Orange Moon Monday, June 22, 2026 "Unto Good Works"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

“Unto Good Works”

    

    What thought, belief, attitude, and perspective most leads born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to the life of faith and faithfulness to which God calls us?

   “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Ephesian 2:10).

    Just as we were born again by “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith,” we are motivated, led, and empowered by the same dynamic “power that worketh in us.”  Thereby, we live from God in order to live for Him (Hebrews 12:2; Ephesians 3:20).  

    “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,  so walk ye in Him, rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Colossians 2:6-7)

   Suppose, for example, we began our day with the determination to consistently trust and obey our Heavenly Father, which certainly we should have done.  Should we have gritted our teeth, flexed our muscles, and pulled up our bootstraps in the commitment to do our absolute best to fulfill our commitment?  The spirit of such desire and commitment for a faithful walk with God should and must be present.  There must be an “I will,” as in the Psalmist’s ‘I will love Thee, o Lord my strength” (Psalm 18:1).  Note, however, David’s singular hope for a true devotion to God: “O Lord, my strength.”   He will knew that the hope - the only hope - for giants to be defeated, bears to be slain, and devotion to God to be fulfilled lay in a power beyond himself.  “Thou art my strength” (Psalm 31:4).  Gritted teeth, flexed muscles, and yanked bootsteps would not have cut it for David, nor will it for us.  

    The committed believer in the Lord Jesus well knows this truth.  He would not otherwise be a committed believer.  The outworking of such grace, faith, and faithfulness, however, greatly challenges us all.  Our spiritual enemies continually tempt us to forget, ignore, or neglect our singular hope for consistently walking with God.  Obedience is fruit.  It can never be the root or the vine (Colossians 2:7; John 15:1-5).  Thus, we begin our days by looking unto the Author and Finisher of our faith.  We seek to continue thereby, rejoicing in His working in our hearts and lives, while ever being on guard to not forget the Source of consistent faith and faithfulness: “We shall live with Him by the power of God” (II Corinthians 13:4).

    Consider the means by which we seek to restore a fallen believer.  Where do we begin?  By focusing on carnal attitudes, words, and deeds?  Such things matter and must be addressed.  However, the greater issue involves a more essential question: “Why has the Christian failed to avail himself of the present and powerful enabling of God to overcome temptation?"   Where lies fault in the knowledge of God, the understanding of His truth, and the failure to “access by faith… this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God?” (Romans 5:2).  In a life wherein we “live by faith,” failures in obedience can always be traced back to the indictment directed toward Capernaum in our Lord’s day: “He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13:58).

   The prevailing thought, attitude, and perception that leads to genuine faith and faithfulness in the believer lies in the very title we bear: “believer.”  We “live by faith," accessing the power of God thereby.  Or, we tragically fail to avail ourselves of the life of Christ that teems within us.  “To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 1:17; 8:6).  As we seek to glorify the Lord Jesus, fulfill God’s will, and love Him and others, we must remember that such a proper determination must be preceded and empowered by the only hope we have to carry out our commitment: “the power that worketh in us.”  Our spiritual enemies well know this, and ever seek to distract us from the grace of being “His workmanship” and the subsequent life of “unto good works.”  We must know it also, ever seeking to remember and rejoice in God’s enabling to fulfill the faithfulness He commands - and empowers.

“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.”

(II Corinthians 9:8)

Weekly Memory Verse

      And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

(Matthew 13:58)

    

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