#yea the forever rock may have been destroyed but so what???

[nyaskitten]

Dudeee I went to the Chima wiki to find info on the Mother Sun, right>? And ALL that informastion is just lumped into the main article for Chima, so NO article about the actual Sun itself right? Y'all TELL ME WHY THE WIKI IS JUMPING THROUGH LOOPHOLES TO DENY THAT CHIMA'S IN THE WYLDNESS...

GIRL not to be That Guy but why are you THIS angry about this shit...

[tigerseye46]

A Hero Is Born (Red Shark/Sand Au)

Summary: After being dismissed by Guanyin after centuries under their teaching, Red arrived at the city to live a normal life, hiding his identity and powers. He has spent four years in the city and works at Culinary Cicada, content with how he is now. He didn’t expect his life to change one day.

A/N: Finally got this done. There are going to be rarepairs but aren’t the main focus for this chapter so I didn’t tag it. Sun Wukong’s alias is Sun Hàoyú 昊瑜 meaning “vast and limitless excellence.” Zhu Bajie’s alias is Zhu Xiùliàng 秀亮 meaning “refined light.” Sorry if these aren’t good aliases. I know Sha Wujing’s staff can’t control water, but in this au, it can. He learned how to do that after the journey. Also I want to say thank you all my anons and others who put in ideas for this au! It made it really fun! Anyway enjoy!

AO3 Link

Red would admit he didn’t care much for the legends as other people did. He had been a small part of those legends so they weren’t extraordinary to him (not that he had revealed that information to anyone). 

But Mr. Sun and Tang always loved to talk about them, especially the latter, so he listened to the elders. Today was one of those days. A special day that would change his life forever. 

“The thing you need to understand, bud, is that the old legends are never finished. While there may be no pages left to turn, there is always more. Years ago, the Spider Queen and her army attacked. No one could stop them, no one except… Sha Wujing. Using his crescent moon spade, he trapped the Spider Queen under a mountain. He made it so no one else could wield it and he trapped her forever.”

“With the battle won, Sha Wujing… disappeared and was never seen again. It is said that the spade remains there, preventing our world from being destroyed. Because of him, civilization was able to prosper into the awesome world we see today. All thanks to Sha Wujing!”

Red hummed as he leaned against the counter. “That’s cool I guess.”

Mr. Sun scoffed. “Just cool? You know how many people would love that story?”

“I’m just not that impressed by it.”

“How dare you. You always react to the stories that way. Thought that one would bring more excitement.”

“Well, I’m not your audience. You’re not putting on a play for me.”

“At least you listen anyway.”

“That I do. I do think Sha Wujing is more impressive than say the Sun Wukong or Zhu Bajie.” At least he didn’t attack him as much as the others.

Sun appeared as if he was offended by the statement. “He is impressive… I like the Monkey King better,” he muttered. “Anyway, you know the deal. One peach soup.”

“Yea, yea. You got it.” He attempted to pass the bowl but it was quickly taken away by Tang.

“Not so fast. You left out so many details, Hàoyú. No extensive details of how he defeated the Spider Queen? He’s a hero! He deserves a better explanation than that.”

With an eye roll, Hàoyú responded, “Whatever.” He made grabby hands at the bowl. “Can I have my soup now?”

“No. You’re a scholar, tell the story accurately or I might go to your rival.” Sun huffed at the mention. “I could do better, better than those stupid depictions of Sha Wujing, no one can really capture his handsomeness, huh?” He cleared his throat, the small blush on his cheeks fading away. “Anyway, Red, you have orders to take out. Get to it!”

“I was about to take my break.”

“Break? You've been taking a break all morning. How is Culinary Cicada supposed to flourish if you’re slacking off?”

He began pushing Red, rumpling the other’s lotus print shirt. He shoved takeout bags in his hands then sent him out. The human heard a slurp behind him. He spun around to see Sun had stolen the soup back. Furrowing his brows, he suggested, “How about you tell an actually good and detailed story about Sha Wujing and you keep the bowl?”

“You just love hearing about your crush. Alright, it’s a deal.”

————

Red entered an abandoned construction site, whistling a tune under their breath and focusing on their phone. He paused when he heard a voice. “It’s amazing that you’ve finally done it! Are you ready, you two?”

A nasally voice replied, “For the last time, Goliath, we’re almost done.”

“Sorry, Syntax! I’m just so excited!”

“You can’t blame uncle Goliath’s excitement, dad.”

“Hmph. Well, try to hold it in for a bit longer.”

The demon hid behind some rocks. He spotted three spiders and a human surrounding a mountain.

One spider towered over the group, he fiddled with his fingers nervously, indicating that despite being the giant, he was probably the most gentle one out there.

Another had his hands behind his back, tapping his feet impatiently.

The third was tinkering with an invention, a device strapped to his back. The human was beside the third, he had a purple bandanna with two green marks, almost like eyes, wrapped around his forehead and a black coat with white fur.

“Because of you two, we can lift Sha Wujing’s spade!”

Red moved higher up and looked at the glowing object. The duck beside him quacked out of surprise. What was a duck doing here? Whatever. It wasn’t important.

“Sha Wujing’s spade,” he whispered.

“The spider clan will be restored!” Goliath’s shoulders briefly bounced up in surprise. “Huh?”

Huntsman was on top of the mountain and started reaching for the weapon. “Huntsman,” Syntax yelled. “Don’t do that!”

“Whatever, nerd.” He gripped it and instantly got zapped by it which sent him crashing into a wall.

Syntax stood over him. “Idiot. This is the hundredth time you’ve tried this. You think you would have learned your lesson by now. We’ve clarified that he made it so only someone worthy would wield it.”

“Which is why we have this.” The human gestured to the power glove. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”

“Hmph, brat.”

“Go ahead, Xiaotian.” Syntax pulled Huntsman up, their cheeks becoming green for the slightest second before they focused on the kid.

Xiaotian strolled up to the weapon and pulled on it with the glove. Sparks danced until he was able to rip it off. He held it high in the air and shouted in triumph, “Look at what I did!” Goliath and Syntax applauded him while Huntsman huffed.

“I could have done it,” he mumbled.

Xiaotian went back up to his family with a smile and waited a second before asking, “Wait, why isn’t anything happening? Are you three sure this is the right mountain?”

Syntax scoffed. “No, Xiaotian, I think it’s the other one.”

The mountain rumbled and cracked in the center. The Spider Queen destroyed it and crawled out with a cackle. “I’ve returned! The queen is back!”

Red’s eyes widened. Oh no. The queen was free. What should he do?

The duck pecked his hands as he was pondering. “Hey!” He attempted to shoo the duck away. “Shoo! It’s rude to peck at people’s hands!”

The four bowed to her with heads hung low, the human placed the crescent moon spade aside. “My queen,” Huntsman started. “We’re glad to have you free.”

“My clan,” she cried. “Wait, where are the rest of you?”

“I’m sorry. We’re some of the few spiders left.”

The Queen’s fist clenched, her happy tone at being freed slipped away. “I see. It’s all Sha Wujing’s fault. Now introductions are in order for the new members.”

“Well, there’s me, Huntsman. Then there’s Goliath and…”

“I can introduce myself, brute. I’m Syntax, my lady, and this is my son, Qi Xiaotian.”

If Red wasn’t so focused on the situation, he would have thought, Son? Those two look nothing alike.

“Son?” Her majesty questioned.

“Yes, he is my biological son. I wasn’t born a spider but I would say those details are for another time.”

“Alright. How did you all manage to free me?”

The human stepped forward with a spring in his step. “I did it, my queen! I managed to harness its power to make it our-” Her majesty loomed with a glare. Xiaotian nervously chuckled. “Our power,” he finished.

With a scoff, the queen congratulated him reluctantly, “Good job… for a human.”

Ignoring the human comment, he beamed. “Thank you! Now, we, the Spider clan, can rule the world!”

The duck continued to peck at the demon. The demon flapped a hand to get rid of the sting while the bird focused on the other one and made him fall right onto Qi Xiaotian.

Red held up the bag of food. “Hey… did someone order food?”

Huntsman and Syntax stared at Goliath. “What? I didn’t order anything.”

Xiaotian shoved him. “Get off me, dumbass! You ruined my moment!”

Spider Queen focused on the intruder. “Well, well, we’ll, an eavesdropper has fallen into our midst. It’s a shame to crush such a tiny, insignificant thing like you as my first act but, oh, what can you do?” She was about to crush them when she was interrupted.

“Wait, my queen.”

Ugh, the human. She rubbed her face. “Yes?”

“You don’t have to waste your energy. I’ll handle it! Allow me to prove myself!”

“Fine. Go ahead.”

Red muttered, “Maybe I can go now.”

“You’re fortunate, grocery boy. It’s not every day someone is crushed by the Spider Clan! You should consider yourself-”

The demon’s ears picked up a sound, his gaze drifted to the staff. “Sha Wujing’s staff,” a voice whispered.

Xiaotian growled, “You’re not listening! I, Qi Xiaotian, will not be disrespected! You’re toast!”

The human attempted to punch him with the glove but he blocked it… blocked it with the crescent moon staff. Fuck. “How did you?”

How did he? He could have used his fire to block it. Why didn’t he? Well, his identity was a secret and he barely used his fire since he became Guanyin’s disciple so that was understandable. But to grab the staff, what was he thinking?

“That’s scientifically impossible,” Syntax said.

“I don’t understand what’s happening but I don’t care. That’s ours!”

“I was supposed to be on my break! Dang it, Mr. Tang!” The weapon activated and whacked the human and the spiders (save the queen) away.

“This can’t be,” her majesty muttered in disbelief.

“That was not what I expected.”

Huntsman hissed, “That doesn’t belong to you. Give it to us!”

“Ummmm… no?” Then suddenly he was launched into the air by the weapon. “AHHHHHH!”

“He can’t leave with the damn thing!”

“I was trapped under a mountain and suddenly, a thief takes it!”

Xiaotian bowed. “Allow me, your majesty. I won’t fail again.”

“Fine! Go!”

The human grabbed his technological staff and made off in his motorcycle to give chase.

-------

Red took in deep breaths to calm himself down as he landed on the ground. Xiaojiao snapped a picture of herself with her sword and motorcycle outfit. During the picture, she used her magic to create sparkles. “Nailed it!” She pocketed her phone and put the sword away.

“Xiaojiao!”

“That was a cool game of tag! You looked like you were having fun! I wanted to join in too!”

“I almost died.”

“But you didn’t! We should go to the arcade! Invite your new friend!”

“He was trying to kill me.”

Her face turned dark. “Where does he live? I’ll handle him.”

“Red Son! Where are you?” Tang stormed up to them. He showed his phone to reveal a zero-star rating. “I got a zero-star rating because of you. Would you like to explain yourself?”

