{"id":2537,"date":"2013-03-01T21:20:16","date_gmt":"2013-03-02T02:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godonomics\/?p=2537"},"modified":"2013-02-19T21:23:04","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T02:23:04","slug":"when-gods-word-tastes-like-honey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2013\/03\/when-gods-word-tastes-like-honey.html","title":{"rendered":"When God’s Word Tastes Like Honey"},"content":{"rendered":"

While temptation is a lion that lies to you, The Bible tells us of another Lion who lies down for you. \u00a0\u00a0He is willing to die for you, fight for you, stand by you.<\/p>\n

1. This Lion Lies Down For You.<\/p>\n

Rev 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, \u201cDo not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rev 1:18 \u00a018 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death<\/span>
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus is described in the Bible as the Lion of Judah. \u00a0The powerful Lion who lies down for you. He died for you. He fought the power of death, temptation, and fear for you. \u00a0\u00a0He is the Real Lion who has prevailed against temptation. \u00a0He is the all powerful one who now holds the keys to death. \u00a0Not only physical death, but the living death of temptation that desires to bring death into your life. \u00a0He is the one to call out to and overcome temptation.<\/p>\n


\nCS Lewis, in the Chronicles of Narnia introduces Jesus as a Lion named Azlan. \u00a0The children are afraid of him because he is a lion. \u00a0They ask, \u201cYou mean he\u2019s safe?\u201d \u00a0The reply is, \u201cAzlan he is not safe but he is good..\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus is not some fly, or fish, or jellyfish. He is a LION. \u00a0A powerful Lion! \u00a0He is not safe… He is powerful. \u00a0He is good! \u00a0And if he is with you, and in you, and near you… He\u2019s powerful goodness can come against the temptations and death that will come against us. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The message of the Bible is that this lion came from heaven to earth to take on the temptor. \u00a0Now he offers to live in you if you call out to him. \u00a0\u00a0And This lion has \u201ccommunicable\u201d traits… \u00a0Like a communicable disease. You get around this lion and his nobility and power, and strength can be \u201ccaught\u201d. \u00a0\u00a0When this lion lives in you, he spreads his love, strength, power, peace, and joy into your very heart. \u00a0\u00a0You have access to a newfound strength that comes from Him. \u00a0And it comes by simply calling out for help.<\/p>\n

In the book Survivor\u2019s Club, the story is told of someone who did just that. \u201cFour months ago in California’s Santa Ana Mountains, a mountain lion went on a deadly rampage. The 110-pound cougar killed one man and horribly maimed a woman named Anne Hjelle<\/a>, who narrowly escaped with her life. \u00a0Hjelle recalls, “He pulled and tore away at the flesh on my face. I thought this is it.” Hjelle is a fighter. A former Marine, she fought a battle that even her military training couldn’t prepare her for after she was attacked by a mountain lion in January while biking with her friend, Debby Nichols, in the hills of Southern California. Nichols bravely held onto Hjelle’s legs as the mountain lion pulled her off the trail and into the thick brush. Right after the attack in an interview Nichols<\/a> explained the incident, “I was holding on to her the whole time. He would not let go. He had a hold of her face.” \u00a0Hjelle says, “He was going for my neck and his goal, as it would be with any type of prey, was to break my neck and paralyze me.” \u00a0The pain must have been excruciating. \u00a0“I had no pain,” Hjelle says. “I didn’t feel pain at the time. But I felt just the strength of it.” \u00a0But Hjelle was terrified and fully aware that the lion had just torn away half her face. \u00a0“My first thought was, ‘I want to die,'” Hjelle says. “You think about the fact your face is ripped off.” \u00a0But more help was on the way. Two other bikers, Mike Castellano and Mils Magnuson, were also riding that day when they heard screams for help. While Nichols held onto Hjelle’s legs, the men threw rocks, anything they could find, to scare off the lion. Anne remembers calling out, \u201cJesus help me\u201d \u00a0she cried out again, \u201cJesus help me.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0It was a conscious thought to my previous thought, \u201cI\u2019m in big trouble and about to die!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Finally, it released its powerful grip and backed off. \u00a0She believes that the Lord actually delivered her to safety… Several fellow bikers came by at that point and three rocks at the lion who ran off… With half her face gone, she was airlifted to the hospital and 5 plastic surgeries later has recovered. Hjelle says, “I never have said, ‘Why me?’ I’m not concerned about the scars. I’m just thankful to be alive. I just know God will get me through it. And He’s never going to give me more than I can handle. And, wow, if He thought I could handle this, it’s big.” \u00a0The men carried Hjelle back up to the trail and called 911. The lion continued stalking from the brush as the desperate group waited for help to arrive. Hjelle, who had passed out fighting lion, was now conscious.<\/p>\n

