Devotionals for the Heart: Our Superhero is the Savior of the World

Our Ultimate Superhero
A devotional by Tema Banner

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” –John 3:16 (KJV)

You ever wonder why we humans are so enamored with superheroes?

Growing up, Superman was one of my favorites, although I also watched a fair amount of Batman. We always want to see them win! We might think it is the end, and when we fear that they are never going to come back, somehow, they survive.

There is something in us that makes us want a superhero, a savior. Not just someone who can overcome the simple ills we suffer, but one who can overcome insurmountable odds. When it looks like all hope is lost, the end has come, and the world is doomed, when there is no way the world may be rescued, the superhero will come along and make everything right.

It is in our DNA. God has put that desire in us for a superhero, a savior. Someone who can never be killed, never lose, even when it looks like the end has come, and the bad guy has won, our superhero overcomes! He delivers the world from certain destruction. He restores order to our lives and gives us hope.

That is what Jesus Christ did and continues to do for us every day in REAL life! God sent His Son Jesus to be the Ultimate Savior, our hero, overcomer, provider ... and He is unbeatable!

When Jesus came to live and minister on this Earth, He showed us the love of the Father. He healed the sick, the lame, the blind. He taught us to seek the Kingdom of Heaven, and to love others. He fulfilled the Old Testament in living color. Then he died on the cross, and like the true Superhero He is, He rose from the dead.

Can you image how His disciples felt? They had been with Him for three years. Seeing Him on The Cross of Calvary, they must have thought, “This is it; this is the end.” They had wonderful ideas and aspirations that Jesus was going to be a military ruler and king. The one who would set the Jews free from oppression (at that time, the Roman Empire was the oppressor). Then He was hung on a cross and He died. How disappointed they must have been to watch him die. They thought all their hope was gone!

But that was only the beginning of the story. God has a bigger plan than what we have imagined.

The Scriptures tell us that everything that we can see is temporary and it is what we cannot see that is permanent. There is a lot that we do not see. When the disciples saw that Jesus was no longer in the tomb where His dead body had been laid, they were puzzled. It was when they saw Him alive afterwards, that they realized He had been raised from the dead and that all that Jesus had been telling them about was spiritual. He had been speaking to them of permeance, far beyond the simple things they could see. It was not only for their day and time, it was for eternity.

That is what Jesus did for us when He came back. He saved us! He is a permanent Savior. He did overcome death, and all obstacles of sin that separate us from God. Be careful not to let the temporary things of this world blind you to the permanence of the next.

It is simple: When sin separated us from God, God made a way to eliminate the separation. He did that by sending Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice.

When we realize that we are separated by our sin and that we need a bridge to get to God, Jesus becomes that bridge. We are saved by the Grace of God by the death of Jesus and His resurrection and our acceptance of Him as our Savior (John 3:16-17).

Jesus is our Ultimate Superhero! He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, all forgiving and all compassionate. Jesus is, a REAL superhero in a world where all others are imaginary creations made from our longing for a true superhero who will restore us to fellowship with God. Jesus fulfills our true needs and restores hope.

The good news is that Jesus fulfills our true needs and restores hope! Thank God for Him!

Let’s Pray: Thank you God for showing us Your great love for us by sending Jesus to save us. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide and teach us. May we be filled with Your Holy Spirit and reflect Your love to this fallen world. In Jesus’s Name we pray, Amen.

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Author Bio:

Writing stories that take the reader on a journey to parts unknown has been a lifelong love for Tema. She enjoys all history and continues daily to hone both her knowledge of history and her writing skills.  

God is her guiding light and the reason for every endeavor in her life. She is a member of the South Carolina ACFW chapter as well as an active member of her local RWA chapter, Carolina Romance Writers. 

Tema has served as past President and Secretary as well as holding various chair positions. She is the honored recipient of the Harold Lowery Service Award, presented by the Carolina Romance Writers.

God has gifted her with a loving husband, two children and three grandchildren who are the delight of her life. In her spare time, she gardens and digs into genealogy for nuggets to use in her stories.