“I think what happened is-”

Xiaojiao giggled. “Congrats, Tang! It’s better than nothing!”

“No, it isn’t! You know you would be in trouble if this happened to my magic shop, missy. Now, Red, you’re-” Tang searched around. “Where did he go?”

Red slipped past him. “Mr. Sun!”

“Hey! Come back here!”

Ignoring him, the demon ran into the shop. “Mr. Sun!”

Hàoyú was in the middle of his bowl. “Yea?”

“So, remember the story you told me this morning? About the Spider Queen?”

Tang and Mei followed him. “Red, we weren’t done talking.”

“Yea, that’s great, Mr. Tang.”

Sun sipped his soup, completely disinterested. “Yea? What about her?”

Red got close to his face. “She’s back! Sha Wujing’s staff was removed! We have to find him! He has to save-”

Sun pushed him back and held his bowl protectively. “You’re getting spit in my soup. Calm down. Who knew that would be the story you get wrapped up in? Relax, it’s just a story.”

“It’s not just a story.” He showed the spade. Hàoyú pursed his lips, contemplating the possibility or holding back from saying something snarky, Red wasn’t sure.

“Wow, Red, you found a stick!”

“No! It belongs to Sha Wujing!” The three burst into laughter. Red growled, his fists briefly flamed but no one noticed except him. “Listen to me! The Spider Queen is out there. I’ll prove this belongs to Sha Wujing.”

Sun raised a brow. “Okay. How?”

“Ummm…” The spade wobbled, it grew then stabbed part of the wall, causing a crack before shortening.

Sun gasped and he was about to get a closer look when Tang pushed him away. Tang grabbed the arm holding the spade and hoisted it up towards the sky. His eyes twinkled. “Sha Wujing’s spade! I knew it! His awesome weapon that he used to seal evil! Wait… why do you have it? And where is the queen now?”

“She’s at a fashion store,” Mei responded.

“What?!”

“I hope this isn’t one of your puppy videos, young lady.”

“There’s always time for a puppy video, Tangy, but no. Look at what’s trending. Hashtag Spider Queen!” She showed a video of the Spider Queen robbing a fashion store with Qi Xiaotian. The queen used some device to absorb a one-of-a-kind item.

Tang panicked when the video ended. “Okay! We have to do something! Get in the truck!” He shoved them in the truck while they shouted out of surprise.

The group yelped as Tang drove like a madman through the streets. They were squished in the car, Red rasped out, “This is a little uncomfortable.”

“Tang! Can you slow down? You’re going to kill us,” Mr. Sun told him. He couldn’t die but he knew it would be unfortunate if the group got into a crash.

“Yea. We need to get to Sha Wujing without getting injured in a crash.”

“Guys! The Spider Queen moved downtown! She’s destroying the mall!”

“We need to get to Sha Wujing fast. The only problem is we have no idea how to get there.”

“Ugh, you’re right. How do we get there? Do we just keep driving?” Tang asked in a frantic tone.

Mr. Sun replied, “Well, if you would have let me talk before you pushed us in here. I know someone who could get us there!”

“Really?”

“Yep! An old friend of mine. The greatest, excellent, glorious Zhu Xiùliàng. Now drive there, Tang!”

“Drive where?”

“Uhhhh… oh, yea, you need directions.”

-------

The group watched kids climb on the tall pig like a jungle gym while others were in the corner conversing or doing other activities. Wukong had a big grin on his face at the scene.

Xiùliàng chuckled and cautioned, “Careful, little ones.” He gently put them down, they frowned and he reassured them, “You can play later. Grandpa has to talk to these people first.” They reluctantly agreed and began breaking away to do their own things.

Sun blushed as the light hit Xiùliàng in a way that illuminated his beauty. Tang whispered to him with a smirk, “Oh, now I know why you brought us here.”

Xiaojiao teased, “Wow, Mr. Sun. We have to save the world and here you are trying to pick up a guy. I see you.” Sun shot them both a glare.

The pig didn’t hear them, he instead focused on beaming at the kids as they walked away. A hand was placed on his hips and he turned to the group with a “Sorry about that. That’s a lot to take in.”

“It most certainly is, old friend. I was hoping something like this wouldn’t happen,” he muttered.

“I was hopin’ that too,” Xiùliàng muttered back. A child with black hair tied up in braids and a blue headband with a flower ran up to the pig with a drawing in hand. “What is it, Yǎshuǐ?” He picked her up so she rested on her arm.

“I made you a drawing, grandpa!” She waved it in front of the pig’s face then looked towards the group. Her eyes briefly widened in surprise before she gave a wave. “Hi, yéyé!”

“Hi, hon,” he greeted.

“Oooo, yéyé. Didn’t know you had grandkids with him,” he teased. “Why didn’t you invite me to your wedding and why didn’t the paparazzi cover it?”

“Shut up, Tang. It’s for respect, you know that.”

“Mhmm…”

Red shook his head. “Disregarding Mr. Sun’s love life,” he murmured. “Mr. Zhu, we need your help to find Sha Wujing.”

Xiaojiao got on her knees, bringing her friend down with her and pleaded, “Yea, we could really use your help.”

Red sighed. “Please help us. The fate of the world is at stake.”

“Alright,” he answered. “Really?”

“Of course. Anything for Sun.” The two cheered. “I’ll just drop these kids off then we’ll go.”

“WOOOOO!”

------

Tang hummed as he walked along the path, trying to contain his excitement. “See, this isn’t that bad,” he said then a trap sprung out of nowhere. “Eep! Never mind! Stupid Sun, stupid Zhu, why did we let them stay behind?”

“Because you said they could.”

“Careful, Tangy. I wonder why Sha Wujing chose to live here.”

“I don’t know. Good thing it isn’t Sun Wukong’s home or we would have to go pass the Flaming Mountains. They actually had to borrow my m- Princess Iron Fan’s fan to-”

A cackle came out of nowhere. Syntax appeared. “If it isn’t you three.” Syntax used the glove to pound at the ground, sending it up.

“Hey! Be careful, kids!”

“I’ll be taking that spade.”

Red held the weapon up. “This is Sha Wujing’s. You are not taking it.”

“You’re just a bunch of broken metal, can’t even make anything useful.” “What? Oh, whatever.” He charged at the spider who caught the spade with glove.

He was launched and heard the distant cry of “RED” as he blacked out.

------

The demon woke up on Sha Wujing’s mountain. “I’m… I’m here?” He stood up and started walking. He spotted a house and peeked inside but found no one so he continued onwards. There was a handmade statue of Tripitaka and Sha Wujing. “Wow.”

The sound of a twig snapping caught his attention. He saw the very person he was looking for glancing at him with a frown. “Huh?” Then the figure ran off.

He followed quickly and reached a river, a single fish. “A fish?” The fish jumped out of the water, a blue light surrounded it. “Ack!” The older demon appeared. “Sha Wujing?”

“It’s been a long time, Red Son or should I say, Red Boy?”

“You know it’s me?”

“You literally just switched the Boy to Son. No shit. Surprise your little friends haven’t figured it out yet.”

“Yea, I haven’t told them yet.”

“I know. Anyway, where’s my spade?”

“Oh… ummm… I’m sorry! I lost it. I was trying to bring it to you and-”

Wujing laughed. “I know. I’ve been watching you.”

“What?” He flashed back to some of the animals he saw. “That was you?”

“Yep. I need something of you, kid. I need you to be my successor.”

“What? Are you sure? Has your brain short circuited?”

“No,” he replied annoyed. “My brain is fine. You’re going to be my successor. Look you came all this way and were fine.”

“Because I’m a demon!”

“Regardless of that, you still made your way here and you’re experienced in fighting. Be a hero.”

“What about the Spider Queen?”

“What about the Spider Queen? Take it as a trial or a warmup.”

“But I-” He sighed, he was hoping he could lead a normal life but he supposed he had no other choice especially since the elder had no intent on helping. The elder was changed, certainly different from the demon who was considered more calm and rational.

Sha Wujing grunted. “What are one of those bullshit quotes I can give you? Oh, right. Believe in yourself and you’ll be fine. The spade was taken from you! Get it back!”

“Alright!” He zoomed off.

Wujing whispered, “Hope this makes you happy, master.”

-------

Xiaojiao was about to use her powers when Red Son crash landed. Red dusted himself off.

“Kid,” Tang yelled.

“Red,” Xiaojiao shouted. “You’re alive! We saw you blast off! We thought something happened to you! Where did you get the jet? You crashed it already! Did you find Sha Wujing?”

“Yep!”

Tang questioned as he looked around frantically, “Where is he?”

“He said it’s up to me, to all of us.” Sun and Zhu exchanged glances.

“What?”

“That’s anticlimactic.”

“How are we meant to fight that?” Sun motioned to the Spider Queen’s humongous form.

“We believe in ourselves. You clean the streets while I stop her… somehow.”

“The jet would have been useful.” She kicked the broken pieces and a speed bike was revealed.

“That works.”

“You can do it, pal!”

Red drove off and approached the queen. “If isn’t the thief trying to ruin my big moment.”  She attempted to squish him when he dodged with the bike.

“Where is it? Where is it?” He squinted at the device the queen had been using to absorb objects, the spade rested in the middle. “Here goes nothing.” He ran into it.

Xiùliàng covered the group. “I’ve won! The clan has been restored!” She stumbled. “Huh?” Red emerged with the weapon. “Sha Wujing?”

“Nope. Just Red.” Red punched her. Spider Queen tried to blast them, they dodged with taunts, “Nice try! You missed! Almost!” They pushed her down with the spade then used it to cut half of a building. “Here we go!”

As he was about to trap her, the Queen roared, “I won’t let this happen again!” She destroyed it, the younger demon was sent backwards. “Sorry, doll. Good luck trying to trap me again. I AM THE QUEEN!” Red’s gaze shot towards a body of water. “You might have that idiot’s staff but you are not Sha Wujing!”

“No, I’m not. I’m Red, his successor!” He lifted the spade up, water swirled around it and he sent it to attack the queen. “It’s time for your reign of terror to end!”

The queen gasped and her powers waned, she turned back to her normal form. “That’s impossible!”

“Nothing is impossible if you believe.” Xiaotian raged, “This isn’t over! You wouldn’t be so mighty with your precious powers, sand boy! Come fight me!”

Red was about to do when a web entangled him. The three spiders showed themselves. “Nice try. We know when to leave the party. We’ll see you,” Huntsman said. Syntax threw a smoke bomb and they disappeared.

The group cut Red free. “You can’t run when I’m about to win! Hmph.”

His friend hugged him. “You kicked SQ’s butt! Without us the city would be toast.”

“I couldn’t have done it on my own.”

