#Let God lead

[momentsbeforemass]

Signs

There’s nothing wrong with asking God for a sign.

With trying to live in God’s will, and seeking God’s guidance to help us do it. To make sure that we’re living and moving with God, relying on God’s strength and wisdom (and not our own).

In fact, relying on God and seeking God’s guidance is one of the best things that you and I can do for ourselves. When we do, we’re setting ourselves up to live in the peace that unstoppably flows from relying on God.

So why does Jesus go off in today’s Gospel on people who are seeking a sign from God (“This generation is an evil generation – it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.”)?

Because of their “why.”

They weren’t seeking God’s guidance. They weren’t trying to check themselves, to make sure that they were living and moving with God. Much less relying on God.

They were seeking a sign from God, as entertainment. They wanted to see a miracle. Because miracles are amazing things to see.

Not because they wanted to make sure that they were living and moving with God.

Not because they were ready to change anything about their lives if they weren’t. 

But because social media wouldn’t be invented for another 2,000 years. They were bored. And some of them wanted Jesus to put up or shut up.

That’s why Jesus went off on them.

The thing is, God is always ready to help us. Especially if we’re really trying to live and move in His will. No matter how imperfectly we may be doing it.

Remember, God isn’t looking for perfection from you and me. God is looking for hearts that are turned towards Him.

Trust God to lead. Set yourself up to receive the peace that unstoppably flows from relying on God. Go ahead and ask for a sign. With a heart open to God.

And don’t ignore the signs that you asked God to show you.

Today’s Readings

[hrsquotes]

In Luke 15, Jesus teaches via three parables. The first of these is what is commonly called "The Parable of The Lost Sheep," found in verses 4-7. 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

We do not follow anyone because we are good followers. We follow them because we believe them to be a good leader, whether they truly are or not. And many times we tend to change who we are following because we no longer see our leaders as viable, having to search to new ones.

Throughout Bible, Jesus is often referred to as a shepherd, or The Good Shepherd, while we as believers are often referred to the lambs of the Shepherd. Though sheep are actually quite intelligent, they have a propensity to wonder off away from the flock & do their own thing, causing the shepherd to have to recount how many are still in the flock. Jesus will always lead us on a holy, righteous path, a path towards eternal glory, leaving the flock if necessary, to find any sheep that have wondered off. In terms of humanity, many, many, many people have wondered off.

If you want to follow someone, someone who will never let you down, someone who is eternally perfect, Jesus is always the correct choice to have as your leader.

[dwuerch-blog]

God is My Pilot

Remember the bumper sticker: “God is my co-pilot”? While well-intended, it misses the mark. If we’re in the pilot seat, we’re bound to veer off course. Letting God lead is the only way to navigate life’s journey successfully. Better said is “Jesus, take the wheel!” A Co-Pilot is not in charge! By saying God is the Co-Pilot we are saying we are in control, we do as we please and go where we want…

[lifechangingmoments]

What's Behind those Closed Doors?

For God hath not given us the Spirit of Fear; but of Power, and of Love and of a SOUND MIND. 1 Timothy 1:7 KJV Photo by Kristina Paukshtite on Pexels.com Yesterday, as I was locked outside of my house for about 2 hours, I began to get mad and frustrated. No one would answer their phone and I had to walk across the street to borrow one. My purse, money, keys, and phone were all still on the…

[bet-on-me-13]

Bruce Wayne was never Batman.

So! The night that Bruce Wayne's parents got shot, he developed an Unbreakable Resolve. He needed to get rid of the Crime that had taken his Parents away from him, no matter what.

But that night, he also developed a deep-seated fear of Death. He was face to face with his own Demise and instead of dying himself he saw his Parents die instead. He was Terrified of ending up like them.

But he still needed to stop Crime. He couldn't just let criminals go unpunished, and while he was still using his wealth to try and prevent it before it began, he knew there needed to be something to stop crime After it had been committed. And the Cops were useless on that Front.

He eventually found a solution while looking through his Parents Family Heirlooms.

Ancient Books dating back to the founding of Gotham and even before then, telling of a Creature from another world who his Ancestors had helped in the Past. A Being of Fear and Shadow, who owed a debt to the Wayne Family. He needed that Being. A Monster of Shadows and Fear was exactly the answer to scaring criminals away from committing crimes and punishing those who did.

But he needed to find the Being from another world first.

So he left home, traveling across the Globe training with the best Magicians and Demonologists in the world in search of the Monster who owed his Family a Debt. His travels took him far, from the streets of LA where he met a man named Zatara, to the Snowy Mountains of Nanda Parbat where he learned of the Lazarus Pits and the Demon's that came out of them.

