He Lives In You

If you don't absolutely love The Lion King, there's probably something wrong with you. (Fact of life, more or less.) While I've never had the opportunity to see the live show (yet; I hope to do so someday), only God knows how many times I've watched the famous Disney movie. I. Love. The. Lion. King.

Though I cherished the movie my whole life, it wasn't until very recently that I realized it's more than just a "children's movie". There are a lot of profound spiritual elements in the story!

If you do even just a little bit of research, you'll find that The Lion King was most definitely not based off of Christianity or any Christian beliefs; however, God has His ways of sneaking into our creative endeavors, whether we know (or like!) it or not. Just take a look at this classic film masterpiece in greater detail, and you'll see.

I could write several hundred pages on the spiritual significance of The Lion King, and easily so. It's filled with rich spiritual imagery, regardless of your "religion". So instead of boring you with that, I'll just go to one particular facet: the song "He Lives in You". (Yeah, I know it wasn't in the original movie, but bear with me, it's still part of the story and the Broadway musical.)

Take a listen:

The song basically explains itself! Take a look at the lyrics from a Christian's viewpoint.

Ingonyama nengw' enamabala [A lion and a leopard come to this open place] 

Night and the spirit of life calling mamela [listen]

And a voice, just the fear of a child, answers mamela [listen]

Ubu khosi o khokho [This is the throne of our ancestors]

We ndodana ye sizwe sonke [Oh, son of the nation]

Wait, there's no mountain too great

Hear these words and have faith (have faith) 

He lives in you, He lives in me

He watches over everything we see

Into the water, into the truth

In your reflection, he lives in you

He lives in you, he lives in me

He watches over everything we see

Into the the water, into the truth

In your reflection, He lives in you

He lives in you (x5) 

He lives in you! He lives in me!

He watches over everything we see

Into the water, into the truth

In your reflection, he lives in you

He lives in you, he lives in me

He watches over everything we see

Into the water, into the truth

In your reflection, (in my reflection) he lives in you

I mean, really. Come the freak on! With its references to "the Spirit of Life", "There's no mountain too great ... have faith", "He lives in you, He lives in me", "He watches over everything we see", "Into the Water, into the Truth", "In your reflection, He lives in you" ... It's hard to overlook those, isn't it? This stunning Broadway song could easily be used as some form of God glorification. (I say this because it's not quite worship.)

So instead of giving you some overly detailed analysis... I would encourage you to study this song on your own, and use the Bible as a guide to decoding the song. Try finding some Scriptures on the Holy Spirit, particularly where His attributes are shown as light, life, water, and truth. Look for some verses on our bodies being His temple, and on how He lives inside of us. Search for some verses on the omniscience of God (the Psalms might be a good starting place for that). And finally, I would suggest trying to find some Scriptures on being an ambassador, representing God in our lives, etc. Enjoy!

Fight the good fight

Life just gets in the way of everything else sometimes.

Such as, keeping my room clean. Or blogging. Or, even writing anything at all. I barely see any of my friends anymore. School has taken over, and so has God.

If I thought that God had wrecked me before... well. That was just the beginning. These past few weeks alone have been ridiculous. Although Wicked really has nothing to do with my life right now, "Something has changed within me; something is not the same." But it's true. I went from listening to my some 4,000 secular songs to listening almost exclusively to worship music. (With a side of Mumford & Sons... ) Instead of reading buckets of fiction I've picked up Desiring God and Eternity in their Hearts - but most importantly, the Bible. This one, to be exact.

My brother gave it to me for Christmas, and I absolutely love it. Although NKJV is my favorite translation, NASB is a very close second. I find that the NASB maintains the regality of the original text while putting it in language that is understandable for the modern person. And the Life Application Study Bible especially begs for one to dive into it, and highlight and underline and scribble notes inside of it. It begs to be cherished in that way.

I've found that reading the Bible consistently changes one's perspective. Although I've dramatically changed within the past year, just these past few weeks have brought forth even more change and transformation of heart. Of course, I'm nowhere near where I want to be. I am still too far from Jesus.

I've also found that when you and your perspective change in a godly way, Satan doesn't like it. (Who would have thought, right?) And what does the Destroyer do to things he doesn't like? Well, ...he tries to destroy them. He tries to steal our hope, kill our vision, and destroy our faith. In my life, when he's tried to do this, it's usually come through the discouragement of people.

Just the other day at church, I had several people chastise me. When I voiced my desire for deeper Bible study at my church's youth group, one person told me that I was immature for not getting enough out of the messages as they are. (Um, doesn't the fact that I want to go deeper into God denote maturity instead of immaturity?) When I gave my prayer request for an upcoming mission trip I want to go on, another adult literally tried to talk me out of wanting to do any foreign missions!

But then, instead of getting angry... I realized something crucial. It comes out of James chapter 1 verse 2:

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.

James 1:2 is one of those staple verses that people tell us whenever we're going through something rough, and they tend to say it in this "holier-than-thou" tone (though not always). I don't know how many times I've simply passed over this verse because I was tired of people telling it to me. (Like Jeremiah 29:11. A great verse, but I would appreciate not hearing it 10,000 times a day.) I've come to the conclusion that James 1:2 is a verse that you have to read to yourself. And when you do, then it's priceless.

I realized that the fact that I was enduring these numerous trials at church was because I was doing something right. If you look at the New Testament, the authors talk multiple times about enduring trials. And every time it is implied that these trials spring from us as Christians doing God's will, and Satan doesn't like it. So he tries to make our lives miserable. Well ha-ha, Satan, nice try. I'm going to consider it all joy.

And one other thought to keep you encouraged (to be read in the context of, you're seeking God and doing His will):

When the world tells you that you are doing something wrong, it means you're doing everything right.