Orange Moon Friday, January 23, 2026 "Consider Him"

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

(Thanks to Frances for a blessed lifetime of exemplifying the following)

"Consider Him"  

    

 

    "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds" (Hebrews 12:2-3).

   When faced with challenges and their wearying effects, our natural human response leads us to consider ourselves.  "Why is this happening to me?… What is this all about?… How am I going to deal with this situation?"  These and other questions are valid as we seek to face and overcome problems.  However, the writer of Hebrews calls us to a different response as we begin to navigate troubled waters: "Consider Him."  Indeed, seeing the matters of life through the Lord Jesus Christ strengthens to a far better and more effectual response as those devoted to God's glory and will.  What does it mean to "consider" the Lord Jesus Christ in heart when we find ourselves "wearied and faint" in mind and body?    Many Biblical truths speak to the matter, including…

    "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20).  Born again believers do not face life and its challenges by ourselves.  In fact, the Psalmist declared God to be "a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1; emphasis added).  "The Captain of our salvation" abides at the helm of our ship as it makes its voyages through rough seas (Hebrews 2:10).  Remembering and affirming the truth of His presence by faith encourages and strengthens us to face difficulties in a way far different than if we perceive ourselves as alone.  "Consider Him."

   "The eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).   God has woven His intention and significance into everything that occurs in our lives.  Everything.  Certainly, we may not know the particulars and the "Why?" of life's happenings.  We do know without question, however, that our Lord is present with purpose in every moment of our existence.   "Consider Him."

    "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called unto His purpose" (Romans 8:28).  Not everything that happens to believers is good in itself.  Many bad things affect us all.  Our Heavenly Father, however, can and does coordinate all thing for our ultimate good, defined by the Apostle Paul as conformity to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus (Romans 8:29).   "Consider Him."

   "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).  God provided our salvation through the sufferings of the Lord Jesus.  Our experience of salvation inevitably includes our own personal sufferings as we "walk, even as He walked" (I John 2:6).  None of us would ever have trusted the Savior apart from the challenges of life.  Nor would we walk with Him without the same.  Presently, we need need in order to realize how completely dependent we are on our Lord.   "Consider Him."

    The Christ who died on the cross now lives in us by His Spirit.  The present world is not His friend.  His presence within us means that it will not be ours either.  "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body" (II Corinthians 4:10).  Believers not only suffer for our Lord.  As His walks in us, "the sufferings of Christ abound in us" (II Corinthians 1:5; emphasis added).  Indeed, our challenges are far more about Him than ourselves, namely, God's glory, purpose, and working by His Son in us.   "Consider Him."

   Time and eternity does not permit a full exposition of "Consider Him."  However, a final point for our present pondering involves a most personal matter for all of us, and for those in our sphere of influence.   

    "Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God" (II Corinthians 1:3-4).

    We administer to others the comfort we personally receive from our Lord.  Without challenge, such ministry would not be possible.  God purposes to apply the balm of Christ not only within us, but through us unto others.  We discover our Lord in both the reception and the ministry, finding Him to be all that Scripture declares, and all our hearts - and the heart of others - require "in any trouble."   "Consider Him."

    Our native human tendency always begins with "Consider me."  Our spiritual tendency in Christ moves within us to "Consider Him."  May God grant much grace in leading us to look unto the Author and Finisher of our faith in times of challenges, who will not fail in His promise of presence, power, and purpose.  Yes,  "Consider Him."

"He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength."

(Isaiah 40:29)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation."

(II Corinthians 1:3-4).

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Orange Moon Thursday, January 22, 2026 "Perfect"

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

 

"Perfect"   

      

    As mentioned in yesterday's message regarding James' statement that God does not instigate sin or even tempt to sin, we know that He cannot act in any manner that conflicts with His perfect moral integrity (James 1:13).  He never has.  He never will.

   "He is the Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).

    A personal aside.  As I typed Moses' affirmation of our Lord's perfection of character and doings, I realized I have never memorized this verse, despite having more than 50 years of opportunity to do so.  I plan to change this, beginning today.  I share this because no passage of Scripture more defines who our Lord is and what He does (and indeed, what He cannot do).  God can only be who He is, and He can only act in accordance with His fundamental character, nature, and way.  This evokes perhaps the primary meaning of "God is holy," namely, that He is perfectly and eternally sanctified to the quality and substance of His being (Psalm 99:9).

