The eyes of the LORD are in every place. His eyes are upon all men’s ways: they are not hid from His face, neither is their iniquity hid from His eyes.
Every believer will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ to give an account for his stewardship while living upon this earth. Perhaps no one understood this quite like the apostle Paul. He was the apostle of the Gentiles (Romans 11:13) and had a special calling as a steward “of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1). He spoke often about the fact that the gospel had been put in his trust (1 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 Timothy 1:11; Titus 1:3). The apostle Paul feared what would happen if he failed to fulfil his stewardship (1 Corinthians 9:16-17) because he knew a time of accounting faced all believers including himself. Though Paul’s calling was special, the fact that he would give an account was not unique to him only.
Many of those in the world perceive prayer as a crutch or a tool that shows weakness. Yet, the saint of God knows prayer to be one of the most powerful weapons during times of war. As the Lord Jesus prepared to face the mob that would soon arrest Him, He spent His remaining time in earnest prayer (Matthew 26:36-46). It was during this time that He taught the disciples saying, “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Prayer does not distract the believer from the battle at hand; rather, it strengthens him and aids him during even the fiercest parts of the battle. Prayer reminds the believer of who he is, who his enemy is, and it reminds him of the power of his God.
Rebellion is a willing conscious decision to refuse the instruction of another. The Lord describes this in Zechariah 7:11 when He said, “they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.” This is a powerful illustration and picture! It almost seems like the Lord has a hand on the shoulder of the rebel but when faced with the Lord’s instruction, a rebel pulls away from the Lord’s gentle grasp. As he pulls away, the rebel turns his back and closes his ears to the Lord’s instruction. The Lord affirms this in Jeremiah 32:33 when He said, “they have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.”
We tend to think of laughter in a positive light, generally envisioning emotions like happiness or joyfulness. Yet, far too much laughter results from things opposed to God and His will. The Bible provides this same assessment. A careful study of the word laughter in the Bible demonstrates that the connotation is overwhelmingly bad. Today’s passage shows Sarah laughing in disbelief of the promises of God. Genesis 17:17 shows that Abraham did the same when he heard the news. These were two godly people; yet, much of the laughter found in the Bible occurred when the ungodly mocked God’s people and God’s promises (Nehemiah 2:19). Our Saviour too was “laughed . . . to scorn” when He declared that the daughter of Jairus was not dead (Mark 5:40). Laughter, in and of itself, is not wicked, but the cause of one’s laughter reveals its true makeup.
The Lord healed many people during His earthly ministry. Today's passage speaks of a particular man who had been delivered from devil possession. What a relief he must have experienced! However, the people in his community did not rejoice that the Lord had performed such a wonderful miracle. In fact, they turned against the Saviour and wanted Him to depart from their coasts. The Lord complied with their demands; however, the man delivered of the devils wanted to travel with the Lord. He loved the Lord so much that he wanted to stay close to Him. However, as the healed man sought to enter the ship, Christ told him to return to his home and tell his friends what had happened to him. The Lord knew that this man was in the best position to reach out to his friends with the truth. He knew this man's testimony concerning the truth was what they needed to hear and believe. Christians should always be prepared and ready for times when opportunities arise to tell their friends about the truth. Acts chapter 10 records another example when Cornelius called his friends together expecting to hear Simon Peter preach the truth of the gospel. Real friends insure that their friends are put into a position to hear the truth and never squander spiritual opportunities.
