The Heaton File

Sunday Morning Starters – Worship

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:23-25)

Worship Together

We need one another. When God said of man, ‘It is not good he should be alone’, the character of worship was molded from a need of companionship. The home is undergirded by togetherness. Society is formed by people gathering together as communities. The church of our Lord was created to fill a need of spiritual fellowship in worship. A family of God, a flock, a shared heritage, a vineyard and a brotherhood suggests the exhortation of how we need one another.

Worship is not confined to a building but on the first day of the week we are commanded to gather together to consider to one another. This is collective worship that helps us discover one another. Our time together is a stirring time that we build up the weakened hands of a brother or sister. Singing together mends hearts filled with the challenges of the week past. The proclamation of the word of God strengthens the heart to have more courage. Remembering the sacrifice of Jesus reminds us of His love for all of us. Worship in the collective venue is a vital part of who we are and what we are.

As we journey to our place of worship today may we look around the gathering and see the faces of those who we need in our lives because they are our brethren. The church is a hospital for sick folk of which I am one. We all need the grace of God. As the songs begin lift up your voice together in worship. When the prayers are uttered bow the knee together with your brethren who need the message of prayer. The preaching of the word is a time to hear the redemptive cry of God’s love for you – and for the person to your left and your right; in front of you and behind you. There is no partiality. And when the time comes to reflect upon the supper of Christ our hearts should be crushed with the price paid by the Son of God. Worship together. Praise together. Amen together.

When someone says, “Oh, I can worship God anywhere,” the answer is, “Do you?” (James A. Pike, Beyond Anxiety, 1953)

Saturday Morning Promises – Great Stories

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” (John 4:5-7)

Old Well New Water

I enjoy history. Old buildings fascinate men. Recently I was in Camden, SC where they had houses dating from the Revolutionary War. A few years ago a highlight of a trip to New York City was to touch the Statue of Liberty base (could not go in the statue without a reservation) and go in the Empire State building. As a Florida native I have made the required trip to St. Augustine and toured the Castillo de San Marcos built in 1672. Lonnie Fritz and I made a trip to Athens, Greece some years ago and words cannot describe standing on and around so many ancient ruins. Really old things.

Jesus comes to Samaria with His disciples and wearied from the trip sits down on a well while His followers go for food. The discussion with the woman from Samaria is a vivid story of lessons of the true water of life and how many people would believe on the Lord that day. As this discussion is going on my eye turns to the well Jesus is sitting on. This was the land Jacob bought from the children of Hamor and erected an altar to Jehovah God. A well was dug. Jesus is sitting on a well that has been used for more than 1500 years. Now that is an old, old well.

The language used by the Lord to show the woman the living water from the Father is imbedded in the story of the well He sits upon. It is hard to believe a well that water has been used for more than a thousand years. This would seem to be an eternal flow of water. But Jesus unfolds the greatest blessing of finding water that will never bring thirst. The living water is eternal is the literal sense. Jacob’s well would last for many generations but eventually dry up. So like things of this earth. A vapor. But the living water of God will never cease to fill the soul of those who thirst for righteousness. This living well is the abundance of God’s grace dug before time began and opened on the first day of the week when Jesus came forth.

We have come to the end of the week. My prayer is we have used this week for the glory of God. Tomorrow we join together with the saints in praise and worship. Jesus told the woman that worship to the Father is from a spirit of truth and the truth of the Spirit. Drink deeply of the living water today as you fill your souls with the word of God. You will never thirst when you drink of the well of the Lord. And that is a really old well and this is a really great story.

Friday Morning Reflections – Wisdom Literature

My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother; for they will be a graceful ornament on your head, and chains about your neck. (Proverbs 1:8-9)

Parenting In The Proverbs

A lot of books have been written on the subject of parenting. Family counseling is a multi-million dollar business as families become more dysfunctional, confused, broken and immoral. The home is no longer a shelter of security. Marriages are dissolving. Children are left for their own desires. A nation that once gleamed in the virtues of honesty, integrity and the value of the home is crumbling from the decay of what defines marriage and parenting. The end will not be pretty; then again it never has been as the moral codes of men rely upon their own wisdom for answers to fatherhood and the sanctification of motherhood.

The wisdom literature is as old as the earth itself. From the pages of God’s word a standard of parenting has always been scripted upon the pages of His plan and design. The Almighty created the home and He knows how to best suit the home to the needs of man. Reading the book of Proverbs a harvest of true wisdom is given to guide the man who chooses to be a father. Motherhood is revered in the manner designed by the Lord and children are taught to give honor to their parents. Woven throughout the book of Proverbs instructions are given on the role of parenting. Children are taught to listen to the instruction of their father and hold fast to the law of their mother. Wisdom comes from obedience. The consequence of rebellion is clearly defined with grief to the mother. You want to know how to be a parent that pleases God? Read the proverbs of God’s instruction book on the home.

