Orange Moon Friday, July 26, 2024 "The Skin Off His Back"

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

"The Skin Off His Back"

     "God so loves to give that He spared not His beloved Son to suffering, forsakenness, and death in order to make possible the grace of freely giving us all things."

   We all know people so generous that we say of them, "He would give you the shirt off his back."  Of course, such magnanimity originates in the God who so "loveth a cheerful giver" because He is Himself the most cheerful of all givers (II Corinthians 9:7).

    Of the Lord Jesus Christ, the affirmation could be taken even further: "He would give you the skin off His back."  Scripture declares our Lord actually did so.

    "The plowers plowed upon My back; they made long their furrows" (Psalm 129:3).

    "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged Him" (John 19:1).

     Roman lictors inflicted grievous pain and injury upon the bodies of those on whom they executed sentences decreed by their superiors.  Many unfortunate victims died of shock and blood loss before further punishments could be applied.  This was not the case with the Lord Jesus, who survived scourging to be nailed unto the cross and an even greater suffering.  Yes, of the Lord Jesus we can say that for our redemption, He gave the skin off His back.

   Of all the character traits the Bible reveals to exist in God, generosity of heart and hand take a back seat to none.  

   "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).  

    God loves to give.  He loves to provide.  He loves to bless His creation with all it needs to exist, survive, and thrive.  Of course, He administers the abundance of such grace in accordance with His perfect wisdom and "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  He thus gives, provides, and blesses in ways that may challenge our understanding and perception.  What we genuinely need may not accord with our Heavenly Father's perfect awareness regarding our hearts and lives.  If we "ask amiss," He loves us enough to withhold our request for a fish that may actually be a serpent (James 4:3; Matthew 7:10).  In no way, however, does this negate or minimize our Heavenly Father's generosity of heart and love for giving.  Indeed, wise provision confirms how dear we are to God, and how He ever works for our best interests, as defined by His infinite understanding (Psalm 147:5).   

   We must perceive our Lord in the light of this glorious truth of character, nature, and way.  Indeed, God so loves to give that He spared not His beloved Son to suffering, forsakenness, and death in order to make possible the grace of freely giving us all things.  Every breath we will breathe in both time and eternity comes to us at a cost beyond any measure we will ever know.  Had Christ not been in the heart of God "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," and had He not fulfilled this sacrificial office on the cross, our Father would been required by His holiness to bring instant and complete judgment on Adam (Revelation 13:8).  No generosity to creation could have been administered.  However, because Christ died, God works in mercy and in righteous generosity.  Yes, someone paid for the next breath you and I will breathe.  "He giveth to all life and breath and all things" because the Prince of life breathed His last breath in sacrifice for our sins (Acts 17:25).  Yes, He gave the skin off His back, and so very much more. This defines and most beautifully and solemnly reveals the infinite measure of God's generosity, and this is how we must perceive Him always.

"It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."

(Luke 12:32)

 

Weekly Memory Verse

   I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.                                                                                        (John 10:10)

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Orange Moon Thursday, July 25, 2024 "In This Moment"

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

"In This Moment"

     "Whatever the matter at hand, the matter of heart calls us to cast our faith upon a faithful God present and accounted for in this day, and in this moment.

   The present alone offers opportunity to trust God.  

   "That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee" (Proverbs 22:19).

   "Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.  Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life" (John 11:23-25).

    We can rejoice in the faith of the past, or repent of times when we did not trust our Lord.  We can also look with hope to His leading and enabling our confidence in the future.  However, only the moment at hand offers actual possibility to join the Psalmist in living and vital faith: "I will trust in Thee" (Psalm 55:23).  Yes, the past has passed.  The future does not yet offer its opportunity for faith.  Only the present is upon us, including this moment.

   What opportunity lies before us to affirm or reaffirm faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?  Might there be a blessing bestowed for which we have never given thanks, or for which we might yet again express our gratitude? (Psalm 59:16).  Does a perplexity confront our minds, requiring God's guidance and our determination to seek and expect His wisdom? (James 1:5-6).  Does a trouble confront us, requiring the presence, power, and involvement of our Lord? (Psalm 46:1).  Are we tempted to fear and in need of God's peace "to rule our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus?" (Philippians 4:7).  Whatever the matter at hand, the matter of heart calls us to cast our faith upon a faithful God present and accounted for in this day, and in this moment.  "I am with thee" (Isaiah 41:10).

    The choice to trust our Lord involves waking up to the truth and reality that every blessing - "every good gift and every perfect gift" - we have ever known in our lives came to us from our Father's heart and hand (James 1:17).  Thus, the remembrance of blessings grants opportunity in the moment to give thanks, or to again give thanks.  Challenges, problems, and needs also open a door into the heart of God for faith to be exercised as soon as we become aware that difficulty lies before us.  We need not wait to cast our cares upon the One who cares for us (I Peter 5:7).  Indeed, delay in faith results in unnecessarily delayed peace, and in the clear thinking that proceeds from resting our hearts and minds in the Prince of peace.  As Jacob lamented at Bethel, "Surely the Lord is in this place.  And I knew it not!" (Genesis 28:16).

    We have this moment, this moment that teems with God's presence and working in all things in our lives (Romans 8:28-29).  May it also teem with our chosen determination, our "I will trust" that so pleases, honors, and reveals our faithful Lord.  Again, the past has passed.  The future does not yet offer its opportunity for faith.  The present alone beckons us to the throne of grace, and to the "I AM" whose presence fills the present with promise to be and do all we require in this moment.

