Orange Moon Wednesday, June 11, 2025 "It is Time"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

"It Is Time"  

    

 

     "And now, Lord, what wait I for?  My hope is in Thee" (Psalm 39:7).

     You can almost feel what the Psalmist felt as he awoke to truth and reality.  He recognized that a season of dread must come to its end, to be replaced by the eternal and abiding hope known deeply in the heart by all who trust God.  Or, as New Testament believers might declare…

    "What am I waiting for?  It is time to hope, to trust, and to know that the Lord Jesus Christ is who He, does what He does, and will keep every promise God ever made in the perfection of His faithfulness."  

   "All the promises of God in Him are yea (assured)" (II Corinthians 1:20).

    The Spirit of God and the Word of God beckon us in this moment that it is time.  It is time to continue in hope already embraced, and to grow therein.  It is time to leave behind any insane inclination to not trust someone - Someone - who "cannot lie" and whose very essence is truth (Titus 1:2; John 14:6).  Of all the sins we might presently commit as God's trusting children in Christ, can there be any more egregious than distrusting the One whose faithfulness "reacheth unto the clouds," and whose hands reached unto the cross to be nailed thereupon for our eternal redemption? (Psalm 36:5; Luke 9:51).  

   It is time, it is always time to turn away from despair to certainty, from unbelief to faith, and from lies to truth.  Much will resist our determination, including our own flesh that "lusteth against the spirit" (Galatians 5:17).  Far more will encourage and empower our determination as the Spirit of God leads in accordance with the truth of the Word of God.  "Greater is He that is in you than He that is in the world" (I John 4:4).  Thereby, the time is right, the time is always right to trust our Heavenly Father, glorifying Him thereby, and discovering deep in our hearts the truth that He is who He is, and He does what He does.  "What wait I for?" asked the Psalmist regarding the hope communicated by the God who cannot lie and whose faithfulness ascends unto the clouds.  In every matter of life and being wherein we realize our own lack of faith and confidence, we do well to echo the inquiry, "What am I waiting for?"  Yes, it is time, time to trust, time to hope, and time to discover yet again the glorious trustworthiness of that Heart more faithful than we will ever fully know.

"Awake to righteousness and sin not."

(I Corinthians 15:34)

"What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee."

(Psalm 56:3)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness, He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous."

(Psalm 112:4)

  

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Orange Moon Tuesday, June 10, 2025 "Seems... Is"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

"Seems… Is"  

    

 

     There is "seem."  And there is "is."

     "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12).

    "The truth is in Jesus" (Ephesians 4:12).

   Appearances often deceive.  Truth never does.  Salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ spiritually births believers into reality and our ongoing quest to know and respond to the peace of heart and power of life known only in the Savior.  "I AM" declared God regarding Himself in the Old Testament.  "I AM" declared the Lord Jesus regarding Himself in the New (Exodus 3:14; John 8:58).  Our Creator and Redeemer refers to Himself in such terminology because He is Himself the core essence of reality, the One - the only One - who existed when nothing else did.  "From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God" (Psalm 90:2).  All other things and entities have being because God willed and sustains their existence.  "Without Him was not anything made that was made… by Him all things consist" (John 1:3; Colossians 1:17).  This is truth.  This reality.  He is truth.  He is reality in its primary essence.  There is none other.  Our calling in both this life and the next involves our search to think, speak, act, and relate by the fact and power of God's "I AM" in both personal terms of knowing Him, and the practical terms of living accordingly.  "Know the truth… Walk in truth" (John 8:32; III John 1:4).

   Sometimes "seems" and "is" align.  Often they do not.  The Spirit of God and the Word of God unite to tell us when appearances faithfully reveal truth, and when they deceive and mislead.  We seek to walk with God as led by His Spirit and Word into truth as it is, and life as lived in the light of "is" rather than the uncertainty of "seems."  Who is God and what does His Word declare about Him?  This is the question of truth and reality in this moment, and forevermore.  May we be found searching, and may we be blessed in the finding.

"I am… the truth."

(John 14:6)

"Thy Word is truth."

(John 17:17)

"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

(John 7:24)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness, He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous."

(Psalm 112:4)

  

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Orange Moon Monday, June 9, 2025 "Darkness and Light"

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe

"Darkness and Light"  

    

 

     As presently constituted, we would not do well if we could see or hear the Lord Jesus Christ.

     "We walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7).

    Surely it seems we would more faithfully walk with God if we had sensory contact with Him.  We will experience such grace one day, when "we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).  In this life, however, sight, sound, and touch would no more benefit our faithfulness than it did the disciples who knew the Lord's direct presence for three years.  "They all forsook Him and fled" at the end of His earthly journey declares Mark of those who had every outward advantage for godliness, but failed their Lord nonetheless (Mark 14:50). 

     Born again believers in the Lord Jesus presently have the indwelling Holy Spirit, which the disciples did not possess (John 14:17).  The truth remains, however, that we would not presently benefit from sensory experience of Christ.  We know this by a simple confirmation: "As for God, His way is perfect" (II Samuel 22:31).  If we cannot see, hear, or touch the Lord, His perfect way means this must be this best for us at this time.  Thankfully, this will not always be the case - "but then face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12).  For now, however, our Heavenly Father's perfect providence deems it best that we "see through a glass darkly."  Ways presently exist whereby we can glorify the Lord Jesus, know Him in the context of life as we now experience, and discover the wonder of God in a light that "shineth in darkness" (John 1:5).  Such potential will not be available in the next life, glorious as it will be, and we do well to seize opportunities only at hand in a fallen world.

     We shall not pass this way again.  Praise God!  We cannot imagine the relief we will know when delivered from "the present distress" (I Corinthians 7:26).  Most of all, we cannot imagine what it will be like to see our Lord "face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12).  "What a day that will be" declares the hymnwriter so beautifully.  It remains true, however, that our present heart to heart experience of God offers possibilities to be appreciated, even amid the great challenges that accompany our walk by faith.  This way, to which we will one day bid farewell, shines with the glory of Christ in both light and darkness.  That will not be the case in that realm where "there shall be no night" (Revelation 21:25).  We therefore do well to avail ourselves of present opportunities to know and glorify God in ways only possible in the here and now, ways wherein we trust His heart when we cannot see His hand.  We honor Him thereby, and surely we must bless our Lord  as we love Him in a manner only possible as we walk by faith, not by sight.

"Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous."

(Psalm 112:4)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness, He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous."

(Psalm 112:4)

  

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