A tolerant heart is a humble heart

"Be careful what you look down on and despise,
God will send it into your life to open up your eyes." ~ Katrina Green

Tolerance - "The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others; acceptance of different views; fairness toward the people who hold different views."

America...land of the free.

Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of opportunity, freedom to have and to express our own beliefs. It's a country where the belief in or against something can divide by great magnitudes. It can drive someone to question the difference between civil rights and the right thing.

I have been challenged in my own life over the past six months with judging someone that had beliefs or a lifestyle that was different than mine or did not meet what I felt was right or was in line with God's word. It can be a fine balance. You have to be careful because it will challenge your level of tolerance, your ability to understand, show compassion and it can also keep you from learning a great deal. You learn more from opposition than you do in agreement. Looking back over my life, I realize that I have learned the most about myself and the world around me when I ran into challenges, constructive and un-fair criticism, disagreements and ironically, those who were not like me or who did not share the same beliefs as me.

Being new to the ministry, I have had to look in the mirror several times and question my own ideas and views. After much prayer, I came to two conclusions. If I just surround myself with only those who believe like me, then how will I ever learn or how will I ever teach? If I judge too quickly, how can I ever claim that I am a follower of Christ?

Sometimes, we Christians, can be so stuck in our spiritual bubble that we become ignorant to the issues of the world around us. How can you change the world, if you isolate yourself from it? Scripture did not say to not learn from the ways of this world, it says do not be transformed/conformed by the ways of this world. Learn from it without allowing it to suck you in.

The very things that you rebuke, run and hide from, God will bring them to you face to face to challenge you, teach you and to remove the nasty sin called pride. We are called to spread the word of God; to encourage others to consider to get to know God, not to play God. We all have our own sins to account for so maybe counting other's sins aren't such a great idea.

No matter how sanctified, virtuous, favored, blessed or annointed you are, you still fall short in the eyes of God. The day of judgment belongs to the Lord and His alone. It is not for us to judge nor condemn our fellow brothers and sisters. A tolerant heart is a humble heart.

I encourage you this week to speak to someone you might usually not speak to; listen to someone elses viewpoint on a belief that you are firm against; and try to listen more than you speak. God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason! Have a blessed week!

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
He also told them this parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher." "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Luke 6:32-42


© Copyrights, All rights reserved
March 2010

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

Securing your cargo

Security - The state or feeling of being safe and protected against loss, attack, or harm; the assurance that something of value will not be taken away.

Isn’t it funny how an attack can make you more aware and alert? It makes you want to be more protective of the unborn baby that you're carrying, providing nourishment and keeping safe so that it will be healthy and vibrant when it is born.

You may be working hard on the purpose that God has called you to do and just like a pregnant woman, you can become frustrated when it isn’t moving as fast as you would like. You find yourself anxious, overwhelmed and restless. It seems like you have been waiting for so long.

Then out of nowhere you are attacked or robbed and it makes you realize how much God and the enemy is moving in the midst of the discouragement. God kept it in place for a reason. The time wasn’t right as the baby is still growing and is vulnerable and needs more security and protection.

My blog was recently hacked into by someone all the way from Vietnam. I was shocked because I thought I had a pretty strong security. When you are working hard on making something come to fruition and you are attacked, that just further validates your mission. A bank robber typically doesn’t rob a bank with an empty vault, just as Satan doesn’t attack a ministry that doesn’t have the ability to spread the gospel to the masses in a society where sex sells. I find it disturbing that pornography, relationship advice and celebrity gossip sites get 20 million times the webhits than the ministry so naturally it can be very frustrating but to know that the blog was hacked by the same target that I am battling really put things in perspective.

My cargo is precious and I must carry it full term to keep it safe from harm.

Although this was a small inconvenience to me, the attack actually made me stronger. It has made me take a deep breath and wait on God to let me know when this baby is ready to see the world. This isn’t my ministry, it’s His ministry. God knows that I have more things to get in order so He will help mold me and shape me into the mother that He needs me to be to this ministry and until then I need to be patient and be on guard against attacks. I expect a lot of pain in birthing this child, but the miracle that it will produce in the end will make me forget all about the waiting and pain and focus on the blessing.

Be careful who you seek to gain understanding or advice from such as those marketing themselves as advice experts.

I write for broken women like me to encourage them to seek answers through CHRIST, not advice.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galatians 6:9

“You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised” Hebrews 6:12


Be blessed this week!


© Copyrights, All rights reserved


Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

The Gift of Life

Spring is here! One of my favorite parts of spring are the sunrises and sunsets. I love to drive over the Eagle Creek bridge to catch a glimpse of the sky overlooking the lake that God paints every morning and evening. It is absolutely breath-taking.

