Orange Moon April 16, 2026 "Lay Hold"

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

  

    

              “Lay Hold"         

    

     

     The Apostle Paul’s command to “Lay hold on eternal life” suggests an interesting calling regarding our walk with God through the Lord Jesus Christ (I Timothy 6:12).

    Recall our Savior’s definition of eternal life: This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3).   To “lay hold on eternal life” means that we avail ourselves of the fellowship with Himself God has given us through Christ.  We do so by faith, trusting and submitting ourselves to our Heavenly Father’s promised presence and involvement through the Holy Spirit’s active working in our hearts and lives. We "lay hold” on the One who has laid hold on us, working our that which He works in (Philippians 2:12-13).

   The Christian life is always and forever response.  We began accordingly, receiving the grace of the Lord Jesus by faith through the Holy Spirit’s convincing and convicting work to draw us to God.  We continue in the same, laying hold of His promised grace by remembering and affirming that however well or poorly we respond, our Lord is present, active, and more than willing to be and do whatever we require.  “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him” (Colossians 2:6).   Our need may involve choices of faith, hope, obedience, repentance, or devotion to the needs of others.  Whatever each moment holds, remembering Who holds the moment, and who has laid hold on us with the promise of His perpetual and relentless working goes far in leading us to avail ourselves of fellowship with God.  “Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ”(Philippians 1:6).

    Wherever we may in our walk with the Lord be along the path of righteousness, He serves as the initiator.  We thus give Him all glory for steps of faithfulness, even as we freely act as responders.  In times of unfaithfulness, we take full responsibility, acknowledging our failure to lay hold on the power of eternal life, namely, fellowship with God whereby we access His leading and enabling.  "This is eternal life declared the Lord Jesus regarding such grace.  “Lay hold” on it commands the Apostle Paul.  Opportunity to do so lies before us in this moment and whatever it may hold, as administered and allowed by the One who has laid hold on us, and will not let go.

“When Thou saidst, Seek ye My face, my heart said unto Thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.”

(Psalm 27:8)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Romans 6:11)

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Orange Moon Wednesday, April 15, 2026 "So Fast!"

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

  (Thanks to Mark C. for inspiration on this one, and a repeat from 2014)

    

              "So Fast!"         

    

     

    A sloth was mugged by a turtle.  The police arrived and asked the victim to describe the details of the incident.  "I don't know” responded the sloth.  "It all happened so fast!"

   "We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal" (II Corinthians 4:18).

   Time is a funny thing.  In our youth, thick sludge seems to impede the hands of the clock, slowing them down as we long to race into adulthood.  As we grow older, motor oil replaces the sludge, lubricating the gears of age and causing the days and years to fly swiftly by.  In both seasons of life, another reality - God and His eternity - beckons us to fix our gaze on the “too everlasting” forever He promises to all who trust the Lord Jesus Christ (Psalm 90:2; John 3:16).

   "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life" (I John 5:13).

   Note the present tense: believers "have eternal life."  The basis for experiencing such a wonder in time lies in the truest meaning of eternal life, as defined by the Lord Jesus.

    "This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (John 17:3).

    Eternal life involves relation far more than duration.  The truth that we will live forever offers a glorious prospect.  The far greater assurance promises the fellowship of the One with whom we will live.  Indeed, Heaven will be Heaven primarily because God the Father and God the Son will be gloriously revealed unto and within us through God the Holy Spirit.  The Lord Jesus prayed accordingly:

    “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)

    In this wondrous light of grace, eternal life has already begun for believers.  “The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5).  We can know the Father and the Son today, as illuminated by the Holy Spirit.  An open Bible, a prayerful heart, the fellowship of believers, and our Lord's working along the pathways of His providence all offer eternal reality, as known in time.   “We look not at the things which are seen, but the things which are unseen.  For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:18).

   Such a perspective will not affect the hands of the clock, which will move at its prescribed pace.  However, the realization of eternal life, as defined by fellowship with God, will greatly impact our experience.  Our hearts will be prepared to view glimmers of forever's glory, shining through portals of time.  We will know that the great reality of eternity - God Himself - already dwells with and within us.  Whether life seems to pass by slowly, or by the sloth’s "so fast," a heart increasingly fixed on forever will be increasingly blessed with its peace.  We will seek to better know that the Lord who "inhabiteth eternity" already inhabits us, granting wonders of grace known only in the eternal life of knowing Him (Psalm 57:15).

"Lay hold on eternal life."

(I Timothy 6:12)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

(Romans 6:11)

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