Honor your Father and Mother
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"
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.
“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]
