Orange Moon Friday, August 26, 2022 "HIs Role, Our Role"

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

    

               "His Role, Our Role"

    "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" (II Timothy 4:7).

   On the surface, a novice reader might think Paul affirmed his own faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ as he neared the end of his earthly journey.  Another statement by the Apostle, however, puts such a notion to rest:

   "By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me" (I Corinthians 15:10).

   Clearly, Paul knew himself to have been motivated, guided, and enabled by a power beyond Himself, the power of God's grace in the Lord Jesus.  However, he did not suggest himself to be a merely programmed robot by giving all glory to God for his abundant labors.  The Apostle responded to the Holy Spirit's movings in leading to a life of faith and faithfulness.  In the terms mentioned in his epistle to the Philippians, Paul "worked out" that which God "worked in" (Philippians 2:12-13).  Like all believers, he played a role in the relationship that was real and freely chosen.  At the end of the day, however, the Lord alone received all honor for the Apostle's faithful service because Paul's response in the matter involved the receiving of God's grace that led to his Lord's mighty working in his heart and life.  "We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead" (II Corinthians 1:9).

   Paul well knew the truth expressed by the Lord Jesus to His disciples: "Without Me, ye can do nothing."  He also knew the wonder of "Christ in you, the hope of glory" and "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (John 15:5; Colossians 1:27; Philippians 4:13).  At the end of his life, he could legitimately affirm his faithfulness and the finishing of his course.  The confession, however, must be taken in the context of Paul's many affirmations that God alone must be glorified for all faithfulness manifested in His trusting children in Christ.  Such is the wonder and mystery of God united with human hearts in Christ, so enabling them as to be rightly praised for all.  We nevertheless bring something to the table in our relationship with the Lord, something real and free and vital as we receive His grace and walk thereby.  "What is Your role, Father?  What is my role?"  We do well to keep the questions on the table throughout our lifetime so that we may one day affirm, to the glory of God alone, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."

"Let us have grace, that we may serve God acceptably, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear."

(Hebrews 12:28)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

(John 4:14).

   

  

   

   

   

  

6607

Orange Moon Thursday, August 25, 2022 "Caring and Casting"

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

    

               "Caring and Casting"

       Knowing that people care means much.  Be it a family member, friend, neighbor, colleague, or merely a compassionate observer, the concern of others helps us to face and address the burdens of life.

    "Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you" (I Peter 5:7).

   Knowing that God cares takes the matter to a different realm of encouragement altogether.  The One who made, sustains, and redeemed us emotionally involves Himself in our well being.  He does not view our lives from a dispassionate vantage point of a witness, but rather from the empathetic and sympathetic presence of a loving participant.  As the writer of Hebrews reveals, "feeling" accompanies God's sensibilities toward us.

   "We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews 4:15).

   The Psalmist echos and enhances such blessed truth:

    "The LORD is gracious and full of compassion" (Psalmist 11:4).

   By definition, compassion involves the cares and troubles of one being shared by another.  Our Lord is "full" of such unselfish devotion to the pains of others.  He became man to redeem us from sin and its heart ravaging effects by the the caring that became bearing: "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:4).  Indeed, when Scripture declares the Lord Jesus Christ to be "a man of sorrows," we must remember the title speaks not to the bearing His own sorrows, but rather those of others (Isaiah 53:3).

    We must view our Lord in this way, first because Scripture so plainly declares His compassion.  Moreoever, we will cast our cares upon Him in direct proportion to how well we know the reality and genuineness of His concern.  The Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and fellow believers direct our hearts to the heart of our Heavenly Father in times of sorrow.  "The God of all comfort" can do something about our cares (II Corinthians 1:3).  Even more, He wants to do something about them.  The Prince of peace desires our hearts to know His peace in all things.  Two things make this possible:  His caring and our casting.  Of the former we can be sure, the knowledge of which makes the latter far more likely to be performed.  May our Lord increasingly convince our hearts of the reality of His full heart of compassion.  Comfort awaits, and peace where it seems like it should not be…

"Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

(Philippians 4:6-7)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

(John 4:14).

   

  

   

   

   

  

6606

Orange Moon Wednesday, August 24, 2022 "His Story"

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

    

               "His Story"

   A favorite author of mine, noted historian and narrator David McCollough, recently died.  In watching an interview from 2013, I came upon an interesting quote of McCollough's that spoke truth, but only partially.

    "History is human."

   How true this is.  History chronicles the doings of humanity, from our creation to the second preceding the current one.  What have we done as a race of beings?  Where have we been?  What are our successes?  Our failures?  Our triumphs?  Our defeats?  Our acts of righteousness?  Our crimes of sin?  Our experiences of pleasure and pain?  The list could go on and on.  McCollough was right.  History is indeed human.  However, he missed something else of far greater meaning and significance.

    History is divine.  

    "God… worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" (Ephesians 1:3; 11).  

     History most concerns the existence, presence, involvement and purpose of God.  "Of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things" declared the Apostle Paul (Romans 11:36).   As real and consequential as human doings may be, the largely unseen hand of God transcends all by an infinite measure.  

   Of course, this does not mean that God determined all that has happened in the course of human history.  In a world that "lieth in wickedness," no Biblical view allows for this aberrant, fatalistic view of things (I John 5:19).  The Bible proclaims a wondrous God who does not require pointed control of all events in order to execute His intentions.  He rather works amid the "course of human events" to fulfill the purpose of His divine working through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Indeed, when we say "God is in control," we do not mean He directly causes all things, but rather precisely and powerfully coordinates all things to fulfill "the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesian 3:19).  Only a lesser God than Scripture proclaims would require such tyranny and pointed domination.  The living and true Lord of the Bible, conversely, ever abides in His creation so imminent, so knowing, so wise, so involved, so gracious, so righteous, so holy, and so loving that He fulfills the wonder of His Story amid the myriad variabilities of our history.

   In times such as these, great peace descends upon us as we recall this blessed truth amid the turmoil that bids us to uncertainty with each passing day.  We must address the real and consequential realities human affairs bring to our doorstep, whether blessed or challenging.  Nevertheless, born again believers arise to remember and rejoice in the greater reality of Divine affairs.  "What are human beings doing?"  The question bows before a greater: "What is God doing?"  We answer the question in the light of an empty tomb, an occupied Heavenly throne, and the glorious truth that Jesus Christ is Lord.  In this holy light, let us determine to never ponder human history save through the lens of His Story.

"In Him we live and move and have our being."

(Acts 17:28)

Weekly Memory Verse

     Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

(John 4:14).

   

  

   

   

   

  

6605