Good morning, all! Father, we know that You alone are worthy of our praise and worship. Show us Lord how to do that, how we go from a hearer of Your word to a doer. Let’s us be that voice in the wilderness. We are the ones that prepare the way for You so that Your love and grace may be seen in the world today, Amen.

Exodus 20

23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.
Do NOT let your reason and logic shape your faith or define the character of the Lord.

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.
Your altar should be visible to the earth, and you should offer a sacrifice with NO evidence of flesh and an offering that will end in peace and every place you think of ME I will come and bless you.

25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
And when you make ME an altar of stone, you will NOT cut the stone because if you use a tool to change it you will pollute your altar…wound it.

26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
You shouldn’t have to climb up any steps to get to your altar so you will not expose nakedness for others to discover.

Bottom line

We are called to worship the Lord and in order to do that we need an altar. God tells us how to do that here but notice He also shows things for us to avoid or else we will NOT please Him with our sacrifice. Jesus Himself tells us the altar is greater than the gift and the altar is what makes the gift holy NOT the other way around.

[Mat 23:19 KJV] [Ye] fools and blind: for whether [is] greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Notice Jesus didn’t tell them how smart or great they are…He said they were fools and could NOT see, why? We want credit for our gift, we think it makes us holy, we think it makes us righteous so that would mean God’s love is performance based…the more you sacrifice the more He loves us…NOT true…that’s a God made out of gold and silver…that’s reason and logic speaking and NOT faith NOT true love.

[Psa 40:6 NIV] 6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire–but my ears you have opened–burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Sacrifice NOT required, what is? Your ears…LISTEN to God and not those thoughts that hold us captive and create a false God and a false way of living. The altar is perfect and holy and whatever touches the altar is sanctified and made holy, it holds the power of heaven. So, what does your altar look like?

[Heb 13:9 KJV] Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For [it is] a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. Our altar happens to be your HEART and it is established…given strength by GRACE and NOT all the religious activity…God’s NOT interested in our religion if He doesn’t have our heart and ears. Why do you think He doesn’t want us to use a tool or build steps to the altar? The heart God created in you, and I is perfect, and it requires no work on our part and NO climbing up steps to get to it.

[Mat 5:48 KJV] Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Our Creator has made us perfect, but we have a difficult time believing that, we think we have to work for God’s love and grace NOT true. Notice what happens when you climb steps…jump through hoops…nakedness is discovered which is the exact opposite purpose of our altar. What is the purpose of our altar?

[Exo 29:37 KJV] 37 Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever toucheth the altar shall be holy. Your altar was created to make atonement…the Hebrew word kapar…to COVER sin NOT expose it. Why do we have to talk about how rotten we think people are? Whatever touches your altar is made holy because you choose to COVER it and not expose, that is a man made TOOL…that didn’t come from God. Why can’t we cover each other? Why don’t we live with the strength God has given us? GRACE!!! Remember do NOT lift a tool to the altar, which might cut away some of the stone? Criticism cuts NOT grace, we choose to cut each other down instead of lifting each other up.

[Pro 14:21 NLT] It is a sin to belittle one’s neighbor; blessed are those who show mercy to the poor. Your altar is perfect and works just fine when choose mercy over criticizing others, make sure your altar covers people NOT expose them or you’ll find yourself naked in a garden talking to a snake and NOT God. Ha!

Point to Ponder

Do you have clean hands? [Psa 26:6 AMP] I will wash my hands in innocence, And I will go about Your altar, O LORD. Our innocence is connected to the sacrifice we place upon the altar…YOU!!!

Let’s use our altar to sanctify the world, In Him Phil

Faith – Family – Friends