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it … Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; the rod of correction will drive it far from him … The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will delight in him … A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother … Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old … Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice.

There is so much more in this wonderful book of proverbs declaring the fear of the Lord as the beginning of knowledge. If you are a parent or grandparent, never let the proverbs for parenting fail to be a part of your life. Books of men will fail. God’s word about the home has never failed. Your children will rise up and call you blessed.

An ounce of parent is worth a pound of clergy. (Spanish Proverb)

Thursday Morning Thankfulness – Epistles of Paul

Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which accords with godliness. (Titus 1:1)

We Are All Bondservants

Slavery is not a popular subject. In relation to our Lord that is all we can be. During the days of the early disciples slavery was as common as people. The Roman Empire subjected vast territories with its many nations using captives as an economy of industry to fuel the ambitions of the rulers. Paul, born Saul of Tarsus, was one of the elite of the Roman world as well as the Jewish world. He was a Roman citizen. His rise to power within the Jewish community is well known. But then he met the Lord. He gave all of that up to become a bondservant – a slave. It is hard to appreciate how humbling an experience can be to transform voluntarily from riches to the rags of slavery but that is what our brother Paul did. It is of no small measure that he begins his letter to Titus referring to his own life as a bondservant of God.

Paul was not alone in letting the world know of his slavery. Epaphras (Colossians 1:7; 4:12), James (James 1:1), Peter (2 Peter 1:1), Jude (Jude 1), Phoebe (Romans 16:1), Tychicus (Colossians 4:7) all were servants of Jesus Christ. And why not? Paul refers to Jesus Christ as a bondservant in Philippians 2:7 and a servant in Romans 15:8. We are servants of a bondservant. Let that sink in for a moment.

The Greek word ‘doulos,’ is slave, one who is not free. It expresses the condition of one who has a master, or who is at the control of another. America is the land of the free. The kingdom of God is the land of the servant. We are not free as people of God yet we have been set free. At one time we were slaves of sin but now have become slaves of righteousness. What is important about this idea is to realize that our lives belong to God. We are servants of the world we live in because the Creator is the one who sends the rain and provides for us. Our salvation is from His grace. More than that we live as servants, bondservants or slaves to our Lord. We have no rights but only the rights provided by the will of our master – Jehovah God.

A slave has a mindset that is very different from all others. Paul proclaimed his allegiance to Jesus Christ by calling himself a bondservant. As we work ourselves through this fifth day of the week – may we learn to be servants to one another as we are servants to God! Servants with humble spirits, forgiving, kind, benevolent, encouraging and most of all – working for our Lord!

I am a Christian. I am a bondservant. That will help when the person cuts you off in traffic. Today someone may do something at work that displeases you – be a humble slave of Christ. Your marriage may need some blessings – have a heart of a bondservant and forgive. Slavery is joy when it is in Christ.

If we trust, and if we relinquish our will, and yield to the Divine will, then we find that we are afloat on a buoyant sea of peace and under us are the everlasting arms. (Helen Keller, Story of My Life, 1905)

Wednesday Morning Meditation – Psalms

Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! While I live I will praise the Lord; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; in that very day his plans perish. Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever– Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord! (Psalm 146)

While I Have My Being

The end of the Psalm book is filled with praise. What better way to conclude a book that is filled with worship to God at every level. The author of this psalm is deeply moved by the power of the Lord and shows that happiness can only be found in trusting the plans of the Creator rather than man. This would seem to come from a writer of older age as the maturity of confidence has been found throughout life. Reflecting upon a lifetime of battles won and lost the author recognizes the eternal truth that only God can deliver. No greater power can there be but the presence of the One who made heaven and earth. His experience proves the word of the Lord is sure, justice can only come from above and none of God’s children are forgotten.

Psalm 146 sings forth in loud anthems of praise that God is faithful in every way. This is the same Lord we worship today. David writes that Jehovah is his Shepherd and he would have no wants in life. Psalm 146 burst forth with a song of praise echoing the majesty of worshipping the Lord who will not forget His people. He does not forget us. He protects us and delivers us from evil. The hand of the Lord shields us from danger and blesses us with the bounty of blessings material and spiritual. He will always, always be in our lives.

