Category: the butterfly journey

the butterfly journey

7 Daily Habits That Cultivate Holiness

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Pursuing holiness is not a one-time deal. It is something that we must work toward each day of our lives. But it is something that we should want to pursue until the day of Christ Jesus.

  1. Prayer – This may seem like a given habit as a believer, but sometimes it is not a developed habit that we consistently do.
    • 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” NIV
    • Philippians 4: 6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” NIV
    • Jeremiah 29: 12-13 “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” NIV
  2. Studying scripture – How can we please God if we don’t know what pleases God? His holy word begins to open up the character of God and how we should walk out this life of faith.
    • 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 “All scriptures is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” NIV
    • Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” NIV
    • Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” NIV
  3. Gratitude – Be thankful for the unconditional love of God towards us.
    • Psalm 107:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.” NIV
  4. Accountability – We are accountable for maturing in the things of God as believers.
    • Romans 14:12 “So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” NIV
    • James 5:16 “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
    • 1 Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as in fact you are doing.” NIV
  5. Humbleness – Remain humble in all you do and only allow the Lord to exalt you.
    • 1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.” NIV
    • Proverbs 22:4 “Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” NIV
    • Colossians 3:12 “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” NIV
  6. Worship and Praise – Give God everything that He is due. He is an awesome God and there is none like Him.
    • 1 Chronicles 16:29 “Ascribe to the Lorad the glory due His name; bring an offering and come before Him. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.” NIV
    • Psalm 63:3-4 “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name, I will lift up my hands.” NIV
  7. Fellowship – Spending time with other believers helps encourage each other with the challenges of life.
    • Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” NIV

As you continue your pursuit of holiness, I pray that this list of daily habits and the scriptures will catapult you into the abundant life that Jesus died for us to have. The blessings and promises of God are your portion.

In God I trust.

Sister Lisa Walker

the butterfly journey

Chasing Holiness – Part 4 Pursue

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“Pursue holiness, without which no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14 NKJV

The biblical definition of pursue signifies actively striving with intent and determination toward spiritual goals, righteousness, peace, and a deeper relationship with God. (reference – Bible Hub)

When you want to know about something or someone, you will pursue more knowledge about the matter or person with urgency and intent. That is what God wants us to do with Him. In order to know Him and develop a true intimate relationship with God we need to earnestly seek Him. As Jeremiah 29:13 states; “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” NIV

My experience with pursuing God happened when a stirring from the Holy Spirit moved me to know more about Him and draw closer. When I was first saved, I didn’t know a thing about walking in this Christian faith. But the other thing was I didn’t pursue knowledge or wisdom from God either. Which lead me to backsliding and getting a lot of bumps and bruises from the enemy. But the Holy Spirit prompted me to seek more of God. I am so very joyful that the Lord has me in a position to seek Him now. Like I feel like years have passed me by, without having that intimate relationship with God. But I am glad that God can redeem the time and gives me another chance before I leave this earth to really know His love in full.

One of the main reasons I write this blog, is to perhaps spark an interest in others to know God more. Perhaps my words can inspire someone to begin to diligently seek the Lord and in doing so they find so many treasures, promises, and hope hidden in His word and in the gloriousness of His presence. God wants us to be close to Him, He adores us! And if you don’t yet understand that fact then keep seeking Him in prayer, His word, worship, and fellowship with other believers. You will definitely find God in all His glory and holiness.

As the spring season unfolds, with the blooming of trees and flowers and the brown dormant nature start to turn green again; I challenge you to refresh your relationship with God. Seek Him more and with intention. Join a local bible study group in your area or church. Take a discipleship class. If you don’t have a relationship with God and are seeking one; please reach out to a local church in your area or talk to someone you trust that is a Christian or even message us and we will be glad to help you in your pursuit of God.

