Orange Moon Monday, October 30, 2023 "With Whom We Go"

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

"With Whom We Go"

    

       "We go out, not knowing for certain whither we go.  We know for certain, however, with Whom we go.  And that will be enough."   

    

   "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went" (Hebrews 11:8). 

   Abraham did, however, know with Whom he went.  

   We do not know the backstory of how Abraham first met the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He first appears in Scripture, responding to the Lord's call to "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee" (Genesis 12:1).  We can surmise this command was not the first encounter and communication Abraham had with God, especially considering the monumental nature of the calling to leave everything of the past and go forth unto an uncertain future in an unknown land.  The Lord does not call human hearts to steps of faithful obedience without first revealing Himself in personal terms, initiating relationship.  We may therefore  surmise that "the father of us all" regarding personal faith in the Lord had come to know God before being called to the challenging step of trust and obedience, "not knowing whither he went" (Romans 4:16)

    Again, however, Abraham knew in some measure with whom he went.  In real terms, this constitutes the life of every born again believer in the Lord Jesus.  We have our expectations about what this day holds, and where it will lead us.  But we do not know for certain.  We rightly make our plans, and will likely be able to fulfill them, to one degree or another.  However, absolute certainty regarding where today's path will lead us does not accompany our journey in a fallen world.  Thus, we do well to embrace with our hearts the one absolute certainty that can be known.  "I will be with thee… I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" sounds the promise from the heart of God regarding His abiding presence in all who trust the Lord Jesus (Isaiah 43:2; Hebrews 13:5).  This certainty and this assurance lies before and presently envelops believers with the wondrous promise that whence we go, we go not alone.  "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).

    Much of Abraham's backstory remains hidden to us.  The great truth of his faith story, as it were, shines brightly on the pages of the Bible.  Of all that can be said of the man, this most characterizes the chronicle of his journey:  God was with him.  God went with him.  God never forsook him.  God kept the promise of His presence, and the promise of fulfilling His Word.  These assurances abide for those who "who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham" (Romans 4:12).  We go out, not knowing for certain whither we go.  We know for certain, however, with Whom we go.  And that will be enough.

I wait for you, My child, wherever you may go.

I'll be there when you arrive, I'll be with you as you go.

For we live our life together,  you venture not alone.

Our hearts made one forever, united in My Son.

I wait for you, My child, 

I'll be with you as you go.

I made you for such grace, to be My Spirit's home.

Oh, look into My face, and with assurance know

that we'll always be together,  you'll never be alone.

We'll be as one forever, each other's love to know.

I wait for you, My child, 

I'll be with you as you go.

Forever beckons to us,  as does this day, this hour.

My Spirit's peace imparts the presence and the power

for you to journey with Me, in darkness or in light.

I am in your heart forever, and in this day, this night.

I wait for you, My child,  

I'll be with you as you ago…

I'll be with you as you go.

"The Lord thy God, He it is that shall go with thee."

(Deuteronomy 31:6)

Weekly Memory Verse

     The Lord thy God, He it is that shall go with thee.

(Deuteronomy 31:6)

 

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Orange Moon Friday, October 27, 2023 "Forgive - For Christ's Sake"

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

"Forgive - For Christ's Sake"

    

       "Only God can truly pardon wrongs, both in His relationship to people as He directly forgives, and in our relationships with one another as His mercy motivates, guides, and empowers our own bestowal of pardon."

   

    

   "And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32).

   When someone wrongs us and we feel we cannot forgive, the truth of the matter is that we stand upon good and proper ground for embarking on a journey of merciful faith and obedience.

   "Without Me, ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).

   Every command of the New Testament looms before us a summit unto which we cannot fully ascend.  Only God can empower even the tiniest act of obedience.  None more require God's enabling grace than the calling to forgive "as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."   "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" asked the scribes and Pharisees  (Luke 5:21).  While they asked in unbelief and rejection of the Lord Jesus, their question nevertheless bears truth.  As the saying goes, "To forgive is divine." Only God can truly pardon wrongs, both in His relationship to people as He directly forgives, and in our relationships with one another as His mercy motivates, guides, and empowers our own bestowal of pardon.  

    "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work" (II Corinthians 9:8).  

   Abounding grace bestowed and received leads to abounding good works directed and enabled.  This includes our capacity to forgive as God forgives, that is, "for Christ's sake."  Like our Father, we set our gaze on the Person and work of the Lord Jesus in times when we must bestow mercy to those who wrong us.  Only such a focus of faith can make possible our fulfillment of a calling far beyond our own abilities.  Indeed, the sole hope of "to forgive is human" rests in "looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith," whose living and involved presence in trusting hearts can lead us to join our Father in forgiving for the sake of His dear Son and our dear Savior (Hebrews 12:2).

