Sunday, July 31, 2022

Orange Moon Sunday, July 31, 2022 "The Divine Parameters

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


"The Divine Parameters"

    

    Spiritual and moral parameters guide the thoughts, words, and doings of God.

    He will always act according to His character and nature.  "Thou art good, and doest good" (Psalm 119:68).  Being perfectly holy, God is sanctified to the integrity of His Person.  His doings forever flow from His being, constituting the eternal protocol of Who He Is motivating What He Does.  Thereby, He can rightly declare, "I am the Lord, I change not" (Malachi 3:6).  

    He will always act according to "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  History is, as the saying goes, His Story, which centers in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus.  The determination will proceed forever, and in this day.  Indeed, if ever we wonder what God is doing in our life, we can be sure the glory of His Son constitutes His primary focus and intent.  "All men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (John 5:23).

   He will always act in truth, that is, in reality as it actually is.  He knows that reality - "His understanding is infinite" - and ever works with full knowledge of the facts (Psalm 147:5).  Of no one else can this be said, thus rendering His ways sometimes mysterious to us, while always being perfectly clear to Himself.  "A God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).

    He will always act in love, whether in gracious and merciful bestowals of blessedness, or in administrations of justice and wrath.  "God is love" declared the Apostle John, and our Lord cannot and will not violate His primary nature (I John 4:8).  The Christ who died on the cross in unselfish devotion to God and others will one day execute judgment in that same devotion (John 5:22).  Those who receive Him will joyfully know the blessedness.  Those who reject Him will sorrowfully know the justice and wrath.  But God will have acted according to the love that concurrently redeems the righteous, while protecting His creation from the unrighteous (Revelation 22:14-15).

   Finally, He will always act in accordance with our best interests, which all correlate with the Divine parameters mentioned above.  In the marvel of His wisdom, our Heavenly Father perfectly coordinates everything in the lives of His sons and daughters in Christ for the good of conforming us to spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:28-29).  This will involve moments of both blessedness and challenge as our Father weaves all together for our ultimate benefit.  We may not always understand the ways of His hand in the light of such wisdom.  But we can always trust His heart and His devotion.  "If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31).

   Such a God, ever true to Himself, can be ever trusted to be true to His creation and to us.  Thus, we can fling our hearts without reserve upon His heart, and we can be sure of this: no one has ever trusted the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and been disappointed for doing so.  And no one ever will.  The Divine Parameters of who He is forever motivating what He does guarantee this most blessed of assurances.

"As for God, His way is perfect."
(II Samuel 22:31)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
 (Galatians 4:6).
































   

   


   



  











































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Saturday, July 30, 2022

Orange Moon Saturday, July 30, 2022 "Expert Status"

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


"Expert Status"

    

    No experts exist in the body of Christ regarding any Biblical subject.

    "And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know" (I Corinthians 8:2).

   Certainly, God calls some to communicate His truth, gifts them accordingly, and sends them forth to help other believers in their walk of faith and faithfulness.  We gratefully appreciate such ones, and seek to benefit from those who "who labor in the Word and doctrine" (I Timothy 5:17).  We nevertheless seek to always maintain primary focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, giving Him all the preeminence, and remembering that even the most faithful communicators of "the Word and doctrine" have only just begun their eternal journey into God and His truth.  "Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8).

   The absence of experts regarding matters of Scripture serves as an excellent motivation for all born again believers in the Lord Jesus to recognize their own privileged responsibility to read and ponder God's Word.  Indeed, the Apostle Paul's counsel to Timothy echoes through the ages to all of us in this day and hour: "Give attendance to reading" (I Timothy 4:17).  The indwelling Holy Spirit makes possible every Christian's capacity to attend daily seminars in the Scriptures, as it were, meeting God therein, gaining understanding of His truth, and absorbing light in a measure that results in faith and faithfulness.  

   "But the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him" (I John 2:27).

    Certainly, this does not preclude necessary benefit from those called and gifted to help us in our understanding.  It does, however, direct us to exalt the Lord Jesus only, and to seek Him in personal terms of devotion whereby we expect God to enlighten and lead us.  Indeed, the Holy Spirit indwells every believer as the fulfilled promise of the Lord Jesus: "When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).  We must expect such illumination, based on the Spirit's ability to teach more than our ability to learn.  Realizing that He alone abides as the sole Expert to whom we look for understanding, while appreciating and availing ourselves of His called communicators, will go far in leading us to "grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).

    We exalt no one whose sins made necessary the suffering, forsakenness, and death of the Lord Jesus.  Nor do we assign expert status to anyone who "knows nothing yet as he ought to know."  Such realization will go far in personally leading us in the light of God and the glory of the Lord Jesus, as directed by the singular expert regarding truth, the Spirit of God.

"The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God."
(I Corinthians 2:11)
"Let he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
 (II Corinthians 10:14)
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
 (Romans 8:14)
"I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with Mine eye."
(Psalm 32:8)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
 (Galatians 4:6)
































   

   


   



  











































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Friday, July 29, 2022

Orange Moon Friday, July 29, 2022 “The Power That Worketh In Us”

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


"The Power That Worketh In Us"

    

    Ephesians 3:20-21 proclaims "the power that worketh in us," whereby God "is able to do exeeding, abundantly above all we ask or think."

    What is this power?  Certainly, the Holy Spirit serves as God's mighty enabling in the hearts and lives of born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you" (Acts 1:8).  

   "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

    As with the power of electricity, the enabling of the Holy Spirit requires means of transmission to be available and effectual.  Without lines that carry electricity from plants that generate power to machines and devices empowered, things remain quiet, dark, and motionless.  Is spiritual terms, the power of God must be transmitted from Him to us through the current of faith.

