Orange Moon Wednesday, December 17, 2025 “Exceeding, Abundantly Above”

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

   

"Exceeding, Abundantly Above"         

    

     Our prayers of request do not begin to measure up to God's answers.

      "Now unto Him that is able to do exceedingly, 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).

    Our smallest supplication results in God's spectacular working to answer.  Of course, it does not look this way in most of what He does because our "ask or think" as finite beings is so minuscule in comparison to how our Heavenly Father supplies even the tiniest crumb or morsel in response to "give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11).  The confirmation?

    "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).

   The Apostle Paul's declaration of how God provides for every need shines as one of those Scriptural lights that blinds even as it illuminates.  "All your need… riches in glory… by Christ Jesus."  Let us allow the magnitude of such grace to take our breath away.  When God supplies the crumb and the morsel, He does so from "the unsearchable riches of Christ" (Ephesians 3:8).  I have pondered this truth for nearly a half century, sought to pray according to its measure, preached it, written it, and believed it.  However, I barely know what it means.  I do know this, however.  God's answers to our prayers transcend every word we utter and every thought we think.  Paul clearly suggests that the crumb comes with Christ, as it were, and from His riches in glory.  The price of such provision?  

    "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).

    Of all that the promise we consider means, the cost of its provision most confirms how abundantly our Heavenly Father answers even the simplest request.  Indeed, the next prayer to which He responds will be answered because He did not respond when the Lord Jesus cried out in the agony of abandonment, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).  How could the measure of provision not be "exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think" in light of the "exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think" price that purchased it?  

    We see so very little of what our Father does in answering the simplest prayer.  We must know by faith, however, that the tiniest morsel comes to us accompanied by marvels of mercy even eternity will not fully reveal.  We cannot begin to "ask or think" in accordance with the measure our Father supplies and provides.  The cost of His answers "by Christ Jesus" bears witness to such grace, and to the privilege and responsibility of the gift, the gift of prayer, we can only begin to understand and practice.

"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

(Jeremiah 33:3)

Weekly Memory Verse

     "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?   For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."

(Proverbs 23:5)

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Orange Moon Saturday, December 20, 2025 “Full of Compassion”

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

   

"Full of Compassion"         

    

     I have been blessed to know many compassionate believers, brothers and sisters whose hearts bear the cares of others as if they were their own.  Because they are.

    "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

    Such devotion to others begins in the heart of God Himself, the very origin and motivation of all compassion.

    "Thou, o Lord, art a God full of compassion" (Psalm 86:15).

    "His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psalm 145:9).

    

    Our Heavenly Father does not simply look upon the sorrows and sufferings of humanity.  Even though largely self-imposed through sin, humanity has not been left bereft in our own misery.  God cares, and even more, He draws near to the hurting - "a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).  Their pains matter to Him far more than any compassion ever known or felt in any other heart.  This includes our own hurts, and in this moment, let us bow our hearts in wonder that the bearing of one another's burdens proceeds from "the law of Christ," that is, from the governing nature of love - "the royal law" -  in the heart of the Lord Jesus (James 2:8). 

    The cries of the hurting have ascended to God's ear and heart throughout history, be it human or all other creatures suffering in a sin-ravaged world.  All have mattered to Him, as do all in this present moment.  We do well to realize this truth about Him.  We must.  We cannot know our Father as He is apart from seeing Him in this light of mercy.  The realization will have great impact on our own hearts as we seek to see the hurting through God's eyes and His heart "full of compassion."  

The lonely man wonders,

Is there anybody out there 

who really gives a care,

that I cry myself to sleep each night,

and very soon I'll give up this fight?

O do I really matter?  Do I really matter?

The pretty girl wonders, 

Is there more to me than just this face, 

shining in the mirror?

Or when beauty fades into memory, 

will I still, will I still be me?

O do I really matter?  Do I really matter?

The guilty one wonders,

Is there any way to purge

these bloody hands of mine?

Or am I damned for eternity,

will no one rise to make my plea?

Oh do I really matter?  Do I really matter?

The answer…

As a moonbeam piercing

through the endless night,

the silver voice of the risen Christ

shines clear and bright.

Oh yes, you really matter,

yes, you really matter…

To Me.

"We have not a High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities."

(Hebrews 4:15)

Weekly Memory Verse

     "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?   For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."

(Proverbs 23:5)

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Orange Moon Friday, December 19, 2025 "Teach Us To Pray"

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

   

"Teach Us To Pray"         

    

     In a recent message, we suggested that prayer must be viewed primarily in light of God's involvement and doings rather than our own.  This does not discount our proper response and responsibility.  Scripture speaks much about the whys and wherefores of communion with our Heavenly Father.  

   

   ""For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18). 

   "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us" (I John 5:14).

    We must come to God by the way He has made available, and we must seek to pray in accordance with His glory, will, and eternal purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must be God-centered in our understanding, focus, and practice of prayer.  Indeed, the very point of genuine prayer involves the wrenching of our attention away from ourselves to rest it upon the One in whom "we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).  

   "Therefore I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me" (Micah 7:7).

    As we rightly "let your requests be made known unto God," we must pray with a prevailing attitude of "Hallowed be Thy Name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven" (Philippians 4:6; Matthew 6:9-10; emphasis added).  Believers serve as ambassadors who represent not ourselves or our own plans and purposes.  We rather serve and represent the glory and will of our King (II Corinthians 4:5).  Our needs and desires factor into prayer, and the Lord often answers in ways that apply to us in the most personal terms.  Doubtless, our Heavenly Father rejoices in the bestowal of such generosity and kindness.  However, our personal matters are not paramount in His responses to our prayers.  Nor would we want them to be.  Our Father rather works primarily in accordance with with the glory of His Son and the fulfillment of "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  We would not want it any other way when considering that whatever fulfills His will always works toward our ultimate best interests.

    Consider prayer for "this day, our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11).  Certainly, God provides in a manner that meets our personal need for health and even our desire for enjoyment (Mark 8:2-3; I Timothy 6:17).  However, every morsel He provides applies to far more than physical requirements and pleasure.  Our bodies belong to Him for His honor, will, and purpose.  We are to "do all for the glory of God" (I Corinthians 10:31).  The Lord does not feed us in this present life without an eye directed primarily toward eternity.  We will not see or realize most of the eternal relevance of His supply of food.  It applies nevertheless, and we do well at times as we raise our forks to consider that our requests for daily bread will be answered in a manner that impacts far more than our temporal existence.  "The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:18).

   Communion with an infinite, eternal God transcends our native human capacities.  We must view the matter with deep reverence, but also in the joy that a primary reason for the indwelling Holy Spirit in believers involves His leadership, motivation, and enabling to pray.  No aspect of our walk with God more reveals our need for Him and His faithful provision to us.  "Lord, teach us to pray" asked the disciples (Luke 11:1).  No wiser request has ever been offered in human history, nor is one forthcoming.  Yes, prayer is the most God-centered reality of our existence because our lives  ebb and flow through personal communion with Him.  The more we view it as such, the more we will avail ourselves of His enabling through His God-centered answers as we often echo the disciples.  Indeed, Lord, teach us to pray.

"Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."

(Romans 8:26)

Weekly Memory Verse

     "Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?   For riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven."

(Proverbs 23:5)

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