Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Some tastes are acquired tastes. You don't understand how wonderful something is until you've experienced it for yourself. In Psalm 34:8, David writes, "taste and see that the Lord is good." David wanted to convince everyone who would one day read his words that they should experience the goodness of God for themselves, that they could understand how everything else in the world pales in comparison to the goodness of God. David wrote these words right after he barely slipped away from death: King Saul was chasing David in hopes of murdering him. But David saw his deliverance as evidence of the incredible goodness of God.

Many of us have experienced the goodness of God in our own deliverance. We've seen God save our marriage, deliver us from drugs, heal our broken bodies, and provide for us in times of destitution. David wants us to recognize how God continues to rescue, save, and provide for us until we will spend eternity with Him, enjoying our ultimate deliverance and salvation in His presence. True goodness comes from God, and there is nothing else like God's goodness. Taste and see for yourself!

Listen to the entire message from Pastor Rich on the goodness of God.

The presence of God brings dead things back to life.

Why do we find excuses to keep God at a distance and only spend marginal amounts of time with Him then? Ezekiel 47 depicts a world where God's presence flows like a river, spilling into salt water and turning it fresh. Animals, plants, and fish will thrive by this river, because God is a God Who brings life to desolate places. But when it comes to living fully alive, we're struggling, and it's because we're not living in the presence of God, we're living in our own world with our own strength and spending time everywhere else imaginable but in His presence. We're living half-lives without the fullness and fulfillment of God's presence.

Think of your own daily routine: How much time are you spending with God daily? Who gets your attention when your day starts? Who gets your attention when it ends? Where does God sit in your priority list? Who is really the closest person in your life?

Today is the day you reorient your life around God, not the other way around.

Check out this message from Pastor Rich today on the significance of spending time in the presence of God.