The Eyes of the Lord

THE EYES OF THE LORD

"For the ways of a man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He watches all his paths." Proverbs 5:21

This week at the Colony of Mercy, the theme of the week is "Man's Greatest Temptation" which covers the area of sexual sin. The men work through four weeks of teaching by Bruce Wilkinson from his book, "Personal Holiness in Times of Temptation." If you never have read Bruce's book, it is a must read for every Christian man.

In preparation for sharing God's Word at the Colony Chapel on Sunday morning, I did a study on temptation which is a topic we had addressed on many occasions in our Freedom Fighter emails. I reminded the man that no matter what age we might be, what status in life, it isn't a question of IF we will face temptation, but when.

We will face temptation from the world, the flesh and the devil. We will be tempted just like the first Adam was tempted as well as the second Adam, Jesus Christ. Remember that the devil tempted both through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.

This morning in daily reading from Proverbs I was in chapter 5 (I read a chapter a day!) which is the passage that warns about lust and adultery. At the end of the chapter, Solomon puts the whole issue into perspective with these words: "For the ways of a man are BEFORE the eyes of the Lord, and HE watches ALL his paths." (Proverbs 5:21)

One of the ways the enemy tries to trip us up is to believe the omniscient God does not really know what is going on. He tried to get Adam and Eve to believe that, and in fact, if you remember when they finally ate the apple they hid thinking God wouldn't find them. The reality is that God knew exactly where they were.

The big disconnect in our lives is that we too think that God doesn't know what we are up to. He does. He knows, weighs and sees every one of our thoughts, deeds, words and actions. NOTHING escapes His eye. If you don't believe me -- read Psalm 139 -- you will see how INTIMATELY He is acquainted with you.

Next time you face temptation, remember these words from Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to EVERY person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil."

If we keep Proverbs 5:21 and Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 written on the hard drive of our minds, we are going to be victorious when we face temptation. That in itself could be one of the "ways of escape" that God has promised us in 1 Corinthians 10:13. Think about it! -- Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

God's Word for YOU: Psalm 68-69; Proverbs 5; Romans 8:1-21