The Eyes of the Lord

Sunday, November 04, 2012, 8:33 a.m. – the Lord woke me with the song “Jesus, I am Resting, Resting” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read 1 Peter 3:8-22 (NIV 1984):

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,

“Whoever would love life

    and see good days

must keep his tongue from evil

    and his lips from deceitful speech.

He must turn from evil and do good;

    he must seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,

but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Live in Harmony

“Harmony” can be defined as “a pleasing combination of musical sounds;” “a pleasing effect produced by an arrangement of things, parts, or colors;” or “a situation in which there is friendly agreement or accord” (Encarta Dictionary). When we sing in harmony with another voice, or with other voices, we sing a different part with diverse, yet complimentary notes that blend together with the other part or parts. At least, that is the objective. J

The same principle applies, I believe, with the kind of harmony that has to do with agreement or accord. This does not mean that we all think exactly the same on every issue, i.e. we don’t all sing the same notes. We each have something we bring to the table, i.e. our own parts. Yet, we find a way in which the various parts (notes) can come together in a united (harmonic) effort, perhaps agreeing together on the fundamentals while still differing on some of the particulars (individual notes). Yet, harmony with others should never include compromise of morals, of truth, of the fundamental truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and/or include compromise of the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, nor should it ever compromise with the world and with sin.

In this particular Biblical context of living in harmony with one another, though, it does not appear to center around agreement or an accord of any kind, but rather it has to do with living kind and thoughtful lives that put others above ourselves. So, in this case, harmony can be seen as the opposite of strife or discord; argument or conflict. The way in which we live in harmony with one another, in this case, is that we are sympathetic of (understanding of; concerned for) others’ situations, difficulties or even their differences with us over “disputable matters.” We love one another as though these believers in Jesus Christ are our own brothers and sisters, i.e. our own family. We show genuine compassion and concern when they are hurting or when they are being led astray, and we demonstrate compassion by comforting them with the same love and comfort we received from the Lord during times when we were where they are presently. And, we do this with all humility, realizing where we came from and where God has now brought us by his grace alone.

No “Tit-for-Tat”

We don’t seek to get even or trade “tit for tat” when we feel we have been wronged, but we return hatred with love; cursing with blessing. We keep our tongues from evil (cursing; vulgarity; gossip; retaliation; lies; deceit; slander; and perjury, etc.). We turn from all forms of evil and resist the temptation to yield to or to participate in evil of any kind, including through what we take into our minds, eyes and ears every day by choice. We seek peace and pursue it, but not the kind of peace the world speaks of, but the kind that has Jesus Christ at the center. In other words, the kind of peace we are to seek and pursue is peace that honors and glorifies God in all things, that never compromises with the world, Satan or sin, and that proclaims the true peace of the gospel of Jesus Christ, i.e. that tells about the need for people to make their hearts right with God through faith in Jesus Christ (via repentance and obedience).

We were called to live such lives so that we may inherit a blessing from God. “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” Those who practice evil, thus, would be the opposite of those who are righteous.

We are made righteous with God through Jesus Christ’s shed blood on the cross for our sins, and it is appropriated to our lives through faith (repentance and obedience) in Jesus Christ, our Lord, yet there is also a sense in which we are righteous because we love and obey Jesus Christ, we turn from evil, and we choose to live rightly before our God in true holiness, purity and righteousness. This is not self-righteousness, but is a result of the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives in transforming us in heart and mind, and in molding us into the image of Jesus Christ, as we cooperate fully with that work. Jesus Christ will never force his will upon us. We must willingly and daily die to self and sin and choose to live for righteousness and to follow (obey) Jesus Christ in all ways.

Set Apart

In this life, we will be wronged, we will be hated, and we will face rejection and persecution for our faith and testimony for Jesus Christ. Jesus said so. If we should suffer for doing what is right, then, we are blessed. And, we should never give in to fear. In other words, they can kill the body, but they can’t kill the soul. They can rob us, persecute us, and even say all manner of evil against us, but if we are truly in Christ Jesus through faith, they can’t take away our peace, our joy or our God. Amen! Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world. What is impossible with man is possible with God. There is nothing that can be done to us that God can’t handle. And, he will give us all we need to endure, to persevere, to remain steadfast and resolute, and to keep on walking in faithful obedience to Jesus Christ. Man has no power over us. He only has power as far as what God gives him, but God is still always in control and he remains sovereign over all things. So, we commit ourselves to our Lord, and trust him in all of these types of situations in our lives, that he will work them all out for our good.

