Orange Moon Monday, June 8, 2026. "Anticipated Lives"

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

   

“Anticipated Lives”   

                                  

      We live anticipated lives.

     “His understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5).

     No moment of our existence will ever catch our Heavenly Father off guard or unsuspecting.  Never will He exclaim “What?!” or “Oh no!” about anything that comes our way, all of which He has either determined or allowed in the full assurance that He can fulfill the promise cherished by all who trust the Lord Jesus Christ:

   “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:28-29).

    “The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever” (Psalm 138:3).

    Nothing has come our way in the past along the pathways of providence that will fail to fit into the “for good” of making us like the Lord Jesus in character, nature, and way.  Nothing presently comes our way, nor will anything approach us in the future that does not fall under the purview of God’s overarching purposes in Christ.  Nothing.  Perfect knowledge, perfect wisdom, perfect purpose, perfect power, and perfect planning and expectation, based on infinite knowledge, makes certain the fulfillment of our Father’s eternal purpose in Christ as it relates to creation, and to all who trust the Lord Jesus.  

    “Thou knowest all things” (John 21:17).

    One can plan well when one has good knowledge of things to come.  One can plan perfectly with perfect knowledge.  God’s expectations and anticipations accord with the immeasurable measure of His knowledge and understanding.  Thus, the One to whom we have entrusted time and eternity will not - cannot - fail us regarding anything that comes our way.  All pass through the inspection of His providence, whether determined or allowed, and all will indeed “work together for good.”  Include this moment in the blessedness of such assurance.  Look back on those  already passed, and look forward to all that will find their way to our doorstep.  Not one has been, is, or will not be perfectly expected by He who promises to coordinate all for the glory of His Son and our benefit.  This is peace, the peace of the Prince of peace, and the hope that so strengthens us to live for His glory and will.  Yes, we live anticipated lives.

“Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world.”

(Acts 15:18)

“Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6)

Weekly Memory Verse

   Great is our Lord, and of great power.  His understanding is infinite.

(Psalm 147:5)

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The Special of the Day... From the Orange Moon Cafe "Affirmation and Request" June 6, 2026

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

   

“Affirmation and Request”   

                                  

      Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ often ask God for provisions He has declared in His Word to already be ours.  This accords with Scripture, which teaches us that “His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,” while also calling us to “let your requests be made known unto God” (II Peter 1:3; Philippians 4:6).

   The matter involves possession and experience.  Through the Lord Jesus, who serves as the very heart of God’s provision regarding all things, “all things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (I Corinthians 3:21-22).  Specific application of such grace, however, awaits the needs of each hour and moment.  “My God shall supply all your need, according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  We therefore seek to walk in the faith of “having all sufficiency in all things,” and of trusting and receiving  specific applications of “My grace is sufficient for Thee” (II Corinthians 9:8; 12:9). 

    This dual truth whereby we “possess your possessions” calls us to the faith of affirmation and request (Obadiah 1:17).  We recognize that God has given all things into the hand of Lord Jesus (John 3:35).  United to Him, and in Him, we already have the supply for every circumstance, situation, and condition.  As my wife Frances affirms, “Having Him, we have all.”  In the light of such assurance, we ask our Father for the manifestation of His freely given provision according to His glory, purpose, and will.  He supplies accordingly, and we trust the Holy Spirit to bring forth into open and specified display that which forever resides in the “exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think” abundance of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:20;  8).  The possession is infinitely plentiful.  The appropriation is perfectly administered by the God whose “understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5).

    Affirmation and request.  The Lord Jesus is “the heir of all things.”  We are “joint heirs with Christ” (Hebrews 1:2; Romans 8:17).  We have all things.  We require their specific and wisely direct application, as administered by God.  The Bible teaches both aspects of truth.  Our Scripturally educated and directed faith guides us as we rejoice in the abiding supply of “all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus,” and the “possess your possessions” response of “ask and it shall be given unto you” (Philippians 4:19; Matthew 7:7). 

Weekly Memory 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 Friday, June 5, 2026 “Water Into Wine”

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

   

“Water Into Wine”   

                                  

      The Lord Jesus Christ began His working of miracles at a marriage, where He transformed water into wine (John 2).  This perfectly accords with God’s purpose in His Son, namely, the transformation of our hearts that occurs when we trust Him.  

    “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.  Old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).

     From “without God in the world” to “the Spirit of God dwelleth in you,” believers became something new and different in the innermost depths of our being in the moment of the new birth (Ephesians 2:12; I Corinthians 3:16).  A “new man, created in righteousness and true holiness” sprang to life as someone who had never before been, and who forevermore will be (Ephesians 4:24).  The Spirit of Christ became the very life of this spiritually birthed wonder of God’s grace, making possible an existence and activity far beyond human means.  “We live through Him” as we trust and submit to His Lordship, and as His character, nature, and disposition not only dwells within us, but teems within our “new creature.”  Thereby, the Spirit of God  moves upon the face of our hearts no less than He moved upon the face of the waters in the original physical creation (I John 4:9; Genesis 1:2).

    Do we believe this about our Lord?  Do we believe this about ourselves?  We must.  Scripture commands that we “reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:11).  No longer are we without God in that innermost temple of the heart that exists for His presence.  Forevermore - and in this moment - the Spirit of Christ lives in us, we live in Him, and we may live a life far beyond our human means and potential.  Yet again, we must.  The Lord Jesus sacrificed far too much for believers to live as if the cross never occurred, and as if our spirits remain empty rather than the tomb from which He long ago exited in triumph. 

     “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

    The old saying, “the mind is a terrible thing to waste,” pales in comparison to the neglect of a spirit filled with the Spirit of Christ.  The Lord Jesus transformed water into wine at a wedding long ago.  He did far more in us when we believed.  May God grant much grace of reminder, motivation, and the leading of His Spirit, whereby we freely avail ourselves of a grace far more present and powerful than we can imagine, but which will have powerful and practical impact as we believe.  

“Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”

(Ephesians 3:20-21)

Weekly Memory Verse

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

(Ephesians 6:10)

 

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