The Heaton File

No prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)

The Word Of God

No book in the history of the world has been more prolific, more powerful, and more life-changing than the Bible. Written by forty men over 1500 years, the book of books contains the record of man’s beginnings, the unfolding of a divine plan fulfilled in the life of Jesus Christ, and the testimony for every person to understand the mind of the Creator. No book has been more impactful on the landscape of humanity than the Bible but it has become the most misunderstood and neglected body of wisdom possessed by man.

The first English translation was done by John Wycliffe and completed by John Purvey in 1388. Chapter divisions did not begin to appear in the text until 1228. The Old Testament was divided into verses in 1448 and the New Testament in 1551. A complete Bible with chapters and verses first appeared in the Geneva Bible in 1560. There are thirty-nine books in the English version of the Bible with twenty-seven in the New Testament. This includes 1189 chapters in the entire Bible, 929 chapters in the Old, and 260 in the New Testaments. Job 29 is the middle chapter of the Old Testament and Romans 13 the middle chapter of the New Testament. There are 23,214 verses in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, there are 7,959 verses. The middle verse of the Bible is Psalm 118:8. In the Old Testament, 2 Chronicles 20:17 is the middle verse, and Acts 17:17 is the middle verse of the New Testament. The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9. An interesting fact about two verses in the English Bible: Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except ‘J’; Daniel 4:37 contains all the letters of the alphabet except ‘Q’. There are approximately 592,439 words in the Old Testament and approximately 181,253 words in the New. The longest word in the Bible is found in Isaiah 8:1.

It is amazing to consider all the interesting facts about the Bible. Examining the Bible for all the trivia of unique facts is a fun-filled exercise but has no value to the purpose and design of the Bible. Knowing all of the elements of the Bible is not what saves a man but understanding its message. The Bible is the mind of God revealed to man for the eternal purpose of salvation. Many know a lot about the Bible but know very little about the meaning of the Bible. Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit to put down in words the meaning of God’s plan to redeem His creation from the fall of sin. Having a Bible decorated with ornate artwork or to hold dearly the Bibles of grandparents or loved ones is of no value if the Bible is not read for its purpose to guide men to the truth. The Bible is available in printed form, on smartphones, computers, audio, and video and yet most have no idea what the Bible teaches. It seems a better thing to own a Bible than to read it.

The Bible is the most important possession a man can have. Contained within its pages is the hope of life, the promise of the life to come, and the assurance God’s promises. It is a book that demands a man to read and spend time mining the many veins of golden truth permeating the pages. No greater wisdom is found in the world. Its message remains unchanged over thousands of years. There is no body of wisdom that is as concise, complete, and necessary for every man than the book of books: the Bible. Read it to be wise. Meditate to find its meaning. Never allow a day to settle without quality time harvesting the fields of God’s grace in the message of Jesus Christ – the Bible.

The son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke 3:38)

All Men Are Sons Of God

There is no doubt that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, divine in His nature, eternal in His purpose, and declared by the resurrection from the dead to be the only begotten Son of God. No man has seen the Father but the Son of God. Jesus proved He was the divine Son of the Father through miracles and His teachings. He was the Word that became flesh and dwelt among men manifesting Himself to a large host of people after His resurrection. Salvation comes from confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Luke’s story of Jesus, he recounts the genealogical heritage of the supposed son of Joseph, son of Heli tracing Jesus through each generation back to the first man created by God: Adam. What Luke seeks to establish in his gospel is the humanity of Jesus. Like his counterpart Matthew who also writes a history of Jesus, Luke uses genealogy to show the connection of Jesus with man and God. While Luke shows Jesus to be a man of flesh, he also shows Adam and all of his descendants to be eternal creatures.

Adam is the son of God. On the sixth day of creation, God created man in His image, according to the likeness of the Godhead. Previously, all the animals were created that filled the sky, the waters, and the land but they were not fashioned in accordance with the nature of God. They were creatures of the earth, a base creation that while they shared the nature of the breath of life as men, they were not created in the image of God. Only Adam and Eve were created to reflect the nature of the Divine. Animals are not eternal. Man is a creature that is fashioned in the form of God who will never cease to exist. When an animal dies, they return to the form of the earth and cease from existing. Adam died at the age of 930 years but he still exists today in the bosom of God.

