The Heaton File

Friday Morning Reflections – Wisdom Literature

Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble. (Proverbs 21:23)

Speech 101

There really is nothing more that needs to be said.

Speech is silver, silence is gold. (Unknown)

Thursday Morning Thankfulness – Epistles of Paul

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. (Romans 10:2)

A Misguided Zeal

Having a passion for the Lord is a key ingredient to learning the importance of service to Him. He loved us enough to die for us and we show our love for Him by our sacrificial lives dedicated to His name. Zeal does not suggest a character of outward show but a heart that is the fervor of God’s love. Enthusiastic people of God recognize what has been done for them and their hearts burn within them. Enjoy this kind of feeling does not make one a disciple of Christ. Paul shows how that zeal can be manifested without knowledge of God and this makes the zeal of little value.

Are you excited about being a child of God? Do you think each day how wonderful it is to be redeemed? No day should go by that we are not thankful for the love of God. His grace is undeserved but freely given. We are not condemned! As saved people we bear the marks of Jesus Christ in all parts of our lives. Salvation is joy. For all the zeal we can show it must be according to knowledge. Faith will come from hearing the word of God and without the word of God zeal is barely a flicker. Sometimes we look at faith as an instant part of our lives without reading the word of God and dwelling with His Spirit in the Book. Zeal must come from our knowledge of the Lord.

The more you learn about God the more feelings of zealousness you possess to please Him. He is so real to you it fills your life. I am afraid so often a lack of faith is because there is a lack of knowledge. Paul’s challenge in Romans 10 was how some were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own kind of righteousness. This will end in failure. Our zeal comes from what we know about the Lord. On the other hand we must make certain our knowledge does not make us cold and unfeeling. The knowledge of God excites the mind. It possess it to serve Him more.

Be zealous for God but do so with the knowledge of Him. Seek to know all you can about the Lord and then let the Spirit fill your hearts to share that good news with others. Have a zeal that is according to knowledge.

Faith seeps out as knowledge seeps down. (John Haynes Holmes, Religion Today, ed. A. L. Swift, 1933)

Wednesday Morning Meditation – Psalms

In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and save me. Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb. My praise shall be continually of You. I have become as a wonder to many, but You are my strong refuge. Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and with Your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails. For my enemies speak against me; and those who lie in wait for my life take counsel together, saying, “God has forsaken him; pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.” O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! Let them be confounded and consumed who are adversaries of my life; let them be covered with reproach and dishonor who seek my hurt. But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and gray headed, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come. Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side. Also with the lute I will praise You– and Your faithfulness, O my God! To You I will sing with the harp, O Holy One of Israel. My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You, and my soul, which You have redeemed. My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long; for they are confounded, for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt. (Psalm 71)

The Prayer Of The Aged Believer

The wisdom of age comes from years of toil and labor under the sun. Life begins in the cradle of youth filled with the energy of a thousand years. With the coming years of maturity the eyes of wisdom brighten with reflections of days past. Experience becomes a master teacher as the hair turns gray from the passing years of time. Reflecting at this time of life the unknown psalmist revels in the glory of God’s protective care through the years and the promise to declare that glory to the next generation.

Prayer is a vital link of the soul of man to his Creator. Reflecting on the presence of God in life the psalmist unfolds for us the heart of thanksgiving for the deep love of his Lord. He has seen the hand of God daily while a youth. He acknowledges dependence on the Lord to carry him through the travails of life. There is no one but God that he will trust because God is the only one who has never failed him. His prayer is one of deep thanksgiving for the grace found only in the Lord.

As we come to the middle of the week this prayer is so helpful. Spend time today thinking about how many times God has blessed your life. Acknowledge the working of the grace of God in your life in quiet reflection. Count your many blessings touched by the hand of our Father. And then pray throughout the day for the strength of the Lord to guide your thoughts and actions. Trust in Him. Give thanks to Him. Read this psalm today. He is the Rock of our salvation.

