Saturday, August 31, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe "The Bottle Cap" Or... "Finely Tuned" Part 6 - "All Things. Everything. This Thing."

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

(Friends: While walking the other day, I dropped the cap of my water bottle after taking a sip.  My immediate reaction involved the thought, "Wow, I sure don't feel like bending over to pick that up!"  However, as I stooped to retrieve the cap, a thought occurred to me: "Is God involved in something like this?"  He is, and this series of messages addresses the Bible's teaching regarding our Lord's loving involvement in our lives.)


"The Bottle Cap"

Or…

 "Finely Tuned"

Part 6 - " All Things.  Everything.  This Thing"

      
     
  So, was the Lord involved in the dropping of my bottle cap, a benign occurrence that bore no overtly spiritual or moral significance?  He was, but how might He have been present and accounted for in the matter?  

   First, I do not think it necessary for God to have directly determined the incident in order for it to have been within the scope of His working in my life and the world.  It's possible, I suppose, but I don't think it likely that the Lord sent an angel to flick the cap out of my hand and onto the sidewalk.  I won't rule out the possibility, but I suspect the cap simply slipped through my fingers due to clumsiness or a lack of concentration (I like to think it was the latter!).  My immediate fleshly reaction involved a bit of irritation, as if a random annoyance had occurred.  Again, this may have been the case.  However, whether the Lord actively caused the cap to leave my hand or not, by the time it did, He was involved.  Certainly Romans 8:28 means this if it means anything at all:

   "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

   In the wonder of His foreknowledge, the Lord knew I would drop the bottle cap.  His infinite understanding meant that this seemingly most minor of occurrences has forever been known to Him.  As A.W. Tozer beautifully penned, "The flutter of an angel's wing a thousand years hence is as known to God as if it happened in this moment."  In His "all things" determination, therefore, the Lord wove meaning and purpose into the event.  Moreover, He also got my attention regarding the matter, which led to this series of messages.  I could easily have missed His prompting to consider His involvement.  I very often do fail to see what our Heavenly Father is up to.  In this case, however, my spiritual antennae seemed to be receiving signals from Heaven.  The question of whether God was involved, and even more, how He was involved came to mind (which led to enjoyable and illuminating discussion with Frances, a.k.a. "the Brain").  We both concluded that God was indeed present and active in the bottle cap flying from my fingers, and whether He directly determined the incident or not, our calling was to believe that this thing fit into "all things."  

    As does everything.  In a lifetime and eternity wherein we "live and move and have our being" in God, all things somehow coordinate to fulfill "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Acts 17:28; Ephesians 3:11).  This is truth.  This is Biblical doctrine.  This is reality that must be embraced as a matter of utmost principle and conviction.  Do we fully understand such wonder?  Not even close!  Are we required to fully understand?  Not at all.  It is more than enough to know that God understands and perfectly weaves the innumerable threads of events in His creation to exalt and reveal the Lord Jesus.  I suspect that my Father did not "control" the dropping of the bottle cap.  Nor is it necessary that He determined the incident.  He did coordinate the matter, synthesizing it into the ultimate fulfillment of His purposes.  Such wonder boggles the mind even as it strengthens the heart.  Our Lord directly executes "wonders without number" (Job 9:10).  However, He possesses such vast wisdom, knowledge, understanding and power that the things that happen apart from His pointed direction will ultimately fit into His plans no less than the things He causes to happen.  As Joseph told his brothers regarding their sin and God's working, "But as for you, ye thought evil against me. But God meant it unto good" (Genesis 50:20).

   Such blessed truth changes our lives in the first moment we see it into the light of Scripture and by the illumination of the Holy Spirit.  It then continues to transform everything as we more and more realize our Father's promise of a life more finely tuned by Him that we can imagine.  We will still miss much - so much - of His involvement.  But we do not have to miss all.  Yes, we can increasingly open the eyes of our hearts to see the love of God present and accounted for in all things.  We will trust Him far more as we do, and our hearts will know the peace, joy, and assurance of the Lord Jesus as we seek Him in all things, everything, and this thing.  I often think of the prophet's determination to see the glory of such grace, and we close with his affirmation…

"I will look for Him."
(Isaiah 8:17)

"This thing is from Me."
(I Kings 12:24)

Weekly Memory Verse
   "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).

  























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Friday, August 30, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe “The Bottle Cap” Or... "Finely Tuned” Part 5 - The Great Coordinator

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

(Friends: While walking the other day, I dropped the cap of my water bottle after taking a sip.  My immediate reaction involved the thought, "Wow, I sure don't feel like bending over to pick that up!"  However, as I stooped to retrieve the cap, a thought occurred to me: "Is God involved in something like this?"  He is, and this series of messages addresses the Bible's teaching regarding our Lord's loving involvement in our lives.)


