam Hussein, Idi Amin and many like them, must have reasoned in such a manner.

These were men with no clear religious affiliations, so we cannot assume that their madness

was caused by religious ideologies. They just believed in the same thing most of us believe in

and they expressed it in their actions.

You see evolution poses more threat to human survival than any religion could ever do,

because it gives no reason to hold ourselves to any moral standard and thus has made us the

greatest enemy of ourselves. Therefore, evolution is not just illogical, it is also dangerous.

What really is the Problem

The difficulty of the atheist and agnostic is simply accountability. The idea of a God to them

means living by a set of rules to please this God, which will require a lot of sacrifices that

they are unwilling to make. Thus, the fear of living in guilt and condemnation has motivated

them to conclude that there is no God (this refers to agnostic, the atheist can’t bring himself

to trust God) so that they can be free to do what they wish.

In addition to this, the atheist is also ignorant of God’s love, and thus cannot see how the

guidelines God has given can help him live a satisfied life.

This rebellion began many years ago in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve chose the

road of independence by choosing to listen to the lies of the serpent (Satan) and disobeyed

God:

The snake was sneakier than any of the other wild animals that the LORD God had made.

One day it came to the woman and asked, "Did God tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in

“Therefore, as a computer testifies of a manufacturer, though unseen, so

also does the earth testify of a Creator, though unseen.”

the garden?" The woman answered, "God said we could eat fruit from any tree in the

garden, except the one in the middle. He told us not to eat fruit from that tree or even to

touch it. If we do, we will die." "No, you won't!" The snake replied. "God understands what

will happen on the day you eat the fruit from that tree. You will see what you have done,

and you will know the difference between right and wrong, just as God does." The woman

stared at the fruit. It looked beautiful and tasteful. She wanted the wisdom that it would

give her, and she ate some of the fruit. Her husband was there with her, so she gave some to

him, and he ate it too. Right away they saw what they had done, and they realized they

were naked. Then they sewed fig leaves together to make something to cover themselves.

(Genesis 3:1-7 CEV)

Immediately they ate of the forbidden fruit, they lost God-consciousness and became self-

centred. Ask yourself, “why is it so easy for me to be selfish?” Selfishness and pride can be

classified as the branches that hold the leaves and fruits of sin, with unbelief being the stem

and deception the root. The problem of the human race started when Adam and Eve

disobeyed God, thus we were all completely disconnected from God, Who is Life and thus in

that sense we died. This is why we do not have a clue what this life really means and it is also

why human beings can come up with something as horrendous as evolution. However, we

continue in the rebellion of Adam and Eve every time we decide without involving God.

Therefore, let's go back to the Source.

If at all you want to travel the road to maturity, you need to start from the Source – God. You

need to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ by accepting that He died for your sins and

God raised Him from the dead to give you a new life. You confess Him as Lord of your life;

that means you pledge your life to Him and thus you live to do His will. If you want to do

that today, say this prayer out loud:

Lord, I accept that I am a sinner, but I also accept that You died for my

sins on the cross and God raised You from the dead to give me a new life. I

confess You today as my Lord. Thank You for giving me a new life and I

ask that You give me Your precious Holy Spirit to help me live the life of

righteousness so I can always be pleasing to You. Amen!

If you have prayed this prayer, congratulations! You are born-again. Now you can start

thinking of personal development, because it is impossible to become a better person if you

do not have a relationship with God, as true growth comes through the Holy Spirit.

Note, this has nothing to do with religion, but a living and active relationship with God. Now,

let’s embark on the journey to maturity...

Chapter 10

Be Patience with Yourself

But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and

not lacking in anything. (James 1:4 CEV)

The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for

ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands. (Psalm 138:8 KJV)

In the past, we have heard it taught that we should be patient with others. But have you ever

thought about being patient with yourself?

Throughout this book, we have been discussing keys to attaining maturity based on the

limited revelation that was given to me by God. One of the key things I want to re-emphasise

is that we have everything we need to be who God has created us to be. However, this does

not mean that we will not make mistakes! As we learn to walk in the consciousness of these

things, we will be able to attain maturity as our opening scripture suggests.

Imagine the Caterpillar: for it to become a butterfly that it was created to be, it needs to form

a chrysalis, which means it will become stagnant until it is strong enough to break out of the

chrysalis; but until then it will have to remain in it.

This may be where some of us are at the moment. We know our potential but we are not

currently operating in it. We may feel discouraged and disappointed in ourselves; in fact we

may even feel guilty and condemn ourselves, but all these will not lead to maturity. Yes, it

will show that we have an interest in growing, but it will not get us there. In fact, it will in

fact only lead us to our destruction.

However, if we really want to attain maturity, we need to submit to the process that will lead

us to it, which demands patience.

Without patience, growth is impossible and thus death will be inevitable. This is why I

believe a lot of people may not have attained their full potential; because they were not

patient with themselves.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice these things; be committed to them, so that your progress may be evident to all.

(1Timothy 4:15 HCSB)

One of the things the Lord reprimanded me on is that I lacked practice. When a child is

learning how to walk, several times that child will stagger and fall; in fact they need to learn

how to stand on their own before they can even think of walking. But does that in any guise

imply that they do not have what it takes to walk? Absolutely not! When God created them,

He gave them all they need to walk. All they need is to develop the muscles, which takes

practice. This is why the above scripture admonishes us to practise the things we have learned

and be committed to them so that our progress can be made evident to all.

