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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Orange Moon Thursday, April 30, 2026 “The Infinite River”

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

“The Infinite River”     

     

      Our grandson Jackson has long been known for saying things in a way that brings smiles to our faces and warmth to our hearts.  As a little boy, he once told me as he left our house after spending the weekend with us,  "Tell Grannie Frannie she loves us!"

 

    Jackson immediately knew he had crossed up his words, having meant to say, ”Tell Grannie Frannie we love her!"  His face immediately broke into a smile, as did my own.  "I'll tell her, Jackson," I responded, "I'll tell Grannie Frannie that she loves you!" 

 

    As has often been the case with Jackson, his comment was fraught with a wonderful spiritual implication.  Indeed, we do well to frequently affirm to God His love for us in a world filled with constant temptations to forget or neglect His devotion, commitment, and affection.

 

     "We love Him because He first loved us" (I John 4:19).

 

     Our love for God always and forever flows as a tributary of the infinite river of His love for us.  First, He loved us by creating and sustaining our being, providing for us before we even knew Him (Acts 17:25).  He then loved us by convincing and convicting us that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior, and that we desperately needed a Redeemer from our sins (John 12:32).  He poured out His love into our hearts when we believed, through the entrance of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5).  Finally, He continues to work in us to motivate and enable reciprocal response to the continual overtures of His lovingkindness.  "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

 

     Born again believers live for God by living from God.  The Lord Jesus is "before all things," including and especially the fruit of the Spirit produced in us by God's ongoing presence and working (Colossians 1:17).  The dynamic of "we love Him because He first loved us" forms and informs our understanding not only of birth into relationship with God, but also of growth into the likeness of His character, disposition and way.  “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus, so walk ye in Him” (Colossians 2:6).

 

    If it were possible to quantify godliness and find the most devoted believer presently living in the world, we might raise the question, "What does it feel like to love God so much?"  The Christian would instantly recoil from the notion, confessing, ”Oh, I've barely even begun to love Him!  However, I grow more and more overwhelmed by the wonder of how much He loves me, how much He loves you, and how much He loves all!"  Yes, the focus of true godliness sees clearly the infinite river - "God is love" - and the fact that in both time and eternity those who truly love Him become increasingly enraptured and fixed not on their devotion to Him, but on His devotion to all (I John 4:16).

 

    Frances rejoiced in hearing Jackson’s "Tell Grannie Frannie that she loves us!”   Doubtless, the same rejoicing will fill our Heavenly Father's heart as we affirm to Him and each other the wonder of His love that "passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).  We may tell Him that He loves us with confidence that we are faithfully expressing His Word, the reality of His heart, and the truth that leads us to love Him because He loves us.

 

"And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God."

(II Thessalonians 3:5)

Weekly Memory Verse

    We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”

 (II Peter 1:19)

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