"The Bottle Cap"

Or…

 "Finely Tuned"

Part 5 - The Great Coordinator

      
     God executes "great things past finding out… and wonders without number" by the direct application and activity of His working (Job 9:10).  Many other things, however, happen without His proactive working, but within the scope of His complete awareness and His determination to "work all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:11).  

    This reveals our Lord as the great coordinator of all things.  He does not have to determine everything that happens in His creation in order to fit all things into the fulfillment of His "eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  As mentioned in Part 4, we know He does not directly determine sin.  He cannot because of His perfect nature, character, and way.  Does He nevertheless work His purposes out through the rebellion and wickedness of fallen angels and human beings?  He does.  "All things after the counsel of His own will" necessarily includes evil as well as good.  We see this most clearly in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins.

   "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:23).

    The cross of Christ.  Was it the result of God or man?  Yes. God sent His Son into the world knowing what would happen if He did, and purposing in marvelous grace to make salvation possible by His Son's atoning work in death, resurrection, and ascension.   However, does that mean He forced or coerced "wicked hands" to perpetrate the sin and crime of the ages?  It does not.  Those who consigned the Lord Jesus to the cross (which indirectly means all of us) were totally responsible for this most immoral of all acts.  Our Heavenly Father, according to His universal involvement and working in all things, coordinated even this ultimate evil into the fulfillment of His purposes without originating its sin and wrong.  Our salvation resulted from such Divine involvement and coordination of everything that happens in the universe.  

    This constitutes our Lord as wondrous beyond imagining.  He possesses such wisdom, knowledge, and power that other beings can perpetrate things completely contrary to the Divine character and will.  His foreknowledge and wisdom nevertheless allows Him to fit all things into the perfection of His working.  Indeed, unbelievers may think they are ignoring the Lord and living their own lives according to their own dictates.   They boast, "With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own.  Who will prevail over us?" (Psalm 12:4).  Little do they know, however, that God works through them nonetheless, coordinating even their ignorance and rebellion into His ultimate purpose.  Again, "all things after the counsel of His own will."

   Returning to the original topic of this series, what about my bottle cap?  Since it was not a moral act of either good or evil, was my dropping it a direct act of God, or simply an expression of my human imperfection that led to clumsiness?  This is a fascinating question that addresses literally trillions of benign events that constantly occur in the universe.  How are we to view God's involvement in such matters?  We will address this question tomorrow.

"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever, Amen."
(Romans 11:36)

Weekly Memory Verse
   "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).

  























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Thursday, August 29, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe “The Bottle Cap” Or… "Finely Tuned” Part 4 - The Mistake We Cannot Make

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

(Friends: While walking the other day, I dropped the cap of my water bottle after taking a sip.  My immediate reaction involved the thought, "Wow, I sure don't feel like bending over to pick that up!"  However, as I stooped to retrieve the cap, a thought occurred to me: "Is God involved in something like this?"  He is, and this series of messages addresses the Bible's teaching regarding our Lord's loving involvement in our lives.)


"The Bottle Cap"

Or…

 "Finely Tuned"

Part 4 - The Mistake We Cannot Make

      
    How God may work in our lives, or how finely tuned we conclude His involvement to be in the light of His Word, we must take every precaution to never directly or implicitly assign sin or evil to the righteous, holy, and perfect Creator and Sustainer of all things.

   "He is the Rock, His work is perfect.  His ways are judgment.  Without iniquity is He, just and right is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).

   It is not only the case that God will not sin.  He cannot sin. Governed in holiness by the pristinely pure nature of who and what He is, our Lord dwells in a righteousness of character, nature, and way that precludes anything but consummate consecration to Himself.  Nor can He tempt or coerce others to even the slightest deviation from the spiritual and moral perfection of His Person and His will.

   "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren" (James 1:13-16).

   "Do not err, my beloved brethren" warns James.  Or, do not assign evil and sin as originating with God in any way, shape, or form.  This is the mistake we cannot make in our doctrine, understanding, and response to our perfect Lord.  To do so would render the Bible as untrue, and thus, its God as either nonexistent or false in His revelation of Himself.  Our confidence in Biblical truth would vanish if the Lord of Scripture were not who He declares Himself to be, and if it were not true that "As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31).  Moreover, our confidence in God's Word suffers if our understanding and communication suggests that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are capable of even a hint of unrighteousness, imperfection, injustice, or wrong.  "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17).

