Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long
in the land the Lord your God is giving you. [Exodus 20:12]
“Daddy the Superhero”
Superman Brandon and Sean loved superheroes. They loved
Superman and Batman and the Fantastic Four and dozens and dozens more. Their
rooms were overflowing with action figures and comic books of all of the most
amazing super heroes in the imaginary world and they knew their names and their
stories to the tiniest little detail.
“Tell me the favorite thing you like about a superhero.”
Mommy asked them as they settled in for their evening devotionals.
“Well,” Sean started. “They always defeat evil. Evil
monsters and people who want to hurt innocent people are always wiped out by
superheroes when they use their superhuman powers.” He said making punching
thrusts into the air sitting on the couch with mommy in his footy pajamas.
“What I like is that superheroes are never afraid and always
know what to do.” Brandon added looking into space like he could see his
favorite superhero right there in front of him.
“Well I am going to tell you of a real superhero that you
live with. We will call him SUPERDADDY.” Mommy said happily.
The boys burst into laughter. They thought of their daddy as
someone who sat at his computer working, a shy gentle man with his hair
starting to go away. “Daddy isn’t a superhero!” They said together.
“Well right after you boys were born, daddy and I received
Jesus and now Jesus is in our hearts. You know that don’t you.” Mommy said and
both boys nodded.
“Well Satan didn’t want us to have wonderful boys like you
who would be raised to serve God. One day, daddy got up and in his spiritual
eyes, he saw the house was full of evil creatures lurking around trying to find
ways to stop God from doing His will in our lives. Suddenly from far away,
daddy heard the trumpet call coming from heaven that was going to have war with
Satan and his demons to defeat them.
Right away daddy put on his superhero armor. He used the
sword of the word of God. And the breastplate of righteousness. Our living room
was changed into a huge battleground between Satan and God’s servants. Your
daddy led the attack charging forward shouting the battle cry. “IN THE NAME OF
JESUS.”
The enemy tried to attack. They swarmed around him. Oh, they
were nasty and ugly little evil things. They were angels who fell with Satan
and demons and evil spirits like Jesus cast out of people in the Bible.”
“Oh mommy, I would be so scared to see demons like that.”
Sean said his voice quivering thinking of how brave SUPERDADDY must have been.
Superdaddy “Well SUPERDADDY was filled with the Holy Spirit
so he had the boldness of God in him.” Mommy continued. “He stabbed with the
word of God’s word sending the demons howling from the battle. Once an army of
evil things tried to attack our family and daddy used the super weapon of
praise. Raising his mighty sword into the air, he sang the praises of Jesus and
the evil spirits ran in fear from him. The fire of the Holy Spirit like we read
about in Acts was shooting from daddy’s sword and the ends of his fingers
because he was full of God’s power and anointing to fight evil. Finally,
SUPERDADDY stood face to face with the prince of all that was evil himself.
“The devil himself? How could daddy fight him?” Brandon said
very frightened thinking of the daddy he loved facing the most evil thing in
the universe.
“Well that’s because your daddy is not only brave and strong
and full of the superpowers of the Holy Spirit but he also knows who he serves.
He knew he could count on his Lord to back him up. He pulled the sword of the
word out and declared. “AT THE NAME OF JESUS, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW.”
“Just then daddy stepped aside and knelt putting his head
covered with his helmet to his sword. From behind him Jesus stepped up and cast
Satan away. Jesus spoke the word of God and banished the evil one from the
battle and from our home forever. Then he put a barrier of protection around us
so we can live here in peace and worship God and so daddy and I can raise you
little stinkers to become mighty men of God just like daddy.” Mommy finished
the story tickling Brandon and Sean and making them giggle.
“Oh now, you telling that old story of the battle with Satan
again?” Daddy said walking through and smiling seeing his family playing
together.
“Daddy we want to be superheroes just like you!” Sean
shouted jumping up to him for a hug.
“You learn the Bible and how to pray and all the lessons you
will learn at church and Sunday School and Jesus will use you boys to battle
evil too. Just you wait and see.” Daddy said hugging them goodnight. The boys
watched daddy the superhero walk away. To their eyes, he was just a regular
dad, but even then, as he walked off, they thought they saw small flames shoot
from his fingers.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put
on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s
schemes. 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. 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. Stand firm
then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes
from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the
helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And
pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this
in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. [Ephesians
6:10-18]
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