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Snow White is the first Disney Princess to be created. She may not be my favorite (if you know me well enough you will know I hate her singing voice) but her story enhances the truth behind eternal life. Yesterday I attended a funeral for Pastor Bill Wise who was a family friend and for the first time ever I did not feel like I was at a funeral but a celebration. There was something special about the fact that everyone knew one hundred percent that he was in heaven. As I was sitting in the church hearing the first Pastor I ever knew giving a message for the first time in 10 years something hit me. Snow White died but was later brought back by true love. Jesus Christ is love. He died on the cross for our sins so we can live an eternal life with him. He carried our cross with thorns in his brow knowing that he must die, but he did it for us. Yes, of course, he came back to Earth and that is the Gospel. The good news is that we don't have to be consumed by sin because Jesus died for us. That day as Jesus died on the cross was the day he gave us the opportunity to give us the kiss of life. Following Jesus gives us the knowledge that we will not perish but live with him in his own kingdom. This fairy tale opened the door to the belief that we all have a Prince Charming who will walk into our life but what if you lived your life knowing he is with you every step of the way? Jesus is your Prince Charming. Jesus is waiting for every single one of us in his kingdom so we can live eternally with him. When you perish you will be awakened by true love, God's love. Each and everyone of us are Snow White in our own little way. We all have the same Prince of Peace who will return to us with the gift of eternal life for those who believe in him. 

Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”

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God calls to us to walk alongside of Him and bring others to the "warm and loving glow" that He has allowed to shine through us. The world around us is full of people who may not understand why you live the way you do and continue judge you for it and this should not stop you from being you. The person God created you to be should not sink because of the judgements cast on you by others but be anchored in the belief that you are truly His "peculiar treasure." Peculiar is defined as strange or unusual and that is how we are meant to be. Nobody is or every will be perfect except for Jesus Christ himself. You should never feel as if you are not good enough for anyone or that you need to live to be just like someone else, but instead live to be the person God has painted in His image.

Belle in Beauty and the Beast is someone who is judged constantly by the inhabitants of her village. In the song Belle that opens the film they even sing, "Look there she goes that girl is so peculiar I wonder if she's feeling well. With a dreamy, far-off look and her nose stuck in a book, what a puzzle to the rest of us is Belle." Belle knew the things others thought of her and she brushed it off because she knew that she wanted "so much more than they had planned" so she continued to live the life she wanted rooted in her beliefs. By following her own path she found the person that she was always meant to be with people who accepted her differences.

Even with everyone calling Belle unusual, odd and funny she remained staying true to who she really is. We, as Christians, are doing something right when we are wearing our faith like a light and allowing others to be attracted to it just as the Beast was. Following the Way is truly showing obedience to God in which then he will lead you on a path to the you, you want to become. We are not supposed to be preoccupied by what others are doing in the world but to bring new life in ourselves to walk the life we choose as Roman 12:2 explains.

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When it comes to the real world, we must be able to overcome the opinions of others and know that we have Jesus right by our side. He made us in His image and the judgements others cast on you should not interfere with the daily path you choose to walk. As Christians we are extremely lucky to have someone always right by our side to reassure us that no one is perfect and that being made in His eyes is what truly matters. There will be days where you may not be good enough for others and they will lead you to believe wrongful opinions, but truly you are perfectly perfect in every way. Aladdin started as a street rat but soon turned into a prince. Hercules began as a freak who learned his true potential with the help of his father Zeus. Simba was persuaded to believe he was a murderer when in fact he did nothing wrong at all but with the help of his friends and Mufasa he came to find out that what he knew about himself was true the whole time. The takeaway here is that no matter what others are thinking of you your labels do not define you but what you believe of yourself defines you. Acceptance by others does not come changing ourselves to be move appealing because we are already loved by the one who created us.

People are too complicated to have simple labels. (Philip Pullman)

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"But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior." -Jeremiah 20:11

Mulan is one of the most influential movies Disney created, not to mention she is an icon young woman should look up to. She decided she was not going to be the person society was making her to be and instead followed her own path. She blossomed into her own being and chose herself before others chose who she was going to be. This lead to her to reach her ultimate goal of saving China. In life you should have your own China. What is God placing on your heart for you to reach for? Everyone has a goal and someone they want to please or in this case bring honor to, so how are you going to accept that challenge? The most important part of all of this is to know that you are not alone when you are struggling to find yourself or what path you should follow. The Lord is ALWAYS with you through your highs and lows and will fight for you just like Li Shang fought for China and lead his men (and Mulan) to bringing honor back to China.

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The Meaning Behind Heaven’s Light

Recently one of my best friends told me to rewatch The Hunchback of Notre Dame because of how it is a Disney film that you will enjoy more when your older than when you were younger and she couldn't be anymore correct. The movie is filled with spiritual content and is truly beautiful. The movie includes a scene that is two songs that coincide to create beautiful and dark moment going on inside of the protagonist, Quasimodo, and the antagonist, Frollo. Quasimodo is a man with special needs who is being looked after by a very conflicted and evil Frollo. Quasimodo sings a song called Heaven's Light while Frollo sings Hellfire. Quasimodo sings of a "warm and loving glow" surrounded by lovers that he sees from the cathedral in which he lives. He also sings about how he once thought he was unworthy of this heaven's light but an angel introduced him to this love. Meanwhile Frollo is being fiercely tempted by Satan as he is plotting to destroy Esmerelda. Throughout the song he is justifying why killing her is okay. He even sings "It's not my fault if in God's plan, he made the devil so much stronger than the man." These two characters are living lives that are so far from eachother. As Christians we are encouraged to bring hope to those who have none. We are sent to be the angels that Quasimodo sings about and show them the "warm glow" called Heaven's Light.