   "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).

  

   God made us for personal, living relationship with Himself.  "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).  Nothing more speaks of the personal than faith.  When one trusts another, hearts connect in a singular way no other aspect of relationship can duplicate.  Little wonder then that a personal God created the race of beings in His image with the capacity for faith whereby we relate to Him, and whereby His heart and life flow through us (Genesis 1:26).  As we trust God, the Holy Spirit who so powerfully "moved upon the waters" in the original creation now effectually moves upon the hearts of those spiritually birthed into the new creation of Christ (Genesis 1:2; II Corinthians 5:17).  In our case, He does so through our personal connection of relating and responding to God by faith.  "He that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

   Obviously, faith requires the knowledge of God declared by the Lord Jesus to be the essence of eternal life.  We trust someone to the degree we know them.  This behooves us to know our Lord better and better, more and more, and truer and truer.  Again, the Spirit of God provides the means.  "The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God" (I Corinthians 2:1-12).  Yes, the power to know God, as enabled by the Spirit, results in the power to trust God by the same Spirit.  This leads to an empowered life of thought, word, deed, and relating to God and man in faith and faithfulness.  "The power that worketh in us" provides such grace, the power of God's Spirit working in us to generate and transmit faith and the fruits produced thereby.  The Apostle Paul commended the Thessalonians for such faith, resulting in such work, and we close with His affirmation…

"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith."
 (I Thessalonians 1:3).

Weekly Memory Verse
    Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
 (Galatians 4:6).
































   

   


   



  











































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Thursday, July 28, 2022

Orange Moon Thursday, June 28, 2022 "Fragrant Hearts"

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


"Fragrant Hearts"


    "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus" (Luke 24:1-3).

   The Lord's followers ventured to His tomb with spices because they expected to find decay rather than resurrection.

    What do we expect of the risen Christ?  Do circumstances, conditions, and situations find us "bringing the spices" to anoint death?  Or do we bear the expectation of finding an empty tomb?  Is the Lord Jesus the risen Christ in context of this troubling matter?  Or that challenging problem?  Or some perplexing dilemma?  Or even a painful heartache or heartbreak?  As we look at a a world ever fading into the darkness of its prophecied demise (before its ultimate redemption), do we direct our primary gaze Heavenward to see by faith an occupied throne where no anointing spices will ever be required?  Yes, Christ is risen from the dead, and His surpassing life beyond death bears its mighty impact in every venue of our lives.  "Because I live, ye shall live also.  At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you" (John 14:19-20).

   We may leave the spices at home.  They will not be required at the empty tomb, or at the venues of life where the Prince of life awaits us in His risen glory.  Let us rather bring a heart fragrant with faith to every blessing, every challenge, and every seemingly mundane moment that actually serves as opportunity to remember the promise - "I will rise again" - and its fulfillment - "He is not here.  He is risen, as He said" (Matthew 27:63; 28:6).  Yes, the Lord Jesus Christ is risen from the dead as the hope of the ages, and as the hope of hearts fragrant with the faith to know He will be found alive in all things.

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." 
(Colossians 3:1)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
 (Galatians 4:6)
































   

   


   



  











































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Wednesday, July 27, 2022

Orange Moon Wednesday, July 27, 2022 “Paper and Ink, Spirit and Truth”

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


"Paper and Ink, Spirit and Truth"

    On first glance, the Bible appears to be like any other book, composed of paper, ink, and perhaps leather or some other sturdy cover material.  In the most basic sense, we also read it as we do other documents, seeking to assimilate words and their meaning into our minds.  Indeed, we can peruse the Scriptures in mere academic or informational terms, learning important facts, but without experiencing significant spiritual and moral impact.

    Conversely, we can approach the Bible by faith, believing it to be what it is, the very Word of God.  

    "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (II Timothy 3:16).

   We can also realize that to the trusting heart in Christ, the Holy Spirit speaks through Scripture to constitute our reading, pondering, and response in terms of inspiration no less than information.  As the saying goes, the Bible exists as the only book that comes with its author.  "I will pour out My Spirit unto you, I will make known My words unto you" (Proverbs 1:23).  Such awareness transforms the Bible into substance infinitely beyond paper, ink, leather, and information.  Through the Holy Spirit, reading ushers us into reality as the pages of Scripture become open portals through which the living God shines upon and within us.  "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).

   It is possible for even committed believers to read the Bible as if we are merely reading.  It often seems or feel this way.  However, to the humble, trusting heart, something far more takes place before an open Bible.  The Lord who ever dwells nearer to us than our next breath somehow draws even closer.  We may or may not realize this special dispensation of His living presence.  Nor do we always realize how He impacts our hearts and lives on each occasion of our reading.  We can, however, be sure that things happen of eternal value and significance when we place our hearts and minds before the light of God's Word.  How could it be otherwise?  Words formed in eternity found their way onto pages of time without losing their power to change us forevermore.  "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth" (John 17:17).

   Paper and ink make possible our journey into Spirit and Truth.  Like every other book in many ways, the Bible nevertheless transcends all other objects in the world because it so personally and powerfully presents its sublime Subject to our hearts.  In these times when enemies violently reject its light, and when even seeming friends question its singular place and validity, we must realize the gift of grace God gives to all who approach Scripture in the realization that He awaits us there as we read, and as reading becomes something more, so very much more.

"I rejoice at Thy word, as one that findeth great spoil."
(Psalm 119:62)
"Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O LORD God of hosts."
(Jeremiah 15:16)

Weekly Memory Verse
    Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father.
 (Galatians 4:6).
































   

   


   



  











































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