Excerpts & Quotes from…

DON’T CHEAT THE BUTTERFLY:
A Battle, A Strategy and A Mind Transformed

&

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?:
Overcoming the Spirit of Identity Theft

By Kristen Smeltzer

©Copyright 2025 and 2017—Kristen Smeltzer
Published by: DESTINY OAK LLC

“Have you ever experienced something in your life you never thought would touch you or your family? Have you ever felt like, ‘God! I thought we were friends, you and me? I thought you loved me. You don’t even seem to be acting according to Your Word!’ …I have.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“We may say, ‘God works all things together or good.’ But if we are not waiting with expectation for our ashes to turn to beauty, this remains head knowledge—not a reflection of our faith in a God who works the impossible on our behalf, simply because He loves us.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
"My focus had to be on God and who He is, not on the enemy and what he was doing. Darkness feeds on attention and fear, and I wasn't going to offer it any nourishment."

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“When you are going through a dark time, one side effect can be to forget the power and the goodness of God. When God isn’t doing what you think He should, it is easy to focus on the problem, and it suddenly becomes larger than the solution—which is God Himself.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“As the battle between my spirit and my flesh continued, I reminded myself that it may not look like you expect—or come when you expect it to—but faith ALWAYS produces a crop.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“We have often mistaken the seasons of ease in our lives for God’s blessing. God HAS blessed us, but what we don’t understand is that sometimes He is blessing us EVEN MORE when everything appears to be falling apart at the seams. In these seasons, God is building something in us that is eternal.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“God pushes us to offense—without explanation—and asks us the same question Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ And then we have a choice. We either believe or we don’t. We either let Him be God, or we put Him in a box.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“We (often) reduce our theology of God to match the “facts” of our circumstances, instead of the truth of who He is. In our hearts, we have tamed the Lion and cut off His mane.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“God doesn’t see as man sees. It is a facet of His character to see people in light of who they will become, not in light of their past or even their present.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“As we know Him (intimately), sin loses its grip on us. Our love for Him deepens, and serving Him becomes a great joy and fulfillment, not a drudgery birthed out of performance.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“God wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us. He wants us to know who we are, in the truth of His plans and design for us. That is why God, in His grace, gives us clues along the way.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“Is it worth the sacrifice? Is it worth the cost? There was a time I told the Lord to 'pick someone else. This is too hard!' I’m so thankful He turned a deaf ear.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“So how can God take something tragic in our lives and bring good from it? The answer isn’t found so much in the ‘how,’ but in the ‘Who.’ The answer is found in a love so encompassing—so extravagant—we have not the mind to comprehend it.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“Trusting that God is GOOD, in the midst of our trials, is a stance of war and a powerful weapon. It is a faith that moves mountains.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“It is a weapon of warfare to rejoice in the Lord, in full confidence of what God will produce from your darkness, and in the face of insurmountable evidence to the contrary.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“Any place where my heart believes I have more love, compassion or mercy than God, I have elevated myself above Him and am believing a lie."

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“In God’s justice system, it's the battle with the lions, bears, and the giants of the land that equips us to be kings.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017
“As with the butterfly, sometimes God is producing far greater fruit and victory in the wait—in the struggle to break free of the cocoon—than in the final act of emerging.”

©Kristen Smeltzer, 2017

Speaking on

Don’t Cheat The Butterfly

Below is a one minute short from a speaking engagement, where I spoke on the contents of my book.

CLICK HERE for the FULL MESSAGE on YouTube

Excerpts & Quotes from…

DON’T CHEAT THE BUTTERFLY:
A Battle, A Strategy and A Mind Transformed

&

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?:
Overcoming the Spirit of Identity Theft

By Kristen Smeltzer

“Have you ever experienced something in your life you never thought would touch you or your family? Have you ever felt like, ‘God! I thought we were friends, you and me? I thought you loved me. You don’t even seem to be acting according to Your Word!’ …I have.”

“We may say, ‘God works all things together or good.’ But if we are not waiting with expectation for our ashes to turn to beauty, this remains head knowledge—not a reflection of our faith in a God who works the impossible on our behalf, simply because He loves us.”

"My focus had to be on God and who He is, not on the enemy and what he was doing. Darkness feeds on attention and fear, and I wasn't going to offer it any nourishment."

“The only way to hear God in the midst of chaos is to quiet other voices.”

“When you are going through a dark time, one side effect can be to forget the power and the goodness of God. When God isn’t doing what you think He should, it is easy to focus on the problem, and it suddenly becomes larger than the solution—which is God Himself.”

“As the battle between my spirit and my flesh continued, I reminded myself that it may not look like you expect—or come when you expect it to—but faith ALWAYS produces a crop.”

“God pushes us to offense—without explanation—and asks us the same question Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ And then we have a choice. We either believe or we don’t. We either let Him be God, or we put Him in a box.”

“We (often) reduce our theology of God to match the “facts” of our circumstances, instead of the truth of who He is. In our hearts, we have tamed the Lion and cut off His mane.”

