The Eyes Of The Lord Watch Over Those Who Do Right And His Ears Are Open To Their Prayers

1 PETER 3:11-12
“Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. 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.”
”‭‭I Peter‬ ‭3:11-12‬ ‭NKJV‬
‬https://www.bible.com/114/1pe.3.11-12.nkj

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If you have peace of mind, you have it all; you are more than a millionaire. But how does one find it?
Many see peace as merely the absence of conflict, or accepting what life throws at us, or what is happening around us without active response or resistance.
But an effective peace maker pursues peace by building good relationships, knowing peace is the by-product of commitment and trust, and is able to anticipate problems and deal with them before they get of the ground.
Conflicts are immediately brought out into the open and dealt with before they snow ball out of control and become unmanageable.
God’s peace comes from good relationship with Him and understanding His will and pursuing it.
Only through good relationship with Christ can one know Him well enough to fully trust Him and remain obedient and committed to Him.
We all have a choice, God’s way or my way; and that isn’t always easy because we humans see only part of the picture and seek a quick fix, while God sees the whole picture and makes way to a permanent fix that is in alignment with His will.
The truth is, any part of one’s life that isn’t in alignment with Christ and His will is sinful and will lead to conflict with God.
However, today the Lord invites all to abundant life as spoken through the Prophet Isaiah:
“”Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you— The sure mercies of David. Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people. Surely you shall call a nation you do not know, And nations who do not know you shall run to you, Because of the Lord your God, And the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.” Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55:1-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
Only by the leading of the Holy Spirit can anyone walk in God’s direction, for His ways are often the opposite of our ways.
My beloved, we are so easily distracted from God’s paths because our eyes see other fields as always looking greener than the one we’re in, which stirs up all kinds of lust of the flesh. We have a nature that wants what is not ours to have.
We humans have a natural tendency to desire more and a deceptive heart that is set on justifying those cravings in any way it can.
We struggle to be satisfied with life’s lot and so often crave more.
But I remind you, “Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, And shall not see when good comes, But shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, In a salt land which is not inhabited. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit. “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬-‭10‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
Paul tells us the way to the perfect solution that over time shall change the way we think.
He said, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
My beloved, we can do nothing good in our own strength and understanding.
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:16-26‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
When one walks in faith, pursuing Gods will rather than one’s own, God’s eyes remain fixed on him or her and His ears are open to his or her prayers. But unbelief and sinful actions separates us from God, and the prayers get washed away in the wind.
Paul told us, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4:4-7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
But however, if you make your own paths, or put your trust in the things of this world-money, status, science, good deeds, or other gods or people, you are rejecting God, and He will stand back and allow your free will to take you on your own sinful way to eternal torment.
Some sinful things feel right, not because they are, but because God is standing back allowing you to continue in such things. Enjoy, for those are the best you will ever have.
But the Good News is, God is faithful to all who calls upon His name, for “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
‭‭II Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
My brethren, are you really ready for Christ return? Submit to Him who loves you. Put your trust in Him and receive the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, and allow it to guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Then my brethren, with all or nothing, like Paul, you will be content (PHILIPPIANS 4:21-13).
Jesus said, ““These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
‭‭John‬ ‭14:25-27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
God’s peace is more than any amount of money or any worldly thing. Money so often gives us a false sense of security because it can lose its value in a single moment. Furthermore, whilst that new house, car, or anything you can buy can bring you joy, it is all temporary, for everything of this world begins to deteriorate from the moment it yours. But the joy we have in Jesus comes from the fact that He gives us a confident hope of a wonderful eternal future regardless of our troubles in this life, for His love endures forever.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 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 ‭8‬:‭35‬-‭39‬ ‭NKJV‬‬
That statement in itself brings joy, and the joy of the Lord is our strength (NEHEMIAH 8:10).
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.