Month: June 2023

God has given Lynda and me an exciting opportunity to watch one of His creations go through one of His most amazing processes — metamorphosis.

Early this month, (June 3), I saw a Monarch Butterfly land in a couple of milkweed plants that have sprung up in the last couple of years in our backyard. Since I had my ever-ready phone/camera in my shirt pocket, I whipped it out and grabbed a shot or two. It flew off and I went about whatever it was that I was doing.

Two days later I happened by the milkweed and noticed a big monarch caterpillar on a leaf. Suddenly I was seeing them all over the plant. I checked the other milkweed and found that it was also filled with caterpillars. I wasn’t able to count them all, but there were at least twenty between the two plants.

We’ve been watching them
closely in the week and a half
since. As of today, (June 12)
we have 5 chrysalises already
and 2 or 3 more that are
preparing for that stage, one in the “J” formation.

Watch the trailer on this site to see just how awesome this process is:

http://www.metamorphosisthefilm.com/

Update, June 15
As of this morning, we now have 10 chrysalises! Three transformed from caterpillar this morning and I was able to shoot video of the last one. We’re not seeing caterpillars anymore, but we’ve seen butterflies around the plants. I wonder if there are more eggs. We’ll now be watching for butterflies coming fresh from their metamorphosis! Stay tuned!

Update, July 15
When I get more time I need to bring this up to date! We’ve had more than 11 chrysalises form and “hatch” and I literally have hundreds of photos. They include shots of all, or most of the stages. I need to post a few. It has been an awesome experience watching one of the many demonstrations of God’s handiwork!

I’ll try to get to the update soon.

Because He lives,
Gary

My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways. I don’t expect you to understand everything. (Isaiah 55:8-9), but here’s what I want you to know:
What God says about you:
I designed you
I planned you
I made you
I love you
I like you
I want you
I care about you
I bought you
I forgave you
I am with you
I have more for you

What God says about Himself
I know what I am doing

What God says that you can expect from Him:
I have given enough information – if you’re willing to pay attention – to know that I exist.
I will give you more information – if you’re willing to listen – to know that I am trustworthy to do what is best for you.
If you will ask, I will show you that you can trust Me.
If you’ll come to me, I will give you rest

What God says He expects from you
Trust in the Remedy I have provided for your sin
Make Me Lord of your life
Trust Me to get you through

What God says you need to keep in mind:
That I am God, and you are not
That My ways are not your ways
That My thoughts are not your thoughts
That I’m not obligated to do things your way
That I’m not obligated to explain myself
My ways may require pain – on your part, or on the part of those you love

And know this:
You can’t out-do My love. So –
     – Don’t presume that you are more loving than I am.
     – Don’t presume that you are wiser than I am. (“If I were God, I’d …”)
I don’t negotiate.

Also,
I can do anything
I’m not trying to confuse you – that’s the devil
I want you to have peace
I want you to have joy
My plan has an eternal perspective
     – It may involve pain
        – But only enough to accomplish my purpose in you
        – If that’s only to teach you something, the pain will end when you learn it.
         – If there is more, I’ll help you to endure it
               – It may be to learn how to comfort someone else
     – Please trust me
        – That’s your only way to peace

This list began on a napkin as Lynda and I were sitting in Starbucks one morning several years ago waiting for our car to be serviced across the street. We don’t remember what got the conversation started, but we began just writing down from memory what we saw as the message of the Bible. We have made modifications along the way since.

Note: There are very few original statements in this. Even where I haven’t cited the source of a statement, it is likely that I got it from someone else. No plagiarism is intended. Because He lives, Gary Crocker.

• God is Who He is. We can’t make Him into a God we like or want so that we can excuse what we’re doing.
• The universe is not about me, and it’s not about you. It’s all about God.
• We live in God’s creation, and He’s not obligated to do things our way.
• “There is a god we want, and the God Who is – and they are not the same God. Real transformation begins when we stop seeking the god we want and begin seeking the God Who is.” Patrick Morley, Man in the Mirror
• Not everything makes sense to us – but it does to God.
• God loves us intensely.
• Nothing catches God off guard.
• God engineers our circumstances
  • With the purpose of conforming us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-29)
  • Using what He gets from us and those around us – sin and all
• God wants us to trust Him.
  • In everything
  • He is trustworthy
• We can thwart His plans for us – to our detriment.
• He will do what it takes to get our attention. But if we continually refuse Him, He may get quieter and quieter until we can no longer hear Him. We may reach a point where he stops and gives us over to our passions and their natural results. (Romans 1:24, 26, 28)
• God doesn’t come to our pity parties.
• We do not live in the world as God created it. Mankind has fallen, and things are no longer the way they were supposed to be.

What some have said about God

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching but whether or not he rose from the dead.” Tim Keller

“As long as you do not begin with an imposed philosophical bias against the possibility of miracles, the Resurrection has as much attestation as any other ancient historical event.” Tim Keller

“I found out one day that God and I were incompatible and that one of us had to change.” Pete McKensie, Influencers West.

“… not what, in pride, we want to believe, but what, in humility, we must believe.” Randy Alcorn, about Erasing Hell, by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle, 2011.

“… not to apologize for God, but to apologize to God for presuming to be wiser and more loving than our Savior.” Ibid, Alcorn.