Saturday, December 9, 2023

Orange Moon Saturday, December 9, 2023 "Many Wonderful Works"

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



"Many Wonderful Works"



  "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?   And in thy name have cast out devils?   And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

   

   

   "In that day," referring to the coming time of judgment, no one who touts their own doings will be received into everlasting life with God.  The redeemed will rather proclaim only the doings of the Lord Jesus Christ on their behalf as their hope of Heaven and eternal blessedness in His presence.  "This is the will of Him that sent Me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40).  Indeed, our supposed "many wonderful works" would actually condemn us if we come to God affirming our own doings rather than the perfect and complete accomplishment of the Lord Jesus for our redemption.  


    The same holds true in this day.  "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith in this grace where we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2).  Our sole access to God lies in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus.  What we do matters much, of course, and we do not take lightly our freely given access to the aptly termed "throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16).  Never, however, do believers affirm our own works as the means whereby God calls us unto Himself, and we respond.  We come through Christ to seek fellowship with God and His involvement in our lives.  Or we do not come at all.  "Through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18).


   This awareness will perpetuate our coming to God in times of both faithfulness and unfaithfulness.  If we do the will of God, we approach Him with praise and thanksgiving, in full recognition that He alone receives glory for our doings.  "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).  If we sin, we approach Him in full recognition that we can be forgiven, cleansed, and restored to walking with God as we avail ourselves of Christ's merits and working on our behalf.  "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).  Either contingency finds the believer aware that trusting in Christ and Christ alone assures our Heavenly Father's reception of us both now and forevermore.  Yes, we come to God by "many wonderful works."  But not our own…


A trail of Blood graces the path,

leading to the throne

where God receives the trusting heart,

approaching by His Son.


Without the cross, there could not be

this access freely known.

Without such sorrow, pain, and loss,

we'd have nowhere to go.


Yes, every prayer flows to the throne

on floodtides of Christ's blood,

we come with grateful, trusting hearts,

in wonder of such love.

A trail of Blood graces the path leading to the throne…



"For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did, by the which we draw nigh unto God."

(Hebrews 7:19)

"Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water."

(Hebrews 10:19-22)


Weekly Memory Verse

    In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

(Romans 8:37)






















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Friday, December 8, 2023

Orange Moon Friday, December 8, 2023 "The Sweet Sigh"

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



"The Sweet Sigh"



  "Let us then ask our Heavenly Father to lead and empower us to be good stewards of His belongings, goods, and property.  His name graces the title of everything and everybody in His creation."

   

   

   We do well to frequently take stock and give an accounting of that which belongs to us.  The process does not take long since nothing we have actually belongs to us.


    "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world and all they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).


   Of course, in temporal, earthly terms we may "own" many things.  We seek to do so honestly, honorably, and in a manner that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ.  However, in terms of spiritual truth and reality, we must decisively acknowledge that all we are and all we have exists as the possession of Another.  "I am thine" (Psalm 119:94).  We can have no peace apart from this abiding fact of ourselves and our things.  "To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" (Romans 8:6).


    The delusion of being owners rather than stewards began long ago began with Lucifer, the created angelic being who somehow deceived himself into believing the dark lie.  "I will be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14).  Adam willfully embraced the iniquity in Eden, which passes down through the ages to all born of his lineage.  We naturally believe ourselves to own ourselves, a deadly deception that should be confirmed by how swiftly we race to the grave and the relinquishing of our deluded possession and control.  "What is your life?  It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).  We nevertheless require supernatural intervention to find deliverance from the deception and the ongoing recognition of the living God as "the possessor of Heaven and earth" (Genesis 14:22).


    Let us take that stock, make that inventory, and breathe the sweet sigh of relief that all of ourselves and our possessions belongs to Another.  Let us then ask our Heavenly Father to lead and empower us to be good stewards of His belongings, goods, and property.  His name graces the title of everything and everybody in His creation.  He allows for created beings to think and act otherwise, with built in consequences for our chosen delusion.  Thankfully, He works in human hearts to use those consequences as the revelation that He owns Heaven, earth, and "all they that dwell therein."  Faith in the Lord Jesus begins our deliverance from the lie.  Growth in the grace and knowledge of the Savior progressively leads to inhale the sweet sigh, and then exhale praise and thanksgiving that who we are and what we have belongs to One so very able to possess and govern all things.  No greater peace blesses our hearts and minds, and no greater opportunity to honor our Lord than to live in the light of peace that reveals…


"Of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

(Romans 11:36)


Weekly Memory Verse

    In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

(Romans 8:37)






















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