In pursuit of God,

Sister Lisa Walker

the butterfly journey

Chasing Holiness – Be Holy Part 3

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This conversation I had the other day with another believer left me confused. I was sharing with them about the journey I was on learning from Holy Spirit about holy fear of God and holiness. I always get super excited when God reveals His word to me in an intimate way, because it shows me that He loves me and trust me if He would allow me to mature in His grace and develop more intimacy with Him. But when I share with other believers and their attitude is lukewarm to the things of God, especially His word, it confuses me. How can you say you belong to the Lord and love Him, but you don’t seek Him. How can you not desire to please Him in the newness of your life that you received when He gave His son, Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice for you so you didn’t have to go to hell because of your sins?

The person’s position on being holy was that it is not attainable. But I beg to differ, because not only does God say it in His word; it is a command. 1 Peter 1:13-16 says: “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be bought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at His coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written be Holy, because I am Holy.” And the latter part of this scripture Peter took directly from the Old Testament scripture; Leviticus 11:44-45 “I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be Holy, because I am Holy. I am the Lord, who bought you out of Egypt to be your God; therefore, be Holy because I am Holy.” My question would be why God would command us to be holy if it was not attainable?

Let’s dive in a little deeper. Perhaps our perspective about what Holy means is incorrect. Let’s see what the biblical definition of Holy states. The first thing that the definition starts off with is that there is over 430 times that the word holy or holiness is mentioned in the Old Testament only and over 180 times it’s mentioned in the New Testament. So needless to say, the meaning of word holy and holiness is important to God. The Hebrew word for holy is “godesh” which means apartness, sacredness, or separateness (God is set apart from His creation) above Him there is no other. The Greek word for Holiness is “hagios” which means pure, morally blameless or set apart. (reference: http://www.whatchritianswant toknow.com)

With this additional information about what the word holy or holiness means in the biblical sense perhaps we can begin to understand what God meant when He co mmands us to be holy. Holy doesn’t mean that we are perfect and to me I don’t even believe that it means we reach the completion of holiness while still in the flesh. What I do believe it means is that we are set apart to God and if we truly have been born again, embracing the free gift of justification through salvation because of what Jesus did on the cross, then we would desire to please God in every area of our lives.

When we allow Holy Spirit to have His perfect way in our lives then we are allowing the process of sanctification to be fulfilled through us. Holy Spirit will convict us of our sins so we can repent and then point us back to Jesus and His attributes which we should also develop. Being holy and walking in holiness is a daily process and we need to crucify our flesh daily as the word states. If you desire to build your intimate relationship with God and walk in holiness then you should develop these daily habits; read and study the Bible each day, develop a daily prayer life, and serve the people of God with the gifts and talents God gave you to glorify Him.

Back to my conversation with my friend, I don’t understand why a believer would want to only have the bare minimum life that God has for us. For me I want all that He has for me in every aspect. I seek Him with my whole heart, and He wants you to do the same. God longs for an intimate relationship with all of us who love Him.

Question to ponder: Are you seeking God and His holiness?

Father God, we honor and adore you! We worship You for who You are in all of Your holiness and sovereignness. We thank you Father that we can know You intimately. We ask Holy Spirit to come into our lives to lead and guide us to all Your truth that is in Your word. We repent for not seeking You with our whole heart because we do love You and want to please You in our new life as Your children. In Jesus Christ precious name we pray. Amen.

In His service,

Sister Lisa Walker

the butterfly journey

Chasing Holiness Part 2 – Justification vs. Sanctification

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I am reading this wonderful book called: “The Awe of God” by bestselling author John Bevere. And something that he says in the book that really gave me pause was that we can love God and walk in error because we do not fear God. That really shook me to my core.

This takes us back to why Jesus came to begin with and that was to fulfill the will of God to become a holy sacrifice and cleansing blood that atoned for our sins and redeemed us back to a right place with Father God. If you remember the scriptures when Jesus was about to be crucified, He pleaded with God to take this assignment from him, but His ultimate resolve was, “not my will Father, but your will be done”.

The gift of salvation from the completed work of Jesus, justifies us. When we receive this gift, we are then justified at which point the work of sanctification should begin. Let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone and the new is here.” NIV This is where sanctification comes in to teach us how to be holy. Remember what Paul says in Philippians 2:12-13 “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” NKJV We have to will to do things in the right context of what God says in His word. Sanctification means “set apart to God”. When you pursue a life “set apart to God”; you are maturing your relationship with God. Transformation can begin to take place in your life. And with transformation becomes your will starts to look like that of your Father God’s will. There is so much more to this, but we will begin to pull pieces out that God wants us to focus on.