All men are sons of God through creation. Every human being regardless of gender, age, nationality, the color of skin, economic status, knowledge, or generation from Adam to now are eternal creations of God that will never cease to exist. Abel was the first person to die yet he still lives. All the great men and women of Biblical history have died but they remain awake, active, and aware of the glory of God as they dwell in the land of eternity. Evil men are sons of God because they are His creation and they continue to exist in an eternal world of sorrow, pain, and torment. Of all the billions of souls that have walked upon the face of the earth, none escape the judgment of God because He is their Creator, Maker, and Father by creation. When men come to the reality of their nature, they face the reality of their future.

Sons of God must obey their Father and there is only one Father. Every knee will bow before the Lord God because He is the potter who formed the human clay of humanity to serve Him and to glorify Him. The sons of God are under the authority of the eternal Father to obey His word and to listen to His voice. Judgment comes upon the sons of God when they refuse to acknowledge God as their Father and to submit to His will. He has the right to punish men because they are His children. Adam is the son of God and every generation that comes from Adam and Eve are sons of God. Sin took away the communion of God with His creation but through the death of the only begotten Son of God who was God, the sons of God have hope to be saved from the wrath of the Father. Everyone needs to know who they are. God so loved the world filled with the sons of God that He gave His only begotten Son, that those who are sons of God could believe in the Son of God and not perish but have everlasting life with the Father. For God did not send His Son into the world of the sons of God to condemn them but that the sons of God could be saved through the one Son of God.

Now it happened, on a certain day that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” (Luke 8:22-25)

The Power Of Jesus

Sailing on the Sea of Galilee could be a dangerous journey with the winds suddenly coming from the east sweeping across the sea. The waves would build to great heights and the small fishing boats that occasioned the sea could easily be swamped. Four of the apostles were seasoned fishermen who knew the power of the sea. They would not be surprised at the suddenness of the storm but what happened on one trip brought fear even to these experienced mariners. A fierce storm came upon the lake like a whirlwind or boisterous surge with violent agitation. The gale was so hard it seemed the boat would be torn asunder. Water was filling the boat. The danger was present and twelve men were fearful of dying. One man was sleeping and was unafraid.

Awakening Jesus from His sleep, the twelve saw and heard something that would make them afraid yet filled with awe. Jesus arose from where He was sleeping, rebuked the wind, and the raging waters, and suddenly in an instant, everything was calm. The noise of the unruly storm ceased so quickly it would have startled the twelve. At one moment the ship was engulfed in a massive typhoon with deadly intentions and in the next moment the sea was as smooth as glass; all of this done by the words of one man. The voice of Jesus commanded the elements of wind and water to obey His command and the sea submitted in an instant. Two things are clear from this story.

The first is the incredible power of Jesus and that everything is at the will of His command. There are many things men have created in history that have shown human power. Great armies have crossed the earth conquering vast landscapes of nations and peoples. In August 1945 the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan were obliterated by two atomic bombs. No power that immense has been unleased or destroyed with such totality before and since. The ingenuity of man has landed men on the moon and sent spacecraft to the furthest reaches of a small fragment of the universe. Science has created impressive strides in medicine, technology, and understanding the world. Nothing man has done can compare to one man standing in the midst of a violent storm in a sea of Palestine and with only a few words harnessed the powers of nature. Jesus calmed the storm with the word of God.

Understanding the power of Jesus to calm a storm by speaking to it should remind man has small he is and how great God has always been. The angels are bemused at the pride of man because men have nothing to brag about compared to God. People spend all their lives thinking they are the most important contribution to the human race and they do everything they can do to achieve great fame, fortune, and wisdom and then die and meet someone so much greater than they could ever imagine. What in the imagination of human wisdom can compare with the power of Jesus? Is there anything that man can do that remotely rivals what Jesus accomplished with a few words? Jesus commanded the sea to be calm and the twelve men witnessing the calming were afraid and in awe of His power. My God – how large your ocean and how small my boat.

The second is for the people of God to never fear when their Lord has such great power. Those in the world must fear the power of God because when they face His power they will know His wrath. For the child of God, the power of God is not to be feared as those who have no hope. The power of God reminds the heart of the devoted that God controls everything. Jesus demonstrated He was the Son of God and the Creator because the wind and the sea obeyed His voice. The reason the wind ceased and the waves abated is because they act under the authority of the hand of the one who made them. If Jesus can command the sea to be calm, what is there in my life that He cannot speak and remove fear and doubt? This is a timely story to read to remind all of us who live under the fear of COVID that while the storm may rage and the winds of uncertainty bluster against our faith – the one who controls all things remains in charge. The virus will go away one day and if not then life will change in many ways but God is still God and His will is still in place. Everything will continue as is has until the Creator speaks and the world comes to an end. The word of God formed the world, the word of God holds the world together and the word of God will bring the world to an end. Trusting in that word gives confidence and hope in the middle of a raging storm.

