Orange Moon Saturday, May 23, 2026 "How Is It?"

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

    “How Is It?”     

   

    “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. For His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.  Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria?   For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans” (John 4:7-9).

     The Samaritan woman’s inquiry suggests a far greater question that should be asked by every human heart.

    “How is it, that You, being a perfectly good and righteous God have any dealings with me, one so far below You and Your holy standard of life and being?”

    Or, as Jacob confessed to the Lord, “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast shown unto Thy servant” (Jacob 32:10).

   The more and the better we know our Heavenly Father, the more and the better we become astonished by “all the mercies” He reveals in our lives.  They parade before us one by one by one by one, revealing the wonder of His disposition of grace toward a race that, by all rights, He could have left to its own willful rejection of Himself and His truth.  He did not do this, of course, but rather purposed before we even existed the redeeming work of “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).  Not just any lamb, of course, but rather His eternally beloved Son who would become for our sakes the object of His wrath on the cross of Calvary.  “We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God” (Isaiah 53:4).  

    The truth is blessedly familiar to every believer, of course, which can tempt us to wander from the wonder of its enormity and magnitude.  We do well to remember the Samaritan woman’s inquiry and Jacob’s stark acknowledgment, offering our own confession of astonishment:  “How do You have dealings with one such as myself?… I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and all the truth You have shown to Your servant.”   Our Father will gladly respond by directing our hearts to the basis of His grace, and the fount from which every moment of mercy will flow forevermore: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased… He hath made us accepted in the Beloved” (Matthew 3:17; Ephesians 1:6).  How is it indeed, that He has dealings with us, dealings of the most unimaginable love, grace, and mercy?   John the Baptist directs our hearts to the answer that must astonish us now, in this moment, even as in that blessed hour when first we discovered the sublime wonder…

“Behold the Lamb of God.”

(John 1:36) 

“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things?”

(Romans 8:32)

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 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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