The Great X-Cape
by
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Jesus came that we might have life. He did not want us to just have "life, "but wants us to have it more abundantly. (John 10: 10). “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Think about it. He wanted us to have the cake and eat it too, the cake and the icing too, the cake and the ice cream too, because that's His love for us. When we were yet sinners with no hope in this ungodly world, existing day by day in a rut deserving of nothing, God poured out His grace upon mankind, sacrificed His Son, and now we have access to the promises of God. We are all created by God, and we are born with gifts, talents, and abilities that God can use to help us to fulfill whatever calling He may have in our lives. We already have whatever we need that will enable us to be whatever and whomever God wants us to be. Before we can fulfill the purpose in our lives that God has for us, we must first find out what His purpose for our life is. After finding God's purpose for our lives, we can then begin to embrace the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in ways that we may never have before.
I used to think that winning required me to score %100 in all that I did, but I found the true finish line when I scored zero. Instead of striving in the strength of myself to solve all of my problems, I had to surrender my cape to God and allow Him to be in control of my life. In doing so, I have found peace and rest, and I have found a relationship with God that gets better and better each day. I never thought that I could have so much peace and rest in the midst of the tragedy that I am facing in my life at this time, but when Jesus is our Prince of peace, peace is all that you can have.
I ran from God for years because, like Jonah, I had a better idea and better things to do with my time. God told Jonah to do one simple thing. “Go to Nineveh and give them a message from Me.” That was all God told Jonah to do. He didn't have to go and preach some unknown doctrine or deliver them some great revelation. Jonah didn't have to donate them any money or even be there long at all. Just long enough to tell them that God saw their wickedness and to behoove them to repent. That is all that Jonah had to do, but Jonah had a better idea, and felt that going to Nineveh was a waste of time. When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah ran from God instead and proceeded to board a ship with a destination to Tarshish. Now I might not be the smartest person in the world, but Tarshish sounds nothing like Nineveh to me. Since Jonah had a better idea, God had one, too. God decided to make a change in His plans, too, and sent out a great wind into the sea that created such a great tempest that the ship that Jonah was riding in almost broke!
God wants us to surrender our homemade superman cape to Him. Until we do, we can never truly know how much of a hero that He can be to us in our most desperate time of need. God wants to be our hero, and unless we move out of the driver's seat, He cannot take control of the wheel of our lives and drive us to the wonderful places that He has in store for us. When you have done all that you can do with all of the diligence, perseverance, and strength that you have, then there is nothing left to do but to give up the wheel. Trying to drive ourselves to the spiritual places in our lives where God wants to take us is equivalent to drunk driving.
God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or even think according to the power that works in us, and that power that works in us is faith. I have learned that in our weaknesses, He is strong, and that He will live His life in us by the power of His Spirit as soon as we are willing to give up and surrender our cape to God. When I came to the end of my own strength, I found His, and when I was willing to give up my own life (which was no longer worth living) I found a new life: His. Surrendering my cape to God is the wisest decision I have ever made, and now I no longer have to fight my own battles. The battle is no longer mines to fight. The battle is the Lord's. God is bigger than any problem that we face, and we no longer have any problems once we give them all to Him, and trust Him to be the amazing superhero that only He can be. God wants His children to be satisfied, complete, and experience true happiness, which comes only by finding the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
In this book, I will tell you what the truth is, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in ways you may have never heard it before, and my prayer is that God will enlighten you as He has enlightened me, and that He will change your life in ways that you could never have imagined as you make your great escape.
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About the Book
PSALMS 71:2
DELIVER ME IN THY RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND CAUSE ME TO ESCAPE
INCLINE THINE EAR UNTO ME, AND SAVE ME
I titled this book The Great X-Cape because I always thought of myself as invincible, as most of us do, and some more than others. The Bible says that as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7) Not in this case! Imagine having Aquaman as your hero but he can't even swim, or Superman and Batman and they can't fly. I had my own self-made cape that I wore everywhere I went, being my own superhero. I had much faith in myself, in my abilities, my talents, my intelligence, and all of the things that failed me in my time of need. Today, I am a retired superhero, surrendering my cape to the One who rightfully deserves to wear it. The One who does not fail in our time of need, who truly is my Hero, and has saved me from the biggest enemy I've ever had: myself. There are many things in my life that God has allowed me to escape from, and by the end of my book I will have listed a lot of them, but truly, I just can't tell it all. By coming to the end of faith in myself, I found faith in Him. By coming to the end of my own life, I finally found His, and that is truly the greatest escape that we can ever make!
About the Author
Angel Brown was born Catherine Frances Hernandez in Brooklyn, NY on July 23, 1966, and was the second child born to Benigno Tito Hernandez and Cheryl Linda Watts. Her parents divorced when she was seven years old, and Angel Brown, her older brother, Luis Hernandez, and their mother, Linda Hernandez moved to Tuskegee, Alabama to live with her grandfather, Dr. George Robert Watts. Angel Brown attended Lewis Adams Elementary school and Tuskegee Institute High School while residing in Tuskegee, Alabama. In 1983, Angel Brown moved to Kentucky, joined the Dynamic Admirations band, became a certified lifeguard, and got married. Angel Brown has four children, James Galloway, age 25, Erica Chase, age 23, Jarretta Hernandez, age 20, and Andrew Hernandez, age 19. In 1995, after being divorced for eight years, Angel Brown married her childhood friend, William K. Brown, of Tuskegee, Alabama, and she and her family moved to Macon, Georgia and became a part of the Macon Gospel Tabernacle Church. Angel Brown homeschooled her four children for ten years, and received her undergraduate education in journalism, political science, psychology, human environmental sciences, and consumer science at Macon State College in Macon, Georgia, the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama, and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Roll Tide!) Angel Brown has written over 100 Gospel and Inspirational songs since 1990, writes poetry, and plays the piano as well. Catherine Brown chose the pen name Angel Brown because a special person in her life gave her that nickname, and also helped inspire her to write this book. Today, Angel Brown is a full time writer, and her goals include writing inspirational Christian literature, such as The Great X-Cape, and spending quality time with her precious grandbabies, Jasmine Galloway (age 4) and Jaylen Galloway (age 2) of Jasper, Alabama.