My kids and I enjoy watching the Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. It amazes us to watch animals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, fish, insects and their journey through this life. There is a new series on the Discovery Channel called Life and we have been anticipating it's premier.

After watching the first two episodes, I couldn't help but think about the creativity, tenacity, intelligence and beauty of these creatures. They also evolve just as we do, but no matter how much evolution takes place, two things are still certain. All creatures struggle to survive and they have a strong desire to reproduce. That's life.

Wow. How could you not witness all of God's marvelous works and beauty and not believe or submit to Him? Maybe it's just that we are too distracted by small things that don't matter.

It makes you wonder the point of it all. You know, that thing called the food chain and the tragedy of the unfortunate species that have a very low spot on the totem pole of life. The irony is that humans place the top spot on the food chain, having dominion over all of these billions of species, but yet it seems that they, the creatures have it right.

They live and survive on pure instinct and take a breathe of life for the primary reason of their purpose. To give to nature and to take from nature. To seize and to sacrifice. They give with their work ethic, survival skills and often their lives and providing nourishment for the creature that is a little higher on the food chain, but before they leave, they typically reproduce, thus allowing the cycle of life to continue. Then, even when they take, they are really providing. When they take a life for by hunting for food, they are keeping that specific creature from over-populating the land enabling others to share it.

Even the storms, the sunrises and the sunsets serve their purpose perfectly. The storms come to give water for all species to drink and to water the plants and trees, the sunlight gives light to see and heat for warmth and growth. The sunsets to provide rest to the weary and camouflage for the night-time hunters.

They serve their purpose so perfectly. All of this was created as a perfect and divine gift for us, for God's children. We are to be just as the creatures. To have a purpose. To seize and to sacrifice in this life. Even though the cricket, who has about a million more species looking to devour him and at any moment, he still survives from day to day without worrying about tomorrow. We are at the very top of the food chain yet we seem to worry more than that little cricket.

Take a look over your life. Do you seize more than you sacrifice? Do you take more than you give? Is there a natural balance? What's your purpose? Do you know what it is?

Only God can give you that insight.

I encourage you to take a walk in the park, change the channel to The Discovery Channel or visit your local lake. Drown out the distractions and noise and just pay a little bit closer attention to what surrounds you. It's called the gift of life.

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name." Isaiah 40:12, 26

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:26

"You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you." Nehemiah 9:6


© Copyrights, All rights reserved
March 2010

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

The Law of the Harvest

Are you familiar with the following terms?

You get out of life what you put in it. You reap what you sow. What goes up, must come down. What goes around, comes around.

Some call it The Boomerang Effect, Hindus calls it Karma, Sir. Isaac Newton called it The Law of Gravity.

Scripture calls it The Law of the Harvest.

When you think of the term law, what comes to mind?

Order. Accountability. Equality. Justice. Balance.

God made this law as a way of making sure there are checks and balances in this world. It is in the nature of man to sin. If we had no rewards, consequences or repercussions for our actions and decisions, then there would be no respect, no discipline, no sense of accomplishment, no hope, no dreams and no desire for a future.

Whatever you do, you are sowing (planting) a seed. There will be a reaping of that harvest when the season has arrived. The question is, will you be reaping a good harvest or a bad one? It's all up to you. If you work hard with good cheer, you reap a great and bountiful harvest. If you are sleeping while others are doing all the work, you will reap poverty. The way you treat others is the way you will be treated. If you take short-cuts, it will be short-lived. If you are deceitful, you will be decieved. What's done in the dark will soon come to light. If you live by the sword, you die by the sword.

Even with our planet, mother earth, our home, the gift that God has given us. All of the recent natural disasters are as a result of us polluting and neglecting our land. We are reaping destruction because we have used and abused our land.

Take a look at your life. Are you prepared to reap the harvest that you have sown? Have you sown it in good soil, good ground or have you sown bad seed? What will you reap when the season arrives?

The season is near.

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." Galatians 6:7

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:6

© Copyrights, All rights reserved
March 2010

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

Modern Christian Women

My friend and I had an all day photo shoot with another talented upcoming photographer/artist. The purpose is to interpret scripture with a modern touch for women. Here is a sample. Enjoy!

The Suburban Caucasian Business Woman & The Urban African-American Fashion Designer. A contrast in the real world, but sisters in Christ!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14


© Copyrights, All rights reserved
March 2010

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

Happiness is a state of mind

Happiness - "State of contentment, gratitude, bliss, delight and joy"

How many of us can say that we are truly happy?

