Orange Moon Thursday, August 31, 2023 “One Haven”

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

"One Haven"

     

    "We shall not find perfect faithfulness in anyone else.  Thus, when others forsake us, or fail us, or even break our hearts, a Heart awaits us that all along has promised the only perfect loyalty we shall ever find."

    

      Our hearts require perfect faithfulness in order to know peace and assurance.  We will find such trustworthiness only in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up" (Psalm 27:10).

    My father passed away when I was two years old.  He greatly desired to be a loving parent to me throughout my childhood and adolescence.  The human weakness of a heart condition, however, ended his life prematurely.  "All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away" (I Peter 1:24). My mother reared me, and served in loving and self-sacrificial faithfulness to me in ways for which I can never give enough thanks.  She did everything she could, amid challenging circumstances, to provide for me.  I have nothing but fond and grateful memories of her.  She did not forsake me in any manner, but rather shed blood, sweat, and tears to provide the most amazing care and nurturing.  However, devoted as she was, I am well aware that she could not be perfectly trustworthy to the charge given her by God and the path He paved for her.  Human weakness prevented that, as it does all born of Adam's race.  

    One Heart alone beckons us to His throne of grace, from which perfect faithfulness forever flows in torrents of mercy and goodness.

    "Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds" (Psalm 36:5).

    "God… cannot lie" (Titus 1:2).

    "His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him" (Lamentations 3:22-24).

    We must find perfect faithfulness if our hearts are to know peace.  Or rather, it must find us by the working of the very One we so desperately need.  The God who cannot lie ever moves among the children of men to lead lost ones to discover His peace in salvation.  The same God ever moves deeply within the spirits of His redeemed ones to remind and encourage us that He can be trusted  in all things.  Of He alone can this be said.  We shall not find perfect faithfulness in anyone else.  Thus, when others forsake us, or fail us, or even break our hearts, a Heart awaits us that all along has promised the only perfect loyalty we shall ever find.  Solomon well knew this, and beckoned us to cast ourselves completely upon our sole haven of rest, the only One upon whom we can cast ourselves with complete abandon in the confidence He will never fail nor forsake us…

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."

(Proverbs 3:5-6) 

"And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True."

(Revelation 19:11)

Weekly Memory Verse

       "Thou art good, and doest good." 

(Psalm 119:68).

6949

 

  

    

     

Orange Moon Wednesday, August 30, 2023 "As Dear Children... We Shall Be Like Him"

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

"As Dear Children… We Shall Be Like Him"

     

    "We are so dear to God that He works all things together for the good of making us like the One who has forever been dear to Him.  He could do absolutely nothing more loving or gracious for us."

    

      

   As we arrived for a service at a local retirement community yesterday, staff members served the residents lemonade and cake.  I know of few better combinations for an afternoon snack, or of bringing back wonderful memories from childhood summers, spent with my paternal grandparents on their farm.

     "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. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Romans 8:28-29).

    "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children" (Ephesians 5:1).

    My grandfather made the best lemonade I have ever tasted.  On warm summer evenings, as the sun set, we often enjoyed his concoction of water, lemon, and sugar as we sat on the porch, watching the sun go down across farm fields.  I can still taste it in memory, and wish I could have just one more sip in the present.  Even more, I wish I could have a few more moments on that porch with my grandparents as the day waned and the light of a summer day faded.

    I also recall my grandmother's pound cake.  Again, "the best" comes to heart and mind (although to be fair, my wife Frances's version occupies a place right there with my grandmother's pound cake).  I also remember my grandmother making not only one large cake but also a smaller individual portion baked in a special cake pan.  My grandmother made this blessing just for me, and I smile just thinking about how special it made me feel.  

    Such blessed recollections cause me to think of our Heavenly Father and His loving presence and working in the lives of His trusting children in Christ.  My grandfather's lemonade resulted from his combining disparate components - water; lemon; sugar - which resulted in what I recall as a perfect treat to end the day.  Our Heavenly Father works in a similar fashion as He weaves the countless moments of our lives together for the purpose of conforming us to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus.  Disparate realities - blessings; challenges; everyday moments - will result in the Christlikeness that will glorify God, fill our hearts with joy beyond description, and enable us to love others as our Lord loves others.  No greater or more perfect prospect can grace our expectation than "we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).

    I think also of the place we hold in our Father's heart - "dear children" - when remembering my grandmother's special kindness.  The tiny version - made just for me - of her amazing pound cake speaks through the years, bearing witness to the large place I held in her heart.  This reminds me of the wondrous place we all hold in our Heavenly Father's heart.  How can this not be true when we recall the extent to which God worked to make possible our birth into "the whole family of Heaven and earth?" (Ephesians 3:15).  "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).  Yes, God loves us so dearly that He desires an entire family of sons and daughters no less cherished than "His dear Son" (Colossians 1:13).  

   Memories of my grandfather and grandmother's special kindnesses bring the thought: we are so dear to God that He works all things together for the good of making us like the One who has forever been dear to Him.  He could do absolutely nothing more loving or gracious for us.  So, thank you, Grandpa, thank you, Grandma, for cherished memories.  And thank You, Heavenly Father, for cherished realities in the present, which will shine upon us all the more, forevermore.  "As dear children… we shall be like Him."

"And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

 (John 17:26)

Weekly Memory Verse

       "Thou art good, and doest good." 

(Psalm 119:68)

6948

 

  

    

     

Orange Moon Tuesday, August 29, 2023 "Who? What?"

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

"Who?  What?"

