”Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.“ Psalms 34:8 NIV
God wants us to experience Him!
For some of us, the thought of hearing God speak, seeing Him move, feeling Him touch, and tasting His goodness is foreign. It seems to be impossible. But God stands with His arms wide open giving us the invitation to do just that. He wants us to taste — to feel, to enjoy, and He wants us to see — to know, to experience Him.
How do we know and experience God? We do this the same way we know and experience our dearest friend. We talk to Him, spend time with Him, participate in what He is doing, we have first hand experiences with Him.
Knowing God this way is very personal. It is not good enough that your mom or your dad knows God. It is not enough that your Grandma and Grandpa knew Him. It has to be your experience! God wants YOU to know Him. He wants YOU to “taste and see.”
Ask yourself, am I experiencing God in a personal, one on one way? Do I hear Him speak to me? Do I feel His touch on my life? Is He my closest friend?
He desires for you to be able to answer yes to each and every one of these questions.
This is the Latest devotion that God has blessed me with. This is truthfully one of my favorite ones. Have you ever stood before God and been amazed of who He really is? Writing this and contemplating this section of scripture has been one of those times for me. ❤️
“…the song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb:
‘Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.’”
Revelations 15:3-4 NIV
A little over a year ago my husband and I went to Hawaii to celebrate our 30th Anniversary. While we were there, we took a scenic drive to a lookout over the Na Pali Coast. As I approached the lookout, I stood in complete awe. This Missouri girl had never seen or experienced anything like it. The ocean view was breathtaking. The sounds of waves crashing and the sea birds squawking, the smell of the ocean, and the wind blowing against us as we stood perched high upon a cliff overlook, left me speechless. All I could say over and over was, “WOW! WOW! WOW!” I wanted to stand there for as long as I could and take it all in. The vast ocean was intricate and grand at the same time. It was beauty and power combined. It demanded the utmost respect, because if I were to be dropped into the middle of it, I would not survive. Yet, I had the feeling that it was inviting me to come and explore. That moment is marked in my memories for a lifetime.
This month our verses at WOW will be focusing on the word, holy. To be holy is to be perfectly and impeccably pure, immaculate, complete in moral character, sinless, uncompromisingly righteous, and just. Our verses this week tell us that God “alone is holy.”As I have contemplated what this means, I have been left with the same awe that I felt the day I stood on that lookout. God’s holiness is beyond my human ability to comprehend, yet God is inviting me to come and know Him as holy. God’s holiness is intricate, and it is grand. It is beauty and power combined. I am filled with reverential awe of God as I think about it. God cannot be separated from His holiness just as He cannot be separated from His love. It is who He is. God alone is holy. He is absolute perfection. His holiness pervades His entire being and shapes all His attributes. His love is holy love, His goodness is holy goodness, His life is holy life. The more I gaze at His holiness, the more I see Him rightly. The more I see Him rightly, the more I love Him, trust Him, and desire to obey Him.
The verses this week are a “song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb.”They are a song of worship and relationship that expresses the worthiness of our God. Those who sing this song see God rightly, they have experienced the fear of the Lord — a reverential awe of Him. They see God’s “great and marvelous… deeds.” They know God as “just and true” in His ways. They know God alone is holy so the only response to such an awesome God is to simply say “WOW! WOW! WOW!” or as they proclaim in heaven, “HOLY! HOLY! HOLY! is the Lord God Almighty!” over and over again (Revelation 4:8).
As you read these words, do you feel this sense of amazement and awe as you stand looking at the characteristics of a Holy God? Does it fill your heart with worship as the song in our verses proclaim? God desires for us to experience this very thing. This is where a true relationship with God is formed. When we see Him for who He is, holy, and we understand He has invited us to come and experience His holiness, we will see the only appropriate response to God is: “Yes, Lord! Anything for my Holy God, ‘for you alone are holy.’”May our hearts be marked by the beauty and power of His holiness for the entirety of our lifetime!