“God doesn’t see as man sees. It is a facet of His character to see people in light of who they will become, not in light of their past or even their present.”

“As we know Him (intimately), sin loses its grip on us. Our love for Him deepens, and serving Him becomes a great joy and fulfillment, not a drudgery birthed out of performance.”

“God wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us. He wants us to know who we are, in the truth of His plans and design for us. That is why God, in His grace, gives us clues along the way.”

“The spiritual DNA of who God created us to be resides in us before we walk in ANY of it.”

“Is it worth the sacrifice? Is it worth the cost? There was a time I told the Lord to 'pick someone else. This is too hard!' I’m so thankful He turned a deaf ear.”

“So how can God take something tragic in our lives and bring good from it? The answer isn’t found so much in the ‘how,’ but in the ‘Who.’ The answer is found in a love so encompassing—so extravagant—we have not the mind to comprehend it.”

“Trusting that God is GOOD, in the midst of our trials, is a stance of war and a powerful weapon. It is a faith that moves mountains.”

“It is a weapon of warfare to rejoice in the Lord, in full confidence of what God will produce from your darkness, and in the face of insurmountable evidence to the contrary.”

“Any place where my heart believes I have more love, compassion or mercy than God, I have elevated myself above Him and am believing a lie."

“In God’s justice system, it's the battle with the lions, bears, and the giants of the land that equips us to be kings.”

“As with the butterfly, sometimes God is producing far greater fruit and victory in the wait—in the struggle to break free of the cocoon—than in the final act of emerging.”

Speaking on

Don’t Cheat The Butterfly

Excerpts & Quotes from…

DON’T CHEAT THE BUTTERFLY:A Battle, A Strategy and A Mind Transformed

&

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?: Overcoming the Spirit of Identity Theft

By Kristen Smeltzer

“Have you ever experienced something in your life you never thought would touch you or your family? Have you ever felt like, ‘God! I thought we were friends, you and me? I thought you loved me. You don’t even seem to be acting according to Your Word!’ …I have.”

“We may say, ‘God works all things together or good.’ But if we are not waiting with expectation for our ashes to turn to beauty, this remains head knowledge—not a reflection of our faith in a God who works the impossible on our behalf, simply because He loves us.”

"My focus had to be on God and who He is, not on the enemy and what he was doing. Darkness feeds on attention and fear, and I wasn't going to offer it any nourishment."

“The only way to hear God in the midst of chaos is to quiet other voices.”

“When you are going through a dark time, one side effect can be to forget the power and the goodness of God. When God isn’t doing what you think He should, it is easy to focus on the problem, and it suddenly becomes larger than the solution—which is God Himself.”

“As the battle between my spirit and my flesh continued, I reminded myself that it may not look like you expect—or come when you expect it to—but faith ALWAYS produces a crop.”

“God pushes us to offense—without explanation—and asks us the same question Jesus asked His disciples, ‘Do you also want to go away?’ And then we have a choice. We either believe or we don’t. We either let Him be God, or we put Him in a box.”

“We (often) reduce our theology of God to match the “facts” of our circumstances, instead of the truth of who He is. In our hearts, we have tamed the Lion and cut off His mane.”

“God doesn’t see as man sees. It is a facet of His character to see people in light of who they will become, not in light of their past or even their present.”

“As we know Him (intimately), sin loses its grip on us. Our love for Him deepens, and serving Him becomes a great joy and fulfillment, not a drudgery birthed out of performance.”

“God wants us to see ourselves the way He sees us. He wants us to know who we are, in the truth of His plans and design for us. That is why God, in His grace, gives us clues along the way.”

“The spiritual DNA of who God created us to be resides in us before we walk in ANY of it.”

“Is it worth the sacrifice? Is it worth the cost? There was a time I told the Lord to 'pick someone else. This is too hard!' I’m so thankful He turned a deaf ear.”

“So how can God take something tragic in our lives and bring good from it? The answer isn’t found so much in the ‘how,’ but in the ‘Who.’ The answer is found in a love so encompassing—so extravagant—we have not the mind to comprehend it.”

“Trusting that God is GOOD, in the midst of our trials, is a stance of war and a powerful weapon. It is a faith that moves mountains.”

“It is a weapon of warfare to rejoice in the Lord, in full confidence of what God will produce from your darkness, and in the face of insurmountable evidence to the contrary.”

“Any place where my heart believes I have more love, compassion or mercy than God, I have elevated myself above Him and am believing a lie."

“In God’s justice system, it's the battle with the lions, bears, and the giants of the land that equips us to be kings.”

“As with the butterfly, sometimes God is producing far greater fruit and victory in the wait—in the struggle to break free of the cocoon—than in the final act of emerging.”

Speaking on

Don’t Cheat The Butterfly

DON’T CHEAT THE BUTTERFLY:
A Battle, A Strategy and A Mind Transformed

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?:
Overcoming the Spirit of Identity Theft