Wednesday, August 21, 2013

By: Brandon Bilbo 

The Superhero in You

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind...

Yesterday's devotion challenged readers to be a genuine witness of God's power by living a life worthy to bear the name of Jesus Christ. Sadly, many people instead deny the power of God and choose to conform to the world's standards.

This social and spiritual epidemic reminds me of the plot of the animated movie, "The Incredibles." In this story, lead character "Mr. Incredible" and his family all have superhuman powers. Mr. Incredible has super strength, Mrs. Incredible can stretch 100 feet, teenager Violet can make herself invisible, 10-year-old Dash is extremely fast, and baby Jack-Jack's powers are unlimited. However, this super heroic family is forced by society to hide their powers and live a quiet suburban life.

Eventually, they realize that they cannot suppress the power inside of them, and together, they battle to save the world.

The super powers of the Incredibles are not much different than what is expected of all of us today. Most fathers desire to be "Mr. Incredible"....the strength and heroes of their families. Most moms know what it is to have to stretch...to stretch a dollar...to stretch to take care of their households... to stretch to look after their "invisible" teenager or their extremely fast-moving child!

To truly balance the demands of being exceptional parents, employees, neighbors, etc, we HAVE to abide by 1 Chronicles 16:11, "Seek the LORD and His STRENGTH; seek His presence continually!"

At times, you may feel powerless, exhausted and hopeless, but there is a superhero inside of you! Almost all superheroes have something in common (other than wearing tights or underwear over their clothes). They are normal people leading normal lives that respond in superhuman ways. Superman and Spiderman may be fictional characters, but God has endowed you with power to respond in a way that supersedes human capability.

Hebrews 13:8 reveals that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." The superhuman miracles that He performed through Noah, Moses, David, Peter, Paul and MANY more is available to you today. However, to be used this way, you have to be willing to move beyond the social norm and be willing to respond to His prompting even if it means building a boat in a drought...

I challenge you today to seek His strength, to allow Him to transform your mind, and to eagerly respond to His call.

Dear Lord, Forgive me for times that I tuned out Your voice or suppressed Your power because I was afraid of what others may think. I thank You for the Holy Spirit Who leads and guides me always.

I thank You, my Jesus, for dying for me. I believe that You are Lord and that God raised You from the grave so that I can have eternal life.

Tomorrow, we will begin examining the lives of some of the Heroes of The Bible and the Christian faith. Their TRUE testimonies are sure to challenge all of us to live lives with no compromise and no limits.