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

Saturday, January 31, 2026

Orange Moon Saturday, January 31, 2026 “Appears… Is”

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

"Appears… Is"

They appear to be so close together.

I refer to the moon and Regulus, our satellite and a star that presently seem to be nearby one another in the night sky. Actually, they are not. Regulus is 79 light years away from the earth and the moon, that is, 450 trillion miles away. The appearance of proximity does not denote the reality of the spacial relationship.

"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment" (John 7:24).

The truth applies to spiritual matters even more. The Lord Jesus Christ warns us regarding the fact that how something appears may not align with how it actually is. The Apostles Paul and John also speak to the necessity of seeking to "judge righteous judgment."

"He that is spiritual judgeth all things" (I Corinthians 2:15).

"Try (test) the spirits, whether they be of God" (I John 4:1).

We must keep our hearts and minds attuned to our Lord and His truth in order to avoid basing our perspectives on appearances that often do not align with reality. This accounts for a primary reason we read and ponder the Scriptures, the benchmark of God's truth whereby we gauge the "appears" in accordance with the "is." Indeed, apart from the Bible's light, the devil's darkness will often appear as a bright and shining star. "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" (II Corinthians 11:14). Failure to avail ourselves of the "righteous judgment" of God's Word means that we are not merely in danger of viewing "appears" as "is." It means we are already misled, with more darkness that falsely glimmers as light awaiting our unwitting minds. "Uphold me according unto Thy Word, that I may live" (Psalm 119:116).

We do well to consistently seek our Lord's confirmation and correction regarding how we view the matters of life. Nearby stars may actually be immeasurably far away. Countless other deceptive appearances also present themselves to our perceptions. "Appears" is a powerful influence to our human perspectives and understanding. Being aware of our susceptibility to base reality on appearance prepares us to more consistently look into the night sky, as it were, and base our perceptions on the "is" of the "righteous judgment" of God and His Word.

"I esteem all Thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way."

(Psalm 119:128)

Weekly Memory Verse

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God."

(Deuteronomy 9:7)

7703

7700

Friday, January 30, 2026

Orange Moon Friday, January 30, 2026 "Always... Never"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

"Always… Never"

"Always" and "Never" - antonyms that correlate perfectly when seeking to ponder God.

He will always be who He is in character, nature, and way. He will never deviate from His perfect holiness (Malachi 3:6; Deuteronomy 32:4).

He will always keep His promises. He will never fail to fulfill even one word or letter of all He has spoken (II Corinthians 1:20;

Titus 1:2).

He will always be everything we need Him to be, and do all we require. He will never be absent or negligent in His determination to provide for us (Philippians 4:19; Joshua 23:14).

He will always view those who trust the Lord Jesus Christ as "in Christ" and in terms of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." He will never account our behavior as altering our being, granted in the new birth as a free gift of grace (I Corinthians 1:30; II

Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 1:27).

He will always be our perfectly faithful Father, acting toward us in precise accordance with our need, be it loving encouragement or loving challenge. He will never fail to be that "everlasting Father" (Hebrews 12:6; Isaiah 9:6).

He will always coordinate all things in our lives in accordance with His eternal purpose, namely, to conform us to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus. He will never waste a moment in that pursuit (Ephesians 1:11; Romans 8:28; Genesis 50:20; Matthew 10:29).

He will always be faithful to His Word, perfectly faithful. Whatever we learn of God in the Bible will true both now and forever. He will never contradict Himself by acting in conflict with His self revelation in the Scriptures (John 17:17; Psalm 111:7-8).

He will always be present with those who trust Him through the Lord Jesus. He will never leave nor forsake us (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).

He will always be the One we can trust with all our hearts. He will never be one worthy of anything less than than our complete confidence (Deuteronomy 7:9; Titus 1:2).

Finally, He will always love His sons and daughters in Christ "with an everlasting love." He will never love us with any devotion less than absolute, nor act toward use with anything less than the best intentions (Jeremiah 31:3; 29:11).

Always… Never. Opposites united in perfect harmony to bear witness to the God of Scripture, and the God of our hearts and lives. May we join Him in our own determinations of always and never regarding devotion to the Lord Jesus, which we will not perfectly fulfill in this lifetime, but which should indeed always be the standard to which we aspire. His standard: always and never.