Orange Moon Monday, October 13, 2025 "With Or Without"

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

"With Or Without"

     Many ways exist to characterize or delineate the human race.  The most significant involves the presence of God.  The Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ dwells within the spirits of believers.  He does not dwell in the spirits of unbelievers.

   "Ye are the temple of God…the Holy Spirit dwelleth in you" (I Corinthians 3:16).

   "Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6)

    "This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart" (Galatians 4:17-18).

   God made humanity to serve as His spiritual dwelling place.  Salvation in the Lord Jesus births our spirits by imparting the Holy Spirit to dwell therein as the Life of our lives.  Apart from the new birth, human beings "live and move and have their being" in God (Acts 17:28).  He does not, however, live and move and impart His presence into the being of those who do not trust Him.   In this present life, unbelievers live as beneficiaries of their Creator's provision of "life and breath and all things" (Acts 17:25).  However, they are spiritually "dead in trespasses and sin" because the Spirit of Christ does not dwell within them (Ephesians 2:1).  Apart from the Christ who "is our life," such lost ones live an existence that does not begin to attain to being truly, genuinely, and spiritually alive as God defines life.  "Ye have no life in you," declared the Lord Jesus of unbelievers, a sad and tragic pronouncement when life - His life - is available to all as the freest gift ever given (John 6:53).  "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40).

   The eternal and infinite God dwells in His people.  We presently "walk by faith, not by sight" regarding this "hope of glory" (II Corinthians 5:7; Colossians 1:27).  However, this does not minimize the effect and power of such a wonder.  God gave to us the greatest gift of all when we believed.  He gave Himself to serve as the very Life of our lives.  He fulfilled the most elemental reason of our existence, namely, to glorify and reveal the Lord Jesus within and through us in marvels of grace and truth no other created beings can fulfill.  Former rebels become "dear children."  Sinners become sons and daughters.  The dead spring to life.   Spirits once empty become the dwelling place of the most glorious Content imaginable.  Divine strength is "made perfect" in human weakness.  "Without God in the world" gives way to "I am with you always" (Ephesians 5:1; John 1:12; Ephesians 2:1; II Corinthians 6:16; II Corinthians 12:9; Ephesians 2:12; Matthew 28:20).  

   The chronicle of grace and love could go on forever as a wonder beyond all contemplation graces our hearts and lives.  It will, as "we see through a glass darkly in this life," a "darkly" that nevertheless glimmers at times with glorious illumination (I Corinthians 13:12).  In the next life, however, what it means that God dwells in His people will become far more known, experienced, and expressed in a marvel even eternity will not fully reveal.  May we live in expectation of that future, while seeking to presently know the reality of our Lord's indwelling and abiding presence within us to the greatest degree possible.  May our lives also serve to convince and convict those who tragically do not know the reason and blessedness for which humanity exists, namely, the "unspeakable gift" of Christ as Savior, Christ as Lord, and Christ as Life itself (II Corinthians 9:15).

"Ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit."

(Ephesians 2:22)

Weekly Memory Verse  

    For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

(I Corinthians 13:12)

   

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Orange Moon Saturday, October 11, 2025 "Who Am I?"

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

"Who Am I?"

     "When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him?  And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?" (Psalm 8:4).

   Let us make the Psalmist's inquiry personal.  "Who am I, that You consider me, and that You have visited me?"  Every born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ knows deep in the spirit that we are utterly unworthy of our Lord's consideration and presence.  Our flesh, however, still bears the mentality that we somehow merit blessings and favor.  We do not, nor will we ever.  Jacob expressed the sensibility of humility that must pervade every trusting heart: "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed unto Thy servant" (Genesis 32:10). 

    Interestingly, God will one day reward believers for things done in faith and faithfulness (I Corinthians 3:14).  This actually involves the rewarding of our reception of "grace, whereby we serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28).  His freely given favor in Christ - grace - motivates, guides, and empowers the life of obedience.  Thus, we will be rewarded for availing ourselves of the grace that leads to "the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:11).  In essence, God will reward us for the works that flowed from our acknowledgement of unworthiness and complete dependence on Him.  Amazing grace indeed!

   A well known preacher once chided a young lady at a car rental agency when she informed him that no cars were available.  "Young lady, do you know who I am?!"  She didn't, and he didn't either, at least in the unfortunate moment.  The man had forgotten himself to be one for whom the Lord Jesus suffered, was forsaken, and died, a man "unworthy of the least of all the mercies."  He forgot himself to be worthy of the lake of fire, rather than the river of life.

   May we not forget.  Christ alone provides our worthiness as God gives to us that which our Savior deserves, solely and completely based on His having given to the Savior what we deserve (II Corinthians 5:21).  Worthy indeed is the Lamb, whose merits shine so brightly in the eyes of His Father that they avail for all who trust Him and are "accepted in the Beloved" by freely received and completely unmerited favor (Ephesians 1:6).  "Who am I, that You consider me with such grace, and bless me with Your presence?"  May the question abide continually in heart and mind.  As it does, our hands and feet will more faithfully and consistently reflect the grace that makes possible the life.

"Then said they unto Him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent." 

(John 6:28-29)

"Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."(Luke 18:10-14)

Weekly Memory Verse  

   My strength is made perfect in weakness.

(II Corinthians 12:9)

   

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Orange Moon Friday, October 10, 2025 "The Current Event"

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

"The Current Event"

     In Mrs. Jackson's 5th grade class during my elementary school years, we had a time to consider "Current Events" each week.  I was already an avid reader of newspapers in those days, and the session was one of my favorite subjects.  Of course, this was before the advent of the Internet and the ongoing bombardment of information we now experience, fulfilling the prophecy of the book of Daniel:

    "Knowledge shall be increased" (Daniel 12:4).

   Current events present themselves far more in the moment than we could have imagined during our 1960s considerations.  The most current event of all, however, and by far the most significant,  continues in this hour as it did so long ago:

    "God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:3).

   Amid all, the heart and hand of God moves to fulfill "the eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  Whether by His direct determinations and administrations, or by the providence of His allowances, our Heavenly Father involves Himself in everything that happens in His creation.  He knows Himself perfectly, and thus knows He can weave His purpose into the fabric of "all things."  This ever abides as the current event that transcends all others in every moment, whether in His obvious blessing, or His working in matters wherein He seems to be absent, and His hand stilled.

   A good friend once asked his pastor father a question.  "Dad, what is this world coming to?!"  His father answered, "Son, that is not the issue.  "Who came to this world?"  That is the issue.  Who remains in this world can also be asked, with the same answer blessing us with its assurance and ongoing reassurance.  "Christ came… I am with you always" (Romans 9:5; Matthew 28:20).  The Lord Jesus still walks the paths of this present world through the Holy Spirit's working in our hearts, and in all things.  Yes, this ever abides as the most current event, namely, the presence, involvement, and working of the living God.  He is so wise, so faithful, so gracious, so righteous, so merciful, so holy, so present, so involved, so determined, and so current that as we open the eyes of faith to behold, we will know that the same truth answers both "Who came?" and "Who remains?" 

    I did not know this truth in 5th grade.  I still feel like a first day kindergartner regarding such a wonder so many years later.  However, I share with you the conviction that pervades the spirits of all believers.  The Holy Spirit bears witness therein, the Scriptures inform, and the centuries confirm the old adage, "History is His story."  It is, and as current events bless, challenge, and sometimes perplex us, let us remember and affirm the most current of them all… "God worketh all things."

"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

(Romans 11:36)

Weekly Memory Verse  

   My strength is made perfect in weakness.

(II Corinthians 12:9)

   

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