Xiùliàng hugged them. “You did.”

“You’re the new Sha Wujing now I guess.”

“I’m proud of you, Red,” Tang said. He was proud of his kid but he couldn’t understand why Sha Wujing had chosen to hand his weapon to a random kid. He’ll think about it later. “I’m really proud.”

“What do we do now?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Red perked up. “Yea! We could bring justice to the world! Go after bad guys!”

Sun suggested, “Or we could eat.”

“Let’s go with that.”

The group discussed their recent adventure while Sha Wujing watched from a building. He frowned, shifted to a duck and flew off.

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

The Love Without Measure or End

a Prayer by Charles Spurgeon

Lord, we would come to Thee, but do Thou come to us. Draw us and we will run after Thee. Blessed Spirit, help our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. Come, Holy Spirit, and give right thoughts and right utterance that we may all be able to pray in the common prayer, the whole company feeling that for each one there is a portion. We are grateful as we remember that if the minister in the sanctuary should not be able to pray for any one of us there is One who bears the names of all His redeemed upon His breast and upon His shoulder, who will take care with the love of His heart and the power of His hand to maintain the cause of all His own.

Dear Savior, we put ourselves under Thy sacred patronage. Advocate with the Father, plead for us this day, yea, make intercession for the transgressors. We desire to praise the name of the Lord with our whole heart, so many of us as have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Truly Thou hast delivered us from the gulf of dark despair, wherein we wretched sinners lay. Thou hast brought us up also out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay. Thou hast set our feet upon a rock and the new song which Thou hast put into our mouths we would not stifle, but we would bless the Lord whose mercy endureth forever.

We thank Thee, Lord, for the love without beginning which chose us or ever the earth was, for the love without measure which entered into covenant for our redemption, for the love without failure which in due time appeared in the person of Christ and wrought out our redemption, for that love which has never changed, though we have wandered, that love which abideth faithful even when we are unfaithful.

O God, we praise Thee for keeping us till this day and for the full assurance that Thou wilt never let us go. Some can say, “He restoreth my soul,” they had wandered, wandered sadly, but Thou hast brought them back again. Lord, keep us from wandering, then will we sing, “Unto Him that is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us faultless before His presence with exceeding joy.” Bless the Lord, our inmost soul blesses the Lord. Blessed be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Triune. Blessed be the Lord forever office sustained by each divine person and for the divine blessing which has come streaming down to us through each one of those, condescending titles worn by the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We feel like singing all the time. We would take down our harp from the willows, if we had hung it there, and we would waken every string to the sweetest melody of praise unto the Lord our God. Yet, Lord, we cannot close with praise, for we are obliged to come before Thee with humble confession of sin. We are not worthy of the least of all these favors. We cannot say, “He is worthy for whom Thou shouldst do this thing,” nay, but we are altogether unworthy and Thy gifts are according to the riches of Thy grace, for which again we praise Thee.

Lord, forgive us all our sin. May Thy pardoned ones have a renewed sense of their acceptance in the Beloved. If any cloud has arisen to hide Thee from any believing eye, take that cloud away. If in our march through this world, so full of mire as it is, we have any spot on us, dear Savior, wash our feet with that blessed foot-bath and then say to us, “Ye are clean every whit.” May we know it so, that there is no condemnation, no separation, sin is removed as to its separating as well as its destroying power, and may we enter into full fellowship with God. May we walk in the light as God is in the light and have fellowship with Him, while the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Let no child of Thine have any dead work upon his conscience and may our conscience be purged from dead works to serve the living and true God.

And oh! if there are any that after having made the profession of religion have gone astray by any form of sin, Lord, restore them. If they have fallen by strong drink, if they have fallen by unchastity, if they have fallen by dishonesty, if, in any way, they have stained their garments, oh! that Thy mighty grace might bring them back and put them yet among the children. But give them not up, set them not as Admah, make them not as Zeboim, but let Thy repentings be kindled and Thy bowels of compassion be moved for them, and let them also be moved, and may they return with weeping and with supplication and find Thee a God ready to pardon.

Furthermore, we ask of Thee, our Father, this day to perfect Thy work within our hearts. We are saved, but we would be saved from sin of every form and degree—from sins that lie within and we are scarcely aware that they are there. If we have any pride of which we are not conscious, any unbelief of which we are not aware, if there is a clinging to the creature, a form of idolatry which we have not yet perceived, we pray Thee, Lord, to search us as with candles till Thou dost spy out the evil and then put it away. We are not satisfied with pardoned sin, “We pray, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Help us in our daily life, in our families, in our relations as husbands or wives, parents or children, masters or servants, in our business transactions with our fellow men, in our dealings with the Church of God, may we be true, upright, pure, kept from the great transgression because we are kept from the minor.

Oh! that we may be such as glorify Christ. Save us, we pray Thee, from the common religion. Give us the peculiar grace of a peculiar people. May we abide in Christ. May we live near to God. Let not the frivolities of the world have any power over us whatever. May we be too full grown in grace to be bewitched with the toys which are only becoming in children. Oh! give us to serve Thee and especially, and this prayer we have already prayed but we pray it again, make us useful in the salvation of our fellow man. O Lord, have we lived so long in the world and yet are our children unconverted? May we never rest until they are truly saved. Have we been going up and down in business and are those round about us as yet unaware of our Christian character? Have we never spoken to them the Word of Life? Lord, arouse us to a deep concern for all with whom we come in contact from day to day. Make us all missionaries at home or in the street, or in our workshop, wherever Providence has cast our lot, may we there shine as lights in the world.

Lord, keep us right, true in doctrine, true in experience, true in life, true in word, true in deed. Let us have an intense agony of spirit concerning the many who are going down to the everlasting fire of which our Master spoke. Lord, save them! LORD, SAVE THEM! Stay, we pray Thee, the torrents of sin that run down the streets of London, purge the dead sea of sin, in which so many of the heathen are lying asoak. Oh! that the day were come when the name of Jesus shall be a household word, when everybody knew of His love, and of His death, and of His blood, and of its cleansing power. Lord, save men, gather out the company of the redeemed people. Let those whom the Father gave to Christ be brought out from among the ruins of the fall to be His joy and crown. “Let the people praise Thee, O God, yea, let all the people praise Thee.” Let the ends of the earth fear Him who died to save them. Let the whole earth be filled with the glory of God.

This is our great prayer and we crown it with this, Come, Lord Jesus, come Lord and tarry not. Come in the fulness of Thy power and the splendour of Thy glory! Come quickly, even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.

[mookoo-writes]

~Dice and Secrets~ (Ford x Reader)

Authors Note: I just played Swooning Over Stan’s and-

Fandom: Gravity Falls

Pairing(s): Stanford Pines x Reader

Warning(s): Gender Neutral Reader, Cursing probably, nerds crushing on each other, post Weirdmageddon

Anyway, please enjoy~

“Roll for initiative!”

The sound of groans along with multiple rolling dice echoed through the hall. It was 1 in the morning and the shake was silent besides the occasional dice hitting the table. 

Why were you up this late? That’s simple. You were continuing a Dungeons, Dungeons, and more Dungeons campaign along with avoiding being caught playing such a game. Why you kept it a secret from everyone, you couldn’t say. This was just one of your guilty pleasures along with going to Renaissance Faires and dressing up. 

You had picked this time to avoid the risk of someone busting down the door and seeing the pile of multicolored dice scattered across your desk. Your friends didn’t have a problem with it since they live in a different time zone where your a couple hours ahead of them, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t question you with your suggested meet up time. They had eventually got the reason out of you, which resulted in the topic of Ford. You hadn’t talked about your feelings for him to anyone until that moment, so you may or may not have gushed for a few minutes like a lovesick high schooler. 

“Damn it Manny, why did you kick that rock.” Your friend scolded while multiple pieces of paper were being shuffled around. “I didn’t know there was an orc camp behind the bushes!” Your other friend groaned with a sigh. “At least we just healed. Oh, and I rolled a 16.” You added to the conversation, juggling the 20 sided die between your fingers. 

The DM looked up at his papers and rolled his dice a couple times. “Okay first in the order is one of the orcs. He is going to attack your player Y/n since they are standing the closest. I’m going to need you to make a saving throw.” You groan and mentally cursed your friend. 

At that moment a certain someone wandered out of his lad and up the stairs to the hallway your room was located. The familiar sound of a die hitting a hard surface made his attention go towards your slightly cracked door. A mental battle ran through his head as to whether to take a peak or not. Ford was just going to ignore it until he heard your voice along with some unfamiliar ones. His curiosity got the best of him and stepped closer to your door. 

“That’s a 9 but with the modifiers that will be… 15.” Your mental math abilities were a bit slow considering it was so late at night. “Okay… you only suffer a mere scratch to the arm from the orcs double headed battleaxe.” You silently cheered to yourself while pumping your fists. Your friends laughed at your actions until one of them had spotted someone in your doorway. They were about to say something to you until they closely examined the man; Glasses, trench coat and a red turtleneck sweater underneath. So that was the man you were gushing about a few calls ago. They could have fun with this. That same friend made a group chat with everyone in the call except you to tell them what plan had unfolded in their head. Everyone read the message and looked at you with a large grin. 

“Y/n, you don’t have headphones or earbuds in do you?” One of them asked. “No, no I don’t. I couldn’t find them. Why do you ask?” You rose a brow at your friend before going back to juggling your dice. She merely gave you a sly smile before replying, “No reason.” You glanced at her before dismissing her question. 

“Y/n your rolls have been on point this session!” Another friend pitched in with an enthusiastic tone. “Thanks, I have to make sure I’m not on the brink of death unlike last time.” You chuckled to yourself at the memory of an intense battle that went on last session. You were about to ask about the battle that was currently going on until someone else cut you off.

“Oh! That reminds me, have you finished your Ren Faire costume yet Y/n?” Okay this is weird. Usually all of you are focused on defeating the opposite opponents, but even your DM is getting off track. “Um, No? I still need to add small touches to the staff but I don’t see how this is relevance to the ga-” You were cut off once again, them completely ignoring your question.

“You still have that extra ticket or have you asked him yet?”

It was at that moment Ford could feel the grins of your friends being directed to him with one of them giving a wink.

The question made you freeze in your seat, face becoming slightly red. Where is all of this coming from? “N-no and I don’t think I will. I don’t have the confidence in that, hah.” You gave a sad chuckle and rubbed the back of your neck in embarrassment. 

Fords face became flush when he connected the dots; the sudden stop in your campaign with a question completely irrelevant to what was happening along with the stairs and grins thrown his way. Were you really going to ask him or do your friends think he’s someone else? 

