“Oh Taste and See”

Posted on by conquerorshots

Psalms 34:8-9 KJV
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.
9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Every morning this week I have awakened to a songs from my youth that depict God the Father and Son being “sweet.” I have posted the songs on my personal Facebook feed with numerous responses. But the idea of the Father and Son being a sweet taste is not a literal translation. After all, we have to use our mouths in order to get the sweet taste to register in our brains.

In all my years of Bible study, training, preaching, teaching and counseling I still have not experienced the actual sweet taste associated with my faith in Jesus Christ in a physical manner. Trust me, I truly have a sweet tooth and love desserts – with the exception of cheesecake and exclusively chocolate creations. I mostly enjoy the sensation of peach cobbler, Haagen Dazs Dulce De Leche ice cream and french vanilla flavored coffee constantly registering my sweet taste buds as I savor the individual flavors as long as possible. In my vast experience with sweet tasting treats, experiencing the sweetness associated with faith in Jesus Christ is extremely more satisfying.

David’s sentiment implies the urgency he developed for trusting in the LORD. He was on the run from King Saul at the time of the writing. He feigned being a madman to avoid harm to him. He had no human aid he could trust in. Yet day by day, the LORD kept David alive, safe, secure and provided all his needs while on the run for his life.  When you read the back story of Psalm 34 in 1 Samuel 21 and 22 you get a deeper sense of his personal need for Divine Providence. God provides for His children!

ConquerorShots will always make the distinction between Old Testament lessons and New Testament Christian theology. We must all adhere to the urgency David writes about with fervor and diligence. With regards to David’s faith, the LORD is translated as Jehovah – the self revealing one. In other words God revealed His character through the names of Jehovah. David, being a son of Jesse, was an Israelite man with great promise attached to his bloodline. The Davidic covenant directly lines up with the millennial Kingdom prophesied through the Old and New Testaments. A Earthly promise which has yet to be fulfilled. Therefore, Christians have a completely different faith experience regarding God. Christianity allows for a specific faith in CPR² that David did not have available to him.

Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection changed the way in which mankind relates with God making Christianity totally different from religion.

We can identify with David’s experience “tasting and seeing that the LORD is good” but we have a more intimate connection to His goodness. Christian faith insures the Spirit of Christ in us adopting us into God the Son and making us joint heirs with Him eternally. THIS IS A HEAVENLY PROMISE THAT IS COMPLETELY SEPARATE FROM THE EARTHLY PROMISES MADE TO ABRAHAM REGARDING THE CONSTRUCTION, DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF THE CHOSEN RACE ISRAEL.

Undoubtedly there are blessings directly related to trusting in God from an Old Testament perspective. But the book of Hebrews (New Testament) declares that “without faith it is impossible to please God…Hebrews 11:1” Faith has ALWAYS been a standard God has presented to mankind. But Christian faith and Jewish faith are not the same unless the common denominator is CPR².  The Heavenly promise allows for a man to have a hope David knew nothing about. Christian faith in CPR² provides us with blessings both earthly and Heavenly. Furthermore, as Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us because of our Spiritual position IN Christ.

This blessed assurance provides us with a Spiritual sweetness words can’t describe and human senses can’t interpret. The faithful, merciful blessings of the LORD are still new morning by morning.  The current state of affairs in this world can weight us down humanly. But our position IN Christ maintains our Spiritual footing and we are equipped to stand against any adversity. If you have not tasted of our Savior’s Spiritual sweetness, please get to know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Every attribute of Jehovah in the Old Testament will become a rich part of your spiritual development as you walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.  This is how we can soar through life living the Conqueror Lifestyle!

 

Courage To Stand

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         Children of God, when trouble comes (and it always does) do not succumb to the trial and fail by employing your own strength. You can find the courage to stand up and not be overtaken when you know the Divine outcome of the Troublemaker. You can have peace in the midst of the storm through “the God of Peace.” Enjoy this “shot” by way of my mom – Sister Cheryl DeGroat-Payne.  
 Stay in the race!   Rev. D

       “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly…” (Romans 16: 20).

Peace

The apostle Paul exhorts Christians in Rome to endure the hardships brought on by the wiles of the devil.  The Holy Spirit of God – through the believer’s faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for remission of sins – inducts us into the army of God.  The resurrecting power of His shed blood within believers empowers us to resist the enemy-until His return. We have the blessed assurance as good soldiers of Jesus Christ to know we are predestined to victory – the source of the God of peace. His message still resonates Divine truth to us today.

The God of peace foreknew -from eternity past, into eternity present and further to eternity future – our status as a lost and trouble-ridden humanity.  He loves us so much that he planned to divest himself of His glory by stepping down out of infinity and descending into time. Lowering Himself to human form, He became as we are – human – so that we could become as He is – Spirit.

Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).  Jesus knew humans are heavily reliant on their five senses. He also knew we would live our lives with limitations stemming from ignorance of the oppression of the spirit world system against us.

These spirits dwell in the heavens and stand in opposition to God and us. They have a steadfast allegiance with Satan, the archenemy of God, as their head. He governs this world’s system, known as the Kosmos (GR.). The Kosmos hated Christ and it hates us.  Jesus said, If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you (John 15:18).  He went on to say, These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.  In the world, ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer, I had overcome the world (John 16:33).