   Are our lives so finely tuned by God that "all things work together for good to them that love God?"  Unequivocally, yes! (Romans 8:28).  But not in the sense that the sins of others or ourselves originate with Him.  They do not because they cannot.  Thus, as we seek to understand how our Heavenly Father works in all things, and how we can joyfully trust that nothing approaches us apart from His promised involvement, we seek to assimilate the truth with great care.  We must not besmirch His character, His perfect character.  This is the mistake we cannot make.  By this, I do not suggest that God will not forgive, cleanse, and restore us if fall victim to Satan's temptation to inadvertently blame God for sin and evil.  He will.  However, anyone who loves Him and knows Him to even the slightest degree desires to represent Him as He is, in accordance with the perfection proclaimed by His Word.  Just as importantly, we seek to never misrepresent the beauty of His heart, the glory of His intentions, and the sublime wonder of His way, His perfect way.
   
"My tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness and of Thy praise all the day long."
(Psalm 35:28)

Next: the Great Coordinator

Weekly Memory Verse
   "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).

  























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Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe "The Bottle Cap" Or... "Finely Tuned" Part 3 - “How Wise? How Powerful?

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

(Friends: While walking the other day, I dropped the cap of my water bottle after taking a sip.  My immediate reaction involved the thought, "Wow, I sure don't feel like bending over to pick that up!"  However, as I stooped to retrieve the cap, a thought occurred to me: "Is God involved in something like this?"  He is, and this series of messages addresses the Bible's teaching regarding our Lord's loving involvement in our lives.)


"The Bottle Cap"

Or…

 "Finely Tuned"

Part 3 - "How Wise?  How Powerful?

      
    Is God required to directly determine everything that happens in order to fulfill "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord?" (Ephesians 3:11).  Scripture clearly teaches that He is not.  He rather possesses transcendent knowledge and power whereby He will fulfill His ultimate intentions in the face of His will often not being done.

   "His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5).
   "His greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3).

    Our Lord's understanding and power enables Him to allow myriads of things to happen contrary to His character, nature, and commands without jeopardizing the fulfillment of His eternal determinations.  This exalted view of God taught by the Bible casts us to our faces in wonder, awe, and even a proper measure of fear.  How can such a Being exist who operates in a manner we cannot even conceive in our human experience?  

   Consider, for example, a man who determines to design and manufacture the perfect widget (an impossibility, of course, but for the sake of discussion let us imagine the scenario).  He hires ten people to help plan, administrate and construct the widget.  Since the device must be perfect, both the man and his team must execute every aspect of the project without the slightest admixture of faulty design or error in construction.  One tiny mistake or flaw will doom the project.  Perfection, at least in human endeavors, would require immaculate design and execution.  From start to finish, all aspects of the undertaking must be perfectly performed in order to fulfill the man's dream.

   This scenario does not illustrate God and the fulfillment of His purpose.  He can accommodate the misuse of freedom by fallen angels and fallen humanity into His eternal designs in Christ, allowing choice after choice and action after action in opposition to His will.  As considered in yesterday's message, Scripture unequivocally states that our Lord does not lead or even tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13).   He does not require everyone to completely cooperate for success to be achieved.  Only the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit must perfectly act, which They will do.  "As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31).  How wise?  How powerful?  This wise and this powerful.  Such a perspective reveals our Lord to us in an exalted majesty and exhilarating mystery of glory, as opposed to a micro-managing dictator who could not achieve His purposes apart from forcing everyone to mindlessly do His bidding.  God works in all things, including the dropping of my bottle cap, but in the sense of coordination rather than control.  Or, as the Apostle Paul declared of the Lord's working in those who love Him, "For it is God which worketh all things together for good" (Romans 8:28; emphasis added).  Yes, the living and true God is so wise, powerful, involved, and active that countless expressions of imperfection will nevertheless synthesize into the pristine perfection of His eternal purpose in Christ.

   This Biblical perspective enables us to avoid the "que sera, sera" error of fatalism, that is, the notion that we exist in a deterministic reality wherein God and created beings have no possibility of living relationship because neither are actually personal.  This deception suggests the Lord to be merely a force who acts upon machines, rather than a triune Personality moving upon the face of hearts.  Nothing could be further from Biblical truth.  "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  Our Heavenly Father made us for loving and living fellowship with Himself through Christ.  Thus, His purpose required that He make us with the possibility of sin - which occurred - and with the possibility of salvation - which also occurs in all who freely receive His grace in the Lord Jesus.  Majesty?  Absolutely!  Mystery?  Absolutely!  But most of all, glory to the God who performs the impossible of weaving all things together for the revelation of His Son, the redemption of the saints, and the realization of sublime wonder…

"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever, Amen."
(I Timothy 1:17)
"For of Him, and to Him, and through Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."
(Romans 11:36)

Tomorrow: The mistake we cannot make

Weekly Memory Verse
   "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).

