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

Saturday, August 29, 2026

Orange Moon Saturday, August 29, 2026 "Our Family"

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

“Our Family”

I didn't know.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life forevermore" (Psalm 133:1-3).

I did not know about the family into which I would be born - born again - upon believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. I did not grow up in church, although throughout my childhood, I found the things I heard or read about the Lord Jesus interesting and quite appealing. However, I knew very little about salvation and its glorious blessedness. When I became a born again believer on September 17, 1975, I realized my sins were forgiven, God had become my Father, eternity with Him was assured, and He called me to live a life that reflected well on the Lord Jesus and served as a blessing to others. Still, I didn't know about the gift this essay references.

"Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named" (Ephesians 3:13-15).

I did not know about the gift of family, that is, the spiritual family into which the Holy Spirit births those who believe. I did not know God gave to me the bestowal of people - brothers and sisters who trusted Him like myself - and who would prove to be blessings so immeasurably wonderful that I will never have enough opportunity to give adequate thanks. I did not know that while I cannot see the Lord Jesus in this present lifetime, I have seen Him dwelling and walking in His people (II Corinthians 6:16). I did not know I would find my wife among the holy company, or that we would have children who would join us therein. I did not know I would live my earthly lifetime with "the whole family of Heaven and earth" as a prelude for a joyous eternity together with our Lord and each other. Nor did I know I would meet many of His children as the result of these devotionals that have so graciously granted me another immeasurably wonderful gift, namely, your fellowship and friendship.

I did not know about the gift. I know about it now. I have seen the glory of God in so many faces, in so many places. Homes, churches, neighborhoods, workplaces, retirement communities, rescue missions, hospitals, restaurants, coffeeshops, mountain trails, and in so many venues where I have encountered the living God among His sons and daughters in Christ. In days that often seem dark, I have seen one believer after another beautifully illuminate the pathways of a fallen world, even as the Apostle Paul declared of the church: "Ye shine as lights in the world" (Phillipians 2:15).

I do not allow myself to frequently ponder the dark thought of what my life would have been like without that day when God so graciously led me to Himself. It would not have been life. "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). Moreover, I think of the people I would never have known, including all of you. Again, I rarely allow the dark thought to enter my mind because it too sad to contemplate. Instead, I seek to dwell on the gift - the Gift of Himself - God gave to me so long ago. I dwell also on the gift of His people, His sons and daughters, my brothers and sisters. Great light fills my heart as I do, and also the yearning to find words to properly express my gratitude for such grace. Such words, however, do not exist. Thus, I bow my head to ask the Lord to look into my heart to see that which I could never express for the gift of people in whom He so beautifully shines.

I did not know about the gift before I believed. Since that blessed day, however, I have grown in the knowledge, and even more, in the wonder that God gave to us each other when we believed. The writer of Hebrews declares the Lord Jesus Himself rejoices in the gift. We close with our Savior’s beckoning to see and rejoice in the family, in His family that has, in the marvel of God’s grace, become our family.

"For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of One: for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare Thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee. And again, I will put My trust in Him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given Me."

(Hebrews 2:11-13)

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy for your fellowship in the Gospel from the first day until now."

(Philippians 1:3-5)

Weekly Memory Verse

To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

(Romans 8:6)

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Friday, August 28, 2026

Orange Moon Friday, August 28, 2028 "Another Power At Work"

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

“Another Power At Work”

“There is another power at work.”

A character in a famous novel uttered these words regarding a conflict he perceived to be something beyond mere human involvement and activity. This could actually be said of any and everything.

“God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 3:11).

No truth seems more unlikely at times, or can be more difficult to perceive and comprehend. A perfectly righteous God at work not only in the good He directly determines, but also in the unrighteous He has allowed since the fall of Lucifer? (Isaiah 14:12-14). Nothing often seems more unlikely, and nothing more requires the spiritual mindedness led by the Holy Spirit and Scripture to think in terms whereby we “judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24). One event, however, that appeared utterly bereft of "another power at work" bears the clearest witness to God’s universal presence and involvement in “all things.”

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (Isaiah 53:3-4).

The worst sin - by an infinite measure - ever committed by Adam’s fallen race included “another power at work.” We tortured to death our Creator and the One who so dearly loves us. We “despised and rejected Him” in a horror of evil beyond all description. Nevertheless, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” by being “stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted” (II Corinthians 5:19). As dark and terrible as other sins can be and have been throughout human history, nothing compares with Calvary in its measure of evil. And yet nothing compares with Calvary in its measure of grace that proceeds from God’s redemptive working to make atonement for the sins of the race to whom Scripture alludes in its stark indictment: “They crucified Him” (Matthew 27:35).

We do well to think of this when we rightly grieve at seeing things in the world that seem beyond “another power at work.” We cannot begin to understand or process the doings of God amid the doings of devils and man. We can, however - and we must - believe the clear declarations of Scripture that tell us of our Lord’s working in all His administrations and allowances. As Joesph said of his brothers, “Ye thought evil unto me,” which included far more than their merely thinking sinfully. However, when all was said and done, and when Joseph could see more clearly, he confessed,”but God meant it unto good” (Genesis 50:20).

We waste no time seeking to understand the how, why, and wherefore of such seeming enigma. We spend much time seeking to know our Lord and His Word so well that we see by faith His heart and hand where it seems impossible they could be. Another power is always at work, the greatest of all powers by an infinite measure, and the One who makes the worst thing that ever happened into the best thing for all who believe. Herein we rest our hearts as we judge not according to the appearance, but judge the righteous reality of God as the power ever and always at work.

“Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath. There is none else.”

(Deuteronomy 4:39)