"Better, Fairer"

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

"Better, Fairer"

    Among many wonderful themes, the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews proclaims the superiority of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ over the old covenant law of Moses (which actually served as the foreshadowing of Christ).  

    1.  Better revelation.  2. Better than the angels.  3.  Better than Moses.  4.  Better High Priest.  5.  Better Testament (covenant).  6. Better ministry.  7.  Better blood.  8.  Better sacrifice. 9.  A better way.  10.  A better promise.  11.  A better kingdom.  12.  A better enabling (grace)  13.  A better altar (Hebrews 1:1-2; 1:4; 3:3; 5:1-10; 7:22; 8:6; 9:13-14; 9:23; 10:20; 12:28; 13:10).

    To put it simply, the Lord Jesus is better than the law because the law served, like John the Baptist, as the forerunner of God's truest purpose, namely, the revelation of His Son as the provision for every human need.  "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:19).  Actually, our Savior is better than any and everything because He serves as the heart of all God's provision to our hearts and lives.  We might say He is the Blessing in every blessing.

   Of course, we don't see this wondrous truth as clearly as we one day will.  Presently, many of God's gifts of "life and breath and all things" bless us without our conscious realization of how Christ-originated and infused they are (Acts 17:25).  It is actually not necessary that we directly think about this truth every time our Father graces us with blessing.  However, we do well to find many opportunities to remember the supply of "all your need… by Christ Jesus."  We remember His direct involvement in our creation.  We remember His earthly life, lived for our benefit.  We remember even more His death, resurrection, and ascension into the Heavenlies for our greater Benefit.  We remember and affirm our Savior as the very essence of our life.  "To live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21).  And we often determine to visit the altar of "Better" whereupon the Light of Christ shines with the glory that reveals His singular place in our hearts and lives.  "Christ… is our life" (Colossians 3:4).

   As I wrote those last words, the strains of a beautiful instrumental version of "Fairest Lord Jesus" sounded from a CD I am listening to as I write.  This seems perfectly appropriate, and we close with lyrics that attest to the blessed Subject at hand…

   "Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight, and all the twinkling starry host.  Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer than all the angels Heaven can boast."

"Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips, therefore, God hath blessed Thee forever."

(Psalm 45:2)

Weekly Memory Verse

   "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath give us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work."

 (II Thessalonians 2:16-17)

5825

"Grace Works!"

(a repeat from 2015)

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

"Grace Works"

    "Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear" (Hebrews 12:28).

    Only the undeserved favor of God provided through the Lord Jesus Christ - grace - can lead us to a life acceptable to Him.  Grace alone changes the heart by enlivening and filling us with the Spirit of Christ.  "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath give us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work" (II Thessalonians 2:16-17).

    It has been said, "There are two religions in the world, grace and works. But only grace works".  This means that God's salvation provided freely in Christ leads to the motivation and enabling whereby what we do proceeds from our Lord's doings on our behalf.  As the Lord Jesus declared of His faithfulness, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work… The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works" (John 5:17).  Any other means of seeking to consistently trust and obey God leads to frustration and failure.  "Without Me, ye can do nothing" declared our Savior (John 15:5).  Through Christ, conversely, the Apostle Paul exulted, "I can do all things" (Philippians 4:13).  Grace works, first in justifying the sinner, and then in sanctifying the saint unto a life of sincere and faithful devotion to the glory and will of God.  "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace was not bestowed upon me in vain.  For I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians 15:10).

   We do well to seek ever greater awareness and understanding of God's freely given favor in Christ - "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (II Peter 3:18).  The more deeply we descend into the soil of grace, the higher we ascend unto a heavenly life that is actually the life of Christ revealed in our trusting hearts….

"And now, brethren, I commend you to His grace, which is able to build you up."

(Acts 20:32)

Weekly Memory Verse

   "Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us and hath give us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work."

 (II Thessalonians 2:16-17)

5824

The Sweetest Soul (for Sparrow)

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

The Sweetest Soul (for Sparrow)

    

  Several hours before our dear beagle Sparrow left us this past Monday afternoon, I sat down at the piano.  A piece of music seemed to land in my heart as I began to play (and to weep).  I can't say I wrote this, but rather it seems, it wrote me.  I simply began to play, and it was there.  

  This happens sometimes in writing songs and music, and on this occasion, it meant more than ever.  I feel the melody as sweet, like Sparrow, who never harmed any other creature in her lifetime (I will always think of her as "the sweetest soul").  The rhythm ebbs and flows, again, like our sweetheart who greeted us when we arrived home with more enthusiasm than I could ever describe, but who, like all hounds, also loved her stillness and sleep.  Most of all, as I have produced and recorded this in the last few days, playing the piece over and over, I have felt Sparrow.  I do not mean this in any mystical sense, but rather it just seems the Lord provided a way in music to express who and what she was to us.  She cherished us, and we cherished her.  Still do, and always will.  In more ways than I could ever express, she was God's gift to us.  And somehow, this seems like a gift she gave to us on the last day of her earthly life.  

For our sweetheart….