Orange Moon Tuesday, April 30, 2024 "New Every Morning"

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

"New Every Morning"

"The Bible calls us to believe in realities "new every morning."  God's compassions meet us at the outset of each day, administering grace and mercy in a love that "passeth knowledge."

  

      "This I recall to my mind.  Therefore have I hope: His compassions fail not. They are new every morning.  Great is Thy faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:21-23).

    

    Life often seems like same old same old repetition.  It is in many ways.  Some people love such continuity.  Others chafe, and most accept the reality that our present existence requires the mundane as a matter of survival and thriving.

    The Bible, however, calls us to believe in glories of God's promised goodness "new every morning."  His compassions meet us at the outset of each day, administering grace and mercy in a love that "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).  Jeremiah knew such glory to be the maître d' of our mornings, as it were.  He also realized, however, that we do not naturally perceive God and His new gifts of goodness as the day begins.  "This I recall to my mind" determined the prophet in making a conscious decision to believe the first and greatest truth that greets all believers as the sun rises and our eyes open.

   We do well to join our brother of old in affirming that regardless of what each new day holds, all will be lived in God's faithful repetitiveness.  Yes, He ever recalls to His mind the determination of His heart wherein dwells the unfailing compassion of His great and glorious trustworthiness.  "I will be their God and they shall be My people" affirms our Lord of those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 6:16).  No "variableness, neither shadow of turning" exists in the commitment of the God from whom "every good gift and every perfect gift proceeds" (James 1:17).  He acts in accordance with an eternal commitment of repetition from which He never wavers.  Our response determines our experience of such assurance.  It does not, however, determine God's administration of faithfulness.  New compassions await us in each new day, based on the glory of the Lord Jesus, our needs, and the needs of our sphere of influence.  

   "This I recall to my mind."  Let us greet God's promise of faithful grace and mercy for each new day with our repetition of remembering that our Lord will always be everything we need, and far more - "exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20).  Over and over again, and forevermore, our Heavenly Father will administer new compassions.  Let us over and over again, and forevermore receive them by recalling to our minds and rejoicing in our hearts that "Great is Thy faithfulness."

"My voice shalt Thou hear in the morning, O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up."

(Psalm 5:3)

Weekly Memory Verse

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

(Jude 1:2)

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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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