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Articles by Melvin Barnett
 
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May the Force be with You                  By Melvin E Barnett

  

The very mention of this title can set off a fire storm of conspiracy theories and indoctrination into the occult.  Really?  Well it’s been more than two decades and Darth Vader hasn’t proclaimed himself as the Anti-Christ.  I wouldn’t even try to speculate as to what George Lucas was thinking when he used those infamous words “May the force be with you” in the enormously successful series of Star Wars, but perhaps those words could teach us a lesson or two. 

 

A few weeks ago I rented one of the Star Wars movies.  When the movie was originally released I was very young.  I didn’t care much for science fiction then, and I still dislike it today.  However, I did have an unusual curiosity since I had never seen any of the episodes with the exception of one a long time ago.  Personally, all of those episodes are confusing to me because of how they are labeled.  I take great pride in trying to keep things in my life simple.

 

What about this force?  I don’t think you have to imagine very hard to see the similarities between what we know about the omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience of God and what the movies lead us to believe.  Just like with the Power of God, in the movie there were those who believed, but didn’t understand it; those who rejected it; and those who mocked it.  Then there were those who attempted to use it but could not believe for the impossible.  As you might remember, the force was a journey of total conquest of the body mind and spirit, and it was only when you had surrendered yourself to the force that you could be enlightened and empowered.

 

Christians today have the very person of God, the Holy Ghost, to go before them and fight their battles, heal, move mountains, deliver, and so much more.  God wants us to surrender our personal ambitions and desires and allow Christ to live through us each and every day.  God wants to totally transform us into His image and likeness just as we were created to be thousands of years ago.

 

It’s not the force -- it’s God.  “God be with you” is the phrase Christians should utter to their fellow brother or sister in the Lord.  The pursuit of man to find God and be empowered by the Holy Spirit should be our heart cry -- “God be with you”, instead of “May the force be with you”.

 

Truly, the Word promises us that we can do ALL things through Christ.  We can move mountains that lie before us.  We can feed the poor and see healing come to the sick and afflicted if we would only trust in the Real Force.  The Bible says in Genesis 1:2, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”

 

Star Wars did a magnificent job of depicting a force, but their force comes from nature and the energy that emanates around us.  Our Force moved and assisted in creating nature and putting energy into place.  Just like the old Coca-Cola commercials that declared itself as “The Real Thing”, Christians should seek out God’ Force, the Holy Ghost, and truly be led night and day through life’s battles and triumphs.

 

Each night when I put my children to bed I have always said, “God be with you.”  No matter how many times I utter that phrase to my children, that statement has never lost its value.  I truly desire that God be with my children.  Instead of being like Yoda teaching Luke Skywalker a bunch of witchcraft, I want to teach my children to be sensitive to, as well as desirous of, the power, gifts, and baptism of the Holy Ghost.

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