There are two things that I am learning so far from pursuing holiness: 1. I need to learn from Holy Spirit and God’s Holy word in order to understand who God is and 2. having holy fear of God allows me the will to do the things that He wants of me in reverence to His glory.

I don’t want to get to judgment day and not have done things in the correct way because I was ignorant of it. I want all that God has for me in order to glorify Him. And that’s why I share, because God has called me to teach and share His word of truth with His children.

Thoughts to ponder: Do we understand the process of sanctification? Are we pursuing it as we should?

If you are getting anything from my insights as Holy Spirit is teaching me, please let me know, I’d love to interact with you! Come back next week for Part 3. Subscribe to the blog and you can get notification when a new blog post is up!

In His service,

Sister Lisa Walker

the butterfly journey

Chasing Holiness

livingwholecoaching

In this season I have been pursuing God and His purpose for my life. Amazingly, as I have been pursuing God, the Holy Spirit has taken me on a quest to understand the holy fear of God.

The fear of the Lord is the starting place for an intimate relationship with God.

I’ve heard some preachers talk about the Western churches and how we have lost our pursuit of the holy fear of God. We’ve compromised too much of God’s word, because the enemy has used culture to say; “Oh it’s not that deep.” But oh, to the contrary it is that deep, it’s eternal.

As God is teaching me about having holy fear or reverential fear of Him; it is making it more and more clear why I see some of my brothers and sisters in Christ walking in lack. They love the Lord, but they don’t fear Him. Having holy fear is not being afraid of God, but rather a deep respect, reverence, and awe of His holiness. It also reminds me that pursuing the things of God are super important to our eternal lives. Because if we are truly seeking God with our whole hearts, we will surely find Him. Studying and learning the word of God holds true to open up the mysteries of what God has for us.

Let’s look at what some scriptures have to say about the fear of the Lord:

Psalm 25:12-14 “Who, then, are those who fear the Lord? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The Lord confides in those who fear Him; He makes His covenant known to them.” NIV

Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” NIV

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” NIV

Apostle Paul said in Philippians 2, “work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

I know that this posture is not an easy study but trust me as the Holy Spirit gives us understanding and revelation into all truths and righteousness we will understand and have a clear understanding of God’s word and the ability to chase after His holiness.

Lock in or subscribe to my blog as we delve into this wonderous word about, the holy fear of God. I will be uploading new insights and thoughts each week.

I leave you with a question to ponder. Do I understand the meaning of holy fear of God?

Until the next blog, pray for God to begin to give you insight on where you are in your pursuit of holiness.

God’s servant,

Sister Lisa

the butterfly journey

Dear God, I love you!

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Father, it’s me your daughter, Lisa again. I just wanted to tell you, I love you! I’ve known your faithful love for many years and yet in still I was not experiencing the most intimate relationship with you that I desired. But it wasn’t you Father, it was me. I didn’t understand the process of getting to know you. Until, one day it all clicked into place, and I surrendered my all to you and everything began to change.

When I mean change, I mean change! I have never experienced the type of freedom in the Lord that I have right now. My whole being body, mind and spirit are free! And peace, oh my Lord the peace that surpasses all understanding fills my life to the fullest!

I have talked to you all a lot lately, trying to have someone, anyone, consider donating a living kidney for me, because I was suffering from Stage 5 renal failure and desperate to live a little while longer. But I had no success, but my heart and my spirit were well with whatever outcome the Lord had for me.

I didn’t complain, I was grateful for every sunrise and every sunset. Life was more vibrant to me during this journey. I began to seek God more and I found Him more; my prayer walks became my happy place during my days. As God gave me grace for this journey He began to want to use me more for the kingdom. And I decided to be obedient to His call. I began to walk in my spiritual gift for teaching the word of God. I believe in the utmost that the living word of God is a manual of life but not only that it teaches us about the loving, gracious, kind, awesome, and sovereign Father in the intimate way.

