Orange Moon Monday, April 29, 2024 "We Will Never Know"

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

"We Will Never Know"

"Do we think in this moment that we know how much God loves us?  Will we ever know that which the Bible declares to be immeasurable?  We do not, and we will not."

  

      We will never know how much God loves us.

      "The love of Christ passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).

     We can think of this in eternal, ultimate terms, and we should.  Forever will not be long enough to complete our journey into the love of God.  Regardless of how well we discover the mode and measure of His character, nature, and way, the awareness will always be joyfully with us that we have only just begun.  Jude prayed for his readers that God's love would "be multiplied" (Jude 1:2).  His request in time will be answered forevermore as the Holy Spirit progressively unveils the sublime character of God, which will ever lead to greater and greater realizations of His love for us.  The Apostle Paul affirmed God's "great love for us," but made no attempt to define or provide a measure for "great" (Ephesians 2:4).  Paul well knew that no definition or measure exists for such an infinite reality that "passeth knowledge."    

    We should also ponder the wonder of such glory in to terms of now.  In this moment, you and I do not know how much God personally loves us.  We have no idea how much we matter to Him.  We cannot realize the place we hold in His heart.  In countless ways, Scripture bears witness to us of a love beyond our understanding as it relates to this moment.  Certainly, the brightest light and clearest voice shines and sounds from Calvary, where God committed the Son of His eternal love, the Lord Jesus Christ, to His wrath against sin.  Why?  The most familiar of all Scriptural declarations answers…

 

    "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

   Let us not allow the familiarity of such a wonder to cloud our vision of the blessedness it displays.  Indeed, John 3:16 speaks of everlasting  "wonders without number" to come (Job 9:10).  However, the Spirit of God would have us realize that John 3:16 no less graces this moment, and all to come.  Long ago, God gave His beloved Son to a human life and a human death because He "so loved" human hearts, including mine and yours.  In such holy light, do we think in this moment that we know how much God loves us?  Will we ever know that which the Bible declares to be immeasurable?  We do not, and we will not.  "The love of Christ passeth knowledge."

    May this consideration grace our hearts with remembrance and realization of that which we all know as believers.  May it also remind us that we have only just begun in a journey of discovery that will have no end.  We do not know how much God loves us.  We will never know how much God loves us.  No truth more brightly shines the light and sounds the voice of what we mean to Him, and of the place we occupy in His heart.

There is no end to the quest we know,

forever beckons on.

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.

"Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us."

(I John 3:1)

Weekly Memory Verse

    Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.

(Jude 1:2)

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Orange Moon Saturday, April 27, 2024 "Use It!"

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

"Use It!"

"Walking with God involves a trusting heart, which through the Holy Spirit empowers an engaged mind."

  

     My mother often said to me (of necessity), "Glen, the Lord gave you a brain.  Use it!"

     "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue or if there be any praise, think on these things" (Philippians 4:8).

    We do use our brains as born again believers in the Lord Jesus.  However, we do not base our trust and confidence on the marvelous thinking capabilities made possible by the indwelling Holy Spirit.

    "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).

    We "think on these things."  We do not, however, "lean" on our understanding as if our own thoughts can successfully guide us through life.  Walking with God involves a trusting heart, which through the Holy Spirit empowers an engaged mind.  God made us as persons gifted with capabilities we can seek to use independently (which, foolishly, of course, we often do).  Human history chronicles the misuse of our mental faculties, as does our own personal history of forgetting or neglecting the "lean not" to empower the "think on these things."

    The Psalmist well knew this sequence of trusting and empowered thinking.  He sought God accordingly.

     "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, o Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14).  

     David realized the vital nature of godly words, both in utterance and in thought.  This led to the realization of how much  he required God's presence, guidance, and power in utilizing the capacity to "think on these things."  He prayed accordingly.  Recall the old adage, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste."  In Biblical terms, we might amplify the thought: "A mind is a terrible thing to waste by not devoting it to God in faith and consecration to His leading and enabling."  Indeed, of all things human beings cannot possibly do apart from the Holy Spirit, nothing supersedes genuinely beneficial thinking.  In fact, the Lord's presence in the world has served to enable all thoughts in humanity regarding truth, goodness, and beauty, even among those who do not know God through the Lord Jesus.  "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9).   

    For those who do know God, the Psalmist's prayer for help in thinking must be consistently echoed by every believer.  This would be a good moment for such petition and we close with the suggestion of bowing our hearts in order to rightly engage our minds.  I hear my mother's voice echoing from long ago, and surely the Spirit's voice beckons in this hour regarding the thinking He will enable as we trust our Lord: "Use it!"

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

(Romans 12:1-2)

Weekly Memory Verse

     We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

(Ephesians 1:7-8)

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Orange Moon Friday, April 26, 2024 "Needing Need"

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

"To Need Need"

"We need need.  We require the lacks in our lives to remind, encourage, and challenge us to 'trust in the Lord with all thy heart.' "

  

     We need need.

     "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

    God made us as dependent creatures, as those to whom He "giveth… life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).  Presently, this involves requirements based only on our nature as supplicants, but also our existence in a fallen world rife with imperfection, challenge, and difficulty.  We will remain needy creatures in our eternal state, and in fact, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ will far better know that "in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  Thankfully, however, we will be removed from the sin that tempts us to think of ourselves as gods who must supply for our own existence, and from the world, the devil, and the flesh that cause needs such as we will not know in eternity to come.

    The Apostle Peter called believers to serve as "good stewards of the manifold grace of God" (I Peter 4:10).  This perfectly describes our nature and function as human beings.  Our Heavenly Father made us to be active creatures in heart, mind, and body - "doers of the Word and not hearers only" (James 1:22).  We do so, however, as the recipients and caretakers of Another who supplies our personal requirements, and then makes possible our service to others needy like ourselves.  Consider salvation and the old adage that bearing witness to the Lord Jesus involves "one beggar telling another where to find bread."  Ever supplicants.  Ever stewards.  Ever servants.  Most importantly, ever dependent sons and daughters in Christ who affirm with Him the reality of what it means to truly live as human beings personally related to God: "I live by the Father" (John 6:57).

   We need need.  We require the lacks in our lives to remind, encourage, and challenge us to "trust in the Lord with all thy heart" (Proverbs 3:5).  We exist for His grace to be known and accessed.  "I am poor and needy" declared the Psalmist, referencing not only the difficulties of life, but also his nature as one utterly dependent on the only self-existent, self supplying Being who exists (Psalm 40:17).   "Thou art God alone" (Psalm 86:10).  We do well to consider this truth regarding the needs of the present hour.  Our Father weaves vital revelation through requirements, whether directly administered by His hand, or allowed by His wise heart and mind.  Yes, we need need because it reminds us that we need Him.  In this life, we would wander far away from God's supply without the difficulties that bear witness to our nature as supplicants.  "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).    

   If we could find the richest person on the planet in any moment, as accounted by God, he would likely not appear as such.  He might well seem to be most needy.  However, if we could look into his heart, we would see "the unsearchable riches of Christ" accessed by one who keenly realizes his need for need, and his blessed opportunity to trust the Lord as supply for "life and breath and all things" (Ephesians 3:8).  The writer of Hebrews well knew this truth, and beckons the needy - including you and me - to approach the Source and Supply of our existence both now and forevermore…

"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, to obtain mercy and to find grace to help in time of need."

(Hebrews 4:16)

"And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure."

(II Corinthians 12:7)

Weekly Memory Verse

     We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence.

(Ephesians 1:7-8)

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