When we begin our walk with the God by repenting of sin and making Jesus Lord of our life the process of transformation begins. Not many of us understood what becoming like Jesus in a world that has taught us the opposite since childhood would entail. The process is sanctification.

It begins with dying to self and picking up our cross daily to follow Jesus. The flesh(our sinful nature) does not enjoy this dying process which is necessary for Jesus to live through us. The flesh wants to be Lord not be told what to do. You must first understand the love of the Father and anything He tells us is for our benefit not His!

This process begins when we repent and begin to line our thinking up with Gods through his word. Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove, what is that good,acceptable and perfect will of God

I saw a beautiful picture in my mind as God was helping me to understand that this painful process is vital to become like Jesus. I saw the process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly. It begins in egg form. Then they become the larva better known as a caterpillar.

In this stage they eat constantly. This is the stage where we would feast on Gods word and get to know Him in a personal relationship. This time may feel like we can’t get enough of Gods word. Luke 4:4 “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. To be spiritually healthy we must feast on Gods word. Just like in the natural you would be weak without the nutrients you get from natural food.

Yes, being healthy physically is important, but the condition of your souls health is even more important, because its eternal. I believe the length of this process is partially dependent on how much time we dedicate to the Lord. If we say we love the Lord more than anything or anyone else then that should reflect in our actions.

This is also the stage where the caterpillar sheds old skin. I liken this to the scripture that says you can’t put new wine in old wine skin. Its time to get rid of the old and make room for the new! This may not be fun, but it is the only way to fully make room for the Holy Spirit to work. As John the baptist said, “I must decrease, He(Jesus) must increase.

This may be a time you have to put some things down. It may require putting down good things that may not be Gods best in this growing process. This can be painful sometimes to let go of things. Things or individuals that may comfort the flesh. We can’t have it both ways so letting go is pertinent to be able to receive the new.

Think of it this way. If you are already carrying a bunch of stuff you won’t be able to carry what God has. Putting it all down and allowing the Lord to lead is always in our best interest.

Then you have the Pupa or the chrysalis stage which is the stage where the most remarkable transformation is taking place. From the outside this could be deceiving. If you are seeing what only the natural eye can see. It may look from the outside like nothing is happening at all.

I had to imagine for the caterpillar this may seem like a very lonely and perhaps scary dark place? I don’t know, but it may seem to the caterpillar like the most unproductive stage since it can’t move or do anything itself.

If you are in this stage of your walk with God you may feel like, what are you doing Lord? You may feel lonely and unproductive because you are not doing, only being with the Lord.

If the Lord has invited you to the secret place where it is just you and him then rejoice, because this is the place God does His best work. This is the John 15 place, the abiding in Him.

This is where you do nothing but sit with the Lord and fruit will start to come. Don’t get impatient in this process. No matter what it may look like from the outside world this transformation may be painful, but beautiful on the other side.

The last stage is the butterfly. This is where you see the beauty that was being formed behind the scenes. Each butterfly is a beautiful design of our creator God in the same way we are, when we submit to this process of transformation.

When we come out of this stage where God has hid us behind the scenes we are a beautiful display of the Fathers heart, the character of Jesus formed and seen in us!

This is where we are flying above all the issues and problems in this world. Our God is bigger and above them all. This is when our perspective has changed to align with Father Gods(an eternal mindset). You will see clearer and feel freer than ever before.

We are able to have the peace of Jesus in this perspective because we are trusting that God sees all and has already provided the solution through Jesus Christ before the problem arises. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that His divine power has given us ALL things that pertain to life and godliness.

This is the place where we are guided by the wind of the Holy Spirit, trusting in Gods goodness to lead you. Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding, acknowledge Him in all His ways and He shall direct your path.”

Don’t resist the process of transformation. Matthew 6:33 “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. Keep it simple. Seek God first and take time to build a relationship and fall in love with the Father.The more we know Him, the more we grow in Him..

I pray Lord that you would give each of us great grace to submit to the process of abiding in you and your word. Create in us Christ likeness that we may draw others to you Father by the love you give. Thank you Father for seeing us so valuable that you were willing to send your son to rescue us by shedding His blood and redeeming us back to you Father. Help us to desire you Lord more than we desire anything else. That we would be intentional about building a relationship with you Lord and that we start to see ourselves the way you do. In Jesus name we pray Amen