While studying the Lazarus Pits, he was trained by the organization who guarded them. They despised Weakness, and while their leader was in awe of his Intelect he was less impressed by his body's conditioning. If he was to study the Lazarus Pits, he would first have to earn the Right in Combat.

He eventually managed to pass their Tests and eventually left them, having handed over a Copy of his research as the price for being allowed to Study the Pits.

Years later, he finally returned to Gotham, fully equipped to Summon the Being that owed him a Debt.

Bruce drew up the Summoning Circle as perfectly as he possibly could, he had one shot at it.

A drop of his blood and a splash of Lazarus Water later, and the Circle began to glow an ominous Green. Slowing, a shifting shadow began to emerge from the Circle, at first only a mass of writhing darkness before their form Solidified.

The Books he had found on the Spirit said that it would take the form of the Summoners Greatest Fear, which just so happened to be Bats for Bruce. The Form that the Spirit chose reflected that, with large Dark Wings falling over their form as if they were a Cape, and horns looking like the Ears of a Bat. From the Darkness, two glowing eyes appeared.

"Spirit, hear me. My name if Bruce Wayne, and I am calling in the Debt owed to my Family centuries ago. My City is plagued with crime and malice, rotting from its Core. My efforts to prevent Crime from the side of the Light have been in vain, Crime persists despite my efforts. In order for my vision to be fulfilled, the Criminals of this City must have their hearts pierced by Fear. Fear of Retribution. Fear of Consequences. Fear of Vengeance."

Thoughout bis Speech, the Shadowed Figure stayed silent.

"That is why I have called you here. I want you to stalk these streets, punish the criminals of this City and strike fear into their hearts from the shadows, so that they know to stay in the light. I don't want you to Kill them, never kill them. Let them live with that fear in their Hearts until their final days."

After he finished his speech, the Figure finally spoke.

"Your Quest is an Honorable one. You seek the betterment of your people's, and are unafraid to resort to drastic measures to achieve that goal. It reminds me of my Liege's resolve." It Spoke, it's voice low and rumbling. "Very Well. From this day forth, I shall protect your City from the Darkness in its own Heart. I shall be your Dark Knight."

...

Had this idea out of nowhere and needed to write it down. In this AU, Bruce still wants to protect his City from crime, but is understandably traumatized from seeing the Deaths of his Parents. He has a deep-seated fear of Dying, so he chooses to forgo fighting crime himself.

Instead, he finds out about a Spirit that his Ancestors helped long ago, and decides that the most logical next step out be to Summon a Demon to protect his City. Instead of training his Body for a decade to become Batman, he trains his Mind and Studies as much about Magic and Demon's as Possible.

He still knows how to fight because he trained with the League. He approached them with an offer to study the Lazarus Pits and give them his findings, and they accepted. But Ra's didn't want a weakling on his Base so he also required Bruce to train his body. He saw his potential for combat, and was so disappointed that Bruce had chosen a different path. He could have been Great!

Bruce still has a thing with Talia that produces Damian, he is still a point of interest from Ra's since he is insanely smart and has huge potential, and he knows how to fight pretty well. Albeit not as well as in Canon.

Bruce becomes the Benefactor/Guy in the Chair for Fright Knight (who is the one he summoned if you couldn't tell), who looks like a "Bat Man" because of Bruce's fear of Bats. Fright Knight agreed to this because 1.) He had a debt to pay, 2.) Bruce reminded him of Danny, and 3.) He respected Bruce's ballsyness to Summon a demon and command it to protect people.

Bruce still adopts his Kids, but there are some changes.

Dick is adamant about fighting Crime, and eventually Bruce is forced to let him go on patrol with Fright Knight, who has started going by Batman. Thankfully Frighty managed to give him some blessings so he had minor powers and would be safer.

Jason is mostly the same, and he is so excited that Robin actually IS Magical. When he dies, Fright Knight, who had gotten attached to their Family, goes into the Zone to search for him. He is unsuccessful unfortunately.

Tim is kind of funny. He figured out that Dick was Robin, and Jason was the 2nd Robi , but assumed that Bruce was Batman. When he approached Bruce about becoming Robin so he would stop going down his violent Cycle, Bruce Redirected him to talk to Fright Knight, who was not taking his failure to find Jason well.

Damien grew up knowing that his Father was a Genius, and the Master of the Batman, which gave him a bit of an Ego. At first he thought of Fright Knight as a Servant, and tried to command him like he did with Alfred. Frighty corrected him quickly enough.

