Orange Moon Tuesday, August 12, 2025 “The Trail of Blood”

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

"The Trail of Blood" 

   

    

    God gave to the Lord Jesus Christ what we deserve so that He could give to us that which the Lord Jesus deserves.

    "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all… we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God" (Isaiah 53:4; 6).

    "God… hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).

   If ever we wonder how a perfectly holy and righteous God could be so gracious and merciful to us, look no further and to none else than the Lord Jesus.  "The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" and the Lamb slain in time and space on the cross of Calvary makes possible every moment of blessedness born again believers will ever know (Revelation 13:8; I Corinthians 15:3).  Our next breath flows to us on the flood tides of Christ's blood shed on our behalf.  All joy blesses us because of His sorrow.  Peace graces our hearts, based on the turmoil our Lord knew when abandoned by His Father and the Holy Spirit on the cross.  "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).  Eternal life becomes our portion when we believe because "He hath poured out His soul unto death" (Isaiah 53:12).  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" because the Father poured out His wrath on the Son "made to be sin for us" (James 1:17; II Corinthians 5:21).  The chronicle of grace given, based on judgment executed,  could go on and on.  It will as we remember that all joy forevermore comes to us by a sorrow forevermore will never fully reveal.  

   A trail of Blood stains the path

leading to the throne,

where God receives the trusting heart

approaching by His Son.

Without the cross, there could not be

this access freely known.

Without such sorrow, pain, and loss,

we'd have nowhere to go.

Yes, every prayer flows to the Throne

on flood tides of Christ's blood.

We come with grateful, trusting hope,

in wonder of such love…

A trail of Blood stains the path 

leading to the Throne. 

   Our next breath, along with every blessing of eternity, will come to us as the freest of gifts from the heart of God.  Such blessedness descends upon us because Someone else paid its price of agony, sorrow, forsakenness, and death.  Yes, our Father will forever give to us that which the Lord Jesus deserves because on the cross He gave to Him what we deserve.  We will know the gift and its cost much better in Heaven to come.  For now, let us seek to know it as well as we can, and see the trail upon which we walk for what it is, the trail of Blood.

"He that spared not His Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

(Romans 8:32)

Weekly Memory Verse 

      "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water."

(John 7:38)

7552

 

Orange Moon Monday, August 11, 2025 “Freely Receive. Freely Give”

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

"Freely Receive.  Freely Give" 

   

    

    "Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength…. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's, greatly wondering.  And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk?" (Acts 3:6-7; 11-12).

     The Apostles Peter and John, through whom the great miracle of healing flowed, directed all glory and attention to the Source of such grace and mercy, the Lord Jesus Christ.  They recognized themselves for what they were, namely, those in personal need for a "power" and "holiness" beyond themselves, who could become tributaries of the River of life as they received it.

    "Freely ye have received.  Freely give" (Matthew 10:8).  

    We have nothing to bestow upon others apart from that which the Lord Jesus has so graciously bestowed upon and within us.  The Apostle Paul also testified to such blessedness received and then given:

   "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians 15:10).

   This is written as a simple reminder of our calling in this day to give of our time, attention, effort, dedication, and grace to others.  "Freely give."  We do so by remembering and affirming that we can only impart that which has been imparted to us.  "Freely ye have received."  Our service to God and others begins and forever continues by His service to us through the One who "came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28).  Such a calling constitutes our labors and sacrifice in terms of a privilege beyond all comprehension.  Indeed, whatever we may do in this day for others must be viewed as "I get to" rather than "I have to."  Or, "I give that which I have been given."  This is truth.  This is reality.  And this is the Christ we have so freely received, who now blesses us even more as through His presence and working within our hearts we "freely give"…

"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

(Acts 20:35)

"He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water."

(John 7:38)

Weekly Memory Verse 

      "He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of His belly shall flow rivers of living water."

(John 7:38)

7551

 

Orange Moon Saturday, August 9, 2025 “Righteousness: Achieved Or Received?”

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

"Righteousness: Achieved Or Received?" 

   

    

    The Lord Jesus Christ serves as the paradigm of humanity.  He is what God made human beings to be, and we are only acceptable to our Heavenly Father if we are perfectly like His beloved Son.

    "Walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:6).

    Uhoh.   Upon first reflection, this excludes every human being born of Adam's race from acceptability with God.

     "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

     "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God" (Isaiah 59:2).

    Upon further reflection, as led by the Holy Spirit, the Bible, and the testimonies of millions of believers in the Lord Jesus through the ages, God has made a way to rescue us from the rejection and condemnation we all rightly merit.  James and the Apostle Paul unite to bear witness to our only hope for acceptance with God:

   "And the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God" (James 2:23).

    "And therefore it was imputed to Abraham for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:22-24).  

    We either achieve spiritual perfection and acceptance with God by being exactly like the Lord Jesus from conception unto forevermore.  Or we receive righteous standing and relationship with God as a "free gift" imputed - placed on our account - whereby His grace received by faith leads us to be "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).  No other options exist.  The perfection God requires  - Christ's righteousness - must either be achieved or received.  The former is impossible.  The latter is the Gospel.

    "As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name" (John 1:12).  

    The more we discover the character, nature and way of the Savior in the Scriptures, the more we realize we can never of our own doings be like Him.  In Heaven and earth, there is no one like the Lord Jesus, the glorious second Person of triune God who become the wondrous "second man" of the human race (Hebrews 1:8; I Corinthians 15:47).  No other can be like Him in terms of His perfect synthesis of divinity and humanity, or of the life He lived and lives.  Nor can any "walk even as He walked" apart from Him.  Herein shines the beauty of the Gospel.  Those are believe in the Lord Jesus are not apart from Him.  He dwells within us, and even more, "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).  Thereby, God accepts our person because we are spiritually united to Christ.  He also accepts those works that proceed from our Lord's presence and active engagement on our behalf (II Corinthians 5:9).  

   "Accepted in the Beloved" means more than even eternity will fully reveal.  For now, it tells us that our imperfect response to God does not and cannot alter the fact of our righteousness with Him.  How should man be just (righteous) with God?" asked Job long ago (Job 9:2).  Paul answers.  "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).  That which we could never achieve, God made possible for us to receive.  Thereby, and only thereby, can the standard required be met.  Moreover, the more we grow in our understanding of the root of Christ's righteousness freely planted in us, the more we will "be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:11).  

    Righteous with God, and accepted by Him.  Achieved or received?  Christ alone provides the only redeeming answer and hope for every human heart.  The better we know such blessed truth, the more God's peace will fill our hearts and His presence will empower our hands and feet.  His grace in the Lord Jesus alone provides such hope for the acceptance of our person and the acceptable life we increasingly live thereby.

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

(Titus 3:4-7)

"Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear."

(Hebrews 12:28)

Weekly Memory Verse 

  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

(I John 4:10)

7550