  























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Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe “The Bottle Cap” Or… "Finely Tuned” Part 2 Character First

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

(Friends: While walking the other day, I dropped the cap of my water bottle after taking a sip.  My immediate reaction involved the thought, "Wow, I sure don't feel like bending over to pick that up!"  However, as I stooped to retrieve the cap, a thought occurred to me: "Is God involved in something like this?"  He is, and this series of messages addresses the Bible's teaching regarding our Lord's loving involvement in our lives.)


"The Bottle Cap"

Or…

 "Finely Tuned"

Part 2 - Character First

      
   When considering the matter of God's finely tuned involvement in His creation and in our lives, we begin not with His capability, but with His character.  Rather than the wonder of how our Lord can be present and accounted for in all things, we must first consider His nature, disposition, and way.  What kind of God is He who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will?" (Ephesians 3:11).

   Love provides the primary Scriptural answer.  We know this because the Bible declares, "God is love" (I John 4:8; 16).  Moreover, God's first commands to human beings originally created in His image involve love.  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12:30-31).  If God made us in His image and our primary responsibility involves love, we must logically conclude that love - as defined by Scripture - constitutes the fundamental characteristic of who and what He is.

   The reason such truth must guide our consideration of God's working in all things involves the necessity of never suggesting our Lord to be responsible for sin or evil. 

   "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).

   Our Lord's character always and forever governs His capability.  He must act in accordance with His attributes.  This provides the fundamental Biblical definition of holiness, namely, our Lord's actions always conform with His being.  "Thou art good and doest good" (Psalm 119:68).  He is eternally sanctified, as it were, to His perfect nature and character.  "The Lord is righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17).  As we address the matter of God's finely tuned, universal working in all things, we therefore determine to interpret this Biblical truth in accordance with he pristine purity of His character, nature, and way .  We choose to neither directly or tacitly indict the living and true God with even a hint of responsibility for sin and evil.     "As for God His way is perfect God cannot be tempted with evil God cannot lie" (II Samuel 22:31; James 1:13; Titus 1:2). 

   All bets would be off, as it were, if the plainly stated Biblical declarations above were not true.  It would be utterly terrifying if God worked all things after the counsel of His own will, but was not "righteous in all His ways and holy in all His works."  If He were not guided by the nature of His love (again, love as defined by Scripture), He could not be trusted.  This would indeed be the most fearful of realities.  If God could act arbitrarily or capriciously, we would likely never have existed, or if we did, would already be perishing in the flames of His judgment fires.  Thankfully, such conjecture has no bearing on truth or reality.  Those who trust God through the Lord Jesus Christ may therefore joyfully affirm His fine tuning of all things, while also diligently avoiding the assigning of blame to Him for sin, evil, and wrong.  

    Does this raise numerous questions regarding God's loving involvement in all things?  Absolutely!  Are there answers to these questions?  Absolutely!  Will we ever fully understand all the answers?  Absolutely not!  Nor do we need to have complete knowledge of how a perfect God works all things after the counsel of His own will, while never being responsible for sin.  'The secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but the things which are revealed belong unto us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law" (Deuteronomy 29:29).  Scripture unequivocally proclaims the wondrous truth that God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit exist in an eternally pristine spiritual and moral character of perfection.  We must believe and affirm this truth with all our hearts, and in all our understanding, interpretation, and communication of Biblical truth.  Whatever it means that our Lord works all things after the counsel of His will, we can be sure that His character always - always - guides His capability.  And we can fall to our faces in joyous wonder and gratitude that God's fine tuning forever flows with His faithful trustworthiness...

"And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True."
(Revelation 19:11)

Tomorrow: How Wise?  How Powerful?

Weekly Memory Verse
   "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).

  






















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Monday, August 26, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe "The Bottle Cap" Or... "Finely Tuned" Part 1

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


"The Bottle Cap"

Or…

 "Finely Tuned"

Part 1

      
   While walking the other day, I dropped the cap of my water bottle after taking a sip.  My immediate reaction involved the thought, "Wow, I sure don't feel like stopping and bending over to pick that up!"  However, as I contorted to retrieve the cap, a thought occurred to me: "Is God involved in something like this?"

    Certainly He is.  "God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will… All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose" (Ephesians 1:3; 11; Romans 8:28).  "All" in Scripture means all if it means anything at all.  I mentioned this to Frances, which led to an interesting discussion about our Lord's loving involvement in our lives.  Scripture plainly teaches God's presence and working in all things, particularly in the lives of believers.  How finely tuned is this Divine activity?  Interestingly, the entirety of creation speaks to the issue.