In a society and culture of instant gratification, it can be quite hard to find a place of contentment. The media is constantly pushing more and more everywhere we turn. The more we acquire, the more we desire.

We dwell on the past by replaying our mistakes over and over and then we often worry about tomorrow, next week, next month and as far as next year. We get so caught up in worrying about the past and the future that we forget about the present. We don’t realize that the present is a gift. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t promised. We are quick to complain about the woman that cut us off in traffic but forget to talk about the many people who let us cut in front of them while running late to work. We worry so much about our burdens that we forget about our blessings.

Maybe you have yet to forgive a friend that you have been angry with far too long over something that you can’t even remember why you parted ways. Maybe you keep putting off taking your daughter to see that play that she has been begging you to see. It might be that you haven’t visited your grandmother in the nursing home for over 6 months although as a child she always had your favorite cookies after school every single Friday. It may even be due to your fear of rejection, you still haven’t asked that beautiful girl out that you have been admiring for months. Opportunities come and go as though they will always be there. We put off today for yesterday and tomorrow.

Worry. Doubt. Resentment. Fear. Insecurities.

They are just bricks that form a wall standing in your way of true happiness and contentment. When we become aware of the worries of our life and then cast them to God, we open ourselves to happiness and all of the blessings that He has in store for us. God loves us dearly and wants us to be happy. He cares for us. Get rid of the bricks. They are the only thing standing in your way to bliss! ♥

Knock on your friend's door and tell them you miss them! Surprise your child, pick her up from school and take her to that play in the front row! Pull out your grandmother's cookie recipe, bake them and take them to her! Grab a bouquet of flowers and ask that girl out!

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Matthew 6:25-27

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:34

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7


Be blessed this week!

© Copyrights, All rights reserved
March 2010

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25

The Beauty of Atonement

Have you ever been in a situation where you are causing self inflicted pain? It is a pain that can take all forms; insecurities, depression, shame, guilt, isolation, misery and can evolve into unhealthy relationships, addictions and co-dependent behavior. It’s almost as though you are a martyr for some reason or cause. The only person you think you are hurting is yourself. There is a void inside of you and you find yourself becoming a human sacrifice. It could be apparent or it could be sub-conscience. These things start from a feeling of unworthiness and can grow into larger issues.

This is what you call atonement.

Atonement – “The making of reparation for a sin or a mistake”

It can be to repair or makes amends for something or it can be in the form of self sacrifice/self inflicted pain.

Personally, I know that I often find myself trying to atone for my sins and then at times for the grace and mercy that I feel is undeserved. I have a tendency to try over-work, over-achieve and give to where it’s almost taking everything out of me.

When you have been where I have been, surrounded by nothing but turmoil but then make it out almost unscratched, it can be quite devastating. You may appear shiny and new, but the internal scars remain. You just can’t see them becasue they are so deep within. It’s like being thrown in a tornado, with havoc, chaos and destruction all around you and all of a sudden, you made it out. But where is everyone else? They were victims of the tornado and weren’t as fortunate as you. You then start to question, "Why me? Why did I make it out and not them?" The guilt can be overwhelming. You also become anxious because you are aware of the responsibility that it carries so that obligation evolves into an obsession.

Or maybe you are one of the ones that didn’t make it out of the tornado. You witnessed others survive and you wonder, "Why didn’t I make it out? Why was I left behind? Am I not important?" Then you find yourself drowning in sorrow, and it seems like the tornado is the only thing you know, so you stay but don't realize that you can make it out, but it's so hard to step outside what has always been.

The beauty of atonement is that we already have it. The reason Christ endured that long walk carrying His cross was to atone FOR us so we don’t have to. He sacrificed for us, shielded us, atoned for all of our sins. Yes, ALL of them.

So today, I ask you. What are you trying to atone for?

Quit trying to atone for something that was already paid for by Jesus. He paid a hefty ransom for us. He freed us. Our ransom from the slavery of sin means we have atonement. Instead of trying to make reparations for your sins, turn to Christ and give praise for the priceless gift that He gave and ask Him how to use you to glorify Him.

“You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

“For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.” 1 Timothy 2:5-6

Be blessed this week!

© Copyrights, All rights reserved
March 2010

Katrina Green
President
Butterfly Ministries, Inc.

Take a Stand. Spread the Word. Save the Butterflies ♥


"It is the mission of Butterfly Ministries, Inc. to empower and inspire positive transformation in girls and young women by encouraging them to take a stand against gender exploitation and to give rise to a historic revolution."

COMING SOON! Join the Butterfly Movement!

Launching Spring 2010!

"Strength and honor was her clothing" Proverbs 31:25