Remember that Jesus was asleep in the midst of the storm. He knew He would not drown in the sea and His Father had work for His disciples and they would not drown in the sea either. Trust in the will of the Lord. Rely upon His power to allow you to be calm in the midst of the storm. If God is with us who can be against us? Let the word of God dwell in you richly to strengthen your heart. His word will calm you. His word will bring you peace. Let Jesus speak to you today.

Now two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. And this woman’s son died in the night because she lay on him. So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”

Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.

And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.” So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. (1 Kings 3:16-28)

Show The Wisdom Of God In Your Life

After the Queen of Sheba visited King Solomon of Israel, she proclaimed the wisdom of Solomon exceeded his fame and the half had not been told of his vast library of knowledge. The scriptures reveal the wisdom of Solomon was a gift from the Lord to bless the new king in his reign over the kingdom of God. No story best illustrates this impression than early in his reign two women come before the king claiming the other had taken their child. Two prostitutes had given birth to sons but one of the children died in the night. One harlot accused the other of taking her dead son and replacing her live son with the deceased. The second harlot denied the charge. It would seem an impossible task to know the truth as one accused the other and there was no defense.

Solomon understood the paternal love of a mother and knew the heart of a good woman would not allow her son to die. Demanding a sword brought, the king threatened to kill the remaining son. The true mother would give her life for her son and begged the king to spare the boy. Immediately the evil harlot permitted to kill the son showing her deception and deceit. Solomon commanded the child to be given to his mother because he could see the true love of a mother in her tears.

The matter of the two harlots had a great impact on the people of Israel when they heard of Solomon’s decision. His wisdom impressed the people with great awe and admiration for his knowledge to see the treachery of the one harlot and to know the love of a true mother. They saw the wisdom of God was in Solomon in how he handled the affair. This story is a clear indication of his divine wisdom granted to him by the power of God. When the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night and asked the king what he desired most, Solomon asked for an understanding heart to judge the people, to discern between good and evil, and to give glory to God. His request was granted along with great riches and honor. He will always be remembered as the wisest of all men who possessed great knowledge.

No man is blessed with the measure of divine knowledge as Solomon. When Solomon died, that knowledge died with him. During the early days of the church, the gifts of the Holy Spirit included wisdom, knowledge, and faith. These gifts would have secured the place of the growing church to understand the revealed word of God but they also came to an end. Paul reminded the Roman saints that faith would come through knowledge and that knowledge would come from the word of God. Divine knowledge does not come through dreams or special gifts by the finger of God. What a Christian knows today comes through the study of the word of God.

Solomon possessed special wisdom granted to him through the power of God. That knowledge was given to the king without the requirement of study and examination. The Bible is the fully revealed word of God and any person can have greater knowledge than Solomon when they spend the time to know the will of the Father. All of the mysteries of human history are unfolded in the pages of holy writ. God explains how the world came into existence, why man was created, what his purpose in life is all about, and why God loved the world so much to give a cruel and dark world His only begotten Son. Redemption fills the pages of the Old and New Testament. Mercy, grace, and love permeate every crevice of scripture. The image of Jesus Christ is woven within the fabric of every tapestry of God’s word. No book is so complete, so full and so needful for the needs of men than the book of books called the Bible.

It is said that Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived. That is not true. The man that comes to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and His redeeming love becomes the wisest man that lives. When the story of Jesus Christ changes the heart of a man to live a fully devoted, sanctified, dedicated, and purposed life, that man is wise. No message is greater than the cross of Jesus. Solomon dividing a baby boy was a stroke of genius but the condemned man on a cross outside Jerusalem is the message of divine forgiveness. The people were in awe of Solomon because they could see the wisdom of God in his life. What the world needs to see in the Christian is the wisdom of God.