C.I.  Scofield wrote of the kosmos saying:

“In this sense of the present world-system, the ethically bad sense of the word, refers to the ‘order,’ ‘arrangement,’ under which Satan has organized the world of unbelieving mankind upon his cosmic principle of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and pleasure (Mt 4:8,9; Jn 12:31; 14:30; 18:36; Eph 2:2; 6:12; and 1 Jn.  2: 15-17).  This world-system is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but, seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by Satanic principles.” (Scofield Reference Bible footnote Revelation 13:8).

A “Hope” Shot

   “The God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly…”  The Word of God urges and encourages us to persevere in resisting the wiles of the devil with great confidence in Him and courage to trust Him. It promises we will find ourselves fully discharged from this ongoing spiritual battle. Our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ is the foundation of the expectation of this promise being fulfilled.  In the meantime, encourage yourself in the faith (become more and more inclined to trust in the LORD) and await the thrill of having the neck of our enemy – Satan the devil – under our feet while witnessing the abject humiliation of our conquered foe.  Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet (Psalm 91:13) .

         The exclusive purpose in the manifestation of the Son Of God taking up human flesh is to destroy the works of the devil in and through the Body of Christ, which is called the Church (earlier referred to as the Army of God).  It is an organism comprised of believers. These are they that have surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Christ – as their Head. This is the mystery hidden in God throughout the ages. God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. He did this by defeating the power of sin and death through His triumphant resurrection. 

Hebrews 2:14-18  (PHILLIPS) Since, then, “the children” have a common physical nature as human beings, He also became a human being, so that by going through death as a man He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might also set free those who lived their whole lives a prey to the fear of death. It is plain that for this purpose he did not become an angel; he became a man, in actual fact a descendant of Abraham. It was imperative that He should be made like his brothers in nature, if He were to become a High Priest both compassionate and faithful in the things of God, and at the same time able to make atonement for the sins of the people. For by virtue of his own suffering under temptation He is able to help those who are exposed to temptation.[i] 

He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3:8) 

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in your faith, that by the power of the Holy Spirit, your whole life and outlook may be radiant with hope.(Romans 15:13) 

The God of peace be with you all, amen. (Romans 15:33)
Cheryl DeGroat-Payne

[i] J. B. Phillips, “The New Testament in Modern English“, 1962 edition by HarperCollins

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LOVE NEVER FAILS

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We all  experience  the presence of buoyancy time and again. Whether I am enjoying the simplicity of an afternoon of fun and relaxation in the park, a social gathering in the community or an intimate get together with friends/family, I have found that the term “I love……” is used far more frequently today. The statement “Oh my God, I love………” is a popular phrase  both young and older people have coined into their mode of expressing this powerful emotion.  Quite honestly, I hear the phrase “I love…….” being used so often that I have begun to question the nature of the sentiment.

Do you ever find yourself asking the question, “Are you serious? You don’t even know________?  This inquiry seems to really surface when I hear people describe artistry – music, art, poetry,

John Legend~Get Lifted
John Legend~Get Lifted (Photo credit: bamalibrarylady) There’s More to It!

dance, etc. – as people are describing how what they see and hear affects them to their core. John Legend is a gifted male musician/vocalist. His timeless hit “Ordinary People” moved many fans to listen to that song over and over again. We could not hear it enough when it hit the airwaves; we bought the CD in bulk to give to friends/family as gifts; we flocked to his concerts to hear his live version and I am sure that even now, after many more tunes he may perform, nothing will stir the crowd more than when he begins to play the opening cords to “Ordinary People.”  If you ever found yourself caught up in the storm that was “Ordinary People” you may have said “I love John Legend.”

I can not begin to understand why love is such a flippant expression. Personally, I believe that my own personal entanglement with the human elements attached to the expectations of “love” have challenged my perspective on how I receive the term when I hear it.  Today I am not so quick to readily apply my personal understanding of love to another person’s expression of love. It is fair play to naturally navigate through the varied currents of love with a relative outlook.  But one thing that I can understand about love, no matter how trivialized, over emphasized or grandiose it may be is this – LOVE NEVER FAILS.

People fail. Systems fail. Every aspect of human experience has the potential to fail. How can you love something or someone else when you don’t love yourself through your own failures?  A battle between the intellect and the emotion continues. But God is LOVE! He is the solution to every issue with love. Everything that He Is is LOVE. From the onset of Creation until today and beyond, FAILURE IS NOT IN HIS repertoire. His example is not to be understood but instead, trusted.

We ALL need Love and we NEED to be able to express true, unconditional love.  Life breeds love of all types. Often times, the love that I hear about and even describe today is absent of depth. It can be turned on/off at a whim. This is dangerous.

An assessment on the state of the heart (https://conquerorshots.wordpress.com/2012/01/10/check-up-on-the-heart/) will reveal the subsequent harm done to a person’s core if you are willing to be honest about what love truly is. (I Corinthians 13) There can be an enormous debate over the fluidity of love. Because it stems from the core i.e. the heart, human interpretation is subject to many differences of opinions.

Here at ConquerorShots we are united in the belief that if you want to understand, practice and experience true love, God is the reference source. Specifically, if ever you are perplexed over the idea of what love truly is, what it does and how to give and receive it, we recommend a trip to Calvary and all of the details including the Resurrection for the most honest, revealing, life-enriching display of love. It will shape your life’s existence of true love and provide you with wisdom to know otherwise.

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