My Patronus

I'm a HUGE fan of the Harry Potter movies! I only just started reading the final book within the last few weeks and it's SO good... I can't wait to see the first of the last two movies in November!

Now I know a lot of "good" Christians don't watch the movies or read the books & think it's all demonic but it's no more demonic than most of the music kids listen to nowadays or the other movies they watch that promote violence & crime! If someone ever took the time to watch, you would see that it's the classic good versus evil theme that we all struggle with daily. God is acknowledged in the books/movies & so is Jesus (Christmas is celebrated in just about every movie). And besides that, the Bible says that God will get the glory in EVERYTHING & for those of us who love Him, all things work for our good, according to His plan (Ephesians 3:20, Romans 8:28)! That's not the point of this post but I just thought I'd preface with that for those who, without reading further, will quickly judge... anyway, the fight between Harry Potter & the "good guys" from the series is against Voldemort, an evil wizard who is determined to rule the world basically. He uses all these evil beings - dementors, death eaters, etc. - to do his bidding. They kill for him, possess people & intimidate them into doing what they want.



In this one fight, I believe from book 3 entitled "Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban", Harry first encountered dementors which are these soulless creatures who patrol this prison. This one guy, Sirious Black, escaped from Azkaban and the dementors were looking for him. Whenever dementors are around, you know it because life seems to leave from the place; it's cold, dark & there is an overwhelming feeling of loss/despair, which was the case when the dementors finally found Harry & Sirious by this lake (it turns out that Sirious was wrongly accused, should not have been in prison & escaped to help Harry).

So as the dementors caught up with good ol' Sirious and Harry, Harry had to use a Patronus charm to ward off the dementors. I'll get back to that in a minute because I'm sure you're wondering what the heck a Patronus is! Well, I'll try to explain it as Harry did to his classmates when they banded together to defend themselves against Voldemort in Book 5, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix": it is simply something that will protect you when you need it most. When in trouble, think of the one thing that makes you feel safe, secure. Think of the one thing that gives your heart joy, the one thing that comes to mind when you think of love! If you can do that & concentrate on it, your enemy will be no match for you! To produce a Patronus, you have to say "Expecto Patronum". I Googled the term & got two different meanings: to release a protector & to await a protector.

Ok so back to Sirious, Harry & the Patronus - the dementors were closing in on Harry & Sirious. They were literally taking the life from their bodies, but as Harry saw himself dying, he was able to produce the Patronus! This amazing bright light appeared & it defeated every single dementor, sending them flying away defeated, not to return! When Hermione, one of Harry's best friends, asked him how he was able to produce such a powerful Patronus (you had to see it - it was HUGE & BRIGHT & obviously powerful enough to defeat them all... there were literally more dementors than one could count), Harry told her that he thought of his mother's love & how she'd sacrificed her own life to save his when Voldemort attacked his family when he was a baby.

Ok so why is this story, talk of Patronus charms & evil wizards here? Because I want you to think of the things you go through in a day... I want you to think of the things that frighten you, things that you feel you may not be able to defend against... what has you so weighed down that you feel you can't make it? Now I want you to think of the love Jesus has for us. Remember, He took our place on the cross & died for us. He decided that our lives were more important than his. He loves us soooooo much that He became the very thing that God hates so that we don't have to die spiritually! We are no different than Harry Potter. If a kid can use the power of love to defeat an such an evil enemy, why can't we? Why can't we, when we're in trouble or in need of a miracle, remember that God will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5)? Why can't we remember that God loves us soooo much that He sent His ONLY son to die for OUR sins (John 3:16)? Why can't we remember that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but one of power, LOVE and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7)? If Harry Potter thought of his mother's love & defeated evil beings, what more could we think of the power of our Almighty God, the love He has for us and the power that is given to us through Jesus Christ to defeat the enemy, so much power that NOTHING will hurt us (Luke 10:19, Isaiah 43:1-2)? I'm blessed to know that I can defeat any enemy, move any mountain and overcome any obstacle simply because the love of my God, is greater than anything there is!


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