There was a time the people of God were known for their knowledge of the Bible. Sadly, those days are gone. Not only has this weakened the church in many places but the world is not in awe at the lives of those who profess to be Christians. Solomon’s wisdom made an impression on the people. The life of a true Christian should have an impact on the lives of those who see the wisdom of God in their lives. Can the world see you as a husband who serves God or a wife that glorifies the Lord in your life? As parents, are you devoted to showing Christ to your children so that others can see the wisdom of God in your home? When you go to work each day, do your fellow laborers know that you are a faithful Christian showing the wisdom of God in your work? When you post on Facebook and various social mediums, does the light of Christ show your understanding of the word of God? Solomon was a wise man. You must be a wiser person. God has given you a book and He expects you to read it and to know it. It will not come through dreams, gifts, or osmosis. Your level of knowledge of God’s word depends on how much energy you expend to know what the Bible says. You cannot know what you do not know. Faith will always come from hearing the word of God. Seek wisdom. Be wiser than Solomon. Let the world see the glory of God in your life through your knowledge of His word.

But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. (Ezekiel 20:9)

For My Name’s Sake

The third commandment given to Moses by the Lord at Sinai warned against profaning the name of God. Taking the name of the Lord in vain was punishable by death. The people who heard a man curse the name of God would put their hands on his head and all the congregation would stone him to death. It was a grievous sin to worship idols and to fall down before carved images and taking the name of God in vain was a capital offense deserving of execution. Using God’s name in vain can be viewed with disregard but one of the most important elements to the character of the Lord is the sanctity of His name.

During the captivity of Israel in Babylon, Ezekiel the prophet explained the purpose of the bondage of God’s people in a foreign land. In telling the history of the children of Abraham, Ezekiel reminds the captives of the patience and longsuffering of God towards the people as they left Egypt and began their march to the land promised to Abraham. The forty years of wilderness wanderings came as a result of the rebellion of Israel to obey the word of the Lord. God had pleaded with His people to give up their idols of Egypt but they refused. He poured out His fury and His anger upon the nation. At Sinai, the Lord was going to utterly destroy the people had it not been for the intercession of Moses. Throughout the next forty years, the people murmured, complained, rebelled, and acted in every rebellious manner imaginable and through it all God’s love and mercy allowed the people to live. Ezekiel is reminding the captives in Babylon that their salvation was not because of their worth that God did those things. Everything God did for Israel was for His name’s sake.

Every action of God is for the name of the Lord; it is not for the glory of man. Much of what the Lord did for and against Israel had as much to do with the impact on others as upon the Hebrews. The Lord acted to protect the honor of His name not allowing shame to be brought on His name among the surrounding nations. Delivering the Hebrews from Egypt brought fear to the citizens of Jericho forty years later. Rahab knew the Lord had given the land to Israel and the terror of them had made the inhabitants fearful of the power of the one who dried up the water of the Red Sea and defeated the kings of the Amorites. God’s name was glorified by His power but the action of the Israelites brought shame to the name of God. Now in captivity, Ezekiel reminds the people allowing Babylon to enter the city of Jerusalem and destroy the temple was by the will of the Lord and for the glory of God.

There is a powerful lesson for the nation of God in the church to realize the influence of the lives of His people will either bring honor to the name of the Lord or dishonor. God acts in a way that brings glory to His name so that His name will be exalted among all people. No matter what man does, God’s name will be exalted on high. However, the character of the person of God can impact the name of God by the way they act, how they talk, the manner of the dress (or lack thereof), and the attitudes of the heart seen by the world. The church is heavily impacted by the lives of members who live like the world because they bring shame and reproach to the name of God. The Lord acts for the glory of His name. All of those who call upon His name should wear His name in purity, nobility, and honesty. The name Christian bears the name of God’s Son. No man or woman should call themselves a Christian if they are not willing to live up to the name that is to be holy, sacred, and revered. God acts for His name’s sake. Let my life reflect that honor.

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart! They also do no iniquity; they walk in His ways. You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed when I look into all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; oh, do not forsake me utterly! (Psalm 119:1-8)

Blessed In The Word

Words are the vehicles that move thoughts from the mind of God to the heart of a man. Without the word, humanity would be in darkness to the character, nature, and disposition of its Creator. The natural world testifies to the majesty of a grand designer but it cannot tell what the will of the Father will be for the good of men. Only when words are given from the mouth of God does man realize what he is and how much the Father loves and cares for him. He learns this from the law of the Lord, His commandments, the statues of righteousness, and the judgments of God. Knowledge comes from listening to the word of the Lord. All the problems of humanity come from a lack of respect for the word of God. Every word given by the Lord is for the good and perfect well-being of a man’s heart.

