Orange Moon Monday, June 22, 2026 "Unto Good Works"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

“Unto Good Works”

    

    What thought, belief, attitude, and perspective most leads born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to the life of faith and faithfulness to which God calls us?

   “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Ephesian 2:10).

    Just as we were born again by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” we are motivated, led, and empowered by the same dynamic “power that worketh in us.”  Thereby, we live from God in order to live for Him (Hebrews 12:2; Ephesians 3:20).  

    “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)

   Suppose, for example, we began our day with the determination to consistently trust and obey our Heavenly Father, which certainly we should have done.  Should we have gritted our teeth, flexed our muscles, and pulled up our bootstraps in the commitment to do our absolute best to fulfill our commitment?  The spirit of such desire and commitment for a faithful walk with God should and must be present.  There must be an “I will,” as in the Psalmist’s ‘I will love Thee, o Lord my strength” (Psalm 18:1).  Note, however, David’s singular hope for a true devotion to God: “O Lord, my strength.”   He will knew that the hope - the only hope - for giants to be defeated, bears to be slain, and devotion to God to be fulfilled lay in a power beyond himself.  “Thou art my strength” (Psalm 31:4).  Gritted teeth, flexed muscles, and yanked bootsteps would not have cut it for David, nor will it for us.  

    The committed believer in the Lord Jesus well knows this truth.  He would not otherwise be a committed believer.  The outworking of such grace, faith, and faithfulness, however, greatly challenges us all.  Our spiritual enemies continually tempt us to forget, ignore, or neglect our singular hope for consistently walking with God.  Obedience is fruit.  It can never be the root or the vine (Colossians 2:7; John 15:1-5).  Thus, we begin our days by looking unto the Author and Finisher of our faith.  We seek to continue thereby, rejoicing in His working in our hearts and lives, while ever being on guard to not forget the Source of consistent faith and faithfulness: “We shall live with Him by the power of God” (II Corinthians 13:4).

    Consider the means by which we seek to restore a fallen believer.  Where do we begin?  By focusing on carnal attitudes, words, and deeds?  Such things matter and must be addressed.  However, the greater issue involves a more essential question: “Why has the Christian failed to avail himself of the present and powerful enabling of God to overcome temptation?"   Where lies fault in the knowledge of God, the understanding of His truth, and the failure to “access by faith… this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God?” (Romans 5:2).  In a life wherein we “live by faith,” failures in obedience can always be traced back to the indictment directed toward Capernaum in our Lord’s day: “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58).

   The prevailing thought, attitude, and perception that leads to genuine faith and faithfulness in the believer lies in the very title we bear: “believer.”  We “live by faith," accessing the power of God thereby.  Or, we tragically fail to avail ourselves of the life of Christ that teems within us.  “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 1:17; 8:6).  As we seek to glorify the Lord Jesus, fulfill God’s will, and love Him and others, we must remember that such a proper determination must be preceded and empowered by the only hope we have to carry out our commitment: “the power that worketh in us.”  Our spiritual enemies well know this, and ever seek to distract us from the grace of being “His workmanship” and the subsequent life of “unto good works.”  We must know it also, ever seeking to remember and rejoice in God’s enabling to fulfill the faithfulness He commands - and empowers.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”

(II Corinthians 9:8)

Weekly Memory Verse

      And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

(Matthew 13:58)

    

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Orange Moon Saturday, June 20, 2026 "Not Of Works"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

“Not Of Works”

      “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name?   And in Thy name have cast out devils?  And in Thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).

    Certainly, there is nothing wrong with good works per se.  There is much wrong with them, however, per salvation.

    “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy, He saved us” (Titus 3:5).

    The very essence of sin involves the pride long ago embraced in Eden.  “Ye shall be as gods” tempted the devil with the delusion in which he himself exists (Genesis 3:5: Isaiah 14:14).  Nothing could have been further from the truth, resulting in the darkness of heart whereby we naturally believe ourselves capable of producing a life and its works worthy of God’s standard, or in most cases, of a standard we create for ourselves.  If honest, we must admit we fail at both, preparing us for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ whereby we trust in His works on our behalf.  “God, have mercy on me a sinner” pled the justified publican, in contrast to the rejected Pharisee who touted his own sacrifices and works (Luke 18:10-14).