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Connect with Tema:
Website: https://temabannerauthor.com
Blog: www.temabannerauthor.com/blog
Instagram: Instagram.com/temabanner

Devotionals for the Heart: Superhero

Finding our Superhero
A devotional by Sharon Musgrove

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” 

–Romans 8:37 (ESV)

When I was a little girl, my Dad was my superhero. He was the kind of individual who held the attention of a crowded room with his storytelling and boisterous laugh. He was big in stature with a deep, radio-worthy voice.

When we had company over, I would watch our guests, who, like me, were captivated by him. At the dinner table, I would sit in awe, feeling a sense of pride that this man was my dad. If I was the daughter of a superhero, then somehow, I was a superhero too.

As years passed, my big blue eyes saw more of the true picture of my father’s lifestyle. It began with separation. His job took him away from home for long periods of time. When he was home, he was too tired to engage. His income did not stretch far enough to cover the bills, and he was stressed. The booming voice, too often, thundered at mom, my sisters or me.

I have vivid memories of trying to engage my Hercules in play. I’d run grab the props he’d used previously to illustrate the stories of the golden days, only to be a distraction against the winning streak of the San Francisco 49ers.

As I grew, my hero withered, and along with him, my confidence in family, authority figures and, ultimately my self-worth. I was not the daughter of a superhero. Therefore, neither was I to be super.

My story is a common one. Your story might be a lot like mine. The more I talk about my childhood disappointments, the more I realize how many of us have experienced parallel events and feel a similar sadness. Self-esteem has been hard to come by for those of us who believed in the myths of our making.

But there is another story at play, a true chronicle, in which there is a superhero!

Romans 8:37 uses a term that is found only once in the entire Bible. According to Strong’s Concordance, this Greek word is hupernikaó. It’s prefix “huper” is translated “hyper” or “exceedingly,” while the root, “nikaó” means “conquer.” Many versions of the Bible, like the English Standard Version, translate hupernikaó as the phrase “more than conquerors.” But I think it’s no stretch to say this verse could be written: No, in all these things we are super-conquerors through Him who loved us.

Does this excite you like it excites me? My child’s heart reawakens to the dreams I once had! That little girl, sitting at the table, looking doe-eyed at daddy, thought she might just be super too.

This verse says it is we who are the super-conquerors through Him who loved us! Not we alone, but through Him ... or because of Him, who loved us first. God gave us a way, via Jesus Christ, to be His partner in victory.

All I wanted, as a kid, was to be my Daddy’s sidekick. I wanted him to be Superman so that I could be his Supergirl. Together we would fight against the foes of tribulation and distress, or mortgages and medical bills, or hunger and homelessness.

God wants to show me the Superhero He can’t help but be, and He wants me to be His partner. It begins with unity.

Romans 8:38-39 (ESV) goes on to say, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Our Heavenly Father has been reassuring us that He’s not leaving, He’s not too tired, and we’ve won the war! It’s no myth, I am super ... dear sibling in Christ, we are super ... because the Greatest Power made us to work alongside Him. Unified, we are marvels moving mountains in God’s Kingdom!

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Author Bio:

Sharon Musgrove is a self-proclaimed sociologist. The opportunities opened to her, over the years, have led her on a fascinating journey observing human behavior. 

She has a diverse background in business, fitness and health industries. This background led her to a unique position writing curriculum and teaching for two private, Christ-based, residential recovery programs. Both recovery programs served women primarily from the homeless community.

Sharon has traveled multiple times to Kenya, serving on medical teams and teaching in the rural Maasai communities. She's been privileged to participate in Leadership camps for maturing young women. These annual camps have a mission of encouraging and empowering the impoverished, underprivileged, and often abused young Maasai girls.

Easily identifying personally with the brokenness of the women she's served, Sharon now sees all people as needing more encouragement regardless of cultural or socioeconomic status. Within these ministries, Sharon has witnessed the transformative power of loving words spoken to the broken-hearted. Sharing God’s love and witnessing its transformative power has become her passion.

In her leisure time, Sharon enjoys her garden, health food, travel and a good story. She and her husband, Jeff, make their home in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. They have two grown children. Currently, Sharon is writing her first Christian historical fiction novel utilizing her study, experience, and understanding of self-destructive behaviors.