Walking in the way of the Lord brings peace and security. The word of God is the knowledge the Creator gives to His creation so that he can understand why he is made in the image of the Divine. When man was created, he was formed of the dust of the ground infused with an eternal presence that will never cease. This moral character must be guided by the principles of its Creator and the only way a man will find happiness is to live in such a way as he was designed. Following the instructions of the Lord gives man integrity. Obeying the will of the Lord will keep him from harm and destruction. This is how God has created all men.

Evil is the nature of rebellion to the word of God. As Lawgiver, the Lord determines what is right and what is wrong. He has that inherent right as Creator to design man for a specific purpose and when His creation refuses to follow the divine pattern, consequences will come. The rebellion of men is like the clay crying out to the potter who formed it. God has all power and authority established through His word to direct the steps of man. Everyone has been charged to keep the commandments of God carefully so they will find happiness in life. Joyful people are those who obey the will of the Lord by keeping His word.

Life is about comparing the heart with the word of God. Measuring personal happiness by the frailties of life will only bring heartache and disappointment. Man was created as a dependent creature needing the guidance of God to determine his steps. Outside these boundaries is where failure awaits because it is not the will of the Father. Learning the righteous character of God’s word is where fulfillment is found. The word is life and life is in the word. Without the word in the heart, there will be no hope, no promise, and no joy. The greatest message of the word of God is that He will never give up on man. God will not forsake those who seek Him. Following the word of God will put a man in a place of security for the grace of God to guide his feet to the eternal throne of redemption. Those who dwell in the word will be blessed – now and in the world to come. Get into the word. You will find yourself and you will find God.

Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I hope in Him!” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. (Lamentations 3:22-26)

It Is Good

The book of Lamentations is a series of five lyric poems lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem yet interspersed with the abundance of hope for Israel. There will be terrible calamities that fall upon Israel because of their disobedience and disloyalty to the Lord God as He brings judgments against the rebellious nation. The language is hard, the message unyielding and the consequences are written in the stone of God’s wrath. When the Chaldeans come against Israel it will be the terrible day of the Lord. While the immense power of the anger of the Lord is brought to bear against His people, a kernel of hope is always found in the message to remind the people of the love, mercy, and grace of a kind Father. Israel will spend seven decades in captivity but it will come to an end because God will bring His people back. The wrath of God is poured out but measured by the hope in the salvation of the Lord for those who trust in Him.

Jeremiah is called the “weeping prophet” for good cause. There was much to mourn as the people of God plunged deeper into idolatry, rebellion, and a stubborn refusal to return to the Lord. The message of hope also abounds in the writings of the prophets. God was not a cosmic bully that reveled in destroying what He had created for His glory. Israel was going to suffer many things from the hand of God for their disobedience and through that destruction, the love of God would be shown to the world. The mercy of God was everlasting in sparing Adam and Eve from destruction, saving Noah and seven others from the flood, and redeeming Israel from total annihilation. God is a compassionate Creator as much as He is a wrathful avenger against unrighteousness. Each day is a fresh dawn of God’s mercy and love. It the midst of trials and turmoil, there is hope in God.

God never fails His people but His people often fail Him. When they refuse to put their trust in Him alone relying on their own wisdom, they will find no hope. Making God the inheritance of the heart is establishing the will of God as the portion of life that will give hope in the time of despair. Hope comes from putting the Lord first in life. Life becomes good when the heart trusts in the way of the Lord. Faithful people will search for the Lord in every part of their life. During the dark days of Israel when Babylon took them off to a foreign land, God was still among His people. Men like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah knew the Lord was good and they put their trust in Him. They waited on the power of God to work in their lives. Every part of their life sought to understand the word of the Lord. They were in a captive land but they lived in hope with the promise of God.

