DAILY DEVOTIONAL – February 3, 2021
“SuperHeWrote”
Prayer: Almighty God, You are the All Powerful One, You are our only hope of salvation and our only strength to withstand the assaults of this fallen world, and of the evil one who desires our destruction. Alone we are helpless, but we are not alone. You have given us Your Son as our redemption, Your Word as our daily source of hope and endurance, and even Your Holy Spirit to carry us in our weakness. Thank you Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Scripture: Ephesians 6:10-17
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Devotional – “SuperHeWrote”
I think it’s safe to say that all of us, boy or girl, grew up as kids with our favorite superhero who we so much wanted to be like and who filled our imagination and play time for oh so many hours.
I am quite confident that the reason all the superhero movies are still so popular, is because even as adults, we still have that childhood hope of one day saving the world with our own super-power of flight, or telekinesis or the ability to turn into a giant green raging monster. We all wouldn’t mind the thought of leading the exciting hero lifestyle. We love imaginative stories of overcoming evil and ultimately standing victorious after a long hard-fought battle that at times didn’t look so hopeful.
Well if you like superhero movies, you’re absolutely gonna go crazy over the story of the most super superhero of them all! The story about how the single most powerful, eternal, all-knowing, ever-present Creator God of the universe was betrayed by His own people who were deceived by the evil devil Satan. God’s people believed the devil’s lies and thought they didn’t need God anymore. They plotted against Him and tried with all their might to get rid of Him. In their rebellion God’s people ended up only hurting themselves, and if left to their own means, would have consigned themselves to an eternal life of suffering in the absence of God.
But like every good superhero story, God prevails; not with lasers shooting out of His eyes or super intelligent tech-suits, but God wins the war for humanity through love, and mercy, and self-sacrifice. To save humanity, God came down Himself, in the flesh, in Jesus, to Himself be tempted by the devil and allow Himself to be forsaken by God and die – even at the hands of His own people. And just in the nick of time, when all hope seemed lost as God’s Son Jesus was placed in the tomb and the giant boulder rolled in front and guards having sealed it shut, the unthinkable happens. Jesus rises from the dead, having crushed the evil one Satan, having fully ransomed His people, and having defeated the ultimate enemy…death.
You know, there is a wonderful book about this story. It’s called the Bible. I assure you, the book is better than the movie. The most exciting part of all is that this story is 100% true. You and I are the people of God. Our sins put Christ on the cross, and the devil wants nothing more than to destroy you and I forever out of his hate for God. But like I said, the most super superhero of all has already won the war. By faith in Christ Jesus our Lord we have been redeemed!
Until our victorious Lord Jesus comes back in judgment to bring the final hammer down on the devil, even though He knows he is ultimately doomed, it has only made him more persistent in trying to deceive and destroy God’s people. Thankfully, God has not left us to defend ourselves. He has given us His very Spirit who testifies to our hearts the Truth of Jesus and sustains our faith. He has given us the very righteousness of His Son Jesus so we can dare to enter in to God’s presence and pray for help in the fight. And God has given us the shield of faith – a shield that makes Captain America’s look like a toy off the shelves. The shield we have is not a shield of faith in ourselves, for we are powerless against the devil alone, but it is the shield of faith in the faithful promises of God who has sworn to love us and protect us and save us for now and for all eternity, and who proved He has the power and love to do so by rising form the dead.
Finally, God has given us the most powerful weapon of all. God has given us His Word. As Paul says in our text from Ephesians in verse 17, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Arm yourself everyday friends in that Word of God. The fight is real, but take heart, Christ Jesus has already won the ultimate victory for us.
Remember, God has forgiven yesterday, is with you today and has already taken care of all of your tomorrows. Amen.