   Nothing more reveals our need for the power of God to lead and enable us than His calling to forgive as He forgives.  Remembering that "for Christ's sake" makes possible His pardon goes far in motivating and leading us to bestow our own.  To forgive is indeed divine.  But it became human also in the Lord Jesus, and it will do so in us as He lives in us, and we live through Him.

"Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye."

(Colossians 3:12-13)

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheth me."

(Philippians 4:13)

Weekly Memory Verse

   Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

 

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Orange Moon Thursday, October 26, 2023 "Believe... Believe"

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

"Believe… Believe"

    

       "To whatever degree we have discovered our Heavenly Father's truth and trustworthiness, His heart awaits further exploration whereby we more and more discover a faithfulness that 'reacheth unto the clouds.' "

   

    

   "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (I John 5:13).

    The Apostle John calls those who already "believe on the name of the Son of God" to "believe on the name of the Son of God."  Does this imply redundancy on John's part?  

    Certainly not.  The Apostle rather calls us to realize that God purposes the saving faith of our new birth to serve as the beginning of greater and greater believing as we walk with God throughout our earthly lives.  The Apostle Paul joins John in calling believers to "walk and to please God more and more," that is, to increasingly know and trust our Lord in the faith that pleases Him (I Thessalonians 4:1; Hebrews 11:6).  To whatever degree we have discovered our Heavenly Father's truth and trustworthiness, His heart awaits further exploration whereby we "more and more" discover a faithfulness that "reacheth unto the clouds" (Psalm 36:5).  Regardless of how far we have ascended into the heights of realizing the "cannot lie" of God's immeasurable nature, the Holy Spirit ever beckons to fly higher into the glory that we can "trust in the Lord with all thy heart" and never be disappointed (Titus 1:2; Proverbs 3:5).

   We do well to frequently still ourselves and express gratitude for whatever of God's faithfulness we have learned in walking with Him by faith.  Having believed, however, we must believe.  This  implies no redundancy, but rather realization of an infinite God whose heart of trustworthiness can never be known completely.  Further steps of belief therefore always await us as "the path of the just shineth more and more unto the perfect day" (Proverbs 4:18).  This day will offer many of those steps.  Let us avail ourselves of the opportunity as believers to do that which our title suggests…

"That believing, ye might have life through His Name."

(John 20:31)

Weekly Memory Verse

   Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

 

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Orange Moon Wednesday, October 26, 2023 "Prayer - Faith and Humility"

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

"Prayer - Faith and Humility"

    

       "Our Heavenly Father loves to give and to answer our prayers (Luke 12:32).  He will not, however, respond to our requests for that which would hinder His purpose in our lives, and in the world as we affect it."

   

    Prayer far more involves the accomplishment of God's will than our own.

    "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us, and if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him" (I John 5:14-15).

   This being said, it remains true that our desires play a role in prayer.

    "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24).

    The two affirmations of Scripture we consider unite to lead us in seeking to pray according to the will of God, and in accordance with our desires for His answers.  On the surface, this seems fairly straightforward and easy to be implemented.  However, because conflicting desires presently exist within believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must be careful to pray in the realization that we can "ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts" (James 4:3).

    "The flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other" (Galatians 5:17).

    The desires of our flesh inherited from Adam often do not coincide with the Holy Spirit's working in our spirits "to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).  Thus, we ever pray in the realization of being subject to desires that may seem appropriate and in accordance with God's will, but which actually are not.  This does not mean we do not pray with confidence as we sincerely ask our Heavenly Father for His involvement and working in our lives.  He loves to give and to answer our prayers (Luke 12:32).  He will not, however, respond to our requests for that which would hinder His purpose in our lives, and in the world as we affect it.  We therefore pray as did the Lord Jesus in the hour of His severest temptation, "Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from Me.  Nevertheless, not My will, but Thine be done" (Luke 22:42).

   Knowing that our Lord prayed accordingly certainly goes far in leading us to do the same.  True prayer, as the Savior exemplified, involves both confident faith and honest humility.  We make our requests to the God who "loveth a cheerful giver" because He is Himself the most cheerful of givers (II Corinthians 9:7).  We do so, however, in full and humble recognition of how easily we can be misled by the world, the flesh, and the devil.  Prayer rides upon the dual rails of faith and humility in our present existence.  As we make our journey of communion with God in this vital understanding, we will gratefully see far more answers, and also be gratefully glad when our Father does not respond to misdirected requests.

"Now we know that God heareth not sinners, but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth."

(John 9:31).

Weekly Memory Verse

   Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

 

6995