Orange Moon Thursday, January 1, 2026 "The Mystery"

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

  

"The Mystery"    

   

  

   As the second Person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ predates all things.

    "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, o God, is forever and ever" (John 1:11; Hebrews 1:8).

    As the "second man," the progenitor of a race of human beings spiritually born of God, the Lord Jesus had a beginning as the God who became man (and the man who remains God - I Corinthians 15:47).

    "The Word was made flesh… God was manifest in the flesh" (John 1:14; I Timothy 3:16).

    No less than the Apostle Paul declared such a wonder as beyond complete understanding - "Great is the mystery" (I Timothy 3:16).   By human understanding, such a fusion of the Divine and the human, the Infinite and the finite, and the eternal and the temporal should not have occurred.  Scripture nevertheless declares the truth without apology or overmuch explanation.  It commands that we view the very fact of the Lord Jesus' existence as a miracle of God.  Indeed, the Savior performed miracles because He is Himself the greatest of all supernatural acts of the Divine.  "A virgin shall conceive" declared the prophet (Isaiah 7:14).  A virgin did conceive by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, and brought forth the mystery of a Being we will never fully understand in either time or eternity.

    No truth should more thrill us.  Indeed, regardless of how much the believer has discovered of glory the Lord Jesus to this point of our eternal journey, endless wonders of His person, nature, and character await us.  The same will be true in eternity, wherein we will better know our Lord.  Greater knowledge, however, will reveal even more that no end awaits to the quest of "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).  Our hearts were born and born again for this, to forever absorb and reflect the light of the Lord Jesus for the glory of God, the blessing of others, and the fulfillment of our hearts.  "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).  

    This day offers the glorious opportunity.  The Spirit of God, the Word of God, the church of God, and the creation of God all beckon our hearts to gain more insight into the Mystery of all mysteries.  Who is Christ?  What has He done?  What is He doing?  What will He do forevermore for His Father and for us?  The questions will never be fully answered, a realization that serves as perhaps the brightest of all lights that shine upon the Lord Jesus.  Yes, He is better, He is greater, and He is more glorious than we will ever know.  We realize this now.  We will know it ever better in eternity, with glorified sensibilities and understanding.  The Mystery… the Light.  The Glory… the Humility.  The Son of God… the Son of man.  The Word made flesh… God, manifest.  Today and forever offer possibilities of discovery, or enhancements of glory already known.  May our Father grant much grace in leading us by His Spirit to realize that the solution to the mystery of Christ is that it can never begin to be fully solved.

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, which in His times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen."

(I Timothy 6:14-16)

Weekly Memory Verse

    O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"

(Romans 11:33)

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Orange Moon Wednesday, December 31, 2025 "The Year To Come"

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

  

"The Year To Come"       

   

  

   As we arrive at the threshold of a new year, many prospects of what it may hold loom before us.  The most important of all can be found in a prayer by the Apostle Paul for the Colossian believers.  Paul asked the Lord that his brethren would ever be "increasing in the knowledge of God" (Colossians 1:10)

    On December 31, 2026, will there be anything more blessed than to look back in the realization that we know the Lord Jesus Christ in a significantly greater way than we do now?  Hardly.  Regardless of what may occur in the next year regarding matters of circumstance, condition, situation, or relationship with people, nothing could compare with the assurance that the Apostle Peter's command has been fulfilled in our hearts and lives:

   "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).  

    The increase must involve both personal and doctrinal knowledge of God.  He calls us to "worship Him in spirit and in truth," meaning the realization of the living Word in our heart and the understanding of the written Word in our minds (John 4:24).  The Holy Spirit ever works to further both aspects of relationship with our Heavenly Father.  Indeed, confidence in His living presence in our spirits leads us to the Scriptures for confirmation and encouragement in seeking our Lord by faith.  The Scriptures infuse expectation and confidence that God can indeed be known and realized along the providential pathways of life.  He made us as creatures capable of both personal knowledge and mental understanding, primarily for the purpose of walking with Him in both heart and mind.  True fellowship with Him will always involve both aspects of life, as defined by the living and written Word.  "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).  

