Orange Moon Monday, June 29, 2026 “Change, Now and Forever”

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

“Change, Now and Forever”

      

    Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ require change throughout our earthly lifetime (as we will throughout eternity). 

   The issue involves growth and correction.  Growth involves the fact that we are related to an infinite God, whose character, nature, and way transcend measure.  We will forever discover new aspects of who He is and how He works.

   “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).

     We can ponder no more thrilling thought than the truth that we will never reach the end of our journey into the heart and mind of our glorious Lord.  Forever we will ask…

      “Who are You, Lord?  What have You done according to Your eternal purpose in the Lord Jesus?  What are You doing?  What will You do forevermore?”  

     We presently seek the answers that result in the change of growth and maturing.   We will continue to ask the questions in eternity, even after our deliverance from the present realm of sin and death.  By definition, an infinite God can never be fully known, nor His truth completely understood. The One for whom our hearts were made will never fail to reveal new “wonders without number,” or enhance glories already known.  We will forever grow in His glorious light. “His greatness is unsearchable” (Job 9:10; Psalm 145:3).  

    In our present lifetime, we also require the change of correction.

    “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction.  For whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom He delighteth” (Proverbs 3:11-12).

    In this moment, every believer on the earth is wrong about something(s).  Hopefully, the matter does not involve major tenets of God’s Biblical truth, although it can (as the New Testament epistles clearly confirm).  The detours may be relatively minor in our understanding of His truth, involving nuances of perspective.  They require addressing nonetheless.  Our role begins with the acknowledgement that knowing nothing yet as we “ought to know” includes matters of error (I Corinthians 8:2).  “Cleanse Thou me from secret faults” wisely prayed the Psalmist, whose example we should and must follow (Psalm 19:12).  

     Certainly, we keep our hearts and minds near the Word of God, declared by the Apostle Paul as a vital tool of correction (II Timothy 3:16).  Fellow believers also serve as agents of change regarding correction when we are “overtaken in a fault” (Galatians 6:1).  Finally, humility serves as the door that must remain open for the change of both growth and correction to have consistent access.  Indeed, let us acknowledge to our Lord in this moment that however we may have progressed along the path of righteousness, the journey has just begun.  How could it be otherwise as we relate to an infinite God and His eternal truth?  Yes, our need for change humbles us.  But how it should far more thrill us as the Holy Spirit ever works to mature us, correct us, and reveal to us the God far more glorious than even eternity will fully reveal.  

“Beholding a 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)

“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)

Weekly Memory Verse

      My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of His correction.  For whom the Lord loveth He correcteth; even as a father the son in whom He delighteth. 

(Proverbs 3:11-12).

 

“

7831

Orange Moon Saturday, June 27, 2026 "Get To"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

“Get To”

      

    I’ll never forget the moment many years ago when I mentioned to Frances about our service schedule for the day.  “We have to go to…”

     Instantly, a corrective thought occurred to me.  “No, Frances, we get to go to…”  

    Scripture confirms.

   “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name” (Acts 5:41).

    Certainly, our privileged responsibility that day did not compare with the Lord’s first century followers’ challenge and suffering.  It did, however, grant opportunity to realize the blessing and power of “We get to” rather than “We have to.”  This truth applies to all done in God's vineyard, be it everyday duties and chores, or opportunities for ministry and service in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.  If what we do occurs in His presence and by His leading and enabling, everything in our life becomes both privilege first, and then responsibility.  In Biblical terms, this means grace first, and then the response of faith and obedience.   “Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28).

   Excepting sin, let us apply this to everything in our lives.  Perhaps the best way to plant and nurture the truth in our hearts involves the remembrance of what we all rightly deserve.  “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).   Anything that does not involve the wrath and judgment of God we all rightly deserve must be viewed in terms of the most undeserved grace, especially when we consider the cost that made it possible.    “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh” (Peter 3:18).   As a good friend responds when asked how he is doing,  “Better than I deserve!”  “I get to” coincides well with this response that bears witness to God’s wondrous mercy bestowed upon us through the Lord Jesus.

   “I get to” serves as one of the most life changing sensibilities our hearts can embrace.  We will not remember it always, and many challenges will confront the truth of responsibility viewed first as privilege.  However, nothing could more align with Biblical truth or our proper response of faith.  Moreover, nothing will more reveal the peace and joy of Christ in our hearts as we remember how His acknowledged presence changes everything we do in Him, by Him, with Him, and through Him.  “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not to men” (Colossians 3:23).   Yes, we get to.

“Ye serve the Lord Christ.”

(Colossians 3:24)

Weekly Memory Verse

      And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

(Matthew 13:58)

    

7830

Orange Moon Friday, June 26, 2026 “The Impossible, Made Possible”

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

“The Impossible, Made Possible”

      

    “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love” (Ephesians 4:1-2).

    The worthy walk of the believer involves steps of “lowliness and meekness… long-suffering… forbearing one another in love” that clearly reflect the One in whom we believe.

   “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:5-8).

   In order to reflect, we must absorb.  Christ must live in us, which He does in every believer (Romans 8:9).  We must also walk in fellowship with our Lord, whereby the Light that shines upon and within us becomes the glory that glimmers by us.  We do not become like Christ as a matter of mere imitation, which would must surely be realized as the most impossible of all endeavors we could ever undertake.  “Walk, even as He walked” as a matter of emulation? (I John 2:6).  Even a cursory reading of Scripture drives us to our knees and faces as we consider the infinitely sublime glory of the Lord Jesus regarding His character, nature, and way.  Thus, His light must shine upon us, within us, and through us as a miracle of grace if we are to “walk as children of light”…

   “Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear” (Ephesians 5:8; Hebrews 12:28).

    Consider.  We awoke this morning with the command of Scripture mandating that we live as Christ lived.  The Spirit of God beckoned us to think, speak, act, and relate as did our wondrous Lord.  Our only proper response must have been - whether physically, figuratively, or both - to fall to our knees in stark realization that we bear no capacity in and of ourselves to take even the first step of such a seemingly impossible journey.  Indeed, the journey is literally impossible.  Unless… unless the light of the Lord Jesus shines upon and within us to make possible our absorption and reflection.  It does… “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).  Thus, we arise from our knees in the faith and confidence that the worthy walk to which God calls us can be fulfilled because He has given to the perfectly worthy Spirit of His Son to dwell within us and shine through us (Galatians 4:6).

    “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).

   Ever and always, the dynamic confession of the Christian declares, “I cannot… I can… through Christ!” (John 15:5; Philippians 4:13).  No other hope exists for the worthy walk to which God calls us.  No other is required.  We awoke to this day with the highest calling imaginable beckoning us to a life only possible by the light of our Lord’s life shining upon us and within us.  Absorb.  Reflect.  Walk worthy.  This is the life of the believer, an impossible journey made possible by the life of the Lord Jesus as He fulfills His promise of grace…

“I will dwell in them and walk in them.”

(II Corinthians 6:16)

Weekly Memory Verse

      And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

(Matthew 13:58)

    

7829