“I don’t think he would have time, anyway. He’s always in the basement working on various projects and I would hate to take up so much of his time.” Your tone sounded sad and a bit disappointed. You saw one of your friend’s frown at your words before speaking up. “Going by the things you have already told us, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to go,” That friend glanced over at Ford. “but if he makes you upset in any way, you bet I’ll book a ticket to fly over and kick his ass.”

Ford nervously swallowed at your friend’s stern words. One of his fingers were hooked at the edge of his collar as his face deepened in red at the thought of you asked him out. Not only that, but going to a Ren Faire in costume and everything! Believe it or not, but he had always wanted to take a special someone to an event like this. It had always been one of his dreams to share the world of fantasy and magic with a romantic partner, but lost hope the older he got. 

Your friend looked back at you and said with a closed eye smile, “Oh yea, they also have cosplay stuff stored in the back of their closet along with a 6 foot foam sword they made! You can’t hide your nerd self forever Y/n!” 

“Who are you talking too…” You turn around in your chair and make direct eye contact with the one person you didn’t want to see. The die you were holding dripped to the flour with a thud as you stare at Ford with wide eyes. 

You quickly turn back around and muted your friends before they could say anything embarrassing (as if they didn’t already). “How… much did you hear?” You hid your face in your hands, trying to hide your beat red face. Ford fiddled with the collar of his sweater yet again, trying to find the right words. “I’ve heard enough.” He steps into the door, closing the door behind him. 

You take a deep breath, wondering if you just destroyed your friendship. “Please, just… forget that every happen.” Ford rose a brow. “Why would I do that? You haven’t even asked me yet.” 

You paused at his words. What? “What do you mean?” You uncovered your face with a confused look plastered on it. Ford walked over to where you had dropped your 20 sided die and picked it up. “Well, you haven’t asked me if I wanted to go or not.” He looked at you, a small smile along with a shade of red dusted his face. “You would want to go with me?” Your voice still sounding confused but with a hint of hope in your words. “Of course! That sounds like a lovely time!” Ford held out the dice for you to take while his other hand rubbed the back of his neck. “That is, if you’ll have me.” You took the die out of his hand, figures brushed together briefly before pulling away. A small smile rose to your lips as you held the 20 sided die in your palm.

“Yea, I’d like that.”

Bonus:

After Ford left your room, you unmuted your chat. “That was one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen!” Your one friend yeld. Your face turned beat red at her words. You had to turn down the volume until she was done gushing about how romantic that was. “H-how did you hear that? I thought I was on mute?” You questioned while hiding your face with your hands. The DM chuckled to himself. “You muted us, not yourself. We all heard and saw everything.”

You’re not going to hear the end of this. 

[shigarakis-fifth-hand]

Tenya Lida x fem! Reader

Warning: Mentions of attempted rape, vaping, and then kissing~kinda

Inspiration: I’m Yer Dad by GRLwood (idk why)

“Get your feet off the desk! You have been here for five minutes and you are already destroying school property!” Oh boy... you recognized that voice. 

Walking into class on your first day of high school at UA, you were met by an unwelcoming yet familiar sight. There stood your long time acquaintance Tenya Iida, yelling at a student who had their feet on the desk. 

As you two met eye contact, you smiled, happy to have something familiar in all of this chaos. Walking in, you walked in Tenya’s directions before a bunch of people surrounded you.

 “You must be that girl from the exam! I saw you swing that pole at that robot that went down instantly!”, “Wow, your quirk is so cool!”, “Can you change the size of people?” All these questions from your fellow classmates filled your head as you answered them.

Iida, on the other hand, was having a hard time processing what he was looking at. One, L/N Y/N had gotten into UA, even 1-A to be exact. She was known for being a party animal, not knowing anything about anything, and hooking up with everyone left and right.

The other part was... that between the last day of middle school and today, you had... changed. You were a lot... curvier in certain areas, your hair was longer, you had grown a few inches, and overall you looked... prettier. 

Even though you were known as the cutest girl in Iida’s middle school, you had become more mature in your looks. So when you looked at Lida with that half grin, he was confused. 

Why were you smiling at him? You had never talked to him once the entire three years you had been at the same school, and now you were happy to see him? Maybe he was over-reacting... yea, that had to be it.

Once you were finished answering questions, you managed to squeeze threw the group of students to get to Iida. Once you arrived, you were out of breath from all the talking.

“I-lida! Hi!” you exclaimed, making him even more confused. “(L/n)… you’re here? Talking to me? At UA?” Iida felt woozy, and almost dizzy. “Uh, I think so.” You took a quick pause, looking at his face.

“God, it’s so good to see you after a whole Summer.” With no warning, you brought him into a tight, quick hug before letting go. You sat your backpack right next to his, smiling ear-to-ear.

“Gosh, after that party I thought I’d never hear your voice again.” Iida thought and thought, becoming even more confused. “Um, I think you may be confusing me with someone else Y/n. We’ve never talked before.” 

Your smile dropped as confusion and worry filled your eyes. “N-no. Remember the party? Where you had one two many drinks and ended up kissing me?” As you finished your sentence, Iida had a flashback.

It was the going away party for the eighth graders in the middle school gym, even though you had decided to hang out with your cooler friends in Mr. Himiza’s classroom. There was Riku, Haruto, Haru, and Yuuto. You had only met these guys two days ago, but they were awesome. You were the last of your old friend group to be at the school, as all of them had been expelled or sent to Juvy. Not you though, how could you tarnish your reputation when you and these guys were planning on running away together. That was, until...

“Stop! Get away from me!” You had walked to the bathrooms, not realizing you were being followed. Lucky for you, Iida was patrolling the school for kids going drugs, and heard your voice loud and clear. “Stop! Please!” you cried out as Riku pinned you against the wall and tried to kiss you while also removing your shirt. “No!” you pushed him back, trying to use your quirk on him. But you were just too drunk and not as powerful as him.

“You bitch! Shut up!” Riku slammed his fist into your head, making your skull hit the wall and cause you to fall back. “There, you’re good. Easy there.” As he put his hand on your shirt once more, Iida came up behind him and grabbed him by the collar, raising him high off the ground. You could see Iida’s muscles through his t-shirt, and man was it hot.

“You better run your as home before this gets bloody.” Iida threatened as Riku nodded, getting down and running out of the bathroom. Immediately Iida looked at you concerned, kneeling down and grabbing your hand to help you up. “Are you okay? Is your head alright? What about your eyesight?” The questions just went in one ear and out the other.

“You saved me Iida.” Iida stepped back, surprised that you even knew his name. “You’re my hero.” you looked up at him with lust in your eyes as he gave the same look back at you. “It’s nothing, I’m going to become a hero in real life.” he looked down, a blush forming on his face. “Wait, you applied to UA?” What else would you expect from Tenya Iida?

“O-of course, only the best to keep the family up. What about you?” You stayed silent, thinking of how you had been blessed with such an amazing quirk but had never strengthened it. You hadn’t ever thought of a career in heroism, but again you had never felt such a desire for a single human being as you were feeling right now.

“Um, UA.” You lied as his eyes widened, shocked by your secret lie. Dang, why did you have to be such a sad human being. “Really?! That’s amazing L/n.” he looked... impressed by you? “Call me Y/n.” By now, you were nose to nose with Tenya Iida, in a situation you thought you’d never be in.

Just as you were about to kiss each other, the sound system alarmed, alerting the students that their parents were waiting for them. As Iida was about to walk off, you grabbed his arm to hold him back. “Wait, I’ll never see you again.” You held him back as he just looked back at you with the most innocent smile. “I’ll see you on the first day of high school. Then we can pick up where we were.” And with that, he walked out of the bathroom, leaving you standing there.

“Wait! Iida!” You ran down the hall past him, trying your best to talk to him before he walked out of your life forever and you never saw him again. “Yes Y/n?” he looked behind him at you, his eyes full of happiness and lust like your own.

Now! Here was your chance to confess that you had lied to his face and would never see him again. But instead, you said the most stupid thing in the world. “I’ll see you soon!” He smiled and waved before stepping into his car. Suddenly, it started raining, but you didn’t care. As you sat in the rain, you realized what you had to do. You would get into UA if it killed you.

Somehow, you managed to get into contact with Present Mic when meeting him at the super market, and somehow convinced him to train you. “Well if All Might can have his protegee, I guess I can have mine!” he smiled, patting your hair nicely. Immediately, the training was awful. You quirk was zoom out, meaning that you could change the size of certain objects and move them with your mind. Hizashi, and eventually Aizawa had you use everything, from rocks to buildings. He made you move the heaviest things with your mind, and had you change the size of people.

At the end of the Summer, he had happily given you a recommendation letter for UA, making you cry for days upon days with the Pro Hero, who by now thought of you as his daughter.

So here you were, standing in the UA classroom, a completely different person.

“Y-you remembered that?” Iida asked, his eyes bugging out in shock. As he thought about it, he remembered how you had almost kissed him and promised to resume your relationship on the first day of high school. He could feel his heart beating, and knew immediately that he wanted to have you as his girlfriend.

 “Oh please Iida, that night changed my life.” 

[dfroza]

not everyone will stand in the True illumination of the Son.

not all will listen with the heart to the Spirit’s call to open up and “believe…”

but for the children who are first chosen to be daughters & sons of our heavenly Father, their destiny is to become the Temple of the Spirit and the Word, who is the Son. our treasure is our Creator who seeks to renew our hearts & minds, and eventually the physical body as well all by a sacred act of grace that waits for our faith to contain this hope and to guard it (inside, Anew)

and Paul wrote of the eternal Son being inspired by the Spirit to do so to share with all of us in the [here, & now]

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 7th chapter of the Letter of Romans:

I write to you, dear brothers and sisters, who are familiar with the law. Don’t you know that when a person dies, it ends his obligation to the law? For example, a married couple is bound by the law to remain together until separated by death. But when one spouse dies, the other is released from the law of the marriage. So then if a wife is joined to another man while still married, she commits adultery. But if her husband dies, she is obviously free from the marriage contract and may marry another man without being charged with adultery.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, the same principle applies to your relationship with God. For you died to your first husband, the law, by being co-crucified with the body of the Messiah. So you are now free to “marry” another—the one who was raised from the dead so that you may now bear spiritual fruit for God.

When we were merely living natural lives, the law, through defining sin, actually awakened sinful desires within us, which resulted in bearing the fruit of death. But now that we have been fully released from the power of the law, we are dead to what once controlled us. And our lives are no longer motivated by the obsolete way of following the written code, so that now we may serve God by living in the freshness of a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, what shall we say about all this? Am I suggesting that the law is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that gave us the clear definition of sin. For example, when the law said, “Do not covet,” it became the catalyst to see how wrong it was for me to crave what belongs to someone else. It was through God’s commandment that sin was awakened in me and built its base of operation within me to stir up every kind of wrong desire. For in the absence of the law, sin hides dormant.

