Orange Moon Monday, June 1, 2026 "Working In. Working Out.

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

    “Working In.  Working Out.”     

   

    We live for God by living from God.     

    “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

    We cannot possibly make ourselves pleasing to the Lord by our own means.  His standard of absolute perfection bars our hope of a life by any power other than the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, as revealed in us through the indwelling Holy Spirit.  “As for God, His way is perfect… Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (II Samuel 22:31; Hebrews 12:28).  Thus, born again believers awoke to this day with the commands of Scripture adorned with God’s promises to fulfill them.  

    “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

    From a single faithful thought to martyrdom for our Lord, every act of obedience flows from it singular source and power: “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me” (Philippians 4:13; emphasis added).  This places a premium on our awareness of our Lord’s presence, involvement, and power, and on our privileged responsibility to believe and submit ourselves to its enabling grace.  We must also grow increasingly confident in His perfectly trustworthy character and nature that assures us of His continual and mighty working in us “both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”  Indeed, find the most fallen believer on the planet in this moment.  The tragedy of his wandering lies not only in acts of sin, but also on the fact that he distrusted and disobeyed God with the power of the Holy Spirit present and actively engaged in his heart.  Every sin in believers occurs as the fruit of failure to avail ourselves of God’s promised and present grace to enable our overcoming of temptation.  Coupled with the price that made such power possible - the cross of Calvary - all sin must be viewed as inexcusable failure to avail ourselves of God’s promised abundance of grace.  “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required” (Luke 12:48).

   Our Heavenly Father does not call us to make bricks without straw.  He rather works mightily in us to enable the life to which He calls us through the active presence of the Holy Spirit.  Do we know this truth to be true?  Do we believe it?  Do we avail ourselves of its grace?  No believer can answer these questions with a perfect “Yes!”   Thus, we must seek to “grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (II Peter 3:18).  Thereby, we increasingly and more consistently “work out” that which God “works in.”  No other means of a life that glorifies and pleases Him is possible, nor is any other required…

“To live is Christ.”

(Philippians 1:21)

“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)

WeeklyMemory Verse

    Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

(Ephesians 6:10)

 

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Orange Moon Saturday, May 30, 2026 "Think On These Things"

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

    “Think On These Things”     

   

     We must not expect unbelievers to think in accordance with God and Scripture.  We must also expect that believers - including and especially ourselves - will not always think in terms of light and truth.

    “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient (fitting)” (Romans 1:28).

    “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:4-5).

    Left to itself, our mind does not flow with the current of spiritual reality.  Even as God works to reveal Himself by His Spirit, His Word, His people, His creation, and His providential presence and working, the unbelieving mind tends to flee from truth as a “sheep gone… astray” (Isaiah 53:6).  The thoughts of believers are also prone to wander from the light that must guide our understanding.  This especially applies to the knowledge of God.  Only the presence of the Holy Spirit in the heart can result in a mind able to “think on these things” of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Scriptures (Philippians 4:8).  

   “Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (I Corinthians 2:11).

    As believers, we require the Holy Spirit’s continual working to lead us in correct thinking about God and His truth as it applies to all things.  The New Testament epistles confirm our need.  Nearly all of them contain prescriptions for the treatment of erroneous thinking.  Indeed, numerous vital portions of the epistles would not even exist had first century believers always thought in terms of God’s reality.  Twenty centuries later, particularly in a generation characterized by instant communication of thoughts and ideas, the possibility of error in our thinking must be guarded against in the realization of how near deception lurks.  “Try (test) me and know my thoughts” prayed the Psalmist long ago (Psalm 139:23).  How much more might he offer the plea in our day?

   Add to this devilish working to deceive and mislead our thoughts, and little wonder that in our day so many think in terms of darkness rather than light.  Little wonder that we ourselves often do the same.  Indeed, we do well to keep the focus close to home.  As properly concerning as the wayward thoughts of others may be, a far greater emphasis must involve our own minds.  The Psalmist asked the Lord to direct a laser beam of corrective light not toward the minds of others, but toward his own.  A simple prayer suffices, leading to seeking God in His Word, and maintaining constant readiness to be confirmed and/or corrected in our thinking…

    “Heavenly Father, show me where I am thinking rightly about You, Your Word, and all things in my life.  Show me where I am not, and where I need change, correction, and growth in what I think, and how I think.  In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray, Amen.”

“To be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

(Romans 8:6)

WeeklyMemory Verse

   And when I saw Him, I fell at his feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.

(Revelation 1:17)

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Orange Moon Friday, May 29, 2026 “Unlikely Heart and Voices”

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

    “Unlikely Heart and Voices”     

   

    “Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thessalonians 1:1-2).

    The Apostle Paul affirms co-authorship in six of the thirteen epistle we know him to have written.  This may mean that brothers like Timothy and Silvanus simply served as fellow-laborers with Paul in his ministry.  Or perhaps they also provided insight and direction in portions of the Apostle’s writings, as led by the Holy Spirit.  The latter possibility would not be surprising, in that God often reveals Himself through unexpected hearts and voices.  Thus, while we know Paul to be primary in the writing of his letters to believers, it could be that others may have also served as the Holy Spirit’s co-scribe regarding a point here, or an insight there.

    We do well to expect our Lord to meet us along the pathways of providence through hearts, minds, and voices we may not expect to serve as lamps of His light.  Balaam’s donkey certainly comes to mind, as do many others in Scripture through whom God unexpectedly revealed Himself and His truth (Numbers 22:21-28).  With our Lord, we do well to expect the unexpected, including His working through people.  What seemingly unlikely heart or voice might serve as a glimmer of His glory in this day that illuminates our path?  We shall see, and of this we can be sure: we do well to expect the unexpected from a God so infinitely beyond ourselves, but so immanently near and intricately involved in our lives.  He will often surprise us by meeting us in unlikely hearts and voices that are actually quite likely, considering…

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

(Isaiah 55:8-9)

WeeklyMemory Verse

   And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last.

(Revelation 1:17)

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