Orange Moon Cafe "So Good"

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

(Friends: I have to mention that as I wrote this, our new beagle puppy Ellie, sitting beside me, tucked her head under my arm and rested  it just under my computer.  As expected, I have a new coauthor to follow in the pawprints of Sparrow.  The  Lord is indeed so good! :):)  - Glen).

   "So Good"

   

   On the road yesterday, we stopped at a gas station wherein it seemed thousands of gaudy items for sale lined the walls.  I won't go into detail regarding the types of treasures one could buy, but an item caught my eye I almost wish I had bought.  A wall plaque, ornately decorated and glistening with what must have been dozens of coats of varnish, bore the words, "God has been so good to me!"

    "The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9).

    The longer I live and the older I get, the more I realize how undeservedly good our Lord has been to me.  Moreover, the longer I ponder the Bible's revelation that "every good gift and every perfect gift" comes our way solely by the merits, Person, and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more I become aware indeed of the infinite goodness of God.  Romans 8:32 continually grows in my appreciation and wonder:

    "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).

    "With Him... freely give us all things."  The Lord Jesus provides not only our salvation from sin and gift of eternal life with Him.  He also serves as the foundation and conduit of every provision of God.  "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19; emphasis added).  This means that "life and breath and all things" flow to us moment by moment through the Lord Jesus.  In some manner beyond our understanding, He is the heart of God's every bestowal regarding the entirety of our being and existence.  "I AM" He declared of Himself, echoing the name of God proclaimed to Moses (John 8:58; Exodus 3:14).  While this primarily refers to Christ's eternal being as God the Son, Scripture also confirms its Personal significance and relationship to us.  He is the I AM of every supply, for every need, forevermore.  "All your need... by Christ Jesus."  This includes the needs of this moment, whatever their nature regarding spirit, soul, and body, or circumstance, condition, or situation.  The Lord Jesus is the heart of every gift we will ever receive from God.  Thus, we may always look Heavenward to trust and affirm Christ as the supply and provision of God.  Because He is.

   The most poignant aspect of this truth involves the price our Lord paid for all things freely given.  Every breath we have ever breathed comes to us by way of the suffering, forsakenness, and death of the Lord Jesus.  Were He not "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," and the Lamb slain in space/time history, God would have instantly condemned and executed justice on the human race when Adam sinned (Revelation 13:8).  We were all in our original forefather - "in Adam all die" - and without Christ, judgment would have fallen (I Corinthians 15:22).  Thus, we must view the provision of Christ always in light of the price He paid to "freely give us all things."  Every provision is figuratively stained with our Savior's precious blood, including the next breath we will breathe.  Poignant indeed, and so much more to the heart that sees the sorrows of Calvary as the furnace in which God forged our provision of both now and forever.

   I wish I had bought that plaque.  Far more, I hope to continue in astonished awe regarding the undeserved goodness of God.  It came and it comes at such a cost, to such a Savior.  "The Lord has been so good to me!"  I know you share this sentiment of astonished wonder, and I know you join me in this moment to give grateful thanks.

"For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations."

(Psalm 100:5)

Weekly Memory Verse

    His commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world.
(I John 5:3-4)

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