Everyone at some point in their childhood longed to have superpowers like Wonder Woman and Superman. Maybe you dressed up like a superhero and pretended to be invincible. Can I assure you that when you are hidden in Christ Jesus you have the greatest power in you, the dunamis power of God!
Jesus said, “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” Jn 5:30 NIV
Jesus, fully man yet, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, - Phl 2:6, followed the Father’s voice and prayed God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done. Jesus lived by the will of God all the way to the cross. Jesus assures us in John 15 that if we abide in Him and keep the Father’s commandments as He did, we will be loved and that we may receive whatever we desire. However, the key is abiding in Christ Jesus, remaining steadfast in Him; keeping the commandments of God in love and doing the will of the Father and not the will of self.
Jesus said, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” - Jhn 15:5
The idea that we are to do what another wills us to do is contrary to our self-righteous flesh. The flesh is at enmity with God; even the Apostle Paul said, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing.” Rom 7:19 NIV Over and over we repeat the same cycles of sin and defeat. We eat right for a while then go back to bad habits. We clean up our words and speak life but go back to using language that eventually lead to death. We declare a thing and put our faith to it but then go back to our original state of doubt, knowing that a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways (Jam 1:8).
Why Do We Continue in The Ways of Defeat?
We are our own hero, and we depend on others to be so with us. God says to be strong in the Lord and in all our ways to acknowledge Him, not leaning on our own understanding, yet we find ourselves doing the opposite. Faith doesn’t make any sense. It is something we have in our hearts and is deeply buried under wounds, fear, pride and other things. When we operate out of the flesh, we quench the Holy Spirit (1 Thess 5) and despise the prophecies spoken over us as children of God.
Lack of belief and faith in God’s call in us will keep us hostage to the ways of man.
When God appointed a woman named Deborah, who was a prophetess, to judge Israel, He used her to give a command to Barak.
6 Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him, "Has not the LORD God of Israel commanded, 'Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 'and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand'?" - Jdg 4:6-7
The words of Deborah seem to say something like “Hey, Barak, God told me that He gave you a command with exact directions and a promise, yet you haven’t gone forth, why not?”
Barak’s response in the next verse was “if you will go with me, then I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go!” How many times have we given up the opportunity to allow God to be the hero in a situation and do so through us? So many times, we are afraid to go forth with the things God commands us to do and we try to give God an ultimatum. Barak’s was, I will go, but only if Deborah goes too.
The best way he could have responded to God was to admit his fear and inadequacy and asked for human flesh to go with him. God’s original intentions for Barak did not come forth because of his unwillingness to be God’s man and allow God to be the hero.
Instead, Deborah agrees to go with him but said there would be no glory for Barak in his journey because God would use a woman to take the enemy out. Barak was a commander of an army with thousands under him, which means he had much power and authority and yet was still not convinced of his ability in God to take a victory.
What is a Real Hero?
A real hero admits their weaknesses and their need for a supernatural God to come through for them. A real hero may be afraid inside their soul, but they speak to themselves and, like David, strengthen themselves in the Lord. When David was greatly distressed because men were wanting to stone him because they were directing their bitterness towards him the Bible says, “But David found strength in the LORD his God.” ~1 Sam 30:6
Jesus Christ did the same thing in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was about to undergo the greatest crucifixion in all of history. Jesus was so distressed that He sweated blood, that is some serious stress on the body. But, Jesus prayed, He strengthened Himself in the Father even though He was equal to God.
41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, "Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. ~ Luk 22:41-44 NKJV
When we are weak, God’s grace is sufficient for us because His power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9). Do not attempt to take on any assignment from the Lord in your own strength because, in the end, someone else will get the glory for the victory. We want to be able to say we submitted to God in every way and to Him alone be the glory.
All the superheroes in the movies have some sort of superpower that makes them bulletproof. Although these are fictitious characters made out of the imaginations of man, yet there really is a superhero. Jesus Christ took the cross for us; He became our Hero, and in Him we are bulletproof. The fiery darts of the enemy cannot take us out when we hold our shield of faith.
The truth is there is One that has been made perfect, and He is the Hero of the world, in His strength we can do anything!
Let’s pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, I confess my weakness to You and plead for help. I feel so incapable of doing the things You have set before me, and I am terrified at the thought of failing You. I ask for angels to be sent on my behalf to strengthen me in my walk. I repent for quenching Your Spirit within me and for despising the prophetic words You have released over my life. I love You God and desire that I am the hero You called on me to be but in the name of Jesus Christ and not my own. Amen
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