I once lived without a clear understanding of the law, but when I heard God’s commandments, sin sprang to life and brought with it a death sentence. The commandment that was intended to bring life brought me death instead. Sin, by means of the commandment, built a base of operation within me, to overpower me and put me to death. So then, we have to conclude that the problem is not with the law itself, for the law is holy and its commandments are correct and for our good.

So, did something meant to be good become death to me? Certainly not! It was not the law but sin unmasked that produced my spiritual death. The sacred commandment merely uncovered the evil of sin so it could be seen for what it is. For we know that the law is divinely inspired and comes from the spiritual realm, but I am a human being made of flesh and trafficked as a slave under sin’s authority.

I’m a mystery to myself, for I want to do what is right, but end up doing what my moral instincts condemn. And if my behavior is not in line with my desire, my conscience still confirms the excellence of the law. And now I realize that it is no longer my true self doing it, but the unwelcome intruder of sin in my humanity. For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but willpower is not enough to accomplish it. My lofty desires to do what is good are dashed when I do the things I want to avoid. So if my behavior contradicts my desires to do good, I must conclude that it’s not my true identity doing it, but the unwelcome intruder of sin hindering me from being who I really am.

Through my experience of this principle, I discover that even when I want to do good, evil is ready to sabotage me. Truly, deep within my true identity, I love to do what pleases God. But I discern another power operating in my humanity, waging a war against the moral principles of my conscience and bringing me into captivity as a prisoner to the “law” of sin—this unwelcome intruder in my humanity. What an agonizing situation I am in! So who has the power to rescue this miserable man from the unwelcome intruder of sin and death? I give all my thanks to God, for his mighty power has finally provided a way out through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! So if left to myself, the flesh is aligned with the law of sin, but now my renewed mind is fixed on and submitted to God’s righteous principles.

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 7 (The Passion Translation)

marriage is a sacred lifelong covenant of husband & wife that was designed by our Creator. and sex on earth is meant for this bond exclusively.

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 26th chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah that points to a renewal of the body and of earth, along with God’s coming Judgment upon the wickedness of this world which mirrors John’s words in Revelation. and the chapter closes with a grand escape seen in the protection of God’s people for a time as a secret elopement away from this world:

When that time arrives, the people of this place called Judah will sing this song:

People: By the grace of God, our city is strong;

its structures and defenses He made secure.

Now open the gates to welcome the righteous,

so that those who keep faith may enter in.

You will keep the peace, a perfect peace, for all who trust in You,

for those who dedicate their hearts and minds to You.

So trust in the Eternal One forever,

for He is like a great Rock—strong, stable, trustworthy, and lasting.

He humbles the high and mighty.

Even the indomitable city falls before His strength, reducing it to dust.

The feet of the poor, the weak, the infirm and forgotten

will trample the dust of the formerly great.

The path of those who do right is straight and smooth.

O God, You who are upright, You make the way of the righteous level.

When we act in justice and righteousness—following Your laws—we wait for You.

We are eager to hear Your holy name and remember Your ways.

At night I long for You with all that is in Me.

When morning comes, I seek You with all my heart.

For when Your justice is done on earth,

then everyone in the world will learn righteousness.

If grace is extended to those who do wrong,

the perpetrators never learn what is right.

Even when surrounded by upright people, they gravitate to evil

and never even notice the awesome beauty of the Eternal.

O Eternal One, even when Your hand is raised against them, they do not see it.

When they finally do see how passionately

You act on the people’s behalf, they will be ashamed.

Ah, let the fire that consumes Your enemies consume them.

Eternal One, You are preparing peace for us;

in fact, everything we have accomplished has come from You.

Others have tried to rule over us,

but You, Eternal One, are our God.

At the end of the day, when all is done,

we acknowledge only You.

But now these would-be rulers are dead, never to live again;

these shadowy spirits will never rise.

You have punished and utterly destroyed them—

You erased every memory of them.

By contrast You have made this people great, Eternal One—

made this nation vital and strong. To you be all glory!

You have expanded the borders of this land.

When You corrected their wrongdoing, Eternal One,

they could hardly even whisper a prayer.

Weak with distress, they looked to You for help.

You witnessed us twist and turn before You, O Eternal,

like a birthing woman in agony of labor.

We were that woman, laboring to deliver,

but we gave birth only to futility and emptiness.

We couldn’t deliver the earth, save it, renew it.

We couldn’t make it teem with life.

But Your dead will live; their lifeless bodies will rise up again!

You who sleep in the dust, get up and shout for joy!

The dew of a new day will wash you glistening fresh,

and the earth will push forth those who had passed before.

O my people, hide in your rooms for a time. Shut the doors behind you

and hide away until God’s anger has passed.

See here, the Eternal One will emerge from His place

to punish the earth’s inhabitants for their wrongdoing.

The earth will not hide the blood that has been spilled into her dust;

she will no longer cover those who have been murdered.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 26 (The Voice)

to be accompanied by these lines:

It’s time to awaken and sing for joy, you dwellers in the dust!

As the glistening, radiant dew refreshes the earth,

so the Lord will awaken those dwelling among the dead.

Go, my people, into your inner chambers

and close the doors behind you.

Hide for a little while, until his indignation is over.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 26:19-20 (The Passion Translation)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Sunday, july 4 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about the significance of humility:

"For though the LORD is exalted, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar" (Psalm 138:6). Yea, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). And who are the humble but those keenly aware of their own nothingness - the despised, the needy, and the rejected of men? The LORD justifies the ungodly by faith; He hears their cry for deliverance “from the depths”; he creates them anew yesh me'ayin, "out of nothingness," by making them into a “new creation” (בְּרִיאָה חֲדָשָׁה) through the agency and power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 4:17; 2 Cor. 5:17). O praise Adonai Oseinu, the LORD God our Maker, for he looks upon the lowly, he is near to nishberei lev, the brokenhearted, and he binds up their wounds...

Just as the LORD made the world yesh me'ayin, "out of nothing," so His creative power continues unchanged. God is able to take a dead heart, a heart of stone, and make it tender and soft through the breath of His Spirit... Therefore His eyes look upon the lowly, the humble, the poor in spirit, but He disregards those who lift themselves up in pride.

Indeed, the LORD resists the proud and repays their scorn with scorn: "With the scorners he is scornful, but to the lowly he gives grace" (Prov. 3:34). Those who mock the idea of sin and arrogantly exalt themselves will be held in derision, but of those who find grace it is written, "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the Torah of the LORD, and in His Torah he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2). It is a severe mercy, a weighty grace, that is bestowed to us, friends... [Hebrew for Christians]

7.1.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 4, 2021

When the Boughs Break

“When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favor.” (Isaiah 27:11)

Like a mighty tree towering over the forest, God raises up a mighty nation from time to time, with a great leader, to accomplish some purpose in the divine plan. He “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation” (Acts 17:26).

But when that nation and its leaders become proud, and its people become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, it becomes like a tree whose branches wither and whose core becomes riddled with insect-caused decay. Finally, the boughs break, the kingdom will fall, and down will come that nation, its leaders and all!

That happened even to God’s chosen nation, Israel, though only for a time, since God’s promises cannot fail. One after another, the mighty nations that God used to chastise His wayward people—Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Rome, etc.—have in turn been judged for their own rebellion against the God who “made them” and “formed them.” God has warned that “the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17).

Is that about to happen to our beloved USA as well? The signs of self-seeking power and pride among our leaders and moral decay and spiritual rebellion among our people are widespread and growing worse. Our prayer should be that of the ancient prophet. “O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years,...in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2). “Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?” (Psalm 85:6). HMM

[debra2007-blog]

LORD OF ALL Friday, October 2, 2020 Him Shalom, to you my Friend and Co-Minister in the Great Commission...

This letter is framed by the fact that I'm needing to write it beforehand in midsummer. So I'm writing it before the autumn. I believe this September and autumn will be a most critical time. I believe America is in great trouble and now standing at a precipice - which can lead to repentance, revival, and redemption - or to hardening, departure, the sealing of judgment, and calamity. And it can include both shakings and calamities that lead many to return to God. But no matter what happens or not in the spiritual realm or the physical realm - some things will be true and most importantly in the autumn.

The world changes - but God remains the same. Everything in this world is temporary. Everything changes. People come and go, live and die. Parties come to power and are driven from power. Kingdoms rise and fall. Everything in our lives change. This world is a changing place. But one thing does not - God. God never changes. Thus He is called The Rock. Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever. No matter what may come, He will be the same when it comes, just as important, just as central, just as alive, just as real as He was when He walked the earth.

The Lord's purposes will not be stopped - we know this world is filled with evil and that which opposes the will of God. And we know that it may often look as if the people and purposes of God are on the weak side of history. But that's only how it looks. David looked hopeless in the face of Goliath. Paul was in prison, chained for his faith. Messiah looked defeated on the cross. Yet, David slew Goliath, Paul touched millions of lives from prison chains, and Messiah on the cross overcame the world. God's purposes will move forward and, in the end, prevail at all times, through all things, and will overcome the world.

God's Word will be upheld - It has been thousands of years since the Word of God was first given. And yet, it has outlasted every power and kingdom and age that has come after it. It is as fresh and vital and alive now as it was when it was first given. So in the days to come, the Word of God will be upheld, and will be in future days just as powerful as it was when God first spoke it, just as true, just as pivotal, and just as life-changing.

God will work all things for good for those who love Him - God never promises that all things will be pleasant, easy, or even good, in and of themselves. The great giants of the Bible went through much that few would call 'good.' But what God does promise is better. He will work all things, not some and not even most, for the good of those who love Him. So no matter what happens in the world, in the remainder of 2020, or in the days beyond, His promise will prove true. God will, for real, work all things in the world and in your life for the good of you who love Him.

For we don't have to be concerned with all things. We only have to focus on Him who is Lord of all. He is Lord of all things past. He is Lord of all things present. And He is Lord of all things to come. And that is good enough. It is more than good enough.

Let us look to Him in trust, in faith, and in full devotion this month, who is Lord of all, every part of life. And may God greatly bless you and keep you this month.

Isaiah 46:9-13 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. 12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory. Think about this. Wrap your minds around it. This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart. Remember your history, your long and rich history. I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have— incomparable, irreplaceable— From the very beginning telling you what the ending will be, All along letting you in on what is going to happen, Assuring you, ‘I’m in this for the long haul, I’ll do exactly what I set out to do,’ Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east, from a far country the man I chose to help me. I’ve said it, and I’ll most certainly do it. I’ve planned it, so it’s as good as done. “Now listen to me: You’re a hardheaded bunch and hard to help. I’m ready to help you right now. Deliverance is not a long-range plan. Salvation isn’t on hold. I’m putting salvation to work in Zion now, and glory in Israel.”

