Safe in the Word

The primary means through which we are kept and preserved by God is through obedience to His word. In the submission of our will to God, our soul finds protection from evil. Consider the apostle John's words to the young men of the first century church. He said, "I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one" (1 John 2:14).

Abiding in the Word of God brought spiritual strength to the young men in John's day, enabling them to overcome the evil one. Is this not the reason many of us are defeated by the devil we do not abide in the Word? Christ's teaching guides us into the Presence of the Father; it is the Father's Presence that both empowers and protects us. Jesus said,

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. -John 10:27-29

No one is stronger than our heavenly Father. As we follow Christ, He positions us in the palm of God's hand. Here, death cannot seize us. Whatever battles we face, we never face them alone. There is none like our God. "The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He drove out the enemy from before you, and said, 'Destroy!' " (Deut. 33:27). Underneath our every step are God's everlasting arms. Thus, when we pass through spiritual conflicts and trials, we are walking on eternal ground, continually kept by the power of Christ's indestructible life (Heb. 7:16). Even when we pass through the shadow of death itself, the powers of death cannot hold us. They are kept at bay by His command.

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39