   Let us prayerfully hope to look back on the year to come with gratitude that we journeyed further with our Lord down the glorious way of the path of righteousness.  Regardless of anything else that occurs, nothing will matter more.  Nothing will begin to matter as much actually, in a year wherein the Lord Jesus will serve as the Life of our lives, and wherein we can better know the wondrous marvel of such grace and truth.

You are the life, the  Life of my life, 

the joy of my spirit. 

A Voice speaks by Your Word. 

I more and more hear it.

To live is Christ, it says, nothing else is.

I kneel to draw near it,

 to hear and respond, in the truth of Your Word,

the grace of Your Spirit…

You are the Life, the Life of my life.

"Thou crownest the year with thy goodness."

(Psalm 65:11)

Weekly Memory Verse

    O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"

(Romans 11:33)

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Orange Moon Tuesday, December 30, 2025 "What Time"

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

  

"What Time"       

   

   The longer one holds an object, the heavier it feels due to the stress on muscles.  The object's actual weight does not change, but rather the capacity to bear it.  In similar fashion, the longer one holds on to fear and insecurity, the heavier it becomes in our sensibilities and perceptions even though the matter that tempts us may not increase in severity.

    "What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee" (Psalm 56:3).

    Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ live with "exceeding great and precious promises" accompanying our hearts throughout our lives and in every moment.  The assurances apply to "all things" (II Peter 1:4; Romans 8:32).  Be it minor challenge or daunting calamity, our Heavenly Father promises to be whatever we need Him to be, and do whatever we need Him to do.  This may or may not coincide with our perception of what we require Him to be and do for us.  However, it perfectly coincides with truth and reality, as defined by our Heavenly Father (the only definition that truly matters, in light of His perfect wisdom, knowledge, and understanding).  "His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5).  

    Such assurance means that whenever we are tempted to fear and insecurity, we must quickly do that which believers do.  We must believe.  The Psalmist's "what time I am afraid" refers to any time, every time, all the time, and  this time.  We must quickly and assertively cast our cares on the only One who can adequately bear them (I Peter 5:7).  The longer we drift in a sea of uncertainty based on unbelief, the heavier our sense of insecurity and fear becomes.  The sooner we affirm "I will trust in Thee," the more we will realize that we do not face any matter as if by ourselves.  "I am with thee… He is with me.. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Isaiah 41:10; Joshua 1:9; Hebrews 13:5).  The promises sound and resound along every pathway of life, especially in dark ways of uncertainty where God is "a very present help in trouble" (Isaiah 46:1).  We must not linger in hearing and responding.  "The true light now shineth" declared the Apostle John (I John 2:8).   The Lord calls us to now see and respond in faith.

    Not only is the peace of God at stake in our response.  Far more, the glory of God revealed in us depends on our soon declared "I will trust in Thee."   "Fearful believer" is an oxymoron and an aberration.   The Prince of peace dwells within us, the Prince who has conquered our every enemy through death, resurrection, and ascension into the Heavenelies as King of kings and Lord of lords.    Our every enemy.   "And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (Colossians 2:15).  Such sacrifice and triumph should be honored by living in the glorious light of the risen Savior who has Himself overcome all things, and promises that through Him, we can also overcome (John 16:33; I John 5:4).  

    We will feel initial challenges of insecurity and fear throughout our present lifetime.  What we do with them is the issue.  And we must do something with them.  Yes, as believers, we must believe.  We must cast our cares as soon as we feel them weighing upon our minds.  They will become heavier and heavier if we fail to cast.  They will become opportunities to know and experience our perfectly faithful Lord's presence, involvement, and working as we choose to cast.  Quickly.  Assertively.  Regardless of how we feel, or what thoughts of trepidation threaten us with the absurdity that we face our challenge alone, we must arise to honor our Lord by trusting Him.  He will not fail us.  He cannot fail us.  "Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded" (I Peter 2:6).  Yes, "what time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee."  Any time.  Every time.  All the time.  And if necessary, this time.  Because no one has ever trusted the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and been disappointed for doing so.  And no one ever will.

"God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

(II Timothy 1:7)

Weekly Memory Verse

    O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!"

(Romans 11:33)

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