Good to be you You are a unique and valuable part of life. Let that value come to the surface and do its good work.

You’re hard on yourself, demanding of yourself, and in many ways that compels you to improve. But don’t be so critical that you destroy your confidence or discourage yourself.

You have good work to do, useful insights to express. You have thoughts and feelings that can be of great benefit to yourself and others.

So let your essence flow out to the world. Allow your unique gifts to add new richness to life.

Your own special truth won’t always be welcomed with open arms, but so what? It’s far better to embrace and to own who you are than to hide it.

It’s good to be you. Let the world in on the best of that goodness.

Look Inwards We all have three eyes. Two for looking out and one for looking in. Why would we want to look in when everything is happening ‘out there’? Because the treasure we seek is inside, not outside. What is treasure? Beauty, truth, peace, happiness. You already have what you seek. You already are stunningly beautiful. You are already peaceful and loving. How come you don’t know this? Simple, you never look inwards, beyond superficial memories or recent experiences, so you never see your own riches. Take a moment to stop, look in and see. Don’t rush. Don’t search. Just look. And be aware.

Love, Debbie

[quranreadalong]

#52, Surah 7

THE QURAN READ-ALONG: DAY 52

It’s time for some more Moses, and this time a lot of it is copied and pasted from the second surah, with the same Jews Suck commentary. Try to contain your excitement.

When we left our Hebrew Heroes, we had just finished the Ten Commandments/Idol Calf incident. There is still some tension in HebrewLand as our story resumes in 7:159. Some of Moses’ people are fine, and Allah divides them into twelve tribes and Moses does the twelve springs from a rock thing that we saw in surah 2 already. Mohammed seems to have conflated two separate incidents here, one the water-from-a-rock miracle and two the twelve regular, non-miraculous springs. But anyway, Allah lets the Jews stay in a town to rest up if they say a prayer, again as we’ve already seen. Sure, neutral. But then the dastardly Jews have to spit in Allah’s face by...! By...?

But those of them who did wrong changed the word which had been told them for another saying, and We sent down upon them wrath from heaven for their wrongdoing.

By... uh, saying the prayer wrong (involving wordplay shenanigans, apparently).

they were commanded to say “hittah” [there is no deity except Allah; or as in the other meaning: forgive our sins] but instead said “hintah” [wheat]

That’s just one explanation for what’s going on here; others have them saying “hibba” (seed) or something else. All the stories come down to the same theme, though, which is that the Jews made a game of it instead of praising Allah. So he smote them. Bad. Always recite your prayers properly, kids! I can’t find this in any Jewish or Christian sources, so idk if it’s from a lost text or if Mohammed made it up himself. It very well might be the latter, since he did accuse (Arab) Jews of wordplay games more than once.

Then Allah pulls some more bullshit, reminiscent of the whole sending furry animals to people on pilgrimage in Mecca thing. This starts in 7:163 and is the backstory of the “Jews turned into apes/pigs” thing that we’ve seen many times thus far. It is even dumber than you are imagining. (This whole part seems to assume that Jews are listening to him talk, which has prompted some scholars to say these verses came from the Medina days, and they were just stuck here because they naturally followed the other Wrongdoing Jewz story.)

While the Jews are in the seaside town, Allah sends fish right to the top of the water on the Sabbath day, when they can’t fish. Then on the other days, when they can fish, he takes the fish away.

Ask them (O Muhammad) of the township that was by the sea, how they did break the Sabbath, how their big fish came unto them visibly upon their Sabbath day and on a day when they did not keep Sabbath came they not unto them. Thus did We try them for that they were evil-livers.

Lo! Starvation is indeed a trial from your Lord. Stop being a bad dick, Allah. (Again, this is not in any Jewish sources I can find. It may have been some tradition lost to history, or something Mohammed pulled out of his ass.)

The Jews, tired of Allah’s weird-ass mind games, fish on the Sabbath. They are warned by the more pious Jews that Allah will now destroy them. A third group of Jews asks the pious ones what the point of this is, exactly: “Why preach ye to a folk whom Allah is about to destroy or punish with an awful doom”?

The answer was “to make ourselves feel less guilty bout the ass whoopin they bout to get LOL”, apparently. Is this... neutral? I have no idea. But 7:165 is bad and concludes this little vignette:

We rescued those who forbade wrong, and visited those who did wrong with dreadful punishment because they were evil-livers. So when they took pride in that which they had been forbidden, We said unto them: Be ye apes despised and loathed!

The Sabbath-breaking Jews are turned into apes. Again, this is meant literally. What happened to the poor things is a matter of debate; some tafsir authors say they lived for three days, unable to eat or drink, before perishing. Jesus. Others say they survived and had kids, so modern-day Jews are descended from animals. Pretty fucking terrible either way!

Then we get the following curious ayah, which is also bad but hmm-esque:

And (remember) when thy Lord proclaimed that He would raise against them till the Day of Resurrection those who would lay on them a cruel torment. Lo! verily thy Lord is swift in prosecution and lo! verily He is Forgiving, Merciful. 

Allah will send people to torment the Jews forever because some Hebrews fished on a Saturday. Lo! How forgiving of him. Hey, if this part is from the Medina days, I wonder if Mohammed considered himself one such tormentor. (His followers did.)

Moving on! In 7:168, Allah talks about how he scattered the twelve tribes of Israel, some of which were good and some of which are not, and “tried them with good things and evil things that haply they might return” to the true religion (Islam). But they didn’t; in fact, the descendants of the scattered Jews were mostly greedy and bad people, though there were some good ones who kept to the Torah.

All that besides the last one is bad. I will do a very long post about this topic in surah nine, but please remember for now that after leaving Mecca, Mohammed was genuinely shocked by the Jews of Medina refusing to convert to Islam. Cannot imagine why they weren’t impressed by his revelations!

Back to the Biblical stories. Allah picks up a mountain and sticks it over the heads of the Jews. They are understandably terrified of being crushed to death, but Allah is just doing it to demonstrate a point and doesn’t actually kill them so it’s neutral I guess. That Allah, such a joker.

Then we have this in 7:172:

And (remember) when thy Lord brought forth from the Children of Adam, from their reins, their seed, and made them testify of themselves, (saying): Am I not your Lord? They said: Yea, verily. We testify. (That was) lest ye should say at the Day of Resurrection: Lo! of this we were unaware

Mohammed elaborated upon this in a hadith:

Allah created Adam, then passed His right hand over his back, and brought forth from it his offspring, saying: I have these for Paradise and these will do the deeds of those who go to Paradise. He then passed His hand over his back and brought forth from it his offspring, saying: I have created these for Hell, and they will do the deeds of those who go to Hell. ... When Allah creates a servant for Paradise, He employs him in doing the deeds of those who will go to Paradise, so that his final action before death is one of the deeds of those who go to Paradise, for which He will bring him into Paradise. But when He creates a servant for Hell, He employs him in doing the deeds of those who will go to Hell, so that his final action before death is one of the deeds of those who go to Hell, for which He will bring him into Hell.

So Allah dragged people out of Adam, decided their fates, and made them declare him god. But who, exactly, is Allah forcing to declare him their god? Adam and Eve’s kids... before they were born? All human beings to ever exist, briefly granted form/consciousness solely for this reason before being put back in the Soul Box in the sky? The latter interpretation is the most common one, believe it or not. Mainstream Islamic thought teaches that all people declared their belief in Allah and Islam at this point, so everyone is already Muslim the second they’re born, which is why converts to Islam are called “reverts”. Yeah.......

I’ll say it’s neutral just due to the vagueness of it all, but from a legal point of view, “you said you believed in the right religion when you didn’t even exist yet, so you have no excuse to be a disbeliever, even if you were just following your ancestors’ religions!” does not seem like a strong argument. There are also serious free will issues in that hadith, but o well...

The next ayah is similarly mysterious and no one knows who Mohammed was talking about. Take your pick of any of the people mentioned in that tafsir. But the most common version is that Allah gave a non-Jewish guy in Moses’ time named Balaam some prophetic knowledge, but he was a disbeliever anyway. The Quran doesn’t actually mention this Balaam individual, but the “histories” say he cursed Moses and the Hebrews, so Allah made his tongue fall out. This ayah gets a bad label due to the last two sentences:

Therefore his likeness is as the likeness of a dog: if thou attackest him he panteth with his tongue out, and if thou leavest him he panteth with his tongue out. Such is the likeness of the people who deny Our revelations. Evil as an example are the folk who denied Our revelations, and were wont to wrong themselves.

That isn’t a Biblical story, by the way, and al-Tabari offers several different versions of Balaam’s fate. All end with his tongue falling out, though.

We end the day with some oldies but bad goodies: Allah leads people astray and created disbelieving people (who are like cows...?) so they could go to hell. Hey, there’s our first kuffar hell counter (1) entry in a long-ass while! Also, don’t sit near people who are blaspheming. Allah will deal with them later. I’ll put that one as neutral just to be nice.

Lots of weird stories this section, but we’re almost done.

NEXT TIME: Surah seven ends, praise Allah.

