EXHORTATION
Today is the last day of our on-line morning devotion. It has been a great month as God has visited us every single day this month during the time of prayer. The objective of the Early Morning Devotion was for us to meet God in the place of prayer and for it to be a daily experience in our lives. Our father sees in secret and responds in secret too. We meet God in the closet and it is our hope and desire that we will continue in this zeal to meet God daily in the place of prayer.
Today, God is making a demand on each one of us, asking us to make an altar for Him.
Ex 20:24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
Gods instruction to Moses and to each one of us is for us to build him an altar of earth.
Most notable men in God’s scheme of operations over the ages were men that built personal altars to God. (Abraham, Noah, Jacob, David) On the contrary, those that did not build altars remained small and insignificant in God’s house. (Lot, Saul, Samson, etc.)
What is an altar?
- A point of contact with God; a basis of relationship; a platform where God reveals Himself to you, deals with you, trains, and trims you.
- It is a place and the point at which God continuously and consistently speak forth his wisdom into our lives
- It’s a place where man communes with God over all that God wants to accomplish in his life
- It’s a place where God’s dealing, His revelation, and promises to our lives are firmly established. The place where revelation flows and your spirit is refreshed and renewed; where self is slain in humility and penitence
- Your altar is the point of regular contact. It is your meeting point with God. It is your point of communion. It is the point and place where God works in your life.
The Christian life is a life. It’s a walk with the Lord. It is not a jumping in and out of of experiences. It is cumulative; progressive and experiential.
It is at personal altars that God finds enough quietness, concentration and attentiveness in a man to pass across to him what He intends for his life and ministry
The congregational meetings are good, yet very little with respect to your personal walk with God is accomplished there. The public meeting should enhance your personal altar while your personal altars enrich your public ministry.
Note the following points:
- Altars are built. Building takes a process. It takes time. It needs a foundation.
- No man came from heaven with an heaven-bought intimacy with God. All such things are built over time. Building an altar is conscious and deliberate.
- A prayer life is built over time. Walking with God, friendship with God and an unbroken relationship/fellowship with the Holy Spirit are all personally and deliberately built over time.
- Remember the Sabbath… implies a deliberate effort as there’s a tendency to forget. The blessing upon those who do not pollute the Sabbath. Take some time out weekly to be with the Lord.
- It’s not abut convenience but a necessity. Ps 127:2.
- Draw near is the requirement for meeting with God.
You cannot have a personal revelation of God without a personal altar.
What are we required to do?
Make a commitment to God that you will build Him an altar; a time and place of regular meeting with God. Let Him know that you will no longer make excuses for not keeping your appointment with Him.
Tell the Lord that you will commune with Him daily as a personal disciple and practice
SONG: I WILL MAKE MY LIFE (PANAM PERCY PAUL)
PRAYER
I make a commitment to the Lord today
To build Him an altar
To have personal dedicated and devoted times of fellowship with Him
To go into my closet as a daily practice
To sacrifice my time and convenience just to be with the Lord
To make a deliberate effort to know Him
To draw closer to Him deliberately
I commit to not making excuses for not having time for God
I will always make time to be with God
I commit to make God my priority
And not to have any other gods besides the Lord
I will love Him with all my heart, my might and my soul
Holy Spirit, I ask for your help to hold firm to this commitment
Help me Lord, don’t let my foot slip
Don’t let me slip back into the flesh after this season of meeting with You
Help me to seek God daily and to keep my eyes focused on Him alone
VERSE OF THE DAY: Matt 6: 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
