The Lord said something unusual to me; to set up an altar before him, a place, and environment; to worship and spend time with Him. Not sure of what He meant by this, so I decided to expand my understanding of altars.
(1) Altars were for approaching God;
(2) a place of sacrifice where God was propitiated: (Meaning: pacify, appease, and conciliate; to reconcile, conform, and adjust. To adapt; to satisfy, contend, intercede, and mediate).
(3) Altars were where man was pardoned and sanctified. After pondering what this meant to me, the Lord began to speak:
“Set a symbolic altar before you, that represents a place of sacrifice.
The ultimate sacrifice was My Lamb, My Son, who himself was sacrificed, not by others, but by his own will.
He gave up that which was the most valuable sacrifice of all; His own life. Not for his own purpose, but for others, who by their actions had no love toward Him. This was the ultimate sacrifice, which any one can give.
My people have strayed so far from understanding the altar, sacrifice, and convenient commitment, that they receive cursing rather than My blessing. My people are ignorant because of lack of preaching, teaching, discussion and misunderstanding.
How shall I convenient with people who don’t understand it; who don’t have alters of sacrifice? Don’t they know, that sacrifice is not only from Me, but also from them? Sacrificing nothing of value, without commitment or allegiance is not a covenant.
Salvation through the Son is not merely words, but action and commitment, which is eternally binding, never to be broken. I have always kept My end of the covenant promises, but My people have failed on their end, becoming covenant breakers.
Instead of receiving My blessing and protection, they open the door for cursing, and the works of the Devil.
I require total commitment. My salvation comes with a price, and you must determine your willingness and dedication to keep that commitment.
If you will not confess Me before Men, I will not confess you before the father. You must be willing to pick up your cross and fallow Me, before I will call you mine. But if you do what I require, you will receive all that I promised, with all its blessing, which will last throughout eternity.”
(Matthew 16:24-27) “If any of you want to be My followers, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross” (to renounce and sacrifice self-centered ambitions to live in God’s Kingdom), “and follow Me.
If you try to keep your life for yourself” (living as this world), “you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life” (Kingdom living as God intended). “And how do you benefit if you gain the while world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul? For I, the Son of Man, will come in the glory of my Father with His angels and will judge all people according to their deeds.”
(Rom. 12:1) “—Give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.” (Hebrews 13:15-16) (Psalms 40:6-17)