Orange Moon Wednesday, September 25, 2024 "Let Us Have Grace"

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

"Let Us Have Grace"

     Born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have entered into rest by stilling our own efforts to make ourselves righteous with God.  We rather trust the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ as our hope for being accepted with God as His sons and daughters - "the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ" (Romans 3:22).  However, we can "seem to come short" of God's grace if we respond to devilish temptations to exchange the truth of His freely given favor in Christ for any other means of walking with Him (Hebrews 4:1-10).  Indeed, while our hands, feet, minds may bustle with activity as we labor in the Lord's vineyard, we must do so with a heart at rest in Christ.

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

   We live for God by living from God, acknowledging our innate weakness to bear  "the fruits of righteousness" apart from the life-giving Vine that infuses spiritual life and sustenance (Philippians 1:11).  "I am the Vine, ye are the branches… Without Me, ye can do nothing… Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might" (John 15:5; Ephesians 6:10).  We can no more "continue in the faith" apart from God's grace than we could have begun in the faith apart from the same freely given favor, presence, and working (Colossians 1:23).  Just as we became "accepted in the Beloved" by God's grace received through faith, so we "serve God acceptably" by the same wondrous bestowal of the Lord Jesus as our consummate and comprehensive Christ through whom we can do all things (Ephesians 1:6).

   Problems with faith and obedience in the Christian life always stems from problems with grace.  Always.  In some manner, the failing believer fails to access God's freely given motivation, leading, and enabling to live according to the his Lord's will.  Little wonder the Apostle Paul identified such lapses in terms of a devilish element and influence.  Unto the Galatians, tempted to exchange the grace and truth of Christ for the law of Moses, the Apostle Paul chided…

   "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are ye so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:1-3; emphasis added).

   Our spiritual enemies likely know better than do we ourselves how much God's grace in Christ, rightly known and received, leads to a life of godliness, holiness, and faithfulness.  Throughout the history of the church (and before, to a lesser degree), the devil and His minions have been repeatedly bludgeoned by saints who avail themselves of grace as the singular hope for all acceptable service to God.  Again, little wonder our enemies constantly seek to "bewitch" us away from grace, as the New Testament so frequently depicts regarding the history of the early church.  Yes, the grace of God in Christ that sets our hearts at rest batters our enemies as it empowers our hearts, minds, and feet to "live with Him by the power of God" (II Corinthians 13:4).

   "Heavenly Father, You call us to a life so far beyond our human means to accomplish that it would be farcical to attempt apart from "the grace of life" You provide in the Lord Jesus (I Peter 3:7).  Through His freely given presence and working, however, we can live in a manner that glorifies You and fulfills Your will.  Guide us, therefore, in a growing and guarded awareness that we continue by the same gift whereby we began.  And let us ever remember the cost - the cross - that made possible so free a bestowal of Your acceptance, favor, and working in our hearts and lives.  Yes, dear Father, let us have grace that we may serve You acceptably, with reverence and godly fear.  In the name of the Lord Jesus we pray, Amen."

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

(II Corinthians 9:8)

Memory Verse

     What hast thou that thou didst not receive?

(I Corinthians 4:7)

   

7280

Orange Moon Tuesday, September 24, 2024 “Christ Personified, Christ In Print”

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

"Christ Personified. Christ In Print"

     As God works in born again believers to conform us to the spiritual and moral image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the question must be raised, "What is Christlikeness?" (Romans 8:28-29).  How can we know if our countenance, demeanor, attitudes, words, and deeds reflect our Savior's holy Person and way?  We have one authoritative source to find the answer:

    "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39).

    The living Word, the Lord Jesus, and the written Word, the Bible, perfectly correlate.  Christ is the Bible personified. The Bible is Christ in print.  "I am the light" declared our Lord of His Person.  "The entrance of Thy words giveth light" declared the Psalmist of the Scriptures (John 8:12; Psalm 119:130).   Yes, in the light of the Scriptures, we see Christ.  In the light of Christ, we understand the Scriptures:

    "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).    