    How vital is this truth?  Consider if it were not true.  There would be no one to trust in this lifetime, or ever.  No heart would beckon to us in perfect faithfulness, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness" (Psalm 41:10).  Life would no longer be life, but merely a fleeting moment wherein, rather than living and waiting to be glorified, we are merely existing and waiting to die.  Thankfully, the truth is true, meaning that there is Someone to trust, Someone who "cannot lie," and who will perfectly be today who He was yesterday, and who will perfectly be tomorrow who He is today.  "I am the Lord.  I change not" (Malachi 3:10).  

    We must be sure this altar stands sure and strong in our hearts, whereupon we sacrifice any notion that conflicts with, "As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31).  Eternally, infinitely, and pristinely perfect.  We will better know this in the life to come, although complete comprehension of our Lord's flawless integrity will never be possible to our understanding.  Presently, we make this one of the most fundamental elements of our faith.  We affirm that every thought, every emotion, every purpose, every word, and every act of God has been, is, and will forever be motivated and guided by a righteousness that allows no hint of flaw, sin, or error.  As the Apostle Paul exulted, "God cannot lie" (Titus 1:2; emphasis added).  Nor can He do anything other than that which accords with the marvel and wonder of who He is.  Perfect.

"The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works."

(Psalm 145:17)

"Thou art good, and doest good."

 (Psalm 119:68)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation."

(II Corinthians 1:3-4).

   

   

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Orange Moon Wednesday, January 21, 2026 "The Great Fact"

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

 

"The Great Fact"   

      

    The most obvious truth in God's creation is Himself, the Creator.

     "The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and godhead" (Romans 1:20; emphasis added).

   God makes Himself known to human hearts.   Only a willful and determined blindness can cause us to miss that which continually stares us right in the face.  The Lord Jesus Christ stated the indictment…

    "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19).

    While the Lord primarily directed this indictment to unbelievers, having to do with judgment and "the wrath to come," believers can also miss the obvious (Matthew 3:7).  Do we overlook, neglect, or sometimes determine to not see the Great Fact of all things, namely, that our Lord "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will?" (Ephesians 1:11).  We certainly can, and do.  Of course, this does not mean that God determines sin, an impossibility so foreign to His character that He will not even tempt human hearts to distrust and disobey Him (James 1:13).  It does mean, however, that our Lord is so present, so involved, so holy, so righteous, so gracious, so merciful, so wise, and so purposeful that He coordinates all things in accordance with the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and His "eternal purpose" in Him (Ephesians 3:11).   The Word of God sounds and resounds with such assurance, as does creation and its continual message of our Lord's "eternal power and godhead."  Born again believers must affirm this by faith as a matter of truth and reality.  We must be sure to see the hand of God where it seems obvious.  And, where it does not…

     "They crucified Him" (Matthew 27:35).

    Evil human hands and hearts nailed the Lord Jesus to His cross.  Nothing more seems to belie the fact of God and His working than this greatest of all sins.  However, nothing more reveals our Heavenly Father and His working than this greatest of all revelations of Himself and His truth.  Consider the prevailing reality of Calvary.  Was it human sin, or divine redemption?  We know the answer.  The cross had existed in the heart of God from everlasting, long before it pierced His hands and feet - "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8).  Believers look at Calvary without denying the sin of it, indeed, the most wicked of all evils.  However, we see the righteousness of the cross far more, that is, the Lord Jesus fulfilling the promises of God by bearing the consequences of our sins that His righteousness demanded.  "Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain" (Acts 2:23).

    The truth of the cross applies to all things.  Nothing compares with Calvary's revelation of human sinfulness, but also its greater revelation of redemption.  Without denying the reality and consequence of the former, believers nevertheless determine to see the latter - the Great Fact of God and His working in all things - as the focus of our hearts.  Our salvation and relationship with God began in such faith.  It continues in our walk with Him as we see the world and its often sad realities in the light of the Word and the far more glorious reality it declares…

"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen."

(Romans 11:36)

"Thou wilt keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee."

(Isaiah 26:3)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation."

(II Corinthians 1:3-4).

   

   

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