But on Sunday, October 26, 2025 {my kidneyvarsary}, I got the call of a lifetime at 5:04 am in the morning! I was in the restroom when the call came through, but I was not expecting it to be about a kidney, I was kind of upset that someone dared to call me that early on a Sunday morning. However, when they rang back immediately after I declined it the first time, I knew something was up and I answered. “I am looking for Lisa, the caller stated.” “This is Lisa I replied. ” ” The caller said we have a kidney for you.” ” I stated, what?” “She said, yes, it is a great kidney, probably healthier than mine own kidney.” “I was stunned for a moment, trying to get my thoughts together. When she said “do you want it?” And I said, YES!

So from that point it was a whirlwind of activities. Me and my husband were running on pure adrenaline, with excitement and scared all at the same time. We got ourselves together {well my husband got me together}, as I had just stood in the middle of my bedroom floor and started to cry. We finally at about 6 a.m. hit the road to MedStar Georgetown and arrived safely there around 7 a.m. And we waited in the hallway of the Emergency room until the kidney finally arrived at 9:30 p.m. Finally, it’s showtime, I go to pre-op and wait some more then around midnight they take in for surgery.

The miracle of it all is so much, God just orchestrated everything in perfect excellency, down to every small detail. He is amazing to say the least. I will have to continue my story over the next few weeks as its so much to let you know about the goodness of my Father.

But I am doing very well, and recovery is coming along better than I could have imagined.

I want to thank each of you for your prayers during this journey of health challenges in my life and I ask my Father to bless each of you with renewed desire to know Him better in these difficult times and days in this world. He wants to know you better as well.

Be blessed,

Sister Lisa Walker

the butterfly journey

On One Accord

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Dear God, It’s me Lisa.

I have been thinking a lot about how I can be on one accord with you. I understand that continuing to develop my relationship with you through reading your word, communicating with you, through prayer, and listening with my whole heart will enable me to understand my assignment, as it pertains to your will. To be honest; I struggle with doing those things on a consistent basis. I repent.

Father, how do we become on one accord as believers? I read Acts 2:42-47, which gives me some idea of how the early church operated and developed fellowship and like-mindedness. The word says that we need to be willing to be taught, come together in fellowship, breaking bread together, and prayer.

I read and meditated on Romans 8:5-11. This is really the meat and potatoes of the way we get to be in sync with your will God. We need to walk in the Holy Spirit and not in our flesh. The word says that the mind that is governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit leads to life and peace. Ok, God now I am beginning to understand the assignment!

Lastly, 2 Corinthians 5:17 lets me know that now that I am in Jesus, that I am a new creature. I need to be focused on changing my mindset from a fleshly viewpoint to a spirit-filled mind. That will give me and my fellow believers a roadmap to being on one accord! I know that this will please you God, when your ecclesia is walking on a true path of righteousness!

Thank you as always Father for helping us understand what we need for today!

Love and blessings L

the butterfly journey

I’m Back!

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Well, it has been a long road getting back to writing but, here we are! My plans from more than a year ago were to blog/write most days and I started out with a bang. Then life got in the way. I had surgery for a new access port for my dialysis treatment and things didn’t go so well. As a matter of fact, I lost the feeling in my left hand due to the loss of blood circulation in my arm. Unfortunately, a year later I still do not have full feeling in my hand. Um, the enemy trying to silence me again.

The plan may have worked for a little while, but I’m back and more motivated then ever! I pray that you will come along with me as I refresh my writing and prayerfully bring new and encouraging Godly wisdom, as I myself navigate biblical and Godly insight directly from Holy Spirit.

I don’t know if you feel it but, there is a fresh wind, a new season coming upon us. It is a time of shifting in the spirit realm. It is a time to rededicate ourselves to the things of God. It is a time of thirsting after righteousness. I feel like God wants to release a newness in us and revive us from a “dry” season.

Are you ready for a refreshing of your spirit? I know I am; it’s been a tough 15 months dealing with my health issues but, God is able to do the impossible and He has. He has kept me through all the trials and ups and downs. He has continued to be faithful to His word! His grace and mercies have been new to me every morning when I open my eyes to see a brand-new day.

