Dimitri- Have you ever thought about the possibility?
Anya- What? That I could be royalty? (pauses thinking) Well, I don't know! It's kinda hard to think of yourself as a duchess when you're sleeping on a damp floor. But I suppose every girl wants to be a princess.
- Conversation between Dimitri and Anya from Anastasia
One of my favorite princess movies is Anastasia (for the record Beauty and the Beast is my ALL time favorite). Anastasia tells a fictional spin on the fall of Imperial Russia and the Romanov Dynasty.
In short, Anastasia starts right before the fall and shows the Romanov family fleeing from the palace. Anastasia is escaping with her grandmother and during that escape falls and hits her head which causes her to forget who she is. Fast forward about nine years, 18-year-old Anya is leaving the orphanage where she spent the majority of her life. She still has no idea who she really is. Her only clue to her past is a necklace that says "Together in Paris". She decides to go to Paris to find her family. Along the way, she encounters Dimitri and Vlad a couple of con-men who are trying to find someone to pretend to be the missing Grand Duchess and claim the reward offered by Anastasia's grandmother. At first, both men think they've hit the jackpot with Anya. She looks like Anastasia, she doesn't remember anything about her past, she's a fast learner, etc.. However, as their journey progresses and the pieces begin to fall into place, Dimitri realizes that she is in fact, the real missing princess. Eventually, Anya realizes who is really is and is reunited with her grandmother and remembers her past.
While I know now that particular version of the story is completely false. I was always attracted to the mystery of the story. And when I was younger I read everything I could about Anastasia and the Romanov family. I watched documentaries about the real demise of the family. I even have a book my mom gave me of a Romanov family exhibit that traveled around the country. The book has photographs of clothing and other items from the family. It was fascinating to me! (Course I was the strange kid who would read the encyclopedia for fun....before Wikipedia existed....) So while I know it's fiction, for the sake of this post, we're gonna go with the movie version...
So as I wrote in the last post, those of us who are God's children are royalty. We are sons and daughters of the High King. But so often we forget our royal identities. Like Anastasia after she fell at the train station while fleeing the palace, she forgot who she was and what her status in life was. She was a royal princess and had she succeeded in escaping from Russia, would have been entitled to protection and living in a style more accustom to what she was used to. However, because she didn't know who she was and probably wasn't carrying any identification (and because the script said so), she was taken to an orphanage. While the movie didn't show much about the orphanage specifically it did allude to the idea that it was a pretty dismal place to grow up.
This happens to us so much, we are royalty, we are children of God, and as children of God, we are entitled to a certain standard of living. Not necessarily material standards, but things like love, joy, peace, kindness etc. are things that have been given to us as part of our royal status. But so often we come against the trials of this life and we forget who we are and what resources we have at our disposal. We become so used to the lower standards of living that they become normal to us. We dream about getting out of our dismal circumstances, but when we finally realize how to get out of them, we're reluctant because it's become our normal. And like with Anya when she was at a crossroads, it is really intimidating. But we have to step out in faith that our Father is going to protect us and that He has an ultimate plan in mind for us.
As with any fairy tale, there is an evil villain that has to be overcome. In Anastasia, there is the court mystic/former advisor turned evil Rasputin. In the movie, Rasputin's main goal is to do away with the Romanov family. He wants to erase any trace of the Romanovs from the earth. As Anastasia journeys to Paris to find out who she really is, Rasputin is there throwing obstacles in her way.
This is true for us too. We have a villain, the chief of all villains, who wants nothing more than to wipe any trace of Jesus and His family off the face of the earth. Satan will go to great lengths to keep you locked in bondage. He wants you to be inoperable, he wants you to forget who you are, what your true status is. So he's going to throw obstacles in your way, trip you up, tell you lies, make something seem impossible to overcome because HE WANTS YOU TO FAIL! But we have to remember not only WHO we are but WHOSE we are. We are children of God and because of this simple fact, we have access to the only arsenal that can defeat Satan. We are protected by the One who has defeated him for all eternity. Now, this is gonna be much easier said than done...but when Satan comes nosing around and tries to trip you up (and he WILL sometimes in really big ways) tell him to get lost, command him in the name of YOUR Heavenly Father, the King, to get lost. Banish him from the kingdom.
Final thoughts: Something to remember, and this came to me as I was praying a few months ago,
Anya- What? That I could be royalty? (pauses thinking) Well, I don't know! It's kinda hard to think of yourself as a duchess when you're sleeping on a damp floor. But I suppose every girl wants to be a princess.
- Conversation between Dimitri and Anya from Anastasia
One of my favorite princess movies is Anastasia (for the record Beauty and the Beast is my ALL time favorite). Anastasia tells a fictional spin on the fall of Imperial Russia and the Romanov Dynasty.