Instead of fearing what man can or might do to us, we should place our absolute trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, and in our hearts we should set apart Christ as Lord, i.e. he is the one who should rule our hearts and minds and who should call all the shots, and he is the one to whom we should give all honor, praise and submission. We should never ever submit to fear and to the “what ifs” that float through our brains. God is in control of all the “what ifs” in our lives and he has a plan and a purpose for them should they ever come to fruition. And, we should never allow fear of what might come to keep us from obeying our Lord. If he calls us to do something, we should do it, and we should believe that he is quite capable to handling all that comes from it, too. Satan loves to throw those darts of fear at us, and we have to raise up our shields of faith and pull out our swords of the Spirit, and we have to fight off his evil schemes, and believe God that he is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he will do. Amen!

Be Prepared

Instead of fearing man, his opinions or what his responses are or might be to our obedience, we should be proactive by preparing our minds and hearts for action and by making preparation to answer anyone who questions us as to what we believe or why we believe the way we do. We make this preparation through time spent in the Word of God each day and through obeying what it teaches us, because obeying the truth we learn is truly how the word of God comes alive to us, and how it gets planted securely in our hearts and minds. When we know the truth, the truth will set us free from the fear of man.

Yet, when we answer man, meaning mankind in general, including women, we must be gentle and respectful. Gentle should never be interpreted, though, as weak in our faith or as backing off from the truth of the gospel. As well, respectful should never be interpreted as lacking backbone, or as a willingness to compromise our faith in order to make peace with man. Gentle has to do with tenderness and compassion, and respect has to do with showing value and regard for the other person. Jesus knew how to be gentle and respectful and yet never compromise his beliefs, never soft-pedal the gospel of Jesus Christ, and never back off from confronting evil or speaking the truth in love. He is our example to follow.

Our Example

Going back to the subject of suffering for doing what is right, Jesus is our prime example here, as well. He did not retaliate when he was spat upon, mocked, criticized, ridiculed, rejected, despised, mistreated, abandoned, denied, betrayed and crucified on a cross, although he had done no wrong. Yet, he spoke the truth in love, and he told people that what they were doing was evil, which is one of the reasons why they hated him. He didn’t mince words, either, i.e. he did not “moderate or restrain (words) for the sake of politeness and decorum” (see thefreedictionary.com) in order to be accepted of men. Yet, he didn’t try to get even or trade insult for insult in order to make his point, either. He willingly laid down his life for us so that we could go free from slavery to sin and its ultimate punishment of eternity in hell. He freed us to love, worship and obey him, and to follow him wherever he leads us. And, he freed us from the fear of death, hell and man, so that we could follow him in obedience, trusting him and resting in him completely in all things and in all ways.

Jesus, I am Resting, Resting / Jean Sophia Pigott / 1845-1882

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.

Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee,

And Thy beauty fills my soul,

For by Thy transforming power,

Thou hast made me whole.

O, how great Thy loving kindness,

Vaster, broader than the sea!

O, how marvelous Thy goodness,

Lavished all on me!

Yes, I rest in Thee, Belovèd,

Know what wealth of grace is Thine,

Know Thy certainty of promise,

And have made it mine.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,

I behold Thee as Thou art,

And Thy love, so pure, so changeless,

Satisfies my heart;

Satisfies its deepest longings,

Meets, supplies its every need,

Compasseth me round with blessings:

Thine is love indeed!

Ever lift Thy face upon me

As I work and wait for Thee;

Resting ‘neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus,

Earth’s dark shadows flee.

Brightness of my Father’s glory,

Sunshine of my Father’s face,

Keep me ever trusting, resting,

Fill me with Thy grace.

Jesus, I am resting, resting,

In the joy of what Thou art;

I am finding out the greatness

Of Thy loving heart.