Jeremiah reminds the people of God that it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. This will come about in His time, in His way, and according to His will. Hope is built upon the patient endurance of a soul at ease with the salvation from the Lord. In a world of chaos, the soul of God’s children can rest assured that He still reigns, He still rules and all the affairs of life are measured by the hand of Him who spans the universe with ease. There is nothing to fear. The world cannot change the will of God. No man will find peace outside of Christ. The joy of salvation is waiting for His will to be completed. This is a good thing. It is good to hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

United We Stand In Christ

It is certain the apostle Paul could never imagine the impact of a virus upon the church but he understood something of a greater magnitude than anything facing the church today. The COVID-19 virus has turned the world upside down. Economies are struggling with the impact of businesses closed or learning to work within a masked and social distancing mandate. Society has shifted with a new normal that find children wearing a mask to school, churches reorganizing assemblies to accommodate audiences, medical facilities heavily regulated with strict guidelines, grieving families unable to hold funerals for loved ones, and a political tsunami sweeping the nation with an odious rhetoric of division. These are troubled times.

Paul lived in troubled times. It was not a virus. The main problem that hindered the apostle to the Gentiles was the persecution from the religious zealots of Judaism and the oppressive hand of the Roman government either politically motivated or by the false gods of idolatry opposing the preaching of Christ. He faced a world divided, confused, and rebellious and filled with tyranny no generation today has ever experienced. Pundits of fear try to convince the present world that things are worse than ever before. They do not realize how well they have it. This can be especially true for the people of God who believe the present crisis is more than they can handle. The truth remains there are periods of history that are worse than others and no generation has the market cornered for the most troublesome times. It is not such much the events that shape the world but the way men react to events of the world. This is true with the COVID virus.

Do you feel hard-pressed on every side and perplexed by the present distress? Some may feel persecuted under the social conditions imposed by the government. With all the mandates and restrictions a person can feel knocked down all around. There can be an overwhelming feeling of despair and downtrodden in spirit. The apostle Paul appears over two thousand years of history and asks the people of God, “What is your problem?” The world the apostle lived in was filled with many troubles but he was not crushed. Why? He did not allow the troubles to trouble him. There were times of perplexity and confusion and again the apostle Paul was not driven to despair but taken to the throne of God. He knew who was in control of the chaotic world he lived and it was not the Jews or the Roman government. Christians were hunted down and yet they did not abandon their faith. The conditions the early church faced did not destroy them.

Change the channel to the modern-day – why has COVID caused problems in the lives of God’s people? Has their faith been challenged? Are the troubles of our day making it hard for the people of God to remain faithful? God’s people are not crushed, they are not in despair and forsaken and nothing should destroy them because God still reigns, rules and His will continue to hold the world together. If there is a time for the church to be stronger – that time is now. This is a time to be united. There is a need to gather as one united with a common purpose and single cause. The virus will end one day but the church will not. Let the church of Jesus Christ let the world know that God rules and His kingdom is the house of God filled with devoted and faithful people. We shall see the King one day. Let the King see His subjects brave and true. May the Lord see His people united as one under the banner of courage.

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

It’s Not Hard To Be A Christian

God created a world in perfection and beauty. Everything touched by the hand of God was the highest expression of His glory, His majesty, and His wisdom. Creating the world, the Lord made a perfect union between light, energy, space, and matter that in its own right was perfectly matched and placed in its exact order. When the man was formed from the dust of the ground and the woman taken from the side of Adam, the family became a perfect union of two creations fitted for one another. God placed the man in a garden that suited every need he had with the provisions of taking of every fruit of the trees except one. There was nothing harsh about the conditions set forth by God or oppressive that would punish man. Everything was provided for the good of man. At the time of the garden, there was only one tree man was not permitted to eat and that became the downfall of humanity.

Before Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, what did they lack? What had God denied them? Were the commandments of God too strict for them and did the Lord impose too harsh a law upon His creation? A cursory examination of the story finds there was nothing hard or difficult for Adam and Eve to understand and it was not a law that was complex in its meaning and consequence. If they ate of the forbidden fruit, they would die. They ate of the forbidden fruit and they died – first spiritually and then physically because they lost the garden. What Adam and Eve gave up was everything good God planned for them. After the fall of man and his expulsion from the garden, life was more difficult and harsher but the commandments were not harder or impossible to keep.

What time in history has the Lord demanded more of man than he could deliver? Outside the garden, conditions would be more severe but if man could not keep the commandments of God in the perfect world of Eden he would struggle with keeping the commandments of the Lord outside the garden. The Lord did not impose impossible commandments upon the people of Noah’s day yet everyone died in the flood except eight souls. During the days of Abraham, which laws were too difficult to understand and obey? Abraham did not think anything God asked of him was impossible; even when he was asked to sacrifice his only son. The children of Israel were given a law written down in the book of Moses. Which one of the commands were the Hebrews unable to keep? Only the ones they did not want to follow. There was nothing in the Law of Moses that was a burden for the people to follow.