In short, Anastasia starts right before the fall and shows the Romanov family fleeing from the palace. Anastasia is escaping with her grandmother and during that escape falls and hits her head which causes her to forget who she is. Fast forward about nine years, 18-year-old Anya is leaving the orphanage where she spent the majority of her life. She still has no idea who she really is. Her only clue to her past is a necklace that says "Together in Paris". She decides to go to Paris to find her family. Along the way, she encounters Dimitri and Vlad a couple of con-men who are trying to find someone to pretend to be the missing Grand Duchess and claim the reward offered by Anastasia's grandmother. At first, both men think they've hit the jackpot with Anya. She looks like Anastasia, she doesn't remember anything about her past, she's a fast learner, etc.. However, as their journey progresses and the pieces begin to fall into place, Dimitri realizes that she is in fact, the real missing princess. Eventually, Anya realizes who is really is and is reunited with her grandmother and remembers her past.
While I know now that particular version of the story is completely false. I was always attracted to the mystery of the story. And when I was younger I read everything I could about Anastasia and the Romanov family. I watched documentaries about the real demise of the family. I even have a book my mom gave me of a Romanov family exhibit that traveled around the country. The book has photographs of clothing and other items from the family. It was fascinating to me! (Course I was the strange kid who would read the encyclopedia for fun....before Wikipedia existed....) So while I know it's fiction, for the sake of this post, we're gonna go with the movie version...
So as I wrote in the last post, those of us who are God's children are royalty. We are sons and daughters of the High King. But so often we forget our royal identities. Like Anastasia after she fell at the train station while fleeing the palace, she forgot who she was and what her status in life was. She was a royal princess and had she succeeded in escaping from Russia, would have been entitled to protection and living in a style more accustom to what she was used to. However, because she didn't know who she was and probably wasn't carrying any identification (and because the script said so), she was taken to an orphanage. While the movie didn't show much about the orphanage specifically it did allude to the idea that it was a pretty dismal place to grow up.
This happens to us so much, we are royalty, we are children of God, and as children of God, we are entitled to a certain standard of living. Not necessarily material standards, but things like love, joy, peace, kindness etc. are things that have been given to us as part of our royal status. But so often we come against the trials of this life and we forget who we are and what resources we have at our disposal. We become so used to the lower standards of living that they become normal to us. We dream about getting out of our dismal circumstances, but when we finally realize how to get out of them, we're reluctant because it's become our normal. And like with Anya when she was at a crossroads, it is really intimidating. But we have to step out in faith that our Father is going to protect us and that He has an ultimate plan in mind for us.
As with any fairy tale, there is an evil villain that has to be overcome. In Anastasia, there is the court mystic/former advisor turned evil Rasputin. In the movie, Rasputin's main goal is to do away with the Romanov family. He wants to erase any trace of the Romanovs from the earth. As Anastasia journeys to Paris to find out who she really is, Rasputin is there throwing obstacles in her way.
This is true for us too. We have a villain, the chief of all villains, who wants nothing more than to wipe any trace of Jesus and His family off the face of the earth. Satan will go to great lengths to keep you locked in bondage. He wants you to be inoperable, he wants you to forget who you are, what your true status is. So he's going to throw obstacles in your way, trip you up, tell you lies, make something seem impossible to overcome because HE WANTS YOU TO FAIL! But we have to remember not only WHO we are but WHOSE we are. We are children of God and because of this simple fact, we have access to the only arsenal that can defeat Satan. We are protected by the One who has defeated him for all eternity. Now, this is gonna be much easier said than done...but when Satan comes nosing around and tries to trip you up (and he WILL sometimes in really big ways) tell him to get lost, command him in the name of YOUR Heavenly Father, the King, to get lost. Banish him from the kingdom.
Final thoughts: Something to remember, and this came to me as I was praying a few months ago,
Nothing is ever going to happen to me that God doesn't allow, and if He allows it then He is going to give me everything I need to get through it.God will allow certain trials and hardships in your life from time to time. When these happen something I've learned to do is to ask what He wants me to learn from them rather than ask why it's happening. Granted it is much easier said than done, however, it's something to keep in mind. Don't forget who/whose you are. Like I've said before if you're a child of God you ARE ROYALTY! Don't let the troubles of this world or the lies of Satan make you forget that. You are loved! You are important! You are powerful!
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Psalm 56:4 HCSB
7 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him scamper. 8 Say a quiet yes to God and he'll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. 9 Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. 10 Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.
James 4:7-10 (MSG)
For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Galatians 3:26 (NIV)
But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.
Galatians 3:25-27 (MSG)
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