Wednesday is a great day. We are in the middle of the week but we are still at the beginning of our day of worship. Today – meditate on how many times God has blessed you and watched over you in life. Look carefully through the dust files of yesterday and witness the hand of the Lord delivering you. You will see many wonderful things. Take this psalm with you (write it down and stick it in your pocket) and praise Him today. As you go through the day think about the psalm as given by this author – “I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” The author does not suggest he will praise the Lord just in this life. He knows that his praise will last beyond this life and then through the eternal ages. Now that is a long time. But he wants to do that and so should we. While we have our being … as long as we exist!

Adoration is the surge of the spirit of man upward and Godward. (Georgia Harkness, Prayer and the Common Life, 1948)

Tuesday Morning Early Start – Important Doctrines

For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter. (2 Corinthians 7:10-11)

Kill The Spider

A man continually sought help to rededicate his life and always prayed the same prayer, “Lord, take the cobwebs out of my life.” His preacher had heard this prayer more times than he cared to remember. Finally, when the man uttered that prayer into the ear of his preacher, the preacher responded with a prayer of his own, “Lord, kill the spider.”

The challenge of sin is recognizing the need to remove temptation and change the behavior. Repentance is not just saying, “I’m sorry” but actively trying to find ways to take away the source of the problem. Godly sorrow brings about repentance because it is a deep emotional reaction to what ungodliness does to the character and conduct of the individual. If the spider is not killed the cobwebs will continue.

There are some challenges in life that will always be present. Paul had a thorn in the flesh that was not removed but he learned how to deal with it. Godly sorrow produces a mind that continually works to lessen the impact of the spider’s web on life with greater victory each day. But this takes effort. It is easy to assume our nature allows us to have a bad temper but as people of God seeking repentance we learn to control and subdue that anger. Lust can be controlled when measured by the grace of God. Lips that lie, gossip, slander, and use foul language can be stopped when the spider is killed. Repentance demands it.

A contrast of attitude and behavior comes with godly sorrow when we clear ourselves of the influences of ungodliness. We are deeply sorry for our actions and we show in our lives the indignation we have to what we have done. Our attitude is one of fear and passionate desire to sin less. Godliness produces a zeal of righteousness to cleanse our minds of all those spiders that infect us. Let us be great spider killers today!

Repentance was perhaps best defined by a small girl: It’s to be sorry enough to quit. (C. H. Kilmer, The New Illustrator, 1945)

Monday Morning Coffee Break – Life With Jesus

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. (John 10:1-5)

He Calls Me By Name

The imagery of the shepherd was frequently used by Jesus. It became a ready palette of parallels showing the relationship of the Lord to those He came to save. John’s brush strokes of Jesus as the good shepherd show how lovely our relationship with the Lord will be when we submit to His protection. There are many noises that fill the air as sheep are crowded together in a fold. But the one voice the ears of the sheep are listening for is the voice of their shepherd. They listen for that distinctive voice because they know what that voice means. It means a bond molded through the years of fellowship with someone that led them to still waters and green pastures. In the dark of a stormy night they were shielded and protected by that voice. When the howl of the wolf shrilled the night air the shepherd stood guard. One sheep remembers when he had wandered away his master left the ninety and nine to rescue him from certain death. Their master’s voice is all they listen for.

As people of God we serve the Chief Shepherd. His voice will lead us through the difficult days of this week and help us find joy in our lives. Monday is a day of possibilities because of a wonderful day of worship yesterday and a week of powerful living for God before us. Monday’s are great days of faith. We start with a new resolve because our worship together on Sunday gave us hope. Our lives are focused on making the most of this week so that when the Lord’s day returns we can worship our Shepherd with praise and honor. Decisions this week? What does the Shepherd say? Disappointments will come but the Lord soothes our hurts with His oil of mercy. We may find ourselves a little lost this week. Guess who is looking for us? Our shepherd.

This week is a time to be a sheep. Trust in the Lord for His wisdom. Spend time each day learning more about the Shepherd who cares for you. Think this week about other sheep that may need your word of encouragement. Visit a lost sheep. Call a fellow sheep. Have a long conversation with the Shepherd and let Him know what is on your heart. He likes to hear the sheep calling out to Him. If you are hurting know the Son of God will pick you up and carry you in His warm and loving arms. He has a lot of sheep to keep up with but here is the best part: He knows your name. Yep. He knows exactly who you are because you are special to Him. Now how can Monday be bad when we know the Son of God knows YOUR name! Just think what the rest of the week is going to be like when you think about that every day!!!