Our song this week is “What Do I Know of Holy?” sung by Addison Road. My prayer is that as you meditate on the verses of Scripture above and listen to the song below that you will hunger and thirst to know Him rightly and experience the genuine and reverential awe of our Holy God. To know God is to love God, is to trust God, is to obey God. Amen
”Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.“ John 17:3 NIV
You and I were created for more. We know it. There is a longing within us all. We long for love, joy, and peace. We desire to be fulfilled in our lives.
Often this results in us chasing after things that really don’t fulfill. We chase money, things, beauty, health, earthly relationships, our selfish ways, etc… When our focus is fixed on these things, we will surely find ourselves empty.
Chasing them is similar to chasing the wind. Even when we may catch them for awhile we will find them to not fulfill the longing of our hearts.
That is because we were created by a Creator for relationship with Him. This relationship of knowing Him, God, is where true life is found.
A relationship of “knowing” requires connection to what we know. We cannot know someone unless we experience them. We must experience the sound of their voice, their touch, their closeness. If we are not experiencing this, we are not living a life of “knowing” them.
Our verse above is Jesus speaking about the life He offers to each of us. This life is not a temporary experience, but a relationship that goes on and on throughout eternity. It is a life of fulfillment that no other can bring. It is knowing God in intimate relationship.
As you read these words today, I would encourage you to ask: What is the longing I am experiencing inside? Are the thoughts I have about God, just that … thoughts? Do I have knowledge of Him like I have knowledge of a subject I studied in high school? Or do I KNOW Him? Do I have first hand experiences with Him? Do I have a relationship of sharing where He speaks to me and I speak to Him? He desires for us to know Him this way! It is what we were created for our purpose.
As I stated before, you and I were created for more. We were created to experience God’s eternal life knowing Him in an intimate relationship. Does this create a stirring within you longing for that more?
”“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.“. Proverbs 31:29-30 NIV
A wife of Noble character… Who would not want to be a woman that is distinguished and honored? Today’s chapter speaks of the characteristics of that woman: hard working, generous, strong, etc…. It all culminates with the verses above and the phrase, “a woman who fears the Lord.”
To fear the Lord is to see Him rightly and have a reverential awe of Him. This leads us to love Him. When we see Him as He is: holy- impeccably pure and uncompromisingly righteous, just, true, etc., we understand that He is worthy of our complete obedience, complete submission, and complete dependence. We desire to hate or shun sin that will destroy us. We desire to live after God’s ways. The woman who lives desiring to follow God with all of her heart, soul, and mind is to be praised, or in the Hebrew it says “to shine.” A Godly woman will display His glory and beauty everywhere.
When we, as women, put God first in our lives and live our lives filled with His love. His love will naturally flow out of us onto all those around us. We will live our lives with His characteristics flowing out of us. We will be the women that God created us to be. We will reflect His image to everyone around.
True beauty is not found in all the make up and hair products at Ulta or perfectly toned bodies from a gym. True beauty is found in a woman who fears the Lord and lives only for Him and His glory!
”Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.“ Proverbs 30:8 NIV
Agur was a wise teacher of long ago. He wrote the words above as a prayer. He knew of his own sinful nature and its propensity to believe lies and falsehoods. He knew his propensity to do life his way and not God’s. So Agur prayed. He prayed that he wouldn’t be so consumed with selfishly pursuing wealth so that he would forget God saying, “Who is the Lord?”. He also prayed that he wouldn’t lack so that he would feel compelled to selfishly steal and get things his own way. He simply wanted God to be his “daily bread,” His everything! He wanted God to be what satisfied him day in and day out.
There is much wisdom in that prayer. We can learn much from this prayer of Agur. We can come to God asking of Him to be our daily bread and the satisfier of our soul as well.
We are invited to experience God as our “daily bread.” We can “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8). We do this by a daily, moment by moment, intake of His Word! His Word is the Bread of Life.
We can know His Word as the Truth that will keep us far from lies. As we know the Word, we know God. Because He is His Word and His Word is God (John 1:1).
Agur was wise to pray his prayer and find delight in God’s provision of His daily bread, His Word. May we delight in His Word as well! God is the only One who will satisfy us!
“I have stood face to face with the one, I did not think I could ever love. As I stood there before her, I was able to reach out and hug her with a true love that had no expectation of anything in return. I loved her willingly and selflessly, at no cost to her.”