The Quran Read-Along: Day 52

Ayat: 22

Good: 0

Neutral: 11 (7:159-61, 7:164, 7:170-75, 7:180)

Bad: 11 (7:162-63, 7:165-69, 7:176-79)

Kuffar hell counter: 1 (7:178-79)

⇚ previous day | next day ⇛

[shelbertforever]

I Need You {3}

* Chapter three is here !! Enjoy reading !! Just so everybody knows I don't know any of these people personally, I have never meet them or anything like that. I'm sure they are all lovely people, but for the story maybe not so much. For everyone's information there may possible be some Mature Content in this story. Whether it be language or anything like that, I just really wanted you to know before you start reading.* Sharna was getting ready for the day in the bathroom while Serenity sat on the bed watching "Sophia The First" sucking on her pacifier. Sharna was pulling her up into a pony tail when her phone started to buzz, she quickly grabbed her phone to notice that it was her mother wanting to FaceTime her. Sharna quickly picked up smiling "Hi mom." She said going over and picking up Serenity who didn't really care because she was so focused on the tv. "Hi baby, how are you and Serenity? I miss you both so much." Sharna smile disappeared realizing just how much she was missing her mother. "We miss you too mom, so much." She said letting a small tear roll down her cheek "Serenity, say hi to Grammy Woo." Serenity took her attention away from the tv to look into the phone noticing that her grandma was on the phone "Ooo." Sharna smiled kissing Serenity's cheek "Yea baby it's Grammy Woo." "Hi sweetie" Woo said smiling at her granddaughter who kept saying "Ooo". "How are you baby, be honest." Woo said looking at Sharna who sighed before speaking "I'm fine, I mean we will be okay." Sharna said staring down at Serenity who was now staring at the tv again. "Do you want me to fly out to you?" Woo asked "No mom you don't need to fly all the way out here I just really miss you. I mean we have no one here and I'm still worried that Paul is going to find us here." She said waiting for her mothers answer "I think you will be okay out there and you'll make friends because your so kind and so very loving. You could always start a Dance studio out in Canada if your really staying there and making this place home." Woo said trying to give her daughter some hope, that's when she thought of a person that she hadn't thought about in a while. "What about James honey ? Have you seen him." Sharna shook her head no "No I haven't seen him, I mean he lives in Ontario not Toronto. That's where we are now is Toronto.but..." "But what honey?" Sharna kissed Serenity's forehead before speaking again. "Well, I haven't seen James yet but I seen Arlene." "Arlene, James mother?" Sharna nodded her head yes "Yea I seen her in the elevator the other day, she told me that I had a beautiful baby and I turned to say thank you and I realized who it was. So we started talking and she told me how much she missed me and that I should come over to their home. And the craziest part was her telling me that James talks about me all the time still and misses me. I didn't even know what to say." She said to her mother who just sat quietly listening to her daughter. "Well honey I wish I had the answers but I don't, but I think if you happen to run into James that you should talk to him. Because I know no matter how much you so you no longer love him the way you once did, but you always will. He will forever keep some of your heart whether you like it or not." Sharna just nodded listening to her mothers advice as Serenity just kept watching the tv pointing to it every time Sophia was on the screen she'd say "So so" for Sophia. "Mom what if he's married and has kids of his own. What if he married Becky, I can't destroy that." Sharna moms smiled listening to her "You'll never know unless you see him, and sometimes if you love someone you let them go and if they comeback then maybe their your forever. You just never know, so honey don't lose hope because I saw the love you two had as did the rest of the world. So don't lose hope, just let what's meant to be happen." Sharna notice the time on her phone realizing that she and her mom had been talking for almost an hour "Alright, I think me and my mini me are going to go shopping today. So I thinks it's time to say goodbye." Woo smiled "Alright, honey promise me one thing." "What is it?" Sharna asked looking at the screen "Promise me, that if you do see James that you'll let fate take its course and let whatever happen, happen because it was suppose to." Sharna smiled listening to her mom "I promise mom. " "Good." Woo said smiling at her daughter and granddaughter "Alright, you two girls have fun today! I love you both so much." She said waving to Serenity who had a huge smile on her face showing some of her baby teeth "Serenity tell Grammy Bye bye!" Sharna said waving so Serenity would do the same making Woo smile "bye bye Ooo." Serenity said giggling making both women smile "Bye mom we love you too, so so much! Talk to you later." Sharna said waving one more time before she hung the phone. "James, where are you going?" Arlene asked watching as James grabbed his jacket and car keys. He turned around looking at his before speaking "I have to go see Sharna." "Are you sure about this ?" She questioned, he turned around almost laughing "Yes mom, this is my chance, the one I thought I had lost years ago! I need Sharna in my life one way or another. I just do." "Okay, but what if she's married James?" "Do you know if she is? Did you ask her?" Arlene shook her head no "No but James.." "But nothing mom I need to go, I need to at least try." He said rushing out the front door of his home, "But she has a baby." Arlene said quietly as she sat down on a kitchen car realizing that James hadn't heard her. James was halfway to Toronto when he realized that maybe driving clear to Toronto just to see and old dance partner might not have been the best choice. I mean what was she doing in Canada when she lived in LA? How was she ? Is she married ? Did she ever open up the dance studio that she day dreamed about? All these thoughts circled through his brain as he drove to Toronto.             "Mama!" Serenity yelled with laughter as she jumped up and down on their hotel bed. Sharna smiled watching her little girl, "Are you ready to go have some lunch munchkin!" Sharna asked catching her daughter in mid air bring her close to her face to kiss her cheeks. "Yes mama!"         "Okay lets put on our shoes and jackets, okay?" Serenity nodded as Sharna sat her down gently on their bed putting her shoes on before grabbing her pink jacket and putting it on her. Sharna quickly threw her shoes on and jacket before picking Serenity back up settling her on her hip before grabbing her pursue and cell phone before leaving the room.       "Button!" Serenity said as they walked closer to the elevator "Do you want to press it?" Sharna asked watching Serenity nod her head yes, "Go ahead baby." Sharna said moving them closer to Serenity could push the down button.       Once she did her face lit up with smiles "Yay!" She said clapping her hands as Sharna smiled down at her baby girl kissing her forehead as the elevator doors opened this time  though it was only them in the elevator.        Finally they reached the bottom floor and the doors opened back up, letting Sharna walk with Serenity who had her head laying in Sharna's shoulder. They walked past the front desk waving to the woman standing behind it, Serenity waved to smiling at her.       They exited the front doors of the hotel Sharna started walking towards the garage where her car was parked. That's when she felt someone bump into her "I'm sorry Miss" he said almost making Sharna stop completely. She turned around to say that it was okay but he was gone.          That voice though it sounded an awful lot like James, but that was impossible his home wasn't Toronto. Why would he even be here? He isn't here. Well that's at least what Sharna told herself as she continued walking.        That was until she heard someone shouting her name "Sharna!" Her mind started going crazy, should she turn around or keep walking.       Is it really James or is mind playing tricks when he said her name again "Sharna." This time he said it quietly, she finally convinced herself to turn around to see if he was really standing there.          She turned around slowly to look into the eyes of the man she once loved with all of heart, who was she kidding she still loved him with all her heart and would always. That would never change.          "James" she said almost in a whisper as if none of this was happening, as if it were a dream and she would soon wake up to realize it was fake. A part of her imagination that was running wild.        It felt like forever until either one of them spoke, but Sharna was the first one to say anything. "What are you doing here ?" "I could ask you the same thing." James said looking into Sharna's eyes "True."       She said glancing back up at him "My mom told me you were in Toronto and I had to see you with my own eyes." Sharna just nodded "Oh I see." She said rocking back and forth on her feet while keeping serenity tight against her side.        "Can we go somewhere to talk?" He asked looking into Sharna's eyes trying to find the spark that was once there but now seems to be gone. Sharna nodded "Yea, we were going to go shopping but, since your here I guess we could order some pizza and eat in our hotel room." She said smiling slightly at him as he nodded yes.        "Let's go then." She said walking past him with serenity, he followed them into the hotel and back into the elevator up to the seventh floor.         As they stood in the elevator the snuck glances at one another. Sharna noticed that James hadn't really changed much at all, as for James he thought the same expect she a baby with her. As the elevator door opened Sharna lead James to their hotel room, she realized when she was walking down the hall to their room that whether or not she was ready it was happening.            She was nervous and scared, what if everything changed between them. What if the love they once shared had disappeared. God she wasn't scared she was utterly terrified, but this was it she thought as she put the key into the door unlocking it.       "Welcome to our room." Sharna said holding open the door making James laugh "Well thank you, I'm glad I was invited." He said back making Sharna laugh out loud, before closing the door behind him.  "Sit down, make yourself comfortable." Sharna said sitting serenity down on the bed only to have her start crying reaching for her.        Sharna picked her back up rubbing her daughters back in soothing circles, she was tired and really needed to go down for a nap. "Your sleepy aren't?" She asked as serenity nodded her head yes pushing herself even closer to Sharna than she already was.        Sharna started humming a song rocking back and forth with serenity, until her eyes started to close. About ten minutes later Sharna laid serenity who was now a sleep onto a spot in the bad with her baby blanket.        "Sorry, she gets really cranky and crabby when she doesn't have her nap." Sharna said watching James as he sat across from her on a chair looking at ground. He looked up smiling "It's okay, she's beautiful." Sharna blushed "Thank you."         James nodded before speaking again "Should we talk now?" He asked watching as Sharna's eyes dropped to the floor before staring into his. "Yea, we should."         * Yay, I'm so happy everyone finally got to read this chapter !! This chapter was by far one of my favorites to write! Thank you all for your wonderful comments! Please keep writing them because I love reading them. Hopefully I will have chapter four up tomorrow !!*

[impvarjack60]

24 Under the Moon's Fiery Light

We set off on the trail with the wind in our hair, or what was left of it for some, I will miss my strawberry blonde girl.

Wow, it has been a long time- I stopped cycling ten years ago. When the pain got too much it was time to quit. I've always wanted to ride these perfect trails, and here we are, ear to ear grin for the both of us. This is where we should be- just absorbing the sunshine- and being free. Not worrying how we're gonna' pay the rent, or that latest medical bill, the car needs a new transmission, and on and on. So much of our daily lives back on Earth were just like that for nearly everyone. Now for us select few, we get to pursue leisure. If you’re an artist, paint. Musician? write some music. A runner? Just run, and keep on running like Forest Gump, ‘til ya can't run no more. Pursue your passions,... be free.

But for Anna and I, we had responsibilities. We had a kingdom to run. The good news is our duties would be light for now, knock on wood. Just make a few decisions here and there. Pick our flag, what color should the castle be? Who can get married first. Pretty light weight stuff.

There's not a chance in hell it's gonna' be that easy.

During my trial, there was something familiar about what happened. So I decided to play twenty questions. _________________________________________________________ "Anna, there was something familiar about The Trial, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Who came up with the script?" "Some of it was my idea, I tried to do every evil queen in written fictional history, but what you did was based on a video game." "What?! That was worse than Grand Theft Auto!, what sinister game did you base it on?" "The Legend of Zelda." I tried to shake the words I just heard out of my head. "How on earth did you come up with that?" "Think about it, Michael. Search for a key to a locked door, explore the passages, find the weapon you need to defeat the boss. Find your way to the boss, and destroy it to move on to the next level." "So you planted the knife?" "Actually, there were several weapons scattered thru the castle. I'm really glad you didn't find the hatchet, the idea of being bludgeoned in the skull scared me, personal shield or not." "That's OK, I would have just hacked you to pieces." "That's not very reassuring." I remember that game, the Ocarina of Time. I came home from work and played every night till midnight for a month, and was so sad when I finally got to the end, and had to say goodbye to Princess Zelda. Oh shit,... I have a princess fetish. On earth, this epiphany would mean it's time to see a therapist, and here, I'm marrying one. That's kinda funny, and I snickered to myself. "What's so funny?" "I just realized that I have a serious jones for princesses! The Legend of Zelda was about a princess, several movies that are my all-time favorites have princesses. Ugh,...Why!?" "Yea, it is a strange thing to be on your all-time favs list." "Just like the old saying, be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!" She about wrecked her bike slugging me in the arm. We were slowly coming back, and just being us. So we turned the corner to the trail that led to the house, finally.... Home.