    Satan ever seeks to separate the Lord Jesus and the Bible regarding our response to God, to people, to our doctrinal understanding, and to the practice of the Christian life.  Such deception directly contradicts the Savior's affirmation of Himself in terms of Scripture. Indeed, of the law and the prophets in existence at the time of His incarnation, He declared…

    "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" (John 5:46-47).

   The words of the New Testament also serve as the center and circumference of God's revelation of the living Word, Christ.  The devil, however, tempts us to create in our minds "another Jesus" who does not align with the only objective authority we have to know if we are worshipping the real and the authentic (II Corinthians 11:4).  "Thy Word is truth" declared our Savior, referencing the written Word then in existence, and the written Word to come (John 17:17).

   To know the Lord Jesus as He is and to be conformed to His image  requires the revelation of His likeness found only in the light of Biblical truth and authority.  Who is He?  How does He think, speak, act, and relate?  What has He done?  What is He doing?  What does  Scripture promise He will do forevermore?  Only the Scriptures can define the Savior.  Christ in print.  Only the Savior can illuminate the Scriptures.  Christ personified.  We minimize either to our own detriment and grievous harm.  Let us expect our spiritual enemies to tempt us with "another Jesus."  Even more, let us expect the Holy Spirit to reveal the true and living Christ in the pages of the true and living Word He inspired for this most vital and blessed purpose...

"And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."

(Luke 24:27)

Memory Verse

     What hast thou that thou didst not receive?

(I Corinthians 4:7)

   

7279

Orange Moon Monday, September 23, 2024 "The Astonished Wonder"

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

"The Astonished Wonder"

     In a sermon yesterday, I commented on my having been a born again believer for more than 49 years in reference to prayers prayed during that time.  

   "I do not remember most of the ones prayed," I said.  "But God does.  He remembers every genuine expression of devotion, request, intercession, and confession.  Those prayed according to His will have either been answered, or are in the process of being answered."  

    Of course, this ushers us to wonder regarding our relationship with One who does not need us in any manner, but who faithfully leads us to fellowship with Himself, and then works through our prayers to fulfill His eternal purpose in Christ.  "After this manner therefore pray ye… Thy will be done" (Matthew 6:9-10).

     "His understanding is infinite" declared the Psalmist (Psalm 147:5).  The fact that an eternal Being can somehow commune with finite, created beings must ever present mystery to our minds.  This constitutes one of the greatest indications of God's character, namely, that He desires fellowship with us and "humbleth Himself to behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth" (Psalm 113:6).   Our Heavenly Father rejoices in humble, sincere, and trusting communication with us…

   "The prayer of the upright is His delight" (Proverbs 15:8).  

    Ponder this marvel for a moment, before the absolute wonder of such a glory overwhelms your mind.  Delight?  How can it be that our prayers elicit such strong emotion in the heart of God?  That He communicates with us is enough to take our breath away in the marvel of such a seeming impossibility.  That He finds pleasure in fellowship with takes away more than breath as we ponder a wonder eternity will not fully explain.  Indeed, I find the truth that "the prayer of the upright is His delight" to be the greatest motivation of prayer, especially when remembering how much grief I have too often brought to our Father's heart.  "I will come into Thy house in the multitude of Thy mercy" (Psalm 5:7).

    "What is man, that Thou shouldest magnify him?  And that Thou shouldest set Thine heart upon him?" (Job 7:17).

   We should not complicate prayer.  God surely would not have us so overwhelmed by its mystery that we find ourselves intimidated.  However, a place does exist to sometimes still our hearts, minds, and voices as we contemplate the seeming impossibility of the Infinite in relationship to the finite.  Even more perhaps, to realize that our Father emotionally invests His heart in us to the degree of delight in our prayers must lead us, whether physically or figuratively, to fall upon our knees and faces in astonished wonder.    Yes, God remembers every genuine prayer we have ever prayed not only in His mind, but also in His heart.  He will respond in kind to the fresh prayers of this day, and of all to come.  Amid the mystery, there can be no greater motivation to pray, and we join the Psalmist who clearly knew and felt the astonished wonder…

"The Lord taketh pleasure in His people."

(Psalm 149:4)

"One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after.  That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."

(Psalm 27:4)

 Memory Verse

     What hast thou that thou didst not receive?

(I Corinthians 4:7)

   

7277