Orange Moon Monday, May 4, 2026 "Being... Doing"

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

Being.. Doing

    God does what He does because He is who He is.

    “Thou art good and doest good” (Psalm 119:68).

    The sequence never reverses.  The Lord’s doings never contribute to His being.  He does not become something new or improved by His actions.  This constitutes a primary definition of Biblical holiness, namely, that God is forever sanctified to His own character and nature.  He can only be who He is, which forever results in every perfection of thought, attitude, word, and deed.  “The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works” (Psalm 145:17).  Few, if any, understandings and beliefs about our God must more be established in our minds in order to make possible our proper response to Him, based on our knowing Him as He is, and as He does.

    Interestingly, this sequence of being and doing also applies to born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, albeit presently in a far more limited measure.  That is, when we trust and obey God, we are being who we are.

    “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6).

    “Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you” (Romans 8:9).  

    “For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light.”

(Ephesians 5:8)

    The flesh of believers no longer constitutes the essence and selfhood of who we are.  Our spirits now comprise this core reality  and identityof our being.  United to the Holy Spirit, this part of us - the very heart of us - serves as that which not only desires and does the will of God, but literally loves to fulfill it.   “I delight in the law of God after the inward man” (Romans 7:22).  Thus, when we trust and obey God by the power of the Holy Spirit, believers join our Lord in doing what we do as the expression of being who we are.  Of course, we still live in the yet to be glorified flesh of our human faculties that “lusteth against the spirit” (Galatians 5:17).  We can think, speak, act, and relate in accordance with who we were without Christ, rather than who we are with Him (I Corinthians 6:11).   This constitutes a serious aberration regarding our walk in truth, and makes sin far more inexcusable and consequential.  Indeed, had God left us as we were before the new birth, we might find at least somewhat of an excuse for sin.  Because He changed our very being by the entrance of the Holy Spirit into our spirits, however, all rationalizations melt away in the light of His living and vital presence…

    “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).

    The day will come when our every thought, word, and action will perfectly reflect who Christ is - and who we are in Him.  We cannot imagine the peace and joy of such perfect godliness, holiness, and the fulfillment of the reason for our existence.  Presently, we seek growth in knowing the being of God, our own being as united to Christ, and the doing that can and must proceed from such sacred awareness.  We look to the great I AM for this discovery  and realization, seeking to heed Paul’s admonition that shines with so much promise regarding our own I am in Christ…

“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

(Romans 6:11)

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

(Galatians 5:25)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you.”

 (Romans 8:9)  

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Orange Moon Saturday, May 2, 2026 “For Thy Pleasure"

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

“For Thy Pleasure"

    Creation does not exist because God needed something other than Himself to be fulfilled, satisfied, or content.  He rather made all things because He desired to do so:

    “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11).

   Created things, including angels, humans, and the universe, elicit emotion in the Creator.  He does not view the things He made dispassionately, as in terms of a mere technician.  Certainly, our Lord is the greatest - by an infinite measure - of all designers, engineers, mechanics, and laborers.  “He hath made the earth by His power, He hath established the world by His wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by His discretion” (Jeremiah 10:12).  However, God also exists as the most sublimely gifted, talented, and joyful artist.  “He hath made every thing beautiful in His time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  

    Both aspects of His creativity make possible our Lord’s desire to more than exist as the great I AM, glorious and satisfying as that doubtless is (Exodus 3:14).  “I will do” flows from this glorious fount of being, bringing joy to God’s heart as He exercises His mind, word, and ability in producing “wonders without number” that teem with bewildering complexity, while glimmering with sublime beauty (Exodus 34:10; Job 9:10).  Indeed, whenever we enjoy the glories of creation, whether its engineering or its art, we do well to realize that Someone else rejoices more as His inner glory shines forth in manifested displays of wonder and beauty.  “The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in His works” (Psalm 104:31).

    We must know this about our God if we are to know Him rightly, and if such knowledge is to result in our own growing joy in His works.  Indeed, the next time we gaze upon a beautiful sunrise, or find ourselves amazed by new discoveries of creation’s complexity, let us realize that we do not rejoice alone.  Let us consider even more that of all His doings of engineering and art, we stand alone as the creation made “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27).  Little wonder the Psalmist declares of such ones that “the Lord taketh pleasure in His people” (Psalm 149:4).  Yes, through the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we become those in whom God finds His greatest joy in the creation He made through His Son, and the new creation He redeemed by His Son.

“In Thy presence is fullness of joy.  At Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”

(Psalm 16:11)

Weekly Memory Verse

          And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 (I Thessalonians 5:23). 

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Orange Moon Friday, May 1, 2026. Grace: Secret and Service

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

Grace: Secret and Service

    I once delivered an address for the retirement of a pastor active in ministry at the same church for more than fifty years.  My message began along these lines:

    “I want to speak of dedication today.  Of commitment.  Of determination.  Of steadfastness.  Of faithfulness.  Of stalwart devotion manifested all these years by one who unceasingly and tirelessly sought to serve the people of this congregation in faithfulness.”

    I paused to let the thought sink in, and then continued:

    “Yes, I know that Pastor John joins me in grateful wonder that the Lord Jesus Christ has been so dedicated, so committed, so determined, so steadfast, so faithful, so stalwart, so devoted, and so constant in service to His people in this church.”

    John smiled and nodded his head in complete agreement, of course.  As does every trusting, submitted believer who knows beyond all dispute that while we play a role in ministry to others, the motivator, guide, and enabler of our service is always someone other than ourselves.  No act of genuine and truly beneficial ministry has ever originated in the human servant.  Be it one word of one sermon, or a half century of messages beyond number, every ray of light that glorified God shined because and only because the Light Himself, the Lord Jesus, ignited and radiated through His servant.  “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us” (II Corinthians 4:7).

    I once heard another pastor upon his retirement respond to the question of how he hoped to be remembered.  “As a man beyond reproach” he said.  Yet another communicator was asked the  same question as he stepped down from the pulpit.  “As a man who has had an amazingly patient, gracious, merciful, and forgiving God” declared this brother.  I must cast my lot with this brother rather than the former.  How can it be otherwise for any human being?  Indeed, so long as our sins - including those committed after we believed - made necessary the suffering, forsakenness, and death of the Lord Jesus, we all must join the latter pastor in the only sane perception of ourselves and any service for God and others we may have performed.  As no less than the Apostle Paul confessed, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief” (I Timothy 1:15).

   Pastor John will rewarded some day for his service to God and people (I Corinthians 3:10-14).  He will be amazed and overwhelmed, of course, and if in Heaven one could or would argue with the Lord, John would protest.  However, he will know the secret of grace regarding the doings of believers in this present life.  Yes, John will realize that his efforts will not be rewarded for how hard and long he labored, but for how faithfully he received the grace that motivated, guided, and enabled his service.  By His Spirit, the Lord Jesus occupied John’s pulpit and venue of ministry through the years, in dedication, commitment, determination, steadfastness, faithfulness, and stalwart devotion and constant service.  He will receive all glory, just as John will desire.  But our Heavenly Father will not fail to reward His servant for availing himself of the secret of grace in the Lord Jesus that makes possible all service of grace through the Lord Jesus…

“Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.”

(Hebrews 12:28)

"I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

(I Corinthians 15:10)

Weekly Memory Verse

          And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 (I Thessalonians 5:23). 

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