Orange Moon Friday, May 22:2026 "The Sweet Sigh"

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

    “The Sweet Sigh”     

   

    Let us breathe the sweet sigh of relief as we remember the truth that frees our hearts from the delusion that we belong to ourselves… 

           "Ye are not your own" (I Corinthians 6:19).

   Our Heavenly Father created us as stewards rather than masters and owners.  He eternally exists as "the Possessor of Heaven and earth,” including the heavenly and earthly components of ourselves.  The essence of sin involves the deception embraced by Adam and Eve that "ye shall be as gods" (Genesis 3:5).  By definition, gods must own themselves and possess their own being.  This requires independent governance, provision, and self preservation.  Only One exists who qualifies for such life and existence.  To the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Psalmist confessed, "Thou art God alone" (Psalm  86:10).  Thus, only One exists who belongs to Himself, as it were.  All others are His - "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world and all they that dwell therein" (Psalm 24:1).

    The sweet sigh proceeds from the remembrance that we have entrusted the care of our spirit, soul, and body to their rightful Owner.  In times of blessedness, we rejoice in the wonder of God's gracious bestowal of undeserved pleasure.  As a dear friend says when asked how he's doing, "Better than I deserve!"  In times of distress, pain, and difficulty, we remember that every aspect of our being belongs to our Lord.  Physical and emotional challenges often tempt us to concern.  “My arm hurts.”  “I feel sad."  The challenges of physical and emotional pain are real and must be addressed as we fulfill our role as stewards of our earthly temple.  The truth, however, beckons us to the realization every aspect of our being belongs not to ourselves, but to Another.  “We are His people and the the sheep of His pasture" (Psalm 100:3).  Our Father calls us to the peace of realizing how perfectly He cares for His own, resulting in the sweet sigh of “I am Thine” that delivers us from the turmoil of “I am mine.”  As a saint of old confessed, "I am Thine, o Father.  Thou may doest as Thou wilt with Thine own.  I trust Thee and rest in confidence of Thy loving care."

   This is peace, the gift of the Prince of peace to whom we belong.  We do a poor job when attempting to own ourselves, as deluded by the devil who conceived the ancient lie.  When we remember and affirm the eternal Truth - "Ye are not your own" - our Father exercises His perfect capacity to rule us in wisdom, power, and the lovingkindness of a Heart devoted to our well being.  The sweet sigh awaits us in this and every moment as God's sweet truth reminds us of our Shepherd, and the peace of being stewards rather than owners.

"I am Thine."

(Psalm 119:94)

Weekly Memory Verse

    The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

(Deuteronomy 29:29)

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Orange Moon Thursday, May 21, 2026 "To Know"

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

    “To Know”       

     

     Eternal life, as defined by the Lord Jesus Christ, involves the personal knowledge of Himself and the Father...

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

    The Greek root word for “know” in the Lord’s statement - “ginosko” -  suggests more than a mere mental possession of facts.  Born again Christians unequivocally, but with deep humility, confess that we know God in terms of a relationship and fellowship that transcends mental awareness.  The title  “believer” does not merely suggest that we believe facts, which we certainly do, but also that we believe Somebody.  This leads us to explain as much as possible in terms of a genuine experience of God.   But not all.  Indeed, it is impossible to completely define what we mean regarding the knowing of any person, whether human or divine.  We tell what we can about our relationships, but at some point confess that we know others in a mode and measure far beyond our ability to express.  

     Consider marriage, particularly long bonds of matrimony.  Husbands and wives grow to know each other well if they have a good relationship and fellowship.   However, no honest husband will begin to suggest he perfectly knows the person and heart of his bride.  Nor will any wife claim to know the same about her groom.  We rather know one another in an awareness for which no words exist, or ever will exist.  The mystery characterizes every loving marriage, wherein a spouse can look across a crowded room to his or her partner in the knowledge that even in the midst of a multitude, a knowing occurs never to be explained, and forever for which to be grateful.

   Applied to our fellowship with God, the same knowing abides.  No believer can fully explain what it means that we know Him.  However, no believer will fail to confess that he does. The indwelling Spirit of God brought with Himself such assurance when we believed: “The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16).  Our mental, emotional, and even physical response to such wondrous grace may ebb and flow in our earthly humanity.  Deep in the spirit, however, in the temple essence of our innermost being, the light shines and bears witness of a presence we know and the Person who is there.

    Let us explain all that we can in bearing witness to our knowledge of God.  There is indeed much to tell.  At the end of the day, however, and perhaps at its beginning, our most powerful witness reflects the testimony of a blind man given sight by the Lord Jesus, but who could never fully explain the glory thereof…

“Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto Him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.  He answered and said, Whether He be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”

(John 9:24-25)

Weekly Memory Verse

    The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

(Deuteronomy 29:29)

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Orange Moon Wednesday, May 20, 2026 "That We May Believe"

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

    “That We May Believe”       

     

     “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, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (I John 5:13).

   Unto those “that believe,” the Apostle John wrote his epistle for purpose “that ye may believe.”  The faith of the new birth must increasingly become the faith of our “walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).  We do well to take pause and prayerfully ponder a question that bears the greatest impact on our existence…

    “To what degree do we believe God and His Word?”

    We do not direct the question inward, but rather outward, upward, and away.  Only our Heavenly Father can answer the great question of how faithfully we trust Him.  We await His answers that will come to us by His Spirit, His Word, fellow believers, and His illumination of our hearts and minds along the paths of Providence.  “Thou wilt show me the path of life” (Psalm 16:11).

     An even greater question actually prepares us to know where we are in our journey of faith.  “How well do we know our Lord?”  Indeed, faith is fruit rather than root.  We trust others to the degree we know them.  The challenges of faith do not primarily involve their measure, degree, or nature of difficulty.  Scripture and history record that God can be trusted in fiery flames by those who well know Him:

    “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up” (Daniel 3:17-18).

    Three young men did not trust their Lord in the most dire circumstance as a mere matter of disciplined obedience.  They believed Him because they knew Him.  God had revealed Himself personally to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  They had responded in faith to find Him so trustworthy that they knew He could be trusted in fires that brought light and warmth, and in fires that threatened pain and death.  His faithfulness and the knowledge thereof assured their hearts regarding His heart and its assurance that God can and must be believed, no matter what.  

    “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof” (Psalm 46:1-3).

     Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew something about our God that we must know, and having known it, we must know better and better.  Namely, no one has ever trusted the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and been disappointed for doing so.  And no on ever will.  Infinite faithfulness forever abides as the sublime character of His heart, and the governing determination of His every thought, word, action, and relationship to His creation.  How well do we know the wonder of such glory?  Not well enough.  We “that believe” must become those who more and more “may believe.”  The issue does not involve our determination to become better at trusting God, but rather more and more knowing who He is and understanding of His perfect faithfulness that motivates and empowers our believing.  Trusting God flows from the wellspring of knowing Him, and of knowing Him better and better, more and more, and “increasing in the knoweldge of God” (Colossians 1:10).  The Lord Jesus Christ defined eternal life in these terms and we close in their faith fostering and fueling light, “that we may believe…”

“And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.”

(John 17:3)

Weekly Memory Verse

    The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

(Deuteronomy 29:29)

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