Come on, admit it. There are superpowers you’d like to have. Maybe when you were a kid, you ran around the house wearing a makeshift cape. No worries. There is no judgment from me. I used to tell my brother and best friend that I was half-cat. It’s fun to envision what life would be like if we developed superpowers of our own. Would you have superhuman strength? Fly? How about reading minds?
Comic books, movies, and cartoons have depicted our fascination with superheroes and their superpowers. We know it’s all a fantasy, and yet we dream . . . The trouble is, sometimes we cripple ourselves as we grow older and more jaded— thinking we are not capable of anything superhuman. And we stop believing. Stop trying.
Recently while watching one of my favorite shows, Iron Chef on the Foodnetwork, I had a “God moment.” You know, when you’re doing something completely normal and suddenly God whispers something spiritual.
God moment: when God turns something typical into something spiritual.
As I watched these incredibly talented people prepare the most scrumptious dishes (man, I wish they’d invent taste-a-vision!), I longed to cook a meal even close to this caliber. But I realized there were some obvious reasons why this was not going to happen. First of all, each chef has studied at renowned culinary schools and have years of experience working in some of the world’s best restaurants. My mom, a home-cook, taught me. They also only use the finest of ingredients. I mean, I’ve never cooked with white truffles, caviar or saffron. I think my classiest appetizer is stuffed mushrooms. And another thing, they have at their disposal the latest and greatest kitchen gadgets and equipment. I’m fortunate that my kitchen has a double over (which comes in handy for holiday baking).
God of unlimited resources
So, as I pondered upon the advantages of these top chefs, that’s when God brought to mind His advantages. He is the God of unlimited resources. “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.” Ephesians 3:16 NLT
Think about this for a moment. Unlimited resources mean there is no end to what He has available to use and no end to what He can accomplish. And yet, in our own limited human understanding, we often find ourselves putting God in a box and limiting Him. But the Bible tells us that we serve a God who is unlimited in power, resources, capacity, knowledge, being, compassion, grace and holiness.
I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded of the awesomeness of our God. I get caught up in the things of this life and forget. Here are a few Scriptures to help keep us from putting God in a box and remember how great He truly is.
Job 36:22-24. “God’s power is unlimited. He needs no teachers to guide or correct him. Others have praised God for what he has done, so join with them.”
Psalm 147:5. “Great is our Lord and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.”
1 Corinthians 2:9. “But, as it is written, ‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him’—”
Isaiah 55:9. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Ephesians 1:18-19. “I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. He displayed this power in the working of His mighty strength.”
The Superpowers of the Holy Spirit
The power of the Holy Spirit is the power of God. The Spirit, the third Person of the Trinity, has appeared throughout Scripture as a Being through and by whom great works of power are made manifest starting with creation (Genesis 1:1-2). Jesus promised the Spirit as a permanent guide, teacher, seal of salvation, and comforter for believers (John 14:16-18). Galatians 5:23 tells us about the fruit of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Pretty amazing, right?
What could you do with unlimited resources and the ability to use them?
If you have surrendered your life to God’s Son, Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit living in you. This means believers have at their disposal some remarkable things. Not just superhuman-superpower things, but supernatural! Things we would not even dream of having or doing. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” Ephesians 3:20
If we have all of this power available to us, then why aren’t more Christians living like it?
Simply stated, we are at war. Take a look at Ephesians 2: 1-3 below:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.”
According to these verses, we are at war with three things: Satan (ruler of the kingdom of the air), our flesh (sinful cravings), the world. Once we realize we are at war, we must arm ourselves. No one goes into a battlefield without weapons and protection. God gives us everything we need, but we must USE it (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Three ways to Tap Into the Holy Spirit’s Power
Spend daily time in the Word and prayer.
In the same way, a dead cell phone will not make phone calls, a dead spiritual life is powerless. We must plug in the phone in order to charge it. After it is charged, we can utilize its many functions. And we must remember to charge our phones regularly or we lose power again.
Evaluate your life and heart regularly.
Sin muddies up our lives. Things like lying, unresolved anger, lust, prejudice, etc. In fact, sin quenches the Holy Spirit’s power and voice from our lives (1 Thess 5:19). If we are honest, most of us don’t go long without doing something we need to confess before the Lord. Unconfessed sin builds a wall between us and the Holy Spirit.
Practice what you are taught by the guidance of the Spirit.
God expects us to grow in our faith by putting into practice what we learn. When God teaches you a lesson about his love and grace, He expects you to look for ways to show love and grace to others. When God comforts you during a difficult time, He expects you to comfort others (Colossians 3:12; 2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
Not even Hollywood can create a superhero as incredible as our God!
Those who follow Jesus have access to the greatest superpower available. Superman, Spiderman, Ironman, Batman and all of the rest do not hold a candle to what God can do through a person committed to living a surrendered life to Christ.