Jesus came and died for all men teaching the world to obey the Father and follow after His will. Which of the commandments of Christ (from the Father) did He give the world that is burdensome? There is nothing God has asked a man to do today that he cannot do. Men act as if God has given them something they cannot do. A father can ask more of his children at times. The employer may expect more of his workers than can be done. There can be expectations from the world that men can never achieve but there is never a time that God has commanded a man to obey His will that any man could not follow. The law of God is not burdensome. It is not impossible to follow. The Lord has not asked any person to do something or to live in such a manner they cannot follow through. All the commandments of God are for the good of man.

Too many men act as if they cannot follow the will of God because it is impossible. With God all things are possible. Each command of the Lord is structured to bring out the best of a person and to show the beauty of God’s creation. Commandment keeping shows love for the Father. Refusing to keep the commandments of God shows distrust and disloyalty to Christ. If a man says he loves God he is a man who is willingly subject to all the commands of God. There are no complaints or misgivings of what the Lord demands. Obedience is open and free and willing to go however far the measures required. There is not one soul who will stand before God in judgment and claim the commandments of the Lord were too hard to follow. They will know at that moment that God expected nothing more than what a man could do if he was willing. Sadly, most men will realize too late how wonderful the commandments of God were for their lives and their eternal souls. Love God. Keep His commandments. All of them. It is a good thing.

How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ), which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets. (Ephesians 3:3-5)

The Joy Of Reading

There is a fundamental part of life that almost everyone takes for granted: the ability to read. Few if any take thought over the power of being able to read although for many cultures this is not the case. There was a time in years past that many people did not know how to read. Public education was not common and any knowledge children gained was from working on the farm or in industrial mills in large cities. When America was largely an agricultural community, schools where a part of every community but few were able to spend time away from the farm to learn reading, writing, and arithmetic (more commonly referred to as the three “R’s”.)

With public education compulsory, reading is a gift that is as normal as breathing and yet the most underrated ability used by man. One of the most significant inventions in the history of humanity was Guttenberg’s printing press in 1436. It allowed for the printed word to more easily produced including the publication of the Bible but in this time, few could read and fewer could read the language of the Bible: Latin. Through the years (and under great persecution), the Bible was printed in English and other languages to where it is the most read book in the world today translated into every known language. It is also the least-read book in the world.

The advent of technology has blessed the world with incredible inventions. In the digital age, the printed word has fallen on hard times. Bookstores have closed, and newspapers in print struggle to stay profitable and children grow up seldom opening a book to read. The days when libraries teemed with curious seekers of knowledge are gone. Reading is a byword that allows for the commerce of business and entertainment to prosper but the reading of the Bible is becoming a lost art. Churches are filled with people who sit passively listening to the preacher without opening the Bible to follow along. The art of note-taking has disappeared. Few keep notes of sermons or classes anymore. As the prophet Hosea declared, the people of God are destroyed by a lack of knowledge.

When Paul wrote his letter to the saints in Ephesus, he explained that what he had received from the Lord, he wrote down in a few words so they could read and understand a mystery hidden since the beginning of time. It should not be lost in the incredible blessing of being able to read the mystery of God and understand things hidden for millennia. Reading is a powerful tool to enlighten the soul of the word of God. It is the vehicle that takes the mind of God and plants the seed of eternal knowledge within the heart of a man. The Bible is printed in so many different forms and fashions today that few homes do not possess multiple copies. How often are the pages opened and read? That is the key to who we are, what we are, and what we can become. The greatest avenue to take the knowledge of the divine into our hearts is to read the word of God. How simple and yet how powerful a thought.

There is a great hymn that says “Take time to be holy.” Feeding on the word of the Lord takes time and reading is how that word can be imparted. There is value in listening to the word but there is greater value in allowing the eyes to fill the pages of God’s word in our minds and our hearts. I am old fashioned for a reason but I believe the printed page is the most effective manner to read. There is a connection with the hand and the book. Palm oil is the most powerful means to preserve a book. Pages worn from reading tell about a life that is worn the cross of Jesus on the heart. The Bible is a pearl of great price that should be treasured not because of the material that binds its cover but the treasure that is found when the pages are opened and read. Paul said that we can read what he wrote and we can understand the mystery. Lord – let me read.