I love superhero movies and TV shows. I mean, I LOVE them.  All of them.  Even the “bad” ones.  People like to make fun of “Green Lantern” or the early 90's “Hulk” movies, but I love even those. Superhero movies are like pizza, even when they are bad, they are good.  I mean, this is a lifelong love y’all, from age 12 when I started collecting comic books to age 44 (so far) and who knows if I ever will be able to say “I’ve lost interest in that”..  Probably never…. And I have to ask “why”?  There are many things I loved at age 12 that I find ridiculous now, there are many changes in taste that have occurred for me over the last several decades…. So Why has this one endured? I believe it’s the POWER, coupled with LOVE operating in TRUTH. 

  I’ll be honest, a single mom is a hero, but she is powerless and I don’t like watching movies about them.  (I’m not crying YOU’RE crying.).  A super villain or anti-hero movie absolutely disgusts me. (I don’t care how “cool” you are, if you aren’t using your power in love, you suck. ) 

Now, I have never seen a movie where there is a noble hearted, powerful hero who tries to help but ends up accidentally destroying everything (falsehood, deceit), but I am pretty sure I would hate that kind of movie too.  But give me a heroic struggle, a journey towards truth, a great power that is used in love to overcome evil, and I shall promptly watch that movie far too many times.  (shouting at the screen, giggling, rewinding, getting WAY too much into it! ).  

And then when the credits are rolling my heart begins to sink a bit as I come back to my own life, that often seems powerless, and confusing, and if I’m really honest, not nearly loving enough.  I get sidetracked, I get lost, I get deceived and often find myself in places of hate and futility.  I sometimes wonder why do my victories in following King Jesus seem to be so few and far between,  and my misdirected paths, thoughts and actions of hatred, and powerlessness against my own evil tendencies seem to be the “norm”.  I wonder sometimes if I am really helping others or am I hurting more than I am helping. 

Do you feel the way I do?  

Maybe it’s because we have forgotten about our weapon.  Our power. 

 3–4 For although we live in the natural realm, we don’t wage a military campaign employing human weapons, using manipulation to achieve our aims. Instead, our spiritual weapons are energized with divine power to effectively dismantle the defenses behind which people hide. 5 We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One. (2 Corinthians 10:5 TPT) 

7 For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).  ( I also like the KJV which says “sound mind” instead of “self control”). 

2 Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete. (Romans 12:2) 

My (Our) weapon is so sublime and so powerful, that the enemy is terrified of us “getting it”.  SO much in this life is outside of our control, and therefore a matter of absolute trust in our Good Father and not our choice.  And that may be where we get sidetracked into thinking it ISN'T our choice, but I assure you, it is.   This is not something King Jesus will do for us, he put the weapon in our hands and He expects us to use it.  This weapon is all ours, its all our choice, it’s a place where each of us have absolute sovereignty and it WILL affect how we live, how we love, and whether or not we overcome.   We aren’t helpless victims in this area, we aren’t waiting for God to deliver us, we have MIGHTY POWER in this area, full choice and full responsibility.  It’s the one thing I choose and choose and choose, 1000's of times each day, and those choices mean something, they affect my destiny.   It’s a place where I have been promised divine power, it’s the wellspring of my life, its where sin begins and where sin ends.  It’s the place where it is decided if I am a hero or a coward, if I am going to love or hate, whether I will follow the truth or lies.  

Have you guessed it yet?  

I CHOOSE WHAT I THINK ABOUT. 

No one chooses this for me, I choose what I dwell on, I choose what I watch on TV, I choose what voice I will believe and trust in. I can choose to think on good things (Phil 4:8) or bad things.  When lies or temptations come at me I have the ability to annihilate those temptations in the battlefield of my mind, I even have the ability to speak truth to others and annihilate the lies they struggle with. I can choose a renewed mind by pursuing His Word, and if I do I won’t conform to the patterns of despair, and hate, and lust and evil in this world.  I can choose to be humble and receive the mind of Christ, or I can keep thinking like the world and wonder where my victory is. I can dwell on evil or I can dwell on good.  

Our Lord does so much  for us, in so many things He calls us to trust, or rest, or just persevere. 

But  this part is our job.  And it makes the difference between the super hero or slave to the world.   

I.  Choose.  What.  I.  Think.   About.   

That’s my weapon.   That is how I fight my battles.

- David Esgro