How is God guiding you to use your Holy Spirit superpower today?
“The world has yet to see what God will do through one man fully surrendered to Him. By the grace of God, I will be that man.” ~D.L. Moody
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Beckie — glad you are back and rested. I enjoyed this post — especially toward the end –
God expects us to grow in our faith by putting into practice what we learn. When God teaches you a lesson about his love and grace, He expects you to look for ways to show love and grace to others. When God comforts you during a difficult time, He expects you to comfort others.
I try my best at times to do this, but find myself on the other end. This will help me keep priorities right.
Del
Me too, Del. I mess up regularly, but God’s mercies are new every morning! Growth might be slow, but I know I’m not the same person I was when I first started the journey with God.
Haha how interesting you say that about pretending to be part cat…my friend and I used to try to convince my sister and her friend that we were part cat 🤣 oh childhood
Rejoicing in Hope, great minds think alike! Meow!
Enjoyed your inspiring post. Your metaphors are used so effectively–God as superpower is a wonderful reminder that we can accomplish so much if we submit all to God and recognize His Spirit dwelling within us: “If God is with us, who can be against us?” Another great metaphor–the cell phone. We can all identify with that–of course we need to be charged, regularly! Thanks for the blessing you’ve given through your message.
This post is, indeed, “super-powerful,” Beckie! Our God is the God of infinite resources when we obey Him with a contrite heart and tap into His Holy Spirit. I love how you have reminded us of this. And on a side note, Virginia is always telling me she’s half-cat, too! Lol!
Blessings to you, my friend!
This is wonderful, Beckie! I wrote a blog post years ago about needing to borrow Superman’s cape. 🙂 So much truth here about power we have access to in the Holy Spirit, but we don’t access what’s available to us. And this, “God brought to mind His advantages. He is the God of unlimited resources. ‘I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.’ Ephesians 3:16 NLT”
Amen, Karen. So many days I forget just what and WHO is available for me. His Word and Spirit remind me. The more I saturate myself in this truth, the more the “superpower” is ignited!
Thanks, my friend.
I STILL wish I had the power to influence other people’s thoughts and decisions without them knowing it. I try every once in a while, but it doesn’t work.
I’m going to use this with my kids as we anticipate Marvel’s Infinity War. We talk about superheroes all the time.
Carole, I’m with you in the desire to influence people’s thoughts. But I can rest (most of the time!) knowing that “the prayers of a righteous person are powerful” and GOD CAN change hearts and minds 🙂 Whew! That’s better than anything I could do.
I’m so glad to hear this post will tie into a lesson with your kids. Wonderful! Praying God uses what you teach in a powerful way that they will always remember.
Blessings to you, sister.
I love this! I love how you make things so relatable, and then guide people as to how to follow through (example: tapping into The Holy Spirit). It’s so true, with God, we can do things in a super-human way when he gifts us or heals us or strengthens us! Though I have to set time aside and edit my own work, my writing about God comes effortlessly… like pouring water from a watering can. But I KNOW; it’s only BECAUSE of what GOD ENABLES me to do! And to imagine, there’s more ahead! Thank you for this SUPER reminder of how JESUS helps us to be at our most SUPER!
Angela, you truly have the gift of encouragement. I’m so glad you found this post helpful. Thanks for your kind words, sweet lady!
Blessings on you as you continue to shine the light of Christ’s love in your writing and life.
Amen-Amein!! My Super Power is GOD and HIS HOLY GHOST and HIS SON Christ-Messiah Jesus-Yeshua!!
❤ ❤ GOD BLESS YOU!! ❤ ❤
Thanks so very much Sister in Christ-Messiah Jesus-Yeshua Beckie!! ❤ I LOVE YOU ALL!! ❤
GOD BLESS ALL my Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus-Yeshua and my Messianic Jewish Sisters and Brothers in Christ-Messiah Jesus-Yeshua and Your Families and Friends!!
I am Pro-Israel-Yisrael / Pro-Christian and Jewish People who STAND with the Holy Land of Israel-Yisrael and our Judeo-Christian Nation United States of America / Pro-Zionism / PRO-LIFE!!
Please Pray for Israel-Yisrael / Christian Nation United States of America, and our Christian Earth Everyday “Pray Without Ceasing.” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV )!!
( Psalms 33:12 KJV ) “Blessed is the Nation whose GOD is the LORD; and the People whom HE hath Chosen for HIS Own Inheritance.”!!
Our ONE True GOD’S LOVE 💕💜 is ETERNAL THROUGH HIS SON Christ-MESSIAH Jesus-Yeshua for Today and Everyday Forevermore!!
I Love you all Everyone through Christ-MESSIAH Jesus-Yeshua, because HE LOVED 💜💕 EVERYONE FIRST!!
Love 💕 Always and Shalom ( Peace ), YSIC \o/
Kristi Ann