”An evil man is ensnared in his transgression, but a righteous man sings and rejoices.” Proverbs 29:6 ESV
EVIL- corruption of heart, or disposition to commit wickedness; malignity. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
”for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,“ Romans 3:23 NIV
Everyone has sinned. We’ve all went our own ways. We have all had evil in our hearts- corruption, or a disposition to commit wickedness… sin.
Sin is a trap. I have felt the weight of being trapped by my sin. In that sin I felt like there was no escape. BUT Jesus has offered to us the way to be freedom! The one He sets free is free indeed. His freedom is reason for great rejoicing.
This morning I was reflecting on what Jesus has set me free from, and the freedom that I now stand in! It brought rejoicing to my heart. Because I am free!
We are warned in Proverbs about running from evil and its snares. We are told to pursue righteous living. We must choose between the two. It is a stubborn, stiff necked heart, that pursues its selfish sinful ways. That person will suddenly be destroyed. (Verse 1) We do not have to experience the destruction and entrapment of sin. We can live free!
The only way to freedom and joy is to live a righteous life surrendered to Jesus.
”People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. Blessed are those who fear to do wrong, but the stubborn are headed for serious trouble.“
Proverbs 28:13-14 NLT
Do not hide what is killing you on the inside! Sin destroys. There is no way around that truth. Verse after verse in the book of Proverbs warns of the consequences of sin. It warns of having a heart that is hardened, “stubborn.” That person is “headed for serious trouble.”
We are also warned of acting like you love God but ignoring His Word.
”If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable.“ Proverbs 28:9 NIV
There is a remedy for sin, repentance. If we confess and turn from them, we will receive mercy. We are “blessed (happy) are those who fear to do wrong” or have reverential apprehension when the choice to do wrong is before us. In other words, the way to a blessed life it to love God and hate sin!
Love God — pursue Him with all that you are. Hate sin — shun sin, run from it, stay as far away from even the appearance of evil. Repent of it when it rears its ugly head within your heart. Don’t hide sin! Confess and repent! It is for your good!
”As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.“ Proverbs 27:19 NIV
What is inside of you is showing.
I used to think I could hide what was going on inside of me. The truth is what is inside of us, or in our heart, will eventually come out of us. It will come out in our actions. It will come out in what we say. It will come out in the way we present ourselves. The truth is we cannot hide what is inside of us. If our hearts are full of turmoil, anger, fear, anxiety, etc., we will display it.
However, God has offered us a new heart that is His. When we come to Him and ask Him for a new heart, He will give us that new heart, and He will remove the old heart from us. The closer we get to Him the more the old heart will be cut away. More and more we will reflect Him.
So once again, what is in our heart will show. If God is in our heart, His love, His goodness, His joy and peace will be reflected in our lives.
What’s inside of us is showing. What is your heart reflecting?
A fool- . “In scripture, fool is often used for a wicked or depraved person; one who acts contrary to sound wisdom in his moral deportment; one who follows his own inclinations, who prefers trifling and temporary pleasures to the service of God and eternal happiness.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
”The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.“…” Psalms 14:1 NIV
Years ago, as a young college student, I spoke the words of the verse above on campus during my lunch hour. A passerby turned to me and said, “There is no God.” My reply was, “Don’t be a fool.”
Proverbs often warns of being a fool. A fool cannot hear the truth or follow wisdom. Today’s Proverb warns of giving honor to them by listening to their voice or following their advice.
The footnotes in my study Bible say, “A fool remains a fool whether he is answered or not.” A fool only wants to follow self. His wisdom is his own thoughts. His deeds will reflect him. He will repeatedly do what is wrong, sin, no matter the consequences.
Today’s Proverb puts it this way:
“As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.“ Proverbs 26:11 NIV
The foolish person serves only himself and his sin. Being foolish is a trap. It is a cycle of disappointment, distress, and pain, but there is no desire to come to God and be free. The fool doesn’t believe it worth his while to acknowledge God and follow God’s ways.
As I warned the passerby years ago, I warn you now. Do not be a fool! A fool’s way seems to be right to him, but it only ends in death, darkness, and destruction.
Your Love 