At the moment I am learning how to play the guitar and sometimes it can be very

discouraging especially when I am not getting the note that I want to get. Sometimes I even

try to talk God into asking me to stop. But this does not in any way mean that I don’t have

what it takes to play the guitar, it only means that I need to practise more. Truly, as I

practised more I got better, even though I have not been practising recently – as I am writing

a book (the perfect excuse – don’t mind me).

The point I am really trying to make is that practising helps us build patience and patience

leads to maturity. The pain we experience when practising actually builds the essential

characteristics that we need to attain maturity.

Let us consider the butterfly when it is at its pupa stage: it needs to break out of the chrysalis

for it to become an imago – a fully mature butterfly. As it struggles to get out of the chrysalis,

its wings get stronger. But if it is brought out prematurely, it will lose its chance of maturing,

and if it gives up trying to get out, it will die in the chrysalis. Therefore it must keep on

pushing and persevering to come out of the chrysalis.

We too must deploy the same mentality if we want to attain our full potential. We need to

keep on practising walking in faith and not give up when we slip up. Like Kenneth Copeland

“...God by nature cannot be disappointed in us... It is only God’s

opinion about us that counts, because He only is the judge!”

would say, “Don’t play fair with the devil”. Don’t give up because you made a mistake, no

matter the magnitude. You have to realise that God by nature cannot be disappointed in us,

because He knows everything. We are the only ones that can be disappointed in us, because

we don’t know everything; but God does and He knows our weaknesses. In fact, He knew the

mistakes we would make even before we made them.

So it does not matter who gives up on you; what matters is that God will never give up on me

and you, so who cares what anybody else thinks? All that matters is that we keep on trying to

be better: God’s way. It is only God’s opinion about us that counts, because He only is the

judge!

So how do we practise? By doing all that we have been discussing in this book! Even when

you make a mistake, for example, maybe you doubted that God could heal you, or you were

disobedient to God or you allowed unbelief to take hold of your heart, just repent (i.e. change

your mind), and connect back with God’s Word. Even though you feel you are not growing

as you should, keep doing God’s Word and He will perfect everything concerning you. All

you need do is trust Him.

Remember we discussed about the parable of the sower in chapter 7, let us take a look it

again:

A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was

trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon

as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among

thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and

sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He

that hath ears to hear, let him hear... Now the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God.

Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word

out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which,

when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while

believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they,

which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures

of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in

an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with

patience. (Luke 8: 5 – 8; 11 – 15 KJV)

Looking at the scripture again, the Bible mentioned that the grounds that produced fruits had

an honest and good heart; they heard the word and brought forth fruit with patience.

Patience! They did not produce fruits immediately; it came with patience. If we will grow,

we need to be patient, but most of all, we need to be honest and maintain a good heart. To

understand this subject more, let us see the scriptures below.

Again Jesus said: God's kingdom is like what happens when a farmer scatters seed in a

field. The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep

sprouting and growing, and he doesn't understand how. It is the ground that makes the

seeds sprout and grow into plants that produce grain. Then when harvest season comes

and the grain is ripe, the farmer cuts it with a sickle.

Finally, Jesus said: What is God's kingdom like? What story can I use to explain it? It is like

what happens when a mustard seed is planted in the ground. It is the smallest seed in all

the world. But once it is planted, it grows larger than any garden plant. It even puts out

branches that are big enough for birds to nest in its shade. (Mark 4: 26 – 32 CEV)

Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? And whereunto shall I resemble it? It is

like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and

waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. And again he said,

Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid

in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. (Luke 13: 18 – 21 KJV)

You see, the Word of God gradually grows in our heart until it takes over our all being and

we begin to see it manifest in our thoughts, actions and words.

God is patient with us because He is aware that we will not get it overnight but gradually. So

let us practise being patient and we will get better at it.

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered Heaven, Jesus the Son of God,

let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses,

for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4: 14 – 15 NLT)

Enjoy the Journey

There is no point being patient if we do it with the wrong attitude and mind-set. I remember

listening to one of Pastor Christ’s sermons, one of the things he said that really got my

attention was “learn to enjoy your journey in life”, if you are familiar with Joyce Meyers

teachings, you realise that she is also known to make similar statements. So one day, as I was

reading a book on the train: The Shack (a most read), I decided to put this teaching to

practise. The first thing I actually notice was a tree stripped by the harshness of winter.

Immediately, I thought to myself, “there is nothing to this sight to enjoy”, but I felt a slight

urge to look again, then a thought came to mind, “this tree looks bare, naked, ugly and

lifeless, but when spring comes, it will become beautiful again.

This is the same with a butterfly, when it is at the stage of caterpillar, it does not look very

attractive and it also destroys leaves on trees, when it goes into pupation, it appears to be

stagnant and trapped, but at the appointed, it will emerge a beautiful butterfly, with colourful

wings.

Our lives are similarly, we are on a journey to perfection. God is perfecting everything

concerning us (Psalm 138:8), so we need to be patient and enjoy the ride. Let’s not get

distracted or discouraged by our current mistakes and mishaps. Just as a tree, after going

through a dry period in winter, becomes beautiful in spring, so we at the appointed time, will

emerged perfected, fully displaying the beauty and glory of God. But as we have discussed in

all the previous chapters, we need to remain teachable, submitting our will to God’s, as

revealed in the Scriptures and by the Holy Spirit.