Father God we are ready for what you have in store for us this new season! We will continue to abide in you.

I look forward to sharing with you all.

Blessings L

the butterfly journey

Gathering

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Hebrews 10:25 “Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” NIV

Coming together and fellowshipping with family, friends, and other believers is essential to our growth. God made us to need each other. When we come together on one accord we can strengthen one another in our struggles, we can encourage each other in our downfalls, we can help lift up each other’s heads when we are overwhelmed, and we can hold each other up when we are broken. Not only is this good for encouraging each other when we may get down, but it can also stir us to excellence in our walk with Christ. Others can provoke you to do good works in the name of Jesus. We need each other. Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” NIV

Have you ever heard that a three-strand cord is not easily broken? God said in Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” NIV When you have this equation, this is a force to be reckoned with!

It is so important to come together in fellowship with one another as often as we can. This is especially true in the world we live in today, where people are more anti-social than any other time in history due to social media and other distractions that have reinvented our time together. I am not saying that technology is bad because it has given us some great opportunities to advance in knowledge and lots of other things, but it can’t take the place of the importance of physical fellowship, gathering, or coming together.

We must protect the sanctity of gathering during this season because I believe that coming together is going to catapult God’s people into a revival like never before. It is going to bring us back to the basics of God’s Kingdom influence in the earth.

I feel led to challenge myself to be more purposeful in creating an atmosphere to invite others to come together in fellowship and to seek what God wants us to do. I want to be open to God to use me for His glory in ministering to not only His people, but the world. We know that people are hurting and suffering and some will not be comfortable coming to the church building, but we as believers are the church, so let them come to us. And as we walk in our place as God’s people, we can bring with us the spirit of the living God that can heal, deliver, and set free those that are looking for a savior.

I challenge each of you to reach out to others in your circle of influence and come together in an effort to hear from God and see how God moves in the midst of your gathering!

Blessings, L

the butterfly journey

It’s A New Thing!

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Isaiah 43:19 “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Today I am super excited because I am able to get my shoes on! I know that might sound weird but, for the last 12 plus months I have not been able to wear regular shoes and I was only able to wear oversized slippers. Because I was embarrassed by my limitations, I didn’t go many places. Also, during this time period I was not able to walk very far without losing my breathe, so that also limited my ability to go anywhere.

This all stems from my kidney disease and losing the function of my kidneys; causing me to retain an extreme amount of fluid thus causing my body to swell and also limiting my ability to breathe properly.

It was a long journey from the time that I started having these issues to where I am now, attending weekly dialysis treatments. It was a lot that I went through during this time (which I may share in a different post) emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Not knowing what to expect can cause an overwhelming atmosphere.

But today I feel so optimistic for my future. Even though right now I have to have dialysis each week the process has me down over 30 pounds of fluid and as I stated before I can put on my regular shoes now and I even can walk longer distances! I had an appointment with my surgeon the other day and the last time I visited the office I had to have a friend take me and I had to be confined to a wheelchair because of the fluid and breathing issues. But this time I took myself to the appointment and the surgeon says, “Weren’t you in a wheelchair last time?” I answered, “yes sir I was.” But I was proud and thankful that I was able to walk from the parking lot all the way to his office without the assistance of a wheelchair. I was super glad that he noticed a difference in me, because I had only been going to dialysis for 2 weeks at that point.

God is doing a new thing with me, not only physically but spiritually as well. I have never fully depended on God (as well as I should have) but I am learning to trust Him now more than ever. I am grateful for the lessons that God teaches us even in the midst of a storm. He loves us so much. I understand that we live in a fallen world and things happen; sickness and disease happen, accidents happen, and disappointments happen. But one thing I am learning is that God really is who He says He is regardless of what we may think the outcome should be.

I am looking forward to living my life in this new space and doing all the things that God has for me to do. I have grieved the loss of the function of my kidneys, but I am open to whatever God is doing with my health supernaturally. And it is what He deems to be the best for me that I stand in agreement with because He is sovereign.

Be blessed L.