"Taking The Stand" -2

"O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him." (Psalms 34:8) Now that I got that off the table, let's get into grace, because we all know how much we need God's grace to make us strong enough to stand! First and foremost we must absolutely completely understand that we do not stand on our own strength, nor do we ever boast of having control over certain areas of our lives; both thinking we walk in our own strength and boasting about not committing any sin lead to nothing but disaster and a fall. Secondly, if we have something in our life that does not belong there, then all that we need to do is to ask God to deliver us from whatever it is that has taken us captive; which is pretty much what sin does in the life of a believer, it takes us captive and binds us from experiencing the victory that we have been given in Jesus Christ. You can look at it another way, and consider what Jesus said about being set free, as He said, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"; which is from John 8:32, and is a verse many use to hold onto freedom, but that freedom has a price, and it is actually in the previous verse, which says, "If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". In Romans 6, Paul is speaking of something that involves dying to sin, and it's something that must become natural in the life of a believer because we have been set free from sin, and we are now servants of righteousness; no longer are we servants of sin, because that old sinful nature has been crucified with Christ. The problem that many of us have, is that we are still hanging on that cross; which is where we do not belong, because Jesus is no longer hanging on the cross, but has risen and has ascended to the right hand of the Father and is glorified. Paul says in Romans 6:11-14, "Likewise, reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." The word "taste" and the word "see" both share some very similar meanings, where they both speak of perceiving, one by taste and the other by sight; while perceiving may not seem like much of a meaning, it's depth of meaning is dependent upon how much you "taste and see that the LORD is good"; because "good" speaks of something that is greater than anything else... "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?" Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." (Matthew 22:36-38)