All throughout scripture we read of people making altars. They made these in memorial. They are to honor what God has done and make sure that generations after us also remember His faithfulness. We do truly need to be reminded, in an ever-present way, of all that God has done for us. It’s amazing how easily we forget.
It’s the tale as old as time…forgetting quickly.
We all pompously point to the Israelites and condemn them in our hearts, saying, “God did one miracle after another for them, and they still forgot quickly. I would never do that.”
Oh, wouldn’t you?
It happens all the time. God moves in an amazing way, and many people don’t even notice that He’s the One Who did it. Or they acknowledge His goodness, then as soon as something else happens they wonder if God will take care of them.
How many times have you taken credit for a move of God? “Well, I would never!”
Oh, you wouldn’t?
I hear people do it all the time. They pray for help. Then when it comes, suddenly they’re the ones who had a great idea or they see a person as the one who came through for them…when really God was the Motivator for it all. He was using others to provide.
It’s always Him. The Giver of all good things.
That was one reason that they built altars. It was an ever-present reminder to our naturally selfish minds, that God is the One.
Our testimony of His faithfulness is an altar of sorts, to remind us of His constant faithfulness. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Our testimony has power. Whenever I feel pressed by life, I intentionally begin to recount to myself every time God has been faithful to me. I speak these testimonies out loud. I bring all my current problems to the altar of my testimony.
Altars alter our perception. They remind us of the truth. Taking our eyes off the problem and on the Answer…God.
On the other hand, if we erect ungodly altars, we surrender our hearts to something that is altogether unholy. In essence and in truth, it’s demonic.
We see this when Moses ascended the mountain and Aaron had the people bring their jewels and gold and they made a golden calf. It’s a shocking story, to be sure, but it shows how short the journey is from God’s presence to the desperation to worship something we can see.
It’s important to make sure that the thing you focus on is good and godly. The altar of our testimony should be ever-present in our mind. It’s the only way to not focus on the altar of destruction.
Why waste time imagining your life without God in it…That’s exactly what you’re doing when you embrace fear and panic.
God is our ever-present help in times of trouble.
Today I encourage you to take hold of that ever-present Helper. He is God with us, Immanuel.
Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created. James 1:16-18
“The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you- you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord. So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord. That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar- but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices. On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at His sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’” Joshua 22:25-27
365 Days in the Presence 