Orange Moon Wednesday, May 14, 2026 "As For Me"

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

    “As For Me"       

     

     "When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that Thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:13-16).

    It gets personal, doesn't it?  That is, the life of faith and faithfulness to which our Heavenly Father calls us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

    "Who do you say that I am?"  The question begins our Christian life when the Christ of history becomes the Christ of our story.  We must personally respond to the Holy Spirit's application of the Biblical Gospel to our hearts and minds.  "Ye must be born again" declared the Lord Jesus to devout, but needy Nicodemus (John 3:7).  Nicodemus came to the Lord speaking in corporate terms: "We know that Thou art a teacher come from God" (John 3:2).  The Lord Jesus, however, made it personal to Nicodemus: "You must be born again."  This applies to all who truly come to know the Lord's saving grace.   The Christ who "died for all" must become known, trusted, and embraced as the Christ who died for me (II Corinthians 5:15).

   The same personal faith applies to the living of our Christian lives subsequent to the new birth.   We pray and respond to Scripture accordingly:

    "Am I trusting God and submitted to His glory, will, and eternal purpose in Christ regarding the matter at hand?   Is the matter one of merely knowing truth to be true, absolutely vital as that is?  Or have I crossed over by faith, communing with God so that  the Christ of history becomes the Christ of the particular issue at hand?"  

    We answer this question again and again throughout our Christian life.  This presents the wonderful opportunity of consistently relating to God regarding His promise and provision in Christ.  Great responsibility also challenges us as our personal appropriation of God's grace regarding the matter at hand prepares us to honor Him and encourage others to personally seek Him.   Only thereby do we know Christ  in the only terms that satisfy the heart of God, while filling our own hearts with His realized presence, peace, and power.  The Psalmist joined Joshua in his own expression of “As for me.”  May we follow in the light of Scriptural truth made personal...

"As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness."

(Psalm 17:15)

Weekly Memory Verse

    By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.
(John 13:35)

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Orange Moon Wednesday, May 13, 2026 “Good News From a Far Country”

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

“Good News From a Far Country”

    “As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country” (Proverbs 25:25).

    The news is indeed good from the “far country” of the throne of grace as this day begins.  The tomb of the Lord Jesus Christ remains empty, He continues to occupy His Heavenly throne, and no foe can or will usurp His Lordship.

    “He is not here, for He is risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:6).

    “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1)

    “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:21).

    Come what may, either in our personal lives or the world at large, the greater truths that relate to our risen Lord Jesus occupy the primary place in our hearts and lives.  We may not always remember the truth, and reminders will often be required for every believer in this present world that “lieth in wickedness” (I John 5:19).  However, the eternally abiding fact of Christ’s person and work applies to every moment, circumstance, condition, and situation.  He is who He is.  He is what He is.  He is where He is.  Amid triumph, tragedy, or the mundane, the Lordship of our risen and seated Savior serves as reality and “good news from a far country.”

    The Scriptures, read, pondered, and remembered, bear witness to such blessed truth.  Never does the Word of God sugarcoat the immense challenge of living in a fallen world.  “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).  Never, however, does it fail to bear witness that “in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).  It cannot be otherwise, considering who, what, and where our Lord is as the crucified, risen, ascended, and reigning Christ.  Let us apply the truth to the blessings, challenges, and moments of our present lives, and indeed, of this moment.  The news is good from Mount Calvary, the empty tomb, the throne of grace, and the heart of the risen Lord Jesus.  As it will forever be for those who have trusted our Savior is who He is, and is where and what He is.

Sometimes it seems that the enemy of our soul wins

over and over and over again.

But if we could see the Truth much more clearly, my friend,

we'd see Christ triumph over death, hell, and sin,

over and over and over again…

Over and over and over again.

The tomb is empty, the throne above occupied.

For Christ is risen again, from death glorified.

So remember when hot, stinging tears fill your eyes,

the triumph He's shone so many times in our lives,

over and over and over again…

over and over and over again.

Forever draws nigh, we will be with Him there soon, my friend.

The trials of this life will be gone when we're with Him in Heaven.

Glories we'll see, majesty without end, 

that sing the glad hymn, Christ is risen again,

over and over and over again…

over and over and over again.

“Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.”

(II Corinthians 2:14)

Weekly Memory Verse

    By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.
(John 13:35)

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Orange Moon "Tuesday, May 12, 2026 "The Immeasurable Measure"

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

“The Immeasurable Measure”

    Our memory verse this week calls born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to “have love” toward one another (John 13:35).  This infers something other than merely making choices to love each other as best we can with the help of God.  Our Savior made possible this “something other” by a grace that seems glorious beyond imagining…

    “I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them” (John 17:26).

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

   We “have love” by realizing, believing, and submitting ourselves to the character and nature of God that wondrously dwells within us though the Holy Spirit.  He thereby motivates, guides, and empowers unselfish devotion to God and others as a matter of grace though faith, rather than futility through effort.  Indeed, if ever we question our utter necessity for the power of God to enable love according to His definition and standard, we do well to consider...

    “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

     This seems - and does - call believers to a life we cannot fulfill in and of ourselves.  Certainly, only God can of Himself love enemies, the immeasurable measure that defines the sublime and superlative quality of His singular heart. The Apostle Paul referenced this in the 5th chapter of Romans:

    “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).

   No other conscious being can of itself begin to love in a manner that dies for its enemies.  This nevertheless sets the standard to which God calls believers.  Certainly, our first response must echo the prophet’s cry when he saw the Lord: “Woe is me!  I am undone!” (Isaiah 6:5).  "Undone!" indeed.  No possibility exists of our own doings that could lead us to bear crosses rather than swords for our enemies.  Thankfully, our Lord never calls us to love by "our own doings.’  

     “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

    Whenever we feel weak and unable to “walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us,”  the awareness of  impossibility actually supplies our first step in the journey (Ephesians 5:2).  “I cannot!” provides the footing for “I can… through Christ!”  (Philippians 4:13).  Whatever we may feel, sense, or think regarding the love to which God calls us, we must believe the truth that will lead us to “have love.”  Namely, we trust in the “shed abroad” love of the Lord Jesus that indwells our hearts through the Holy Spirit.  God never calls us to fulfill His will by our own human capacities.  Far from it.  The summit of such character looms far too high for even the first step of ascent by our own feet.   Thus, we remove the shoes of our feet on this holy ground of  “Without Me, ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).  Instead, we “put on Christ,” through whom we can “do all things,” including and especially loving those for whom our flesh feels anything but love (Galatians 5:27; Philippians 4:13; Galatians 5:17).

     Thankfully to “have love” for fellow believers does not involve enemies.  We nevertheless realize the daunting challenge of loving even the brethren according to God’s standard and calling.  Thankfully, the love we are to “have” in attitude, word, and deed already dwells within us through the presence of the indwelling Holy Spirit.  This we must believe because it is true, and because love for our fellow believers requires God’s leading and enabling no less than loving our enemies.  To walk in love, as Christ has loved us?  He alone can motivate, guide, and empower the quality of character and devotion to others that confirms the measure beyond measure…

“The love of Christ… passeth knowledge.”

(Ephesians 3:19)

Weekly Memory Verse

    By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.
(John 13:35)

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