The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
“This Moment”
We cannot change the past, whatever it may have held regarding our response to God. The future has not yet arrived and thus offers no opportunity to presently trust and obey Him. We have only the now of this moment in which we can direct our hearts by the leading and enabling of the Holy Spirit to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting and obeying Him. The Psalmist illuminates the matter with a particularly powerful motivation and enabling of truth:
“And now, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in Thee” (Psalm 39:7).
No proper response to God, be it trust, obedience, repentance, or sacrificial devotion to Him and people, occurs without the hope of faith. Without expectation, no moment will find us rightly relating to our Heavenly Father. Will we find Him faithful as we determine to trust, obey, repent, or devote ourselves? How we answer determines whether we will wait until another moment, a most foolhardy choice since we have no guarantee regarding the future. “Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee” (Luke 12:20)
The truth of the matter is that our Lord’s presence, guidance, and enabling always lies immediately at hand and in heart regarding proper response to Him. “I AM” He declared to Moses, echoed by the Lord Jesus to His disciples (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58). Doubtless, the Holy Spirit in this moment bears witness to us all that God is presently whatever we need Him to be regarding the faith and obedience He commands. Will we hope? Will we believe in the grace that leads us to the response His will involves and requires right now? The question ever applies as each moment becomes the only opportunity we have to do the will of God. As the prodigal son decided when a mere glimmer of hopeful light shone within his heart regarding the possibility of mercy awaiting him upon return to the heart he had rejected, “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18).
We do well to frequently ask our Lord, “What is Your will in this moment?” Hope in His promised presence, guidance, and enabling will lead us to inquire with confidence in His faithfulness. He does not disappoint those who do not wait to respond to Him in the future, but who seek Him in the present moment, wherein hope will lead in the opportunity that lies at hand, and in heart…
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
(Hebrews 11:1; emphasis added)
Weekly Memory Verse
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place.
(II Corinthians 2:14)
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