Orange Moon Saturday, November 30, 2024 "The Current of Christ"

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

"The Current of Christ" 

  

      

       Regarding every born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, what is the truest or most important thing one can say?  A strong case could be made for the Apostle Paul's declaration to the Galatians:

      "God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying Abba Father" (Galatians 4:6).  

     Christ is there.  No greater fact exists for those who have trusted the Lord Jesus, and in whom His Spirit has come to dwell.  "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1;27).   This does not minimize countless other realities of condition, circumstance, and situation in our lives.   Everything matters in the lives of those in whom God works all things together for the good of conforming us to the spiritual and moral image of His Son (Romans 8:28).  However, Christ alone - His person, presence, and working - forms the heart of our significance, meaning, and purpose.   

    "He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence" (Colossians 1:18).

    Paul refers to God's "eternal purpose" as "in "Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  This means that everything our Heavenly Father does from everlasting to everlasting centers in His Son and our Savior.  The presence of the Spirit of Christ in believers' hearts forever establishes our being, identity, and doings in terms of how they relate to the Lord Jesus.  At present, we see relatively little of what this means as most of God doings in our lives occur in ways far beyond our field of perception and reference.  We can know, however, that every aspect of our existence flows with the current of Christ and our Father's determination to honor and reveal Him in all things.  "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (John 5:22-23).

    In this day, 86,400 seconds will pass.  In every one of them, God's purpose and working in our lives will center in the person and work of the Lord Jesus.  We will perceive and understand relatively little of the process.  We may or may not respond well to what we do realize, and we will not consciously think of this greatest of all realities in most moments as we navigate the many varied paths of this present life.  However, we must establish the truth as a matter of doctrine, conviction, and wonder.  In every second, our Heavenly Father will work to glorify and reveal the Lord Jesus.  Both now and forevermore, we live a Christ-centered existence as God fulfills "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord."  This is truth.  This is reality.  This is God's primary determination and the current - the current of Christ - that forever flows in one direction and toward one destination… Christ only.  Christ always.  Christ forever.

"God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Philippians 2:9-11)

Weekly Memory Verse

     But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

(Ephesians 2:13)

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Orange Moon Friday, November 29, 2024 "Forever Changed"

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

"Forever Changed"

"Beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

(II Corinthians 3:18).

  

      

       The Apostle Paul declares that greater knowledge of God's glory presently changes born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ more and more into His spiritual and moral image.  This raises the question: will such ongoing transformation continue in eternity to come?   It most definitely will.

    "The love of Christ… passeth knowledge" (Ephesians 3:19).

    God calls us to "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).  Thereby, we become more and more like Him in character, attitude, word, and deed.   Because the love of Christ "passeth knowledge,"  the process will proceed forevermore.  Of course, in our future Heavenly glory, we will be far down road from where we are now in the wonder of such discovery.  However, the measure of our Lord's glory - "the unsearchable riches of Christ" - renders any complete knowledge of Him impossible (Ephesians 3:8).    Thus, we will be forever changed by growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus, "from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

   "His greatness is unsearchable… His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 145:3; 147:5).

    By definition, an infinite Being can never be fully known, a thought that should thrill us perhaps more than any other contemplation.  The One our hearts were made to know, our minds were made to understand, our eyes were made to see, our ears were made to hear, and our hands were made to touch will forever beckon us to come further into His goodness and greatness, even as we rejoice in destinations already reached.  In this blessed sense, change of heart, mind, and life ever awaits as we marvel in new wonders, and in previous discoveries enhanced and magnified.  "I did not know that about Him!… I thought I knew that about Him.  But it - He - is so much more than I realized!"  Moreover, every transforming realization will mean that the Lord Jesus not only shines more brightly upon us, but within and through us - forever "changed into the same image."

There is no end to the quest we know, 

forever beckons on.

For our spirits soar in skies so blue,

above all clouds of storm.

Yes, we fly into the heart of God

as in His Son we trust.

And earth will soon be nothing more

than long forgotten dust.

So spread your wings and catch the wind,

o journeyman of hope,

and race toward horizons blessed

with those who also know

that the quest of hearts is Jesus,

He is our shining sun.

It matters not how far we've come,

the journey's just begun.

"We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."

(I John 3:2)

Weekly Memory Verse

     But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

(Ephesians 2:13)

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Orange Moon Thursday, November 28, 2024 "Questions"

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

"Questions" 

  

      

       Mrs. Joann went to be with the Lord yesterday.  She lived at one of the retirement communities where we conduct services, and was one of our most faithful attendees.  We will always remember her sweet disposition, and I will perhaps most recall her frequent questions after I concluded sermons.

    "Pastor Davis, weren't there two thieves who were crucified with  the Lord Jesus?  And didn't one of them believe?"

    "Didn't a little man named Zaccheus have to climb up in a tree to see the Lord?

   "Didn't Peter walk on the water until he took his eyes off Jesus?"

    I always felt that Mrs. Joann actually knew the answers to these questions, but wanted me to say something about them in order to benefit others who might not be as familiar with the Bible.  I always took the opportunity, and I will miss further doors opened by our dear sister to share the Lord and His truth in ways I suspect she thought needed to be expressed.

    Mrs. Joann takes her place as one of the most memorable of thousands of people we have known in retirement communities through the decades.  I love people who ask questions, and seek to be one of them myself.  Most importantly, the Lord loves the inquisitive:

    "Call unto Me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not" (Jeremiah 33:3).

    Mrs. Joann's legacy in my heart will be the motivation to be far more inquisitive of the Lord, and of people.  Obviously, we can learn so much from Him, so much that we will ask questions of Him and receive answers from Him forevermore.  We can also learn so much from people, often about our Lord, and often about many other issues of importance regarding Him and countless matters.  I am deeply grateful for Mrs. Joann, and I will miss her until we meet again in the presence of our Lord.  And I will long hear the echoes of her voice, "Pastor Davis, isn't it true that…".

    Several hours before Mrs. Joann's passing, we sang her favorite hymn for her in her room.  We rejoice that she now dwells in the direct presence of her "Dearest and Best."

"On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross,

the emblem of suffering and shame.

And I love that old cross where the Dearest and Best

for a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross

'til my trophies at last I lay down.

I will cling to the old rugged cross,

and exchange it some day for a crown."

"One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."

(Psalm 27:4)

Weekly Memory Verse

     But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."

(Ephesians 2:13)

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