     

    "Two rails of  worship comprise genuine relationship and fellowship with God.  Who?  What?  Paul asked the two great questions, exemplifying  our calling to spiritually journey with God in both heart and mind."

    

      

    The Apostle Paul asked the two most important questions of human existence.

    "Who art Thou, Lord?" (Acts 9:5).

    "What saith the Scripture?" (Romans 4:3).

    The first inquiry occurred when the Lord revealed Himself to Paul on the road to Damascus.  The Apostle included the second in his dissertation regarding justification by faith.  The questions serve as corollary to one other.  We find the answer to "Who art Thou, Lord?" in the Bible.  

     "The Scriptures… testify of Me" (John 7:38).  

     We then find answers to "What saith the Scripture?" as God personally illuminates our Biblical understanding.  

    "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 2:11-12).  

    We do well to ask both questions throughout our earthly sojourn and walk with God, seeking to increasingly know Him, and to understand His truth.  Or, as the Apostle Peter commanded, "Grow in grace (personal reception of God's freely given favor in Christ - 'Who?') and the knowledge (understanding of Biblical truth about God - 'What?') of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).

     Who is God?  The Bible tells us.  What does the Bible say?  God teaches us by His Spirit as we seek Him in His Word.  Thereby we "worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).  We must keep both questions at the forefront of our walk with the Lord, seeking Him in both personal and principled terms.  Indeed, two rails of  worship comprise genuine relationship and fellowship with God.  Who?  What?  Paul asked the great questions, exemplifying  our calling to spiritually journey with God in both heart and mind.  Thereby, we love the Lord, and thereby, He prepares us to influence others by that same love as we bear witness to Someone we know, whose truth we understand.  

"This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent."

(John 17:3)

"Lead me in Thy truth and teach me.  For Thou art the God of my salvation, on Thee do I wait all the day."

(Psalm 25:5)

Weekly Memory Verse

       "Thou art good, and doest good." 

(Psalm 119:68).

6947

 

  

    

     

Orange Moon Monday, August 28, 2023 "Who Are You?"

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

(Thanks to the S&H Boys, Scott and Herb, for inspiration on this one.)

"Who Are You?"

     

    "We open the Bible for many reasons.  That which most awaits us on the sacred Pages, however, is the answer to the great question of our existence, both now and forevermore: Who is He?  Or, to make it personal, "Lord, who are You?"

    

    Everything God does proceeds from who He is.  His I AM perfectly and forever motivates His I WILL DO (Exodus 3:14; Isaiah 46:10).

    "Thou art good, and doest good" (Psalm 119:68).

    Can our Lord do anything?  No, He cannot.  "God," declared the Apostle Paul, "cannot lie" (Titus 1:2).  Nor can He do anything that does not accord with the eternally infinite purity of His character, nature, and way.  "Nothing is too hard" for our Lord to do (Jeremiah 32:17).  But many things are too unholy for Him to do.  "As for God, His way is perfect… without iniquity, just and right is He" (II Samuel 22:31; Deuteronomy 32:41).

    No truth about our Lord more establishes, maintains, and forever guides us in our knowing and seeking to relate to Him.  We must discover as well as possible the being of God in order to rightly understand His doings, as revealed by His Spirit, His Word, His people, and His involved presence in our lives.  Indeed, we open the Bible for many reasons.  That which most awaits us on the sacred Pages, however, is the answer to the great question of our existence, both now and forevermore: "Who is He?"  Or, to make it personal, "Lord, who are You?"

    Now and forevermore will not fully answer the question.  "His greatness is unsearchable" (Psalm 145:3).  Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have set forth upon an Ocean without shore, whose depths cannot be fully plumbed.  The further we venture into the heart of God, the more we thrill in what we discover, and in what the present scene of glory promises to come.  "The deep things of God" await us as the Holy Spirit leads us into  the wonders of our Lord's character and nature, the goodness of which the poet Faber so beautifully penned…  "Shoreless Ocean, who can sound Thee?  Thine own eternity is round Thee, Majesty divine!" (I Corinthians 2:10).

    Consider.  Someone calls us into His heart, Someone who gave the heart of His eternally beloved Son to be broken by sorrow, and then pierced by a spear as the greatest unveiling of who God is.  How can we ever possibly fully discover such goodness?  The Prince of life suffered, was forsaken, and died for a human race that disbelieved Him, disobeyed Him, ignored Him, mocked Him, and ultimately nailed Him to a cross.  Rather than pray for legions of angels to deliver Him, the Lord Jesus sought for and obtained untold measures of mercy to be delivered to those who smote Him (and for all of us whose sins made necessary His sorrow).  The echoes of His prayer still ring in the halls of Heaven, and answers still proceed from the throne of grace.  "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).  

   Calvary most assures us that "the deep things of God" promise an eternity of "wonders without number" (Job 9:10).  Who is He?  "Lord, who are You?"  Regardless of how long we have lived as a believer, the questions still apply.  As they will forevermore…

There is no end to the quest we know,

forever beckons on.

For we soar in skies so bright and blue,

above all clouds and storm.

Yes, we fly into the heart of God, 

as in His Son we trust,

and earth will soon be nothing more

than long forgotten dust.

So spread your wings and catch the wind,

o journeyman of hope,

and race toward horizons blessed

with those who also know

That the quest of hearts is Jesus,

He is our shining sun,

it matters not how far we've come…

the Journey's just begun.

"The woman saith unto Him, Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?  Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

(John 4:11-14)

Weekly Memory Verse

       "Thou art good, and doest good." 

(Psalm 119:68).

6946