Kept By The Power Of God Through Faith

May 2010

      No doubt, it is safe to say that everyone wants to be victorious, but not everyone has the “key” to gain the victory that they seek. The “key” is the Word of God, but even that key will fail to work for one if not combined with faith in the hearer.

      The concept of being “kept” is best understood if we examine the military term “to garrison,” which means to fortify with troops in order to provide protection. Therefore, when we speak of being “kept” by God, we are referring to the fact that He provides us with that which is necessary to “protect” us.

      The “protection” that He has provided is Jesus, Who acts on our behalf as an “army,” going before us and preparing the way that we very easily might “move into” the “territory” that we are trying to conquer. The thing that throws people off is that even though through the Holy Spirit we are in possession of His power, it is of no benefit unless it is allowed to fulfill its purpose of fortification. This largely ignored benefit of the Holy Spirit goes way beyond simply enabling one to speak with tongues and “shout.”

      If we are to be profitable to God, we will have to allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to living a full and powerful life through serving Jesus Christ. No matter the education, intelligence quotient, or “skill” that a human being may possess, he does not possess the capacity either to receive or understand the things of God. So, with all that the human being seems unable to do, how is he to find hope? The answer is a simple one, really, in that through filling us with His Spirit, God provides us as an example to the rest of Mankind. No matter how “discouraged” we allow ourselves to become; no matter how much we listen to ourselves rather than the Lord, we have within us the capacity to tell ourselves that “I can be saved and I can accomplish the purpose of God.”

       Once we become convinced of this, we will be energized to do as we are required by God, and God will then step into our situation and work it out according as it should go. Even as I admonish the people of God not to be “bothered” or “moved” by tests that come to them, I am also aware that things will “rub (you) the wrong way” if your mind is not submitted to God. When compared with the truth of the length to which the Lord went to draw us back to Himself, “being tested” fails to carry much weight.

      Once we come to Him and accept all the rights, privileges, and benefits that the Holy Spirit imparts to us, we then become a good “candidate” for Heaven. However, if we approach salvation with self-assurance and confidence in what we already know, then the opposite is true. It makes no sense for anyone to “miss Heaven” when all that is necessary is to simply agree with what He says! Before salvation, we had nothing in which to believe that could really help us. Only through Jesus are all needs met, all questions answered, and all doubts removed. However, Jesus did not come for any of these things to be “satisfied” in the human being. When He came, He came that He might start a “new order” not “human” at all, but rather, a being who would be unencumbered by that which limits the human being.

      The only “being” who satisfies these requirements is the spiritual being. Even though we are now “saved” and have the capability of being “kept by the power of God through faith,” we are not promised that we will be without “problems.” Problems will and must come, but those who must endure them can do so without reacting to them. Only those who remain “in Him” are “kept.” Since being kept is such a blessing, and a measure of God’s great love toward us, doesn’t it stand to reason that we should have to “endure” something that we might discover if we believe that we are kept? Each and every one of us needs to know and accept that as long as we are “in” (in union with) God, we are victorious.

      Faith in this promise of God alone, is a powerful “faith tool” that will provide a double witness of commitment (on our part) and the steadfastness of God.