    The redeemed of Heaven will have worked much for the glory of God, whereby we “show” a genuine relationship with Him through how we live, but never earning or maintaining the bond thereby  (James 2:18).  Not one of our deeds will serve as the basis for a salvation completely provided through the works of the Lord Jesus.  He alone fulfills the perfect standard through which we become “accepted in the Beloved” by His righteousness freely imputed to us (Ephesians 1:6; I Corinthians 1:30).  Christ alone “died for us” and “ever liveth to make intercession for us” (Romans 5:8; Hebrews 7:25).  We come to God solely by Him, or we do not come at all.  The works of believers are fruit.  The Lord Jesus alone is the root.  This the Gospel, thrice declared in Romans 5 as a "free gift" purchased by the price only Christ could remit.  He did so, perfectly, and we approach God by the works of His Son.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.  Nothing else.

“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.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

“We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”

(Ephesians 2:10)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Sanctify them through Thy truth.  Thy Word is truth.

(John 17:17)

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Orange Moon Friday, June 19, 2026 "Joy"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

“Joy”

      On the surface, it can seem to be one of the most unlikely and impossible of commands found in Scripture:

    “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4).

    First, let us consider that God cannot command us to do anything beyond possibility.  His integrity will not allow such injustice, any more than I could justly tell my granddaughter Evelyn to cut our grass (she cannot reach the handles of the lawn mower).   Of course, all must be done by His presence, guidance, motivation, and enabling  - “through Christ” (Philippians 4:13).  All can be done thereby in the believer who determines to be “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).  Thus, the seemingly mountainous mandate that calls us to rejoice always must be viewed in terms of the possible, and even more, the vital and necessary.

     Let us also ponder the truth that joy, as defined by Scripture, does not primarily mean happiness.  It rather speaks of a deeply settled assurance of the spirit, whereby regardless of condition, circumstance, situation, or emotion, we reckon that all is ultimately well.  We know this about joy because the Apostle Paul speaks of being “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (II Corinthians 6:10).  Indeed, the believer can feel overwhelmed emotionally, physically, and in every human sensation.  He can nevertheless rejoice as a matter of choice, based on the God he knows, loves, trusts, and to whom He looks for the enabling to obey in all things.   

 

   As in… “rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, rejoice.”  The dual command involves our determination to rejoice in both God Himself and in His doings.  We trust His heart and His hand that He fulfills the countless promises of His Word as He abides in presence, involvement, care, and working in all things for those who love Him (Romans 8:28-29).  This does not mean that we will always understand His way in our lives, or that it will not greatly challenge and even perplex us (as Paul confessed regarding his own experience - II Corinthians 4:8).  The choice to rejoice often arises in broken hearts, from pained bodies, and by bewildered minds that cannot fathom God’s ways, but nevertheless cast themselves upon the perfect integrity of His character.  “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him” declared battered Job, who knew something about a joy that abode somewhere deep in the heart, even as all else seemed destroyed (Job 13:15).

    The issue involves not our faith, but rather the faithfulness of God.  Is He who He is?  Does He and can He do what He promises to do?  We know the answers.  We understand that God cannot lie, nor fail to act in accordance with the perfection of His character, nature, and way (Titus 1:2; II Samuel 22:31).  Nothing will approach us in this lifetime that makes impossible our determination to rejoice, and then again, to rejoice.  Do we believe this?  If our flesh does not offer numerous rationalizations as we initially ponder the matter, we are likely not thinking about the matter seriously enough.  However, if in our spirits, the light does not shine upon the truth of God as able to enable us in the matter of joy, we must ponder and pray a bit more earnestly.  He commands our joy in the assurance of His ability to inspire our joy, again, our settled assurance in the midst of all things that all is ultimately well.  This is truth.   This is reality.  This is the infinitely faithful God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This is our joy.  He is our joy.

    A final thought.  We live in days wherein calamity from around the world presents itself to our attention, sometimes almost instantaneously.  Our hearts rightly grieve and even break as we see the hearts of others shattered by sorrow and suffering.  In those times, however, we do well to see another Heart always present, able, and willing to reveal His help, comfort, and yes, His joy in even the greatest loss.  I recall seeing an interview years ago with a woman who had lost everything in a storm, including a loved one.  She wept and could barely speak.  But with her voice she said faintly, but with a faith obviously sincere and trusting, “I don’t know what I am going to do.  But I know the Lord will take care of me.”  I am sure He did, because in the moment when the settled assurance of joy seemingly could not be present in her heart, it was.  He was for our sister who discovered what we will find as we choose to believe we can rejoice because “God, my exceeding joy” is who He is, and does what He does (Psalm 43:4).

“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into diverse temptations.”

(James 1:2)

“The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing.”

 (Psalm 41:3).

Weekly Memory Verse

     Sanctify them through Thy truth.  Thy Word is truth.

(John 17:17)

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