Like sheep that get lost nibbling away at the grass because they never look up, we often focus so much on ourselves and our problems that we get lost. (Allen Klein)

Sunday Morning Starters – Worship

A Psalm of David. Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord is over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, and strips the forests bare; and in His temple everyone says, “Glory!” The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood, and the Lord sits as King forever. The Lord will give strength to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace. (Psalms 29)

Give The Lord The Glory Due His Name

Growing up in central Florida it was not uncommon to experience a violent (and very loud) summer rain storm. As a child I was fascinated by force of such a storm as it roared through the landscape. Bright flashes of lightning followed by immense booms of thunder rolling through the sky. Rain poured in torrents as ditches filled to capacity and the trees strained against the onslaught of punishing winds. It was quite an awesome and yet fearful experience. This was especially true when we were prepared to count the distance of the lightning and there was no time to count before the boom rattled everything in the house. Needless to say watching the storms in the front living room of our old Jim Walter home was a childhood memory long cherished.

Reading David’s psalm reminds me of those days. It tells me of how great and Awesome my God is. When those storms would roll through central Florida everyone ran for cover. They knew to stay out in the open with that kind of weather was a very dangerous proposition. No one argued. Everyone agreed – powerful storm.

David must have experienced that kind of storm and his reflection was on the power and beauty of God. Blessed with parents who taught me about God I too associated the great storm with the majesty of the Lord. How can we not see the invisible attributes of a visible God in those storms? The psalmist declares that we should give the Lord the respect due His name because of His glory and His strength. And when we learn to give respect to the Name of our Lord then we will know how to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Today is the first day of the week. Many people have risen early to enjoy a sunrise service giving honor to Christ for His resurrection. Sadly they give lips of praise to the Lord that means very little to them the rest of the week and their lives. Worship for many is floral in its concept; they only worship when the Easter lilies bloom or the Poinsettia blossoms. Worship fears God for who He is every day. Let today be a day of praise and honor for the power and majesty of a loving yet powerful Father. Give unto Him the glory due His name today – and tomorrow – and the next day – and every day or your life. Praise God. Thank you for the storm.

It would be wonderful if Easter crowds thronging the stores for new garments of the season could get as excited about making sure of new garments on the Great Getting-Up Morning! (Vance Havner)

Saturday Morning Promises – Great Stories

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. (Exodus 14:21-22)

Walking On Dirt In The Middle Of The Sea

This is a great story! You stand before a large sea without any means to cross the water and the full force of the Egyptian army is behind you. The Lord has protected you with His Angel but fear still strikes your heart because you cannot see how to be saved. Moses cries out for everyone to take heart and see the deliverance of the Lord. Yet before you ripple the expansive waters of the Red Sea and no hope is coming in the form of boats and no path is given to be delivered from the destruction of Pharaoh.

Then you hear it. At first it seems like a soft breeze cooling the night air. The wind begins to pick up. Coming from the east it bears the heat of the desert sands as it burns against your face. And then a deafening noise breaks forth as the wind turns into a strong torrent pushing against the waters of the sea. At first it is undiscernible but then a form takes shape. Before your eyes the waters of the sea begin to part. As the wind increases so the chasm in the sea divides the waters as a wall on the right hand and left. All night the wind blows and everyone stares in disbelief as the Red Sea is parted in two and dry land appears before your feet.

Exhorted by Moses and others you plunge into the sea but not as a muddy blog across the depths of the sea but dry land. You walk in the middle of the sea on dry land. You turn to the right and witness a huge wall of water held back by a force only understood as the power of God. To the left another huge wall of water braces itself against a power unyielding. Everyone begins to hurriedly escape through the sea as they are delivered across the sea to safety. You hear the cries of little boys who mothers scolded for sticking their fingers in the wall of water (you know they did).

After all have crossed you stand in awe of a sight never seen by man before and never to be seen again. The Red Sea with a road of dry dirt down its middle. A wall of water is an amazing sight to see but here it is erect and solid as it stands to deliver the children of Abraham. Frightened you see the Egyptian army also following but then another unbelievable thing happens. The wall of waters break forth destroying all of the army of Pharaoh. In the morning dead bodies line the bank of the sea. Wow. Now that is a great story.

But there is a greater story. We stood on the banks of hopelessness and Satan came raging at us with his minions of evil. There was no hope and we could find no escape. God sent His Son to part the waters showing us His power and His grace to deliver us. We could not have saved ourselves. Only God saved us. The dividing of the waters was the dividing shadow of Jesus’ cross that led the way to our redemption. Thank God for His power, His might, His dominion – and allowing us to walk across on dry land. Redeemed. How I love to proclaim it.

The spiritual history of man, as seen by God, is not one of progress but of recovery, or redemption. (Aelred Graham, Christian Thought and Action, 1951)