The Special of the Day... From the Orange Moon Cafe "Affirmation and Request" June 6, 2026

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

   

“Affirmation and Request”   

                                  

      Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ often ask God for provisions He has declared in His Word to already be ours.  This accords with Scripture, which teaches us that “His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,” while also calling us to “let your requests be made known unto God” (II Peter 1:3; Philippians 4:6).

   The matter involves possession and experience.  Through the Lord Jesus, who serves as the very heart of God’s provision regarding all things, “all things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (I Corinthians 3:21-22).  Specific application of such grace, however, awaits the needs of each hour and moment.  “My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  We therefore seek to walk in the faith of “having all sufficiency in all things,” and of trusting and receiving  specific applications of “My grace is sufficient for Thee” (II Corinthians 9:8; 12:9). 

    This dual truth whereby we “possess your possessions” calls us to the faith of affirmation and request (Obadiah 1:17).  We recognize that God has given all things into the hand of Lord Jesus (John 3:35).  United to Him, and in Him, we already have the supply for every circumstance, situation, and condition.  As my wife Frances affirms, “Having Him, we have all.”  In the light of such assurance, we ask our Father for the manifestation of His freely given provision according to His glory, purpose, and will.  He supplies accordingly, and we trust the Holy Spirit to bring forth into open and specified display that which forever resides in the “exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think” abundance of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:20;  8).  The possession is infinitely plentiful.  The appropriation is perfectly administered by the God whose “understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5).

    Affirmation and request.  The Lord Jesus is “the heir of all things.”  We are “joint heirs with Christ” (Hebrews 1:2; Romans 8:17).  We have all things.  We require their specific and wisely direct application, as administered by God.  The Bible teaches both aspects of truth.  Our Scripturally educated and directed faith guides us as we rejoice in the abiding supply of “all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” and the “possess your possessions” response of “ask and it shall be given unto you” (Philippians 4:19; Matthew 7:7). 

Weekly Memory Verse

    Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

(Ephesians 6:10)

 

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Orange Moon Friday, June 5, 2026 “Water Into Wine”

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

   

“Water Into Wine”   

                                  

      The Lord Jesus Christ began His working of miracles at a marriage, where He transformed water into wine (John 2).  This perfectly accords with God’s purpose in His Son, namely, the transformation of our hearts that occurs when we trust Him.  

    “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.  Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

     From “without God in the world” to “the Spirit of God dwelleth in you,” believers became something new and different in the innermost depths of our being in the moment of the new birth (Ephesians 2:12; I Corinthians 3:16).  A “new man, created in righteousness and true holiness” sprang to life as someone who had never before been, and who forevermore will be (Ephesians 4:24).  The Spirit of Christ became the very life of this spiritually birthed wonder of God’s grace, making possible an existence and activity far beyond human means.  “We live through Him” as we trust and submit to His Lordship, and as His character, nature, and disposition not only dwells within us, but teems within our “new creature.”  Thereby, the Spirit of God  moves upon the face of our hearts no less than He moved upon the face of the waters in the original physical creation (I John 4:9; Genesis 1:2).

    Do we believe this about our Lord?  Do we believe this about ourselves?  We must.  Scripture commands that we “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).  No longer are we without God in that innermost temple of the heart that exists for His presence.  Forevermore - and in this moment - the Spirit of Christ lives in us, we live in Him, and we may live a life far beyond our human means and potential.  Yet again, we must.  The Lord Jesus sacrificed far too much for believers to live as if the cross never occurred, and as if our spirits remain empty rather than the tomb from which He long ago exited in triumph. 

     “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

    The old saying, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste,” pales in comparison to the neglect of a spirit filled with the Spirit of Christ.  The Lord Jesus transformed water into wine at a wedding long ago.  He did far more in us when we believed.  May God grant much grace of reminder, motivation, and the leading of His Spirit, whereby we freely avail ourselves of a grace far more present and powerful than we can imagine, but which will have powerful and practical impact as we believe.  

“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

(Ephesians 3:20-21)

Weekly Memory Verse

    Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

(Ephesians 6:10)

 

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Orange Moon Thursday, June 4, 2026 "Sons and Daughters"

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

   

“Sons and Daughters”   

                                  

     “But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Galatians 4:4-7).

   Why does the Apostle Paul, who so often referred to himself and all believers as servants, declare that Christians are “no more a servant, but a son?”

   The answer lies in the primary aspect of our relationship to God.  He purposed that human beings would become members of “the whole family in Heaven and earth” (Ephesians 3:15).  This requires that we become more than mere servants in our fellowship with Him.  Through faith in the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Heavenly Father spiritually births us through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence.  Thereby, we serve God as family offspring rather than as merely hired help.  Most importantly, we relate to God by the primary motive of personal devotion rather than obligation, made possible by…

     “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).

    What makes possible this lavish outpouring of our Lord’s own character and nature into our innermost depths, birthing us as sons and daughters?  The answer involves the holiest of all ground, whereupon we must remove our shoes and fall to our knees:

    “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

    The Son was made to be sin that sinners might become sons and daughters.  The Bible never explains what this means in technical terms, likely because we could not begin to understand.  We know, however, that a sacrifice of the deepest and darkest magnitude occurred on the cross of Calvary, making possible a gift of proportionate grace and mercy.  Indeed, to the degree the Lord Jesus suffered, was forsaken, and died, those who believe are forgiven, indwelt, and enlivened by the presence of the indwelling Spirit of the Lord Jesus.  Sinners become sons and daughters of God in a relationship that would seem far beyond that which any created being could expect.  Certainly, we serve our Heavenly Father, and joyfully accept the designation of “servant.”  However, we mean something far than mere obligatory employment.  Our Father rather calls us into a service of love, grace, and faith.  Indeed, of family.

     Growing realization of such a gift, the gift of family, changes our perspective and makes possible a far more sincere and faithful response to our Father.  Our Father.  How can it be that He calls us to know Him in this paternal relationship and devotion?  So much seems to argue against it.  The Spirit of God and the Word of God nevertheless calls us to see ourselves in such terms of wonder, based on the sacrifice of the Son of God, “made to be sin for us,” that we might be birthed as “dear children” (Ephesians 5:1)

“As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His name.”

(John 1:12)

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God.”

(I John 3:2)

Weekly Memory Verse

    Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

(Ephesians 6:10)

 

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