My Heart is Not Set on You

                        One of the things that I love about Scripture is that I can read through it countless times and still read something that hadn't noticed before. Like Psalm 131 for example. Verses one and three have been my prayer for some time now and here I find that David prayed the same way. It's similar to what the Apostle Paul says in one of his letters, and I paraphrase, “I do what I know I shouldn't and don't do what I know I should.” In Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Isn't that the truth? I know it is for me. I will continue to strive to put my faith, gain my joy, and find my assurance in Christ. What about you? 

Lessons from Thor (i wasn't sure what else to call it)

I thought you dead./ Did you mourn?/ We all did. Our father.../ YOUR father! He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?/ We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?/ I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss, I who was and should be king!/ So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights? No, the Earth is under MY protection, Loki!/ [laughs] And you're doing a marvelous job with that! The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you ideally threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?/ You think yourself above them?/ Well, yes./ Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill./ I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odin's Son, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it.../ Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?/ I AM a king!/ NOT HERE! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!... You come home.

I love the heart of Thor. He continually extends reconciliation to Loki. His heart is for his brother to repent. No matter what Loki does. Even in Thor: The Dark World, after he says, "KNOW that WHEN you betray me, I will kill you," he says, "I wish I could trust you." After everything that happened, after Loki killed him, he still forgives. While on Pinterest the other day, I saw something that I thought was quite profound. It said, "Watching Thor, I find it sad that Loki spends so much time wallowing in the fact that he's not Odin's favorite, but he completely misses the fact that he's Thor's favorite." It's most obvious when Loki dies*, Thor's grief is real and heart-rending.

Similarly, I think we, as Christians, spend much of our lives wanting to be popular or the cool friend or the favorite, and we miss the fact that Jesus is there loving us... Even after we killed Him. Sure, I may be stretching the example, but I hope you get the point. Jesus wants us to "give up our poisonous dreams" and come back to Him. To what matters. *side note: Yes, he didn't die and I was so upset that Loki didn't ACTUALLY die. He died so well. There was reconciliation. There was closure. Aaaaand they had to screw it up by letting him live

He Is Risen... And This Means?

Today is Easter. Resurrection Sunday. Pretty much everyone knows that this is the day that Christians celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. Conquering sin. Redeeming the world. All that stuff that so many people consider the stuff of myth and legend. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Anyways, you may ask, "You think Jesus is alive, wow... and this means what exactly?" I just want to explain what I think it means... I could be wrong. But whatever. This is what I believe.
A lot of men have claimed to be God, but I worship a God who was willing to be a man.

Ok, for a moment, I'll assume that Jesus wasn't God. For a brief instant, I'll entertain the thought that he was just a carpenter. That he was "just a good man."
He claimed to be God. In fact, they killed Him because He would not stop saying that He was God. If He wasn't God, then He wouldn't be a good man. He would be one of the worst men in the history of the world. On top of conning thousands of people while He was here on earth, He would also be a sick liar. Would you do that? Would you claim that you were something you weren't if it meant you would be killed for saying so?

This is why I believe Jesus is who He said He was: because of what it cost Him. Plain and simple. He didn't die to bring glory to Himself. He died to bring glory to His Father, and yes, they are the same, three in one, yes. But Jesus was human. Separated from His Father for a time, yet still connected. He claimed He died for humanity. So that humanity could live forever in peace and happiness. That is why I worship Jesus. He died for me. He paid a debt that I have absolutely NO chance of paying, let alone even putting a dent into it. And the only thing He asks is that I live for the glory of God? It may seem like quite a bit, but in reality, it's nothing when compared to the astounding work He accomplished on the cross.

Yeah, there are a ton of Christians who shove there rules and "holier-than-thouism" on others. But it's those people who are forgetting that Jesus died for their sins just as much as He died for the people that they're judging. Don't let these bad examples distract and repel you from accepting the saving grace of Jesus.

Please, accept Him today. He has always, always, ALWAYS accepted and forgiven you.