Any more ideas for this AU? I have so many, but I think I need to stop for now.

[mobius-m-mobius]

It's a pretty cool name.

Loki + the progression of saying Mobius' name for @percheduphere

[rottengurlz]

try to be gentle when you are ripping me apart 🔪

w/ @kashisun

[fun-esta]

[buggachat]

lovesquare keeping secrets from each other conflict PART TWO LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOO

[momentsbeforemass]

With power

Today’s Gospel starts off a little different.

Instead of quoting Jesus or telling us what Jesus is doing, it starts with some perspective on Jesus. It gives us a glimpse of how the people who heard Jesus were reacting to Him.

“And they were astonished at His teaching, for He spoke with authority.”

Why would people say that? What does it mean for Jesus to speak with authority?

First, Jesus isn’t in charge of anything when they react like this. At this point in His ministry, people see Jesus as a traveling preacher who heals people. So they can’t mean the authority of someone like a king, whose word is law. It’s got to mean something else.

Another translation puts it this way, “and they were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with power.”

What does that mean? It means that Jesus isn’t just giving good advice (although His advice is good). And it means that the people Jesus is speaking to get it. They understand that there’s more to what Jesus is saying. A lot more.

It means that what Jesus is teaching them has power – the power to change lives.

Both in an immediate way, like the healing we see in today’s Gospel. And in a deeper, lasting way, that heals every part of our lives.

Casting out the things that drag us down and harm us. Getting rid of everything that’s come between us and God.

Drawing us closer to the One who loved us into existence. Until we become exactly who God made us to be.

2,000 years have taken away none of that power.

What Jesus is teaching us has power – the power to change our lives.

If we’re wise enough to let it.

Today’s Readings

[tippenfunkaport]

That viral post that's going around about how people who write "book quality" mlm fic are too "normal" to publish and have real jobs so only "weird" people publish their "shitty" fanfic is so completely out of touch with reality and I am giving a massive side eye to everyone reblogging it.

Not only is it completely, easily verifiably untrue (you cannot enter any professional writing space without tripping over a dozen grizzled scifi writers who got their start by filing off the serial numbers and publishing their Star Trek fanfic even going back decades ago??? it's a whole thing?? plus how can you look at the mlm category on Amazon right now and say with a straight face that people aren't publishing shitty Spirk and Stucky fanfic??? Oh, honey...) it's also the perfect example of this kind of sneering elitism that true artists would never sully themselves by seeking profit, they do it only for the purity of the thing that always somehow leads back to, "no one should be paid to make art, actually."

The only reason you're seeing more published fanfic right now has nothing to do with the idealistic purity of your hypothetical government employee written smut of the past vs the debased scribbles of those awful straights of today and everything to do with the fact that a) self-publishing has created a voracious readership that wants a ton of content so it's become a viable, flexible income stream for many, especially disabled people b) anyone can publish now with self-publishing tools so there are less gatekeepers and c) lockdown got a lot of people into fandom and therefore writing who never tried it before.

And if you really think there's no "shitty" published mlm and no "book-quality" m/f writing out there that started as fanfic, then you are clearly not a reader so why are you even talking about this?

[tempestandwhirlwinds]

MAJOR HADES 2 SPOILERS BUT...

FIRST SPOTTING OF ZAGREUS!! MY BOY 😭😭😭😭😭

also is Achilles (who is a SHADE btw) such a threat that Chronos froze him in time too??? LET HIM AND HIS HUSBAND HAVE THEIR HAPPY EVER AFTER FFS

[tropicalcontinental]

Human fear is the window to the soul or whatever ://

[highlynerdy]

Holy.

Gods.

Above.

I'm just a simple bisexual...

How am I meant to withstand their combined hotness????

He throws her in the water and then pulls her close I'm shrieking and fanning myself.

"I just want you"...to be dead.

He knows she's full of shit. His smile here. The hold with the hair pin to the throat. The threat because they're both unhinged.

THIS IS EPISODE ONE.

Y'all. I'm not going to survive this drama.

[warlordfelwinter]

fiver just standing behind wuk lamat looking pissed off during that exchange was so funny. you think you wanna invade the rest of the star, zoraal ja? then you'd best be prepared to face its protector, who has truly had his fill of warmongering idiots with dreams of conquest

[nibbelraz]

Fluffy Moshang Prompt for @alikamorein for Svsss Gotcha 4 Gaza! Thank you so much for your donation. I hope you like it!!!

I thought it would be cute of them to finally have their own honeymoon and enjoy each other's company while being super lovey dovey!