_________________________________________________

We got in the door and I could just feel the tension melt away, she was here, with me, at last. And still typical Anna. Shoes and socks came off immediately. The house had a staleness to it though. Houses don't like it when no one lives in them, it's like they die a small death. Speaking of death,.... "Hey Stinky Feet!, wanna' crack some windows?" "Excuse me!, I am a princess, and my feet do not stink. They smell like a flower garden." Being the limber creature she was, she jammed her foot right in my face, smashing my nose. While it was sweaty, it still smelled like lavender. She was all sugar and spice. "OK, I get it, you know I'm just jerkin' your chain, but seriously we need to open some windows." So we set about airing the place out. Then it was time to see if any of my equipment still worked, it's been a half year since any of this has been on. I put on some light jazz and just laid back on the couch. I closed my eyes and was just starting to enjoy the peace, when.... "OK, so what do you want to do with the rest of the day?" So I got up, put my hands in her armpits and picked her up, hmmm, this is now effortless. I took her to the couch and told her quite forcefully; "SIT DOWN!" she slowly settled into the couch, starring at me the whole time. "What we are going to do is sit the fuck down, and we are going to fucking relax. In case you haven't been paying attention to current events, the last few days have been a little stressful, as I had to plot the murder of the woman who I love dearly." I got right in her face, and  I'm sure with my new stature, I was quite intimidating. "You're right Michael- I'm sorry- I guess I was viewing this from the actors side of things." "That's the point, Anna. You would've won an Oscar for your performance. For me it was very real, and very heartbreaking. When I looked into your eyes for that last time, I wanted that moment to last forever." "Michael, I have a confession to make. When I screamed last night, it was real. I genuinely feared for my life. The shield may not have worked, and I was terrified." "The worst part is, you made the decision too easy. My only solace was knowing I would have joined you in death." "No, the guards were instructed not to harm you in any way." "WHAT?!, why would you do that?!" "Because this is not about me. These people would still need a leader. That leader is you." Selfless, to the end. My God, I hope these people realize what they're getting. The Anna who made a choice to save others, instead of herself. This time in real life, and not on the big screen. She'll be one for the history books. And two thousand years from now some child will be sitting in a classroom reading a story about the great Queen Anna, the first.

"I don't think I could do this without you." "I felt the same way, that's why we went thru all this." Then I looked her straight in the eye. "I meant what I said, I did not want you to die without knowing I still loved you. You were the most foul, evil bitch I've ever been with, but all that shit couldn't keep me from loving you. But now we're here, and away from all the Royal stuff. So please, for the love of God, can we just take it easy for a few days?! And just be us?" "Will we survive this?" "I hope so, we've got a long way to go, but even kings and queens take vacations, and as the future king, I declare we are officially on vacation." "Yes, your Majesty!" "Now that's more like it. I want you to lay back on this couch, while I rub your smelly feet until this record is over, then we're gonna' get something to eat. After that we are going to do nothing for the rest of the day, understood?" She just nodded.

My favorite thing to do, nothing.

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We managed to get though dinner before an interruption by my favorite thorn in my side, Olaf. "Good evening Princess Anna and Prince Michael. We have a special astronomical event you may wish to observe tonight. A trinary moon system in orbit of the gas giant we are at is having a collision event. The smallest moon of the system is in a decaying orbit around the largest one, when it collides the results should be quite spectacular." "Thanks Olaf, that does sound interesting,... tree house?" I said, Anna perked right up. "Oh, hell yes! I'll get the sheets, pillows and blankets." "And I'll get the cookies,... and towels."

It was kind of a mess, it's been a long time since we've been up here. But nothing has felt so right in so long. We made love. It wasn't super passionate, it wasn't forceful, hell, it wasn't even that exciting. But it was the best for those very reasons, it was normal, and it felt fantastic.

Then it was time to watch the show. The little moon kept orbiting the big moon faster and faster as it went down it's gravity well. when it finally touched, a giant shower of sparks were emitted, the sparks fanned out as the little moon rolled violently across it's surface, then the little moon finally exploded, sending a shower of molten rock into space, lighting up the Habitat, I was starring at it lost in deep thought. "So what are you thinking about right now?" She said. Most of the time, guys don't have an answer, this time I did. She was curled up on my chest, with her fingers drawing little circles on it, and quite content.

"Something my mother said a long time ago; 'You can never go home again.' I never knew what she meant until now. We are never going to be the same, you and me. Maybe it'll be better, maybe it'll be worse, but it'll never be the same. Eventually she did go home, but in a cardboard box, lined in plastic. As we pored her ashes out on that North Sea beach she frequented as a child, I thought about what she said, and now I realize she was right." "That may be true, but I for one can't wait to take on this adventure called life with you, I have always loved you."

"And I can't help but love you........."

                                     End Part One.

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

Today's Prayer

LORD, we would come to Thee, but do Thou come to us. Draw us and we will run after Thee. Blessed Spirit, help our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as we ought. Come, Holy Spirit, and give right thoughts and right utterance that we may all be able to pray in the common prayer, the whole company feeling that for each one there is a portion. We are grateful as we remember that if the minister in the sanctuary should not be able to pray for any one of us there is One who bears the names of all His redeemed upon His breast and upon His shoulder, who will take care with the love of His heart and the power of His hand to maintain the cause of all His own.

Dear Savior, we put ourselves under Thy sacred patronage. Advocate with the Father, plead for us this day, yea, make intercession for the transgressors. We desire to praise the name of the Lord with our whole heart, so many of us as have tasted that the Lord is gracious. Truly Thou hast delivered us from the gulf of dark despair, wherein we wretched sinners lay. Thou hast brought us up also out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay. Thou hast set our feet upon a rock and the new song which Thou hast put into our mouths we would not stifle, but we would bless the Lord whose mercy endureth forever.

We thank Thee, Lord, for the love without beginning which chose us or ever the earth was, for the love without measure which entered into covenant for our redemption, for the love without failure which in due time appeared in the person of Christ and wrought out our redemption, for that love which has never changed, though we have wandered, that love which abideth faithful even when we are unfaithful.

O God, we praise Thee for keeping us till this day and for the full assurance that Thou wilt never let us go. Some can say, “He restoreth my soul,” they had wandered, wandered sadly, but Thou hast brought them back again. Lord, keep us from wandering, then will we sing, “Unto Him that is able to keep us from stumbling and to present us faultless before His presence with exceeding joy.” Bless the Lord, our inmost soul blesses the Lord. Blessed be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the Triune. Blessed be the Lord forever office sustained by each divine person and for the divine blessing which has come streaming down to us through each one of those, condescending titles worn by the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.

We feel like singing all the time. We would take down our harp from the willows, if we had hung it there, and we would waken every string to the sweetest melody of praise unto the Lord our God. Yet, Lord, we cannot close with praise, for we are obliged to come before Thee with humble confession of sin. We are not worthy of the least of all these favors. We cannot say, “He is worthy for whom Thou shouldst do this thing,” nay, but we are altogether unworthy and Thy gifts are according to the riches of Thy grace, for which again we praise Thee.

Lord, forgive us all our sin. May Thy pardoned ones have a renewed sense of their acceptance in the Beloved. If any cloud has arisen to hide Thee from any believing eye, take that cloud away. If in our march through this world, so full of mire as it is, we have any spot on us, dear Savior, wash our feet with that blessed foot-bath and then say to us, “Ye are clean every whit.” May we know it so, that there is no condemnation, no separation, sin is removed as to its separating as well as its destroying power, and may we enter into full fellowship with God. May we walk in the light as God is in the light and have fellowship with Him, while the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Let no child of Thine have any dead work upon his conscience and may our conscience be purged from dead works to serve the living and true God.

And oh! if there are any that after having made the profession of religion have gone astray by any form of sin, Lord, restore them. If they have fallen by strong drink, if they have fallen by unchastity, if they have fallen by dishonesty, if, in any way, they have stained their garments, oh! that Thy mighty grace might bring them back and put them yet among the children. But give them not up, set them not as Admah, make them not as Zeboim, but let Thy repentings be kindled and Thy bowels of compassion be moved for them, and let them also be moved, and may they return with weeping and with supplication and find Thee a God ready to pardon.

Furthermore, we ask of Thee, our Father, this day to perfect Thy work within our hearts. We are saved, but we would be saved from sin of every form and degree—from sins that lie within and we are scarcely aware that they are there. If we have any pride of which we are not conscious, any unbelief of which we are not aware, if there is a clinging to the creature, a form of idolatry which we have not yet perceived, we pray Thee, Lord, to search us as with candles till Thou dost spy out the evil and then put it away. We are not satisfied with pardoned sin, “We pray, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Help us in our daily life, in our families, in our relations as husbands or wives, parents or children, masters or servants, in our business transactions with our fellow men, in our dealings with the Church of God, may we be true, upright, pure, kept from the great transgression because we are kept from the minor.

Oh! that we may be such as glorify Christ. Save us, we pray Thee, from the common religion. Give us the peculiar grace of a peculiar people. May we abide in Christ. May we live near to God. Let not the frivolities of the world have any power over us whatever. May we be too full grown in grace to be bewitched with the toys which are only becoming in children. Oh! give us to serve Thee and especially, and this prayer we have already prayed but we pray it again, make us useful in the salvation of our fellow man. O Lord, have we lived so long in the world and yet are our children unconverted? May we never rest until they are truly saved. Have we been going up and down in business and are those round about us as yet unaware of our Christian character? Have we never spoken to them the Word of Life? Lord, arouse us to a deep concern for all with whom we come in contact from day to day. Make us all missionaries at home or in the street, or in our workshop, wherever Providence has cast our lot, may we there shine as lights in the world.

Lord, keep us right, true in doctrine, true in experience, true in life, true in word, true in deed. Let us have an intense agony of spirit concerning the many who are going down to the everlasting fire of which our Master spoke. Lord, save them! LORD, SAVE THEM! Stay, we pray Thee, the torrents of sin that run down the streets of London, purge the dead sea of sin, in which so many of the heathen are lying asoak. Oh! that the day were come when the name of Jesus shall be a household word, when everybody knew of His love, and of His death, and of His blood, and of its cleansing power. Lord, save men, gather out the company of the redeemed people. Let those whom the Father gave to Christ be brought out from among the ruins of the fall to be His joy and crown. “Let the people praise Thee, O God, yea, let all the people praise Thee.” Let the ends of the earth fear Him who died to save them. Let the whole earth be filled with the glory of God.

This is our great prayer and we crown it with this, Come, Lord Jesus, come Lord and tarry not. Come in the fulness of Thy power and the splendour of Thy glory! Come quickly, even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. - Charles Spurgeon