Mindy Lee Hopman

If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (NASB)

Can you even imagine life with superpowers? Maybe it would be somewhat like this clip from The Incredibles. 

Sometimes I need swiftness as I dash to and from events throughout the week. Sometimes I need elasticity when I’m stretched so thin, and sometimes I just want to be invisible, because often I just need the craziness to go away!

Every day, God knows what we each need, which is why He gives us our very own superpower – a superpower so powerful that it was present with God in the beginning of time.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1:1-2 (NASB)

The Spirit of the Living God hovered peacefully over the waters surface at the beginning of time. It’s quiet presence appeared beautiful, comforting, calming, and peaceful.

The Spirit of God, or the Breath of God, is ruwach in Hebrew. In the Old Testament, ruwach lived in the tabernacle (tent) and traveled with Moses through the wilderness and then ruwach lived, or dwelled, in the Holy of Holies (in the temple).

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Exodus 40:34 (NASB) 

Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. Ezekiel 10:4 (NASB)

Ezekiel paints the perfect picture in the valley of dry bones of what happens when God brings the dead to life. God brings the dead to life. He creates the body, then breathes life into His creation, so that they may stand together as ONE power army.

So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet – a vast army. Ezekiel 37:10 (NIV)

When God breathed the Breath of Life into them, they stood together as one vast army.

God breathed life into them because they were dead. Just like the dry bones, we are each dead in our sin.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 (NASB)

But God sent His Son into this world in the flesh to teach us how to live with mercy and grace and to redeem us from our sin. 

…being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:24 (NASB)

Jesus is God’s gift to us Who offers forgiveness of our sins – yesterday, today, and tomorrow. When we understand the depth of His sacrificial love and turn back to Him, He gives us the POWER of the Holy Spirit.

The Spiritual life is a gift. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit who lifts us up into the Kingdom of God’s love. — Henry Nouwen 

The veil, which kept the worshippers outside of the Holy of Holies in the temple, was torn. This gave everyone direct access to the Holy of Holies, where God dwelled!

And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. Matthew 27:51 (NASB)

Then, at Pentecost, God gave us the Comforter, Healer, Sustainer for our lives. He gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

When you believe, He breathes the Breath of Life into you, and you become alive! 

He gives you your very own superpower to stand up and get off of your “but” and do what God has called you to do! Today is the day to stop making excuses. 

• But we are in the middle of a pandemic! God calls us to believe in His perfect timing. Today is no surprise to Him.
• But I have fear of getting sick! May your faith in God be bigger than your fear. Be safe wherever you go. Wash your hands, and wear a mask. Control what you can control. 
• But my children may get sick! Teach them how to be safe when they go out. Pray for God’s protection. 
• But it will be so hard! Guess what? Life is hard, but in Christ, you do not have to “do life” alone! We are all in this together and we are free from fear! 

For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2nd Corinthians 3:17 (NLT)

In Christ we are set free from bondage because the veil has been lifted from our eyes. Jesus walked beside the people. The Holy Spirit lives in us. Emmanuel. God with us.

The Spirit of God moved from the tabernacle to the temple to YOU.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NASB)

We are united as one in the body of Christ.

…which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:23 (NASB) 

Christ came, then Christ left, so that the Holy Spirit may live in us.  We are united as one Spirit.  We have many parts in the body of Christ.  

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Romans 12:4-5 (NASB)

(…He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:10-13 (NASB)

The Holy Spirit is your SUPERPOWER! The gift of the Holy Spirit comes alive in us the moment we believe. You either have the superpower or you don’t have it.

If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:10-11 NASB

It’s with our superpower that we are able to give thanks, even in the hard times, and for all of us, these are hard, hard times. 

…from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:16 (emphasis mine) (NASB)

Fear brings anxiety, shortness, and meaness to the surface.
Faith brings oneness, which leads to peace, hope, and love. 

The hard times help us to shift our focus from self to Savior and give thanks for our Living Hope, because Jesus overcame, one day so will we.

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 (NASB)

Heavenly Father, I praise You for the gift of the Holy Spirit who is a superpower to all who believe. I praise You for the POWER of Your presence within each one of us who believes in You. You can see the big picture, while we can only see a snapshot of time, and You gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us and bring us together as One for today. In the Spirit we do not walk alone. In the Spirit we move forward as One vast army, and together we will overcome because You overcame!  

Many blessings to you and yours,