Sunday, March 29, 2026

Orange Moon Sunday, March 29, 2026. "Four Words"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe


(For Ellie)



"Four Words" 


    

     Four one syllable words - "the Lord is good" - occur seven times in the Old Testament of the Bible.  Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ affirm their truth with all our hearts, while knowing that even eternity will not allow our full discovery of the glory and meaning.


    One passage in the New Testament - one among many, actually - particularly rings with the glory of God's goodness:


    "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved,  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:4-10).


    Moses asked to see God's glory.  The Lord responded, "I will make all My goodness pass before thee" (Exodus 33:19).  Certainly, "glory" can be defined in countless ways.  However, the most direct Biblical affirmation is found in this declaration of character and nature of goodness.  Who our Lord is in heart most declares His essence, disposition, and way, revealing why the first command to us involves our hearts' primary reason for existence, namely, to respond to Him in kind:


    "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment" (Mark 12:30).

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


    Such consideration ever and always leads us to Calvary.  There, amid the blackest depths of all darkness, the light of "the Lord is good" shined most brightly.  For His enemies, God smote His beloved Son with untold sorrow, agony, grief, forsakenness, and death (Romans 5:10).  The Lord Jesus willingly gave Himself to the wrath of divine judgment against unrighteousness, bearing our sins, and in a mystery never to be understood by human minds, "made to be sin for us" (I Peter 2:24; II Corinthians 5:21).  The Lord is good?  With all due respect to His perfect and wondrous Word, how does this even begin to say it as it could and should be said? 


     As our Heavenly Father so often does, His gifts come to us in ways inconspicuous and seemingly insignificant, but which glimmer with eternally consequential glory.  Four words.  The Lord is good.  Four words that will require forever to even begin discovery of their meaning and impact on our existence.   Thankfully, for believers, the journey has begun and continues in this day.  How will our Lord reveal to us His goodness before we lay our heads to rest tonight?  We shall see, as we believe (Matthew 8:13).  May we all join Moses - "Show me Thy glory."  Doubtless, our Father will joyfully respond, "I will make all My goodness pass before Thee."


There is no end to the quest we know,

forever beckons on.

For we soar in skies so bright and blue,

above all clouds and storm.


Yes, we fly into the heart of God, 

as in His Son we trust,

and earth will soon be nothing more

than long forgotten dust.


So spread your wings and catch the wind,

o journeyman of hope,

and race toward horizons blessed

with those who also know


That the quest of hearts is Jesus,

He is our shining sun,

it matters not how far we've come…

the Journey's just begun.


"The Lord is good."

(Psalm 34:8; Psalm 100:5; Psalm 135:3; Psalm 145:9; Jeremiah 33:11; Lamentations 3:25; Nahum 1:7)


Weekly Memory Verse 

    For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

(Psalm 100:5)



























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Saturday, March 28, 2026

Orange Moon Saturday, March 28, 2026 "Protocol of Change"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe



"Protocol of Change" 


    

     Change is coming.  Be it minor, major, or somewhere in between, change is always coming in human experience.  We anticipate some alterations of our existence.  Others arrive at our doorstep unannounced.  Many bless us, many challenge us, and most may not seem particularly consequential.  The one that matters most and foretells of eternal consequence involves born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and God's wondrous purpose in our hearts and lives:


     "Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Corinthians 3:18).


    God redeemed us to make us like His Son in terms of character, relationship, word, and deed.  He accomplishes this wondrous prospect by inhabiting us with the Holy Spirit, who progressively works in us to the reveal the Lord Jesus:


    "Ye are the temple of the living God… Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father… He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (II Corinthians 6:16; Galatians 4:6; Philippians 1:6).


    We play a role of response in God's protocol of change as by faith we trust and submit to His working to conform us to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus.  We "work out" that which God "works in" by acknowledging and affirming His presence and power, and making choices of the heart to glorify and reveal the Lord Jesus as the Life of our lives (Philippians 2:12-13).  This includes our humble admission that we require ongoing change in every aspect of our response to God.  It cannot be otherwise since the goal and model of His purpose involves making us like the incomparable Christ.  Indeed, if we could qualitatively measure the most Christlike believer on the planet in any moment, we would rejoice in the fact of our brother or sister shining so beautifully with the light of the Savior.  However, we would also realize he or she has far to go in serving as an accurate reflection of the Lord Jesus in character, nature, and way.  


    "But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more" (I Thessalonians 4:9-10).


    Change is coming, always.  The greatest of all, and the one that most enables us to respond well to all others, is the change our Heavenly Father continually executes to conform us to the image of the Lord Jesus.  How will He work today in each of our hearts and lives to fulfill His glorious purpose?  We do not know.  However, we do understand our role of trust, submission, and the realization that the process is ongoing.  By His grace, may our progress be the same.


"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is."

(I John 3:2)


Weekly Memory Verse 

   He that is entered into His rest, he hath ceased from His own works, as God did from His.

 (Hebrews 4:10)



























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