Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 120

April 30;    I Peter 3:12;    120/260(II);    ‘God’s Eyes & Ears’

1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil."  

What a wonderful verse.  How great is the love of our Lord that He is constantly watching over us and listening for any prayer request that we may have.  Even our righteousness, that puts us in position for Him to keep His eyes on us and listen for our prayers, is a gift that we have been given.  We know from 2 Corinthians 5:21, that there was an exchange at the cross.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ took our sins upon Himself and gave us His righteousness or right standing with His Father.  Our God given position of righteousness allows us to live our lives free from guilt or condemnation from our past, which the devil tries to being up.  Once we become Born Again, in the eyes of the Lord, we have no past.  We are free to serve the Lord, which is one very important reason for the Lord to bless us with righteousness.  This verse also reminds us that evil or sinful conduct prevents the Lord from watching and listening to us.  We must remember that the Lord does not punish us when we sin.  Sin, and the results of sin punish us.  If we choose to live in a manner contrary to the Lord, we are free to do so.  The Lord, who greatly desires to watch over us and fellowship with us, has no choice but to back off, when our conduct reflects behavior contrary to the scriptures.  As we read this verse and see how greatly we are loved and when we see that the Lord Jesus takes personal responsibility for us, the thought of living in a lifestyle contrary to the Word should become something we refuse to do.  Only Jesus, our personal Lord and Savior would love in this manner.  He loves us too much for us to sin.