Orange Moon Thursday, June 26, 2025 "A Quiet Resurrection"

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

"A Quiet Resurrection"  

    

 

    The Apostle Paul prayed that the Ephesian believers would know "the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at his own right hand in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:19-20).

    Upon first consideration, we might think Paul sought spectacular displays of the power of God for his brethren.  However, we do well to remember that no human eyes actually saw the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  Nor does Scripture record anything about the moment of our Savior's rising.  No mighty sound or sight is mentioned of what can be viewed as the greatest of all events in human history.  The Holy Spirit simply inspired the fact of the matter to be recorded in the Bible, along with our Lord's subsequent appearing to His followers and His spiritual presence imparted to all who have trusted Him since the day His tomb became the scene of His triumph.  "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).

    A quiet resurrection bears witness to the generally quiet manner in which the risen life of Christ manifests the power of God in our lives.  Of course, the Lord may part a Red Sea or stop the sun in its track when necessary.  Mighty as it is, however, the preponderance of His working will not be accompanied by overt displays of glory.  The risen Lord Jesus rather walks in His people as He did in most of His earthly lifetime.  Indeed, the living God "manifest in the flesh" lived in such muted and muffled glory  during the first thirty years of His life that when His ministry began, His own brothers did not know who He was (I Timothy 3:16; John 7:5).  The same mode and measure of His walk and working in us necessarily characterizes our present experience wherein we "walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7).

    Every act of faith and obedience by born again believers in the Lord Jesus requires the power of His risen life (Romans 8:10-11).  The grace of His resurrection teems within the spirits of His people, resulting in trillions upon trillions of moments throughout the history of the church when "the power of an endless life" has been manifested (Hebrews 7:16).  The glory most often shines in such quiet splendor that we see and recognize only a glimmer of its light and life.  The day will come for far greater and more overt revelations that the Lord Jesus is risen from the dead.  Presently, we rejoice when the truth that the tomb is empty becomes openly revealed to all with eyes to see.  We rejoice also when by faith we affirm that our Lord's risen life abounds at the right hand of God, in the hearts of His people, and in our lives as we expect that the power of His resurrection will most often be revealed in ways very much like the first moment when "He is risen" became the hope of the ages and of our hearts (Matthew 28:6).

"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

(John 7:24)

Weekly Memory Verse 

  "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory."

 (Hebrews 2:10).

  

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Orange Moon Wednesday, June 25, 2025 "A True Love"

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

"A True Love"  

    

 

    "Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity" (Ephesians 6:24).

    What originates and perpetuates sincerity in the hearts of born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ?  How can our relationship, fellowship, and life with God be real within us, resulting in genuineness of motive and behavior?

   God Himself provides the answer, that is, His grace and truth in the Lord Jesus provided through the Holy Spirit's working in us.  As we seek His purifying of our thoughts, beliefs, and deeds, realizing that He alone can foster and further sincerity, we discover something real within us that could not possibly be of our own doing.  We play a role in the matter, of course, trusting and submitting to our Heavenly Father in confidence of His faithful working, and humbling ourselves by acknowledging that if reality is to find its place in us, He alone will be its executor and enabler.  As James declared, clean hands and pure hearts result only by drawing close to the Cleanser and Purifier:

    "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded" (James 4:8).

    As always, and of extremely vital significance in the matter of motive, grace and truth and Christ must be realized as our sole source of sincerity.  God must freely work in us through Christ, in accordance with the truth of His Word.  We must believe in the promise of His ongoing involvement to reveal the genuineness of His love, which leads to the genuineness of our own.  "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).  Indeed, upon every realization that our Father will be satisfied with nothing less than sincerity, we cast ourselves upon Him with gratitude for work already accomplished, and thanksgiving for His work ongoing.

   In eternity, the glorified redeemed will love their God with a sincerity and purity known to be the fruit of His grace and truth in the Lord Jesus.  It may, in fact, be that our capacity to genuinely love Him will be that for which are most grateful.  He alone could have rescued the rebellious unto the reality of a true love received, and a true love returned.  Presently, the work continues in its process of revealing the perfection of God's motives, which leads believers to "purify yourselves" by progressively discovering the pure and sincere devotion of One who has never needed, nor ever will need purification…

"But Thou art holy, Thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel."

(Psalm 22:3)

"Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

(II Corinthians 3:18)

"For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

(Hebrews 4:12)

Weekly Memory Verse 

  "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory."

 (Hebrews 2:10).

  

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Orange Moon Tuesday, June 24, 2025 "The Sequence of Salvation"

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

"The Sequence of Salvation"  

    

 

    "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

    By grace.  Through faith.  Unto good works.  Herein lies the sequence of salvation, which applies to the initial reception of God's freely given gift of redemption in Christ, and the life to which He calls us to live in faithfulness to His glory and will.

    "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving" (Colossians 2:6-7).

    Problems with obedience in the believer always in some manner stem from problems with grace, or rather, with our failure to access by faith God's freely given leadership and enabling.  The question we can always ask ourselves regarding sin and failure is simply, "Of what aspect of God's grace am I not availing myself?  How am I not trusting Him for that grace?  What of my Lord am I failing to see regarding His promised working in my heart "to will and to do of His good pleasure?" (Philippians 2:13).   The writer of Hebrews confirms this diagnosis regarding any challenge we may have regarding faithfulness to God and His will:

    "Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28).  

    Clearly, if we fail to "serve God acceptably," we have in some manner failed to "have grace."  This may involve truth we already know (but are neglecting or forgetting), or truth we should know, but have failed to realize because of neglect in learning our Lord's promises found in the Scriptures.  We cannot avail ourselves of the particulars of God's grace if we have not known Him or His Word well enough to realize they exist.   Or, if we do not remember and affirm rays of gracious light that already abide in our hearts and minds, but from which we look away.  Indeed, recall the indictment Matthew directed toward Capernaum, and which can apply to us: "He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief" (Matthew 13:58).

    By grace.  Through faith.  Unto good works.  The sequence, the sequence of salvation, never changes in either root or fruit.  God ever initiates, motivates, guides, and empowers.  We ever trust Him and submit ourselves to Him in the expectation that acceptable service proceeds solely from the grace of our Lord's promised working in our hearts.  Yes, whatever happened in the blessed moment of our new birth must be known as that which will enable every step of faithfulness to God forevermore.  He gave.  We received.  Newness of life occurred.  He gives.  We receive.  Godliness of life occurs.  No other way or sequence exists whereby we honor our Lord, fulfill His will, and serve as a blessing of Christ to others.  Nor need we any other way.

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

(Romans 5:1-2)

Weekly Memory Verse 

  "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory."

 (Hebrews 2:10).

  

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