2. This Lion Requires Trust
\n<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

The secret of Godly character is Trust. \u00a0\u00a0Faith. Or Confidence. \u00a0It\u2019s not about \u201ctrying harder,\u201d \u00a0it\u2019s about trust. \u00a0Which lion do you trust? \u00a0Whose words are trustworthy to you? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Do you trust the zombie lion who lies to you, or the Courageous lion who lies down for you? \u00a0What do God\u2019s words taste like?<\/p>\n

If I asked you \u201cWHAT DOES GOD TASTE LIKE?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0It may sound sacrilegious or inappropriate to ask that… \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0but if you asked a Jewish child who grew up hearing about the Bible, he would know exactly what God tastes like… \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Let me walk you through a typical tradition in synagogue in Jesus time. \u00a0\u00a0The Scrolls with God\u2019s word would be in the scroll closet. \u00a0Everyone would come into the service and greet one another and say their hellos. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then the Rabbi would go to the scroll closet and everyone would begin clapping and cheering. \u00a0\u00a0They\u2019d stand to their feet and cheer that God has a word for them. \u00a0\u00a0The Rabbi would take the scrolls and people would reach out to \u201ctouch the book\u201d and put their hand up to their mouth as a way of saying, \u201cThis tastes like honey to my lips.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rabbis today have both children and adults place honey on their Bibles to taste and connect the sensation of taste and sweetness to God. Now that the ushers have passed out the honey onto your Bibles, dip your finger into the honey and taste it… Taste and see that God is good. \u00a0Rabbis asked their disciples to pull out a Bible, place a piece of Wax paper on it with a dab of honey. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now if I was your Rabbi and we were in synagogue, like Jesus was with his disciples, he would say, \u201cNow, dip your finger into the honey… Let\u2019s taste the honey together… \u00a0This is what God\u2019s word tastes like. This is what the promises of God taste like in the book. This book is sweetness and tastes like honey.<\/p>\n

Psalm 119:103 103 How sweet are Your words to my taste,Sweeter than honey to my mouth!<\/span><\/h3>\n


\nPsalm 34:8 8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of us might answer the question, \u201cWhat does God taste like by saying, \u201ctastes like Dust, boring , irrelevant, out of touch, \u00a0Others of us think about God as something that tastes bitter… \u00a0\u00a0We had a bad taste of God , the Bible, etc, from the past. \u00a0God and church taste like guilt, condemnation, hypocrisy, judgment, and bitter perfectionism. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I wanted us to get a \u201ctaste\u201d of what those who follow God think his promises \u201ctaste\u201d like. \u00a0The taste of God\u2019s warnings, promises, and word help us in temptation.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

www.godonomics.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While temptation is a lion that lies to you, The Bible tells us of another Lion who lies down for you. \u00a0\u00a0He is willing to die for you, fight for you, stand by you. 1. This Lion Lies Down For You. Rev 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, \u201cDo not weep. Behold,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen God's Word Tastes Like Honey - Godonomics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When God's Word Tastes Like Honey - Godonomics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While temptation is a lion that lies to you, The Bible tells us of another Lion who lies down for you. \u00a0\u00a0He is willing to die for you, fight for you, stand by you. 1. This Lion Lies Down For You. Rev 5:5 But one of the elders said to me, \u201cDo not weep. 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He graduated from Moody Bible College in Chicago, majoring in pastoral ministry and communication. His love for ministry and creativity can be seen in many forms: leading teams, expository teaching, acting, and video production. He has served as pastor at two high-impact churches in Georgia: Cumberland Community Church and New Community Church. Chad received an M.A. in Ministry from Moody Graduate School in 2008. He loves volleyball, movies, and hanging out with his wife Beth and their three children.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/author\/chadhovind"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2538,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2537\/revisions\/2538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}