KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD.
Hannah’s beautiful prayer in 1 Samuel 2:8 reads, ‘He raises the poor from the dust, and lifts the beggar from the ash heap; to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory.’ Then the comforting promise, ‘He will guard the feet of His saints.’ Please notice that the Lord cherishes His own, hence he will watch over the saints. While writing, our second daughter is traveling in Thailand distributing Samaritan’s purse boxes, while our son has entered Rwanda for reconciliation ministry. Such promise assures loved ones: for physical and spiritual safeguarding.
We often face great decisions; singleness or marriage; service of our Lord at home or abroad: change of position or residence. How good to know that our beloved Lord will direct our way, for He has assured us, that ‘The steps of a good man ware ordered of the Lord, and he delights in His way. Then a practical, reassuring word, ‘Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.’ Miriam’s husband, Peter, has returned from South Sudan, having trudged for many hours on bush tracks; until exhausted, his steps automatic, his muscles aching. Yet faithful believers accompanied him, cutting a path trough the undergrowth, singing great hymns, encouraging him as their bible teacher. Peter reaffirmed, ‘His steps had been directed of the Lord.’ Six hours of bible teaching with Dinka language explained God’s powerful word. How are your steps!
‘David beautifully described the security of each believer, likening them to the hills surrounding Jerusalem, ‘Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. (Psalm 125;1) God purposed that we, once fallen creatures, should be restored by trusting in Him and His great redemption.
Mount Zion as the peak of the Jerusalem hills is impregnable. He has secured your well-being. ‘He added, ‘As the hills are round about Jerusalem’, so the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth even for ever.’ The Spirit of God used a geographical picture to show us the safekeeping of our lives in Him even as the city was surrounded by these mountains. Let local hills remind you of this.
We may well enquire of the site of His government? David adequately described it. ‘The Lord has established His throne in the heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.’ (Psalm 103; 19) No being can oppose the King of glory whose throne is in heaven, out of which the devil was cast and one third of the angels fell, having challenged the authority of the King of Kings. Therefore God has the right to extend ‘The mercy of the Lord, which is from everlasting to everlasting, on those who fear Him and His righteousness to children’s children.’ (Psalm 103:17-19) You are kept by the power of God, as stated with impeccable authority. Enjoy it!
You will be opposed; you may be slandered; you may be underprivileged. God has promised you His protection. Isaiah wrote, ‘No weapon formed against you will prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. ‘Why?’ This is the heritage of the Lord and their righteousness is from Me, says the Lord.’ Anne Graham Lotz told how she and her equally distinguished husband were squeezed out of a church where they taught a vast bible teaching programmed both for adults and women. Some leaders could not bear the successful teaching and recognition afforded them. Exclusion and slander followed. You may face the same experience in your private life or ministry, but the Lord has guaranteed you.
Our Lord comforts each believer for in John 5:24, He said, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.’ The Lord Jesus showed the power of the living Word and the responding faith in Him and the certainty of possessing everlasting life. We are enriched knowing this. Eternal, inescapable sentence should no longer torment or frustrate you, for ‘You shall not come into judgment.’ The latter part is special, when we have passed from death to life. What a transition! God’s child has left corruption and death and calmly enjoys the life of God. You are kept by His power.
Our Lord Jesus explained that ‘He was no longer in the world; and that he will return to the Father.’ How he longed for that promotion through the cross and rising again. Then He reverently prayed, ‘Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given me, that they may be one as we are.’ (John 17:11). When the Son of God prayed that you would be kept, He released all the power of heaven to achieve His prayer. That’s why you are preserved: in the thick of it. In the same prayer, the Lord pleaded, ‘I do not pray that you should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the Evil One.’ Our dear Lord’s Prayer prevails, despite all the fascinations of the evil one. Fear not-you’re safe in Jesus. The evil one cannot harm you.
Our Lord Jesus gave a great word to us, His sheep; for we are believers in Him.
He began; ‘My sheep hear My voice, and I know them and they follow Me.’ He spoke intimately of us and our oneness with Him. Then the startling truth, ’And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.’ No antique, highly prized by the passing world, can match the value of the gift of eternal life, as our Loving Saviour’s gift. You are perfectly secure in Him! Praise Him for His worthiness. (John 10; 28)
That’s not all, for He asserted, ‘My Father, who has given them unto Me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.’ Then the Lord dumbfounded His hearers, ‘I and My Father are one.’ (v29) Remember the hand of the Lord Jesus was nailed to the cross, where He bore our sins in His own body. If such a hand secures our eternal well-being, and that grasp is strengthened by the Father’s hand, then you are safe for all eternity. He, who put the stars into space, holds you securely. Two members of the Trinity embrace you firmly- the other lives in you.
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