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The Best of Me - - Archived

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“Jesus, please make me a superhero so I can be awesome.” I overheard this statement coming from the mouth of my 3-year old a few months ago. I smiled when he said it, thinking: My thoughts exactly. If we’re honest, we would all admit that though we may not have asked God to turn us into superheroes, we’ve all asked Him to make us better than we are. Each of us has a longing to be more.

When Marvel’s new superhero movie, Avengers: Age of Ultron, opened a few months ago, it was the biggest money maker of the weekend. In fact, it was the second biggest domestic opening in U.S. history, falling a few million short behind the first Avengers movie. Though I didn’t see it opening weekend, I did see it a few days later. The plot was predictable and as I left the theater I told my husband if we looked at the screenplay on paper it probably wouldn’t be more than 1,000 words. We laughed at the veracity of my statement and yet we enjoyed the film, as did millions of others.

There’s something in all of us that longs to be a superhero. Deep inside, we want to save the world. Somehow we know there’s a purpose beyond daily sustenance and existence. We were created for more.

I Timothy 6:6 tells us in regards to material wealth “godliness with contentment is great gain.” However, God creates dissatisfaction within our spirit that causes us to seek Him. No doubt as we seek Him, we find Him and the God-shaped hole He placed inside us shrinks as He fills us with more of Him. Yet it also seems the more we have, the more we want, doesn’t it?

The Word whets our appetite with stories about ordinary men who have accomplished great feats under the power of the Holy Spirit. Men like Moses, Samson, Elisha, Elijah, David, and Peter—all flesh and blood as we are, yet endued with power to do extraordinary exploits. These stories were never to be just a Sunday school coloring page—they were designed to inspire us and challenge us to know and experience God in the same way.

Over a decade ago, God gave me an idea to write a novel about a group of modern young people who not only believed His Word, but also lived their lives as if they did, thus experiencing His supernatural presence and power here on earth. That idea became The Change Agent Trilogy, and all three books are now available on Amazon and on my website (see below). I encourage you to read them, as they will awaken your desire and realization that God wants you to live supernaturally, in much the same way Christ lived on earth. The gospel was never to be a dull, religious experience or rote exercise conducted inside church walls, but rather an invitation to experience the relationship, risk, and reward of life in Christ.

When we consider the miracles of Jesus, we should remember two things: 1) John explained that what we read in the Bible is just a snapshot of the life of Jesus; all the books in the world could not contain the works He did; and 2) Jesus said His disciples (both present and future) would do even greater works than He (John 21:25; 4:12). Think about it. Christ’s statement was designed to produce a holy craving in you, a desire to live fully surrendered so the greatness of God could be displayed in your life!

As the world gets darker, it’s tempting to look for a way of escape. But we must remember Christ’s primary message was the Kingdom. In teaching His disciples to pray, He instructed them to say, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Would Christ tell us to pray a prayer God had no intention of answering? Of course not!

The Word tells us Christ did only what He saw His Father doing. God’s intention is that Earth look like Heaven, and it is Christ in us that will bring this to pass. As darkness grows darker, the light of Christ in us should shine brighter. Like a candle in a room where all the lights have been extinguished and blackout curtains have been drawn, the light of Christ will overcome the darkness.

Let us not forget the Bible tells us Christ will not return until the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21). Restoration will come from those filled with the spirit of God, undaunted by the seen, and focused on the unseen. As Christ-followers we are to be salt and light, rebuilders and restorers, and to fulfill that mission we need super powers.

Thankfully, God knows our needs, and has made provisions for us. He gives us superhuman power through His Word: “the Word of God, which is effectually at work in you who believe exercising its superhuman power in those who adhere to and trust in and rely on it” (I Thess. 2:13b, AMP, emphasis added). God also makes superhuman energy available to us, as Paul records: “For this I labor unto weariness, striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me” (Col. 1:29, AMP, emphasis added).

Is it any wonder we long to be more, when God Himself longs for us to be more? He gives us superhuman energy and superhuman power and then tells us that NOTHING shall be impossible for those who believe. Understand as you submit your will unto the Lord, His power will work within you, filling the earth with His glory. Ephesians 1:23 reminds us that Jesus “fills all things everywhere with himself.” Never forget it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27, emphasis added).

Christ in us is the hope for this world. Though God doesn’t need us to bring restoration, He chooses us to be the vessels He uses to fill the earth with His glory. The best of me isn’t less of me, but all of me filled with all of Him. So, in a way, God will answer the prayer request of my preschooler; as he allows Christ to fully live in him, he will become a “superhero” to show the world that God—and only God—is truly awesome.

By Lisa Jenkins-Moore

Scripture quotations from the New King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

To connect with Lisa or subscribe to her blog, visit LisaJenkinsMoore.com

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