Orange Moon Thursday, April 23, 2026 "The Teacher"

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

“The Teacher”         

     

   Born again believers approach the Bible with two sensibilities.  We seek new illuminations regarding God and His truth, and growth in things already known.

    “Then said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old” (Matthew 13:52).

   We request enlightenment and enhancement, asking our Heavenly Father to reveal truth we have never known, and to strengthen us in truth already resident in heart and mind.  Always, we remember that the God whose “understanding is infinite” has inspired a document that always offers fresh insights, whether mercies that are “new every morning,” or amplifying reminders of “those things that are most surely believed among us” (Psalm 147:5; Lamentations 3:23; Luke 1:1).  

    We need both.  An eternal God can never be fully known, nor His truth completely understood.  One of the most thrilling contemplations regarding eternity involves the prospect of ongoing discovery of our Lord’s character, nature, and way, along with ever increasing insight into His doings of past, present, and future.  Who is the Lord Jesus Christ?  What has He done?  What is He doing?  What will He do forevermore?  How do we relate to Him, and how do we factor into “the eternal purpose which God purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord?” (Ephesians 3:11).  Doubtless, the Inspirer of Scripture, the Holy Spirit, looks forward to forever revealing our Savior’s ineffable reality and glory.  Indeed, we have all had teachers who loved to teach more than we loved to learn.  Think of the blessed Spirit of God in such terms, and approach His glorious masterpiece, the Scriptures, in thrilled realization and expectation.

    “Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3).

    The prophet penned these words when God’s people did not have copies of Scripture close at hand.  What might he say now, when for so many believers throughout the world, the Bible is almost instantly available to be read, pondered, interpreted, believed, obeyed, and communicated with others?  Things new and old ever await us on pages that shine with the glory of the Lord Jesus, as illuminated by the Holy Spirit who comes with His Book to all who approach with a humble, trusting, seeking heart.  This greatest of all teachers loves to enlighten us with truths never before seen, and with enhancements of infinite truth we can never fully know.  May we join Him in the joy of teaching - His - and of learning - ours.

“When He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth.”

(John 16:13)

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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Orange Moon Wednesday, April 22, 2026 "Dark Insanity"

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

“Dark Insanity”         

     

   “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee” (Obadiah 1:3).

 

     Addressed to Edom (the descendants of Esau), the Lord’s indictment can also be traced back to another who serves as the father of all proud deception:

   “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!  How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).

    We do not know how such delusion arose in Lucifer, resulting in  the insanity of his attempting to be “like the Most High.”  We just know that it happened, and that the father of lies ever serves as the true source of all pride and its deceiving effect.  Indeed, every thought or action that exalts anyone other than the living and true God occurs through devilish influence and deception.  

    “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

    Where we see human bluster and its absurd notion of self importance, we see someone who has succumbed to Satan’s own delusion of pride.  This includes born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Our flesh remains susceptible to the devil’s enticements to exalt ourselves, usually in subtle ways easily missed if we do not seek our Lord’s keeping and protection.  “The flesh lusteth against the spirit” declared the Apostle Paul (Galatians 5:17).  At the root of such carnal desire lies the same attempt that originated sin in God’s creation, namely, the devilish desire to be something more than we are, and to think, speak, act, and relate according to the delusion of self-centeredness.  Even the most devout believer lives with an atheist - the flesh - that insanely believes it possesses the capability to know and perform that which is best.  

    “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God” (I Peter 5:6).

     Remembering the source of pride helps us to identify the temptations we face to succumb to its delusion.  Long ago, a being somehow deceived himself into believing he could become more than his Creator made him to be.  He ever seeks to infect us with such dark insanity.  We do well, indeed, we must ever be on guard again a deceived devil’s attempts to drag us into his deception.  The Lord Jesus Himself serves as the epitome, prototype, and power of the humility to which God calls us, enabling us to walk not only faithfully and obediently, but sanely” (Hebrews 12:2).

“When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.”

Proverbs 11:2)

“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.”

(Ephesians 2:5-8)

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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Orange Moon Tuesday, April 21, 2026 “Relationship and Fellowship”

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

“Relationship and Fellowship”   

   

     

    One of the most important distinctions in the Bible involves the difference between relationship with God, and fellowship with Him.

    “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God” (I John 3:1-2).

    “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7).

    Through the Lord Jesus Christ, God spiritually births all who believe with eternal life, defined as knowing Him (John 17:3). We become His risen sons and daughters, alive in the life of Christ Himself, and called to see ourselves as no less beyond the possibility of spiritually dying than our blessed Lord.  “Christ, being raised from the dead, dieth no more… Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be alive unto God” (Romans 6:9-11).   Once alive, forever alive declares the Apostle Paul in terms of the relationship with God that defines eternal life.

    Our fellowship with God, conversely, refers to our response to God and His truth.  Presently, this shared participation with Him and His involved presence in our lives ebbs and flows.  We may or may not walk closely with Him, although superabundant enabling always lies close at hand, and even closer in heart, for every believer.  “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work” (II Corinthians 9:8).  How we respond to the relationship of God as our perfectly providing Father determines how we walk in the fellowship of His grace received by faith.  

    Understanding this dichotomy enables us to rightly and effectually interpret Scripture, rejoicing in its promises of secure relationship, while taking solemn account of the seriousness of consistent and growing fellowship with Him.  Our Father would surely have us rejoice in the gift of a justification so complete that He will not impute sin to the account of His sons and daughters in Christ (Romans 4:8).  However, He would also have us “perfect holiness in the fear of God,” recognizing that He loves us far too much to allow us to take advantage of grace by blithely ignoring His glory and will.  “The Lord shall judge His people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” was written not to unbelievers, but to God's sons and daughters in Christ (II Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 10:30-31).

     Relationship and fellowship.  Maintaining and growing in the understanding of both Biblical truths greatly empowers our rejoicing in the former, while availing ourselves of the latter.  Our Father would have us walk in the peace of an assured relationship, while remembering the seriousness of a fellowship that presently must flow rather than ebb.  Grace provides for both, the gift of freely given sonship and daughterhood in the Christ who purchased our bond with God, and the power to walk accordingly…

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."

(Romans 5:1-2)

“Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.”

(Hebrews 12:28"

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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