Star Wars: Return of the Jedi compared to Revenge of the Sith

At the end of Star Wars:Return of the Jedi Luke Skywalker defeats Darth Vadar and rescues him from the Emperor.  We think Darth Vadar or Anakin is saving the Emperor but he is really saving his son, Luke Skywalker.  It turns out in the book for Rise of the Skywalker and when I was watching Return of the Jedi you can use Vader turning to the light sooner than the end of the movie.  The sins of the father will not be repeated in the son, in the Christian life we cannot let our sins and emotions overtake us.
Anakin let his sinful nature overwhelm him.  He always looked to the future and the worries of this world.  He fell into the Romans 7 mindset by doing what he did not want to do.  Through his struggles, he did not remember Romans 8:1 in his life.  Anakin fell into the trap of letting the worries and cares of his world overwhelm him.
His son, Luke Skywalker had a heavenward focus in the Return of the Jedi.  His mind was focused on the things above: Colossians 3:3.  He had a desire to see the good in his Father though his Father had chosen to go down a dark path thereby becoming Darth Vader.   Luke had surrendered to the light side and it controlled him by the Return of the Jedi; Romans 12:1-2.  By the end of the movie, the light side was producing fruit in him and he was growing into maturity; Galatians 5:22-23.
The question is who do you want to be more like the Father consumed by the dark side.  In another sense, would you like to be like the son who was consumed by the light side and redeeming those caught up in the dark side of the force.

Star Wars Pre-Ques in comparison to the virus

The battle we face today is similar to the battle against the battle in Star Wars.  There is a behind the scenes enemy who does not reveal himself right away.  Darth Sidious the evil Sith Lord hides himself in politics.  He moves up into greater position as we progresses into the story of the pre-quels.  The Jedi Council does not sense his presence until it is too late.
His real name is Palpatine, which we find out as we move through the story.  Palpatine moves to the title of Senator midway through the Phantom Menace.  Then as a Sith, he grooms Anakin by befriending him in Attack of the Clones.  This leads to Anakin defending the Palpatine as he moves to the title of Chancellor in Revenge of the Sith.  Anakin then carries out Chancellor Palpatine's order to destroy the Jedi at the end of Revenge of the Sith.
Today in this crazy world we have to put in place measures to protect ourselves against this behind the scenes virus.  The virus is lurking around us and you never know where it is until it hits us.  In the early Star Wars movies, the Jedi did not see the Emperor working behind the scenes until it was too late.  They sensed that there was an evil force at work but they did not go to drastic measures to stop him.

Wait on God

In this season of pandemic God calls us to wait on him.  A lot of people are experiencing loss of job, ability to go out to eat, to travel, and to partake in other fun things.  In these seasons of life God calls us to wait on him.  As believers in Christ we are to put our hope and trust in him and not in worldly things that do not give us joy.  Jesus Christ is our hope and gives us peace beyond circumstances.
The passage I will use to define waiting on God is Isiah 40:30. Isiah 40:31 says, "Yet those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount on wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." First, when we wait on God we gain strength.   When we wait on God daily in these times, he will give us strength to get through these times.  He reminds us scripture while he go through these times.
Second, it says we will mount on wings like eagles.  This means that he reminds us of our hope in Christ daily,  Waiting on God allows us to trust that God is eternal.  Also, it reminds us our citizenship is in heaven.  God shows us we have to look to him for our needs.
Third, these last two go together.  Isiah says waiting on God will help us run and not grow weary and walk and not be faint.  When our daily rest is in God, then he helps us in our time of need.  Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30,   "Come to me all you are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.   For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."  This reminds us that when we daily rest in him then God moves through us and he will give us the strength to run and do anything in his power.  Resting in him reminds us that when we trust in his power, he gives us the ability to wait on him.

New job

In this past year, God has given me a new job.  The job is a fun job because I get to work with  kids and a wide range of people.  I have had to travel and commute across the area for the job.  I have had to implement a wide range of games for the job.  Also, I work with a wide range of  kids in the YMCA After School Programs Group Leader position.  It has been a fun job working and mentoring these kids.  I have done well in implementing new things in the job.
I am hoping and praying it moves to full-time eventually.  When I was first fired, one of the staff the hired me said it could move to full-time.  The higher up staff are really nice and helpful.  They usually help me with any aspects of the position.  Also, they give me tips on improving and various new concepts to implement.
Lastly, the job uses my gifts of being very relational.  Also, it uses my ability to work with kids and mentor others.  Also, it shows the side of me that is very high energy and fun to work with.

Following Christ: A call to die

In David Platt's book Follow Me, he clearly shows what it truly means to follow Christ.  It is not about praying a prayer, reciting something when you were a kid, or a one time conversion.  Following Christ is about dying to ourselves daily.   Jesus says in Luke 9:23, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me."  As Christians, we are to die to our sins, idols, selfish pursuits of worldly things, sexual images in movies and online.
This call to die is not some type of simple belief but a daily repentance.  It is daily repenting of our sins and dying to the cross of Christ.  We are to surrender to Jesus and his will for our life.  The call to die should be about Jesus' will for our life not our will for our life.  Sometimes we get caught up in what is our will in this but we should be looking to what is God's will in this.
This process of following Christ is a continual dying to ourselves.  I will get into this process more on more blog posts.  Lord lead us how to die to ourselves more daily.

A follower of Christ

A follow of Jesus lives each day according to the plans and purposes of Jesus Christ.  A follower of Jesus Christ has spiritual fruit developed in their life as seen in Galatians 5:22-23.  A follower of Jesus Christ is conformed to the image of Christ daily as described in Romans 12:1-2.  A follower of Jesus Christ daily abides in Jesus Christ John 15:5.  A follower of Jesus Christ loves one another well as seen throughout the book of 1 John.  This is my exhausting definition of a follower of Jesus Christ, I will get into more detail as I read further in David Platt's book Follow Me.

God's plan

Lately, I have been struggling with God's plan for my life.  I know I have to leave this two part time jobs at Kroger and Einstein's Bagel Bros.  It's really hard waiting for some of these jobs to get back with me and then some of them do not work out.  Mainly I need a connection that will lead to a job.  I need someone that can vouch for me.  Lastly, it's hard sometimes to find community and fellowship with me being a single guy in my early thirties.  It seems like a lot of my close friends have moved away or are busy and it's hard to find a community close to my age range.