TASTE AND SEE

Time with Jesus - Monday, 17 September 2012

Hi all,

What do the words, “Taste and see that the Lord is good” mean to you? We do have an expression which says,” It looked so good I could almost taste it”. In our meditation we go a step further. God Himself invites us to come and “taste” His goodness. We will not be disappointed.

Blessings

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Monday, 17 September 2012			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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	INTRODUCTION		DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	TASTE AND SEE
Occasionally I’ve pondered on God and His creation. We know He decided to create someone in His image. We understand that this has more to do with character that appearance. It must be. God is spirit and in that dimension, as best we know, He has neither shape nor form. I presume that, for reasons best known to Himself, He could not or would not create us as spiritual creatures like His angels. I suspect that free will in the heavenly realm was not favoured as a result of Lucifer and his gang. No! If He decided to create, He would do so in a dimension we know, but was unknown in the heavenly realm. But where to start? God has no problems with this. He knows everything. So when it came to creating man, He knew exactly where to begin to achieve His goal. You and I are not so fortunate. Furthermore, we can only function within the limits He has imposed. We would have to think in terms of the end product and work backwards from there. In a way we would be compelled to think of how man would live in that environment. So where did God start? In all likelihood He would start by creating a new dimension. He decided on a time/space continuum. With one word it was created. Was that a big bang? Difficult to know. What happens when something comes from nothing at God’s command? If anything, His Words were that bang. Every basic thing necessary for a dimension in which man would live, came into existence with the words, “Light be!!” Refinements would come later as, block by block, everything was put into place. The creation story is logical in a step by step fashion. God tells us it all happened in 6 days. It could not have been our six day week. That couldn’t begin until our planet was created and began to rotate in its orbit round our sun. If you choose to believe He created everything “ready-made” feel free to do so. It doesn’t worry me at all. My guess is that gravity was created at the same time as light was created. In some way, everything in this universe is affected by gravity. It would not have been a good idea for Adam to drift off into outer space. Gravity prevented this. It seems likely that, at this point, what we call the basic laws of nature came into being. Laws of motion, light, sound and everything we know which make it possible for us to live here in comparative safety. When eventually God created man, we are told that He “squeezed together” the “mud”. Here is the creator of the universe putting everything together that needs to be in us. A brain, eyes, ears, the blood system, the lymph system, the skeleton, the nerves. The complexity is staggering. It is physically impossible for something as complicated as a human being to come about as a series of random chances. But I digress. One of the most beautiful “things” God gave us was our faculties. Within our environment we may “enjoy” life. See things beautiful. Be touched with the sound of music. Hear the footsteps of our beloved. Touch and feel priceless objects. Caress our nearest and dearest. Smell the sweet delightful aroma of jasmine and the smell of a favourite perfume. Not the least of these delights is flavour. The taste of our favourite dish. This faculty is one of the very first we ever experience. The taste of nourishment from a bottle, or better still, from Mom’s breast. Most importantly we may “taste and see” the goodness of God. Jim & Phyllida Strickland			8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalms 34:8 ESV 9 When the master of ceremonies tasted the water that was now wine, not knowing where it had come from (though, of course, the servants knew), he called the bridegroom over. 10 "A host always serves the best wine first," he said. "Then, when everyone has had a lot to drink, he brings out the less expensive wine. But you have kept the best until now!" John 2:9-10 NLT 3 Our tongues tell us what tastes good and what doesn't. And our ears tell us what's true and what isn't. Job 34:3 NIrV 13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 2 Corinthians 4:13 TNIV 10 I believed, even when I spoke, "I am greatly afflicted";  Psalms 116:10 ESV 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12 TNIV 3 As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. Song of Solomon 2:3 ESV 4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4 NASB 32 Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't He also give us everything else? Romans 8:32 NLT 2 Like new-born infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:2-3 ESV 11 But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread Your protection over them, that all who love Your name may be filled with joy. Psalms 5:11 NLT	Hearing, smelling, seeing, touching, thinking, taste. God gave these to all of us; His gifts were not misplaced. Life is very difficult, if we cannot hear. Smell a nice aroma. “You smell so good my dear”. Sight, we undervalue and if we could not see, We’d be groping in the dark; how dreadful that would be. Could we love our partner? Life would be a mess, If a lover couldn’t feel a gentle, soft caress. We would all be vegetables, without the power to think. How would we establish what we would eat or drink? We’d be like a baby. Instinctively we’d cry. Then, in all our ignorance, each one of us would die. The one we least appreciate it seems to me is taste. Think of chocolate ice-cream, brake fluid and fish paste. Could that be delicious? I don’t think that it would. Too much salt or sugar would both be just as good. All of these “abilities” originate from God. He knew they’d be needed, when daily, life is trod. We need them all to function within the world He made. If one or more is missing, a price is always paid. In spite of all He’s given by way of faculties, We are not conscious of our God and His abilities. He wants us all to seek Him. But where to go and look? He’s given us a method within His Holy Book. Therein we find a treasure. A quality unknown. Beyond all of the senses, He’s given as our own. We know the world we live in, is not reality. Faith’s the only method to contact Deity. By faith alone we hear Him. By faith alone we see. By faith He tells us all to taste how good He’ll always be. Taste His perfect righteousness. Taste His hidden power. The water that He turns to wine is sweet and never sour. Roll His “flavour” on your tongue and “taste” what He has said. I know it sounds unusual, but He’s our daily bread! His “essence” is delightful; like manna for the Jews. Whatever flavour you desire, He says you’re free to choose. You will not comprehend Him. But He is always there. Live within His shadow. There’s nothing to compare, With being like the Master and tasting the Sublime. Other food can’t satisfy, so come to Him and dine. Jim Strickland – Written 17th September 2012