Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe “For Us. To Us. In Us. Through Us.”

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe… 



"For Us. To Us. In Us. Through Us."

      
     Through the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God for us came to us, now dwells in us, and proceeds from us as we trust and submit to our Heavenly Father.

    "I have loved thee with an everlasting love" (Jeremiah 31:3).
    "The kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared" (Titus 3:4).
    "The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us" (Romans 5:5).
    "Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us" (Ephesians 5:2).

    Salvation in Christ provides wondrous and necessary gifts for every recipient.  Forgiveness, spiritual birth, assurance of eternal life, and the indwelling Holy Spirit all bless the trusting heart with personal bestowals of grace.  "O Lord, Thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul.  Thou hast redeemed my life" (Lamentations 3:58).  Our Lord purposes, however, that such goodness does not result in an overwrought focus on how good He has been to us, but rather how He can be good to others through us.  The love of Christ is a perfectly unselfish reality.  "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).  As our Lord's Spirit dwells and moves within us, He works to turn us inside out, as it were.  Rather than a black hole that absorbs all, He progressively transforms us into bright and shining suns that bear radiant light, warmth, and life to others.  "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others" commanded the Apostle Paul (Philippians 2:4).  The love of Christ us ever directs us to gaze upward, outward, and away to behold His glory, and to be changed thereby into active participants in His devotion to others.  "Charity (love) … seeketh not her own" (I Corinthians 13:5).  

   The love of God for us fills us with hope.  The love of God to us in Christ thrills us with grace.  The love of God in us fulfills us with His involved presence.  And, the love of God ministered through us instills with the awareness of how good and great our Lord really is.  We find ourselves doing things for Him and others that we know we would not even consider apart from His presence and working in our hearts.  "Where did that come from?" we may wonder when we sacrifice for others rather than selfishly seek our own benefit.  We know the answer.  Love, the love of God for us, to us, within us, and through us - this constitutes the marvel of saving grace in the Lord Jesus whereby God receives all glory, others are blessed, and we find our own hearts thrilled, filled, and fulfilled as the joy of His selfless devotion to others becomes our joy.

"I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."
 (Acts 20:35)

Weekly Memory Verse
 "Peace to the brethren, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
(Ephesians 6:23)



  






















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