Saturday, July 19, 2014

THE EYES OF THE LORD PART 3 - "ON THE RIGHTEOUS"

“ Behold, the Eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him (Psalm 33: 18 )…..”the Eyes of the LORD are toward the Righteous and His Ears are open to their cry (Psalm 34:15).
The razor sharp eye of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) easily resolves the Sombrero galaxy, Messier 104 (M104). 50,000 light-years across, the galaxy is located 28 million light-years from Earth at the southern edge of the rich Virgo cluster of g...
(Photo - NASA)
You have heard it said that “eyes are windows to the soul”. This is absolutely true. I have street evangelized in all kinds of settings for many years, and come face to face with souls that are dark and seemingly lost to perdition.  Those are HUMAN eyes. These are NOT The Eyes of the LORD! The all-powerful; all-seeing; all-knowing and all-wise Eyes of our Great God in Heaven  are good. They are alive. They were alive in Eternity past and can see the end from the beginning.

So, what about this seeming difference between Psalm 33:18 and Psalm 34:15 (AS SEEN ABOVE)? What does He mean by both “The Eye of the Lord” and the “The Eyes of the Lord”? Is the Lord using a different “eyes” for different functions? Well, no – God does not compartmentalize. 

Look at it this way: in Psalm 33:18 we see that “the Eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him”. This is general statement.  God Himself said in Proverbs 1:7 that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge” and in Proverbs 2: 28-29, He says “Then they will call on me, and I will not answer. They will seek me diligently and I will not answer because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord”. The word for knowledge, which HaShem uses is also a Hebrew root word for "Truth"! Therefore, if you KNOW Truth, you will "fear" Him - which is to have the proper reverence, awe and understanding of Who God really is. Those who have no knowledge of the Holy, do NOT fear, reverence, worship, adore or even have the slightest clue Who He is....and increasingly, this goes for the majority of evangelicals (mostly young) and mainline churches.

At one point in time, America was known as the most God-fearing nation in the world.  Because of that, the late 19th and the first six decades of the 20th centuries were America’s time.  The favor of God was upon this country.  Everything most industrialists touched almost seemed  to gold.

A person could have come from the worst background, from any country in the world and with the Grace of God and hard work, build something completely out of nothing. To a certain extent, this can still be done - with perseverance. But corrupt politicians and a godless educational/cultural/judicial system has turned the mind of the hopeful into complete hopelessness. Now, those who have transformed this unique God-fearing country which God does not recognize anymore, will pay on Judgment day when the books are open before the Great White Throne, but as long as there is life, there is hope.
This is the Corporate "Eye of the Lord" - the Eye which sees entire tribes, tongues and nations - like America. You and I should be more interested in the "Eyes of the Lord" first, because once we find favor in THOSE Eyes, then we can work on being a society and a people favorable unto Him!

Scripture says "the Eyes of the LORD are toward the Righteous and His Ears are open to their cry (Psalm 34:15). 1 Peter 3:12 quotes this exact passage of this psalm in order to emphasize the Lord's point. The full quote used by Peter is For the Eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the Face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”(1 Peter 3:12). Both uses of this passage represent a conditional offer to man.  The majority of humanity alive today has chosen the latter, even if they don't think they are evil, or do evil. If they are not following Christ as Lord and Savior, they are already completely separated from God. They will enjoy the same "rain which falls on the just and the unjust" but that is only for this brief life. Those who walk in unrighteousness by following false and fraudulent religions and cults other than Biblical Christianity should get a notion what the full attention and "Face of the Lord" really means. This is no picnic!

What about you and I who are completely sold-out and committed disciples of Christ? 

Well, we have two wonderful promises here:
First, "the Eyes of the LORD are toward the Righteous": that alone tell us that He is for us! Just as God's Face is AGAINST those who practice iniquity, His entire gaze is TOWARD us - His elect, saved and set apart for eternity. We are not Righteous because of anything we have done, but are thus because we accepted the same offer that He made to even those who will face His wrath. The word "toward" means "on the basis of"....Christ the Advocate, being our Lord and Savior, that is the reason for His Loving Eyes on us!

Secondly, "His Ears are open" to our cry" (or prayer) is a definite promise that because we have His personal attention (EYES - as in both EYES), He listens. The fervent and effective prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16). But it is more than that. When Scripture (and therefore God) promises that His "Ears are  open", the literal terminology used by the Holy Spirit in Scripture, in essence, means Abba Father is continually and perpetually bent towards giving us an audience when we approach Him in the proper manner of Prayer. He always answers our prayer. Even if we do not like the answer, He answers!

In the final analysis, this is what we should strive for, during our short time on this wonderful creation called Earth.  We should strive for the Favor of His Divine Gaze upon us, all our families and our goings and comings.  We cannot earn a single measure of it, and once we have it (through Mark 1:15 - repent and believe the Gospel and be saved), we can sure mess it up. But if your heart and mine and set on Above and are completely loyal, devoted and "all-in" for Him, when His Eyes go across the whole earth in search of those who are so, they will land on us and His entire sensory perception will be directed to us, lovingly. Do you know any better promise? Are you His? Do you know Him? If not...do not waste another moment.

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