   "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).

   Science more and more discovers the precise physical parameters that make life possible on earth (and in broader terms, even make possible the very existence of the physical universe).  The position of the earth in the solar system and the galaxy, its distance from the sun and the moon, the tilt of the planet on its axis, the nature of mass, energy, and gravity, the expansion rate of the universe, and numerous other realities of physics confirm the intricate tuning of creation as designed and sustained by its Creator.  Clearly, He possesses unfathomable wisdom, knowledge, understanding, power, and most importantly for the current discussion, a pointed involvement in all things.  Creation is finely tuned to an immeasurable degree.  Thus, since "the invisible things of Him are clearly seen by the things that are made," we can be sure that God's working in our lives follows suit.

   "The Lord hath made all things for Himself… by Him all things consist" (Proverbs 16:4; Colossians 1:17).

   So, was our Heavenly Father somehow involved in my dropping the bottle cap?  Absolutely!  But how?  What do we mean by "involved?"  Over the next few messages we will consider the Bible's revelation of a God present and accounted for in all things.  We will ponder the interesting meaning of such universal working and how the proper understanding thereof affects our relationship with the Lord and with people, and how it guides and empowers us in every aspect of our finely tuned lives.  Indeed, this constitutes the primary question of this series of messages: How finely tuned are our lives?  What does Scripture mean by its declaration of God working all things after the counsel of His will, and all things together for good to them that love Him?  We can never know everything about these vital issues of truth and reality.  We can know enough, however, to think in terms of Scriptural revelation, and respond in a manner that fosters proper response to our Lord and a proper Biblical understanding of His finely tuned and loving involvement in all things.

"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.  Amen."
(Romans 11:36)

Tomorrow: Character first, then capability

Weekly Memory Verse
   "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20).

  






















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Saturday, August 24, 2019

Orange Moon Cafe "More Blessed To Give”

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


"More Blessed To Give"

      
   We taught our children that when we share something with others, God blesses what we have left with greater satisfaction, enjoyment, and the gift of knowing, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).  They learned well, thankfully, and it is a joy to see them as adults act in consistent self-sacrificial blessing to others.

   I experienced such blessedness yesterday regarding our daughters Marie and Emmie as I enjoyed the best peach of the summer.   Emmie and I know one of the great truths of God's creation, namely, that peaches serve as summer's greatest gift to our hearts, tastebuds, and bellies (Marie likes peaches, but is not the enthusiast about them as is her sister and dad.  Not yet, that is!).  Indeed, I defy any atheist to give significant consideration to the beauty, fragrance, texture, and taste of a good peach without realizing that a mindless universe could never have evolved such a wonder of glory.  Only God could have made the peach.  Moreover, He made sharing peaches an even greater blessing.  So, as I cut into the best peach of the current season, and as its sweet juice dribbled down my chin and its perfect flavor and texture graced my palette, a joyful thought raced into my mind: "Emmie has got to have some of this!"  I remembered we were scheduled to have dinner with our daughters, so I wrapped up half of the peach and placed it in the refrigerator.  I then finished my portion with far greater enjoyment because I knew how much Emmie would share my enthusiasm about this best and brightest version of summer's best fruit.  She did, and to make the blessing all the more blessed, Marie also shared in the experience.  She concurred: "That's really good!" (That's my girl!).

   Not only did I have have opportunity to share with one daughter, but with two!  Such glory proceeds straight out of God's glorious heart.  As we frequently suggest in these messages, He "loveth a cheerful giver" because He is Himself the most cheerful of givers (II Corinthians 9:7).  His delight in bestowing provision for the needs and desires of His universe cannot be measured.  The best we can do is remember that in order to give rather than judge, God the Father sent His Son to the cross of Calvary and its horrific loss, thereby making possible His gracious bestowal of "every good gift and every perfect gift" (James 1:17).

    "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

   Little wonder that the universe flows with the current of giving and sharing.  Those who flow with it in Christ find immeasurable joys in moments of sacrifice that fill our hearts even as we empty our hands in bestowals to others.  The beauty of such grace originates and forever proceeds from God's heart.  This is who He is, the good, great, joyous and generous One who "giveth to all of life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).  The cheerful Giver.  Yes, God made the peach.  He made a particularly wonderful edition in late summer 2019.  And He made sharing it the greatest gift of all because the Bible declares for a reason that it is more blessed to give than to receive.  Because it truly is more blessed to give than to receive.

"It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
(Luke 12:32)

Weekly Memory Verse
    "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any tribulation by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
(II Corinthians 1:3-4)

  






















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