"Trust in Him at all times, ye people, pour out your heart before Him."

(Psalm 62:8)

Weekly Memory Verse

   I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.                                                                                        (John 10:10)

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Orange Moon Wednesday, July 24, 2024 "“The Model of Faith”

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

"The Model of Faith"

     "Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began" (Titus 1:2).

   To whom did God promise eternal life "before the world began," and thus, before human beings existed?

    Another passage of Scripture perhaps answers the question.  "Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" said the Lord Jesus Christ to His Father in a prayer offered just before He suffered and died on the cross (John 17:24).  In the eternal counsels of God, mysterious as they may be, we may surmise that the determination to send the Son of God as the sacrificial Lamb of God also meant that the Father made promise to the Lord Jesus that He would raise Him from the dead.  "The hope of eternal life" began in our Savior, who would also communicate to all who trust God that His resurrection would become our resurrection.

    "I am the resurrection and the life.  He that believeth in Me, though He were dead, yet shall He live" (John 11:25).

   God the Son, who for us became the son of man, provides our great model of faith.  In the godhead of three coequal Persons regarding divine being and substance, the Son trusts and submits to the Father in the matter of rank and authority - "My Father is greater than I" (John 14:28).  Thus, if we wonder how to trust God, we look first to Christ, "the Author and Finisher of our faith," who so perfectly lived by faith during His earth lifetime (Hebrews 12:2).  Moreover, our consideration reveals that the Lord Jesus forever lives in dependence and deference to the Father, as does the Holy Spirit (another consideration, for another time).  The Apostle Paul declares God the Father to presently be "the head of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:3).  How then do we live by faith?  We set our gaze on the Author and Finisher of faith as our model, and as the power whereby He enables us to trust God in both blessing and challenge.  "Walk, even as He walked… I will dwell and walk in them" (I John 2:6; II Corinthians 6:16)

   The Lord Jesus knows what it means to trust His Father in Heaven, and what it means to trust His Father in a fallen world.  Regarding the latter, He literally dwells within the spirits of believers to empower our life of faith: "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying abba Father" (Galatians 4:6).  Our perfect model serves as our perfect means to instill and perpetuate confidence in God.  He is well experienced for the service, having trusted the Father from everlasting, and joyfully devoted to doing so forevermore.  Yes, "the promise of eternal life" was first made to the Lord Jesus in the solemn consideration before we existed that someone would be required to suffer and die for human beings, as a human being.  The Father fulfilled His promise, and raised the Lord Jesus from the dead.  Who then best knows what it means to trust God and find Him perfectly faithful?  The Author and the Finisher, the Christ we trust, and the One who so well knows what it means that "the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17).  

"Ye are risen with Him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead."

(Colossians 2:12)

"As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me."

(John 6:57)

Weekly Memory Verse

   I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.                                                                                        (John 10:10)

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Orange Moon Tuesday, July 23, 2024 "The Prince of Peace"

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

"The Prince of Peace"

"Peace is a Person, the person of the risen Lord Jesus and His abiding presence within our hearts."

     "There is no fear in love, for perfect love casteth out fear" (I John 4:8).

    

     God's love, known and trusted, leads born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to overcome the temptation to fear.  His "perfect love" abides as completely present and available at all times.  Conversely, our trust is not so presently and perfectly exercised.  We must affirm our faith whenever fear tempts us to look away from God and His promise to be all we need in our "what time I am afraid."   Our Heavenly Father calls us to a proactive response when uncertainty challenges our peace:

    "Be careful (anxious) for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6-7).

    "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee" (Psalm 56:3).

    Certainly, a place for proper concerns characterizes a godly, responsible life.  However, "proper concerns" can quickly descend into paralyzing and nagging fears if we fail to "let your requests be made known unto God" with the thankful confession, "I will trust in Thee."  Through the presence and power of Christ, we must do something when tempted to be controlled by fear rather than God's grace.  He does not program peace, but rather grants us the privileged responsibility of exercising faith when challenges threaten the sanctity of our souls.  Most importantly, His peace resides within our spirits always through the presence of the Prince of peace:

    "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).

    In its most primary meaning, peace is not an emotion.  It is not a sensibility.  It is not even a conviction of faith.  No, peace is a Person, the person of the risen Lord Jesus and His abiding presence within our hearts.  He overcame far more challenge to fear than any of us will ever begin to know (Hebrews 4:15).  The Prince, "the Prince of peace," now lives within every believer to "keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  Do we believe this about Him?  Is He that present, that involved, that active, and that powerful?  Can He keep our hearts in peace no matter what?  He can.  "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee" (Isaiah 26:3).  We must determine to see our Lord in this blessed light of truth, and then affirm our conviction of faith as response to His commitment to perfect faithfulness.  He will always be who He is as the Prince of peace.  Yes, He will always be "that present, that involved, that active, and that powerful."  

    We must ever grow in in our "what time" response of chosen trust. We must determine to know the Lord Jesus better and better, and more and more because we trust someone to the degree we know them.  "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 3:18).  In our "what time," His eternal perfection of integrity meets us as the peace of our hearts.  May our eyes be open to see our blessed Prince as our tranquility of spirit in all things, just as He promised… "My peace I give unto you."

"The LORD will bless His people with peace."

(Psalm 29:11)

Weekly Memory Verse

   I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.                                                                                        (John 10:10)

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