God is, and all is well (J. G. Whittier, My Birthday, 1871)

Tuesday Morning Early Start – Important Doctrines

Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us! (Acts 5:28)

Filling A Community With Jesus

The early disciples were causing a stir in Jerusalem. From the day of Pentecost a new wave of religious fervor swept through the winding streets of the city of David. It is brash and bold to the ears of the devotees of Moses. New ideas are put forth telling of the Messiah murdered on a cross but raised from the dead. Jesus of Nazareth was seen by many people after his death. He was alive. His message of hope poured forth as living waters showing people the fulfillment of the prophets and scriptures of old. Disciples of the Way were changing the face of worship to the only God – Jehovah.

Persecution came slowly but it gained momentum. Forbidden to teach in the name of Jesus the early people of God remained steadfast in their belief in a risen Savior. Many were accepting this teaching. The Jewish leaders were alarmed by the rise in the disciples of Jesus and strictly warned those responsible to tone down their rhetoric. But it was too late. By their own admission the story of Jesus had filled the city of Jerusalem. The doctrine of Christ was spreading like wild-fire throughout the land. Disciples of Jesus had a story to tell.

Doctrine is ‘a rule or principle that forms the basis of a belief’ and Jerusalem was being filled with the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. The spread of this message came from people who were telling other people about Christ; who responded by sharing the news with others. One of the characteristics of the early Christians is found in their resolve to tell others about Christ. Later they would be charged with turning the city of Thessalonica upside down with the teaching that Jesus was the Christ. THEY WERE FILLERS AND TURNER-UPSIDE-DOWNERS!

Tuesday is a good day to be a Filler. The third day of the week is when we can find ways to turn things upside down around us. All we have to do is to share the good news of what Christ means to me with one other person. Okay – not 100 or 50 or 25 – let’s start where we all need to start and find one person that you can bring to Christ this year. Let’s fill our communities with filler people who are finding that ONE person to bring to Christ and let’s turn our neighborhoods and cities upside down for the hope of Heaven. Shake the world. Rock the world. Turn this world on its ear so that it can hear the roar of the Lamb of God! He came to save men and we need to tell them that. Fill them up. Turn it upside down. Now that is DOCTRINE!

The fact that the gospel is not popular is all the more reason for preaching it. The very fact that men cannot endure sound doctrine is all the more reason for seeing that they get it. It is not our responsibility to make it acceptable; it is our duty to make it available. (Vance Havner)

Monday Morning Coffee Break – Life With Jesus

“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:7)

God Can And Will

When Jesus returned to Capernaum a large crowd came to hear Him preach. A paralytic was brought to Jesus by four friends and because of the crowds had to be lifted down through the roof so Jesus could heal him. Seeing their faith the Lord told the man his sins were forgiven. The scribes could not believe their ears. How could this man make such a bold statement? As disciples of the Law they understood sins could not be forgiven but by the authority of God. Their charge would be shown to be true when Jesus healed the man. What they thought was correct because only God can forgive sins; what they failed to acknowledge was that God was before them.

Jesus forgave the sins of the man because He had the right and the love to do so. As Creator He made man in His image thereby establishing the power to remove the sins of the creation. Righteousness was according to the law of God which was the will of His Father and Jesus could show His authority by His power. No man could do that.

I am His creation. You are His creation. We have been made in the similitude of our Creator and He has told us He will forgive us of our sins. The paralysis we have is the burden of sin that will destroy us. Jesus came to the earth to say, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven you.’ The healing of the body only postponed the time of death. The forgiveness of sin reached into eternity with the opportunity to be healed of a far worse condition.

As this week begins to unfold and life takes on its busy pursuit of work, school, and plans of the day – remember that God will forgive! Remember today that God loves you to cleanse you of your sins. During this week focus on the blessing of God’s compassion for our frail character that He is willing to touch us with His love and say, ‘Your sins are forgiven.” He removes them as far as the east is from the west. Gone. That will help you live with the hope of His promises. Walk with the blessed assurance that I AM FORGIVEN. Thank God.

Where is the foolish person who would think it in his power to commit more than God could forgive? (Francis of Sales, 1567-1622, Consoling Thoughts of, ed. Huguet)

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)