"Building an Altar in Your Heart"

Isaiah 19:19a "In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt..."

Altars always grab my attention in Scripture...they fascinate me. The altar is the meeting place with God, It's where you climb Mt. Moriah and give your Isaacs up to God, it is a place of sacrifice, (death to self) it is a place of consecration.

Scripture tells us that wherever Abraham went he built altars to the LORD--and there he would worship Him (Genesis 12:7,8; 13:18). I especially love the altars that Abraham built because they were plain. He used raw stones that weren't touched by man...they weren't cut or shaped--to represent a yielding to God's strength and not trusting in his own abilities. (Exodus 20:25).

The New Testament teaches us in Hebrews 13:10 that we have an altar which is Christ! Through Jesus' blood we have access at any time to God. Egypt--in that day--will build an altar to God. Our question for today is ~ Have we built an altar? Have we offered ourselves as a sacrifice to God? Are we maintaining that altar - daily renewing our DEDICATION to the LORD. Consecrating our heart to Him alone.

Blessings on your day,

Sharon

"Grab What is Precious and Flee"

Isaiah 15:7 "Therefore the abundance they have gotten, and that which they have laid up, they carry away to the brook of the willows."

This verse gives us some insight into what is important to the people of Moab.

Imagine, that you are living in a land that is flooding, so many have died that the waters are full of blood...What would you grab as you flee in an attempt to escape the destruction? What we grab first, what we hold onto, is what's most precious to us.

Jeremiah 48 tells us that Moab has had an easy life from their youth and that they "had settled on their lees, they had not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor gone into captivity: therefore his taste remains in him, his scent has not changed."

The natural man is concerned about "what shall we eat, what shall we drink, what shall we wear?" His taste is for the things of this world. The people of Moab desired fleshly things and they had set their heart on fleshly goals. Even when they are running for their lives...they grab and hold onto their possessions. Because that's where they find their security...they have trusted in their wealth and strength, in their works and in their treasures and they even risk their lives to grab it as they flee.

"And their scent has not changed"...they still smell as bad as ever.

But the gospel of Jesus Christ changes people. The gospel of Jesus Christ purifies. We use to think like the world and smell like the world too...but we no longer hunger and thirst after the things of this world Matthew 5:6 Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." And we don't smell like the world either

2 Corinthians 2:16a "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved..."

Standing in Him,

Sharon

"Breaking Out in Song"

Isaiah 14

:7 "The whole earth is at rest and is quiet: 

they break forth into singing."

This spontaneous singing reminded me of the story that Pastor Chuck Smith shares about those early times when he had first started Calvary Chapel. The church was down to about 7 or 8 people...they were all relatives... and finances where very slim. He was worried about how to pay the bills and considered

quiting and going back to his old job the one he had before he became a pastor.

Then the mail came and there was a check for exactly what he needed. And he spontaneously started dancing in the kitchen...praising the LORD. But then he

heard the Holy Spirit say to his heart...why didn't you dance before you received 

the check....did you think I wouldn't take care of you? Have I not always taken 

care of you?

In times of difficulty it may seem that God has forgotten us--though more than 

likely --we have began to doubt and have forgotten Him.  

How do we get back to 

that place of singing praise to the LORD?

The first part of this verse 

gives us a way to be able to break out in song (or dance) no matter the circumstances of our life. It's found in the word "rest" which is the Hebrew word nuwach ---it means to set oneself down and rest. The Arabic meaning says it like this: "to kneel down like a camel"

We need to go before the LORD, kneel down and rest in His presence...and stay there and allow Him to remind us of How He cares for us, remind us of How He has always taken care of us...when we remember He has saved us, delivered us and will deliver us...we will burst out with song and maybe dancing too.

Blessings,

Sharon

Happy Valentine's Day

"For God so LoVed the world,

.......That He gAve

............His onLy

...........BegottEn

.................SoN

.....................That whosoever

.....Believeth In Him

.......Should Not perish,

....But have Everlasting life."

"Empty Pursuits"

Isaiah 5:8 "Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field..."

"It's been said that most people don't know what they want, but it is something different from what they have."

While this chapter speaks of the pursuit of bigger, better and more...homes, land, parties, drinking...God's children can also be distracted by seeking to do more ministries. Instead of seeking to be more like Christ...we seek to do more for Christ...which is really NOT for the LORD at all...but the search for significance.

"Empty pursuits" are Satan's most effective tool to distract God's people. If we are looking for significance and satisfaction in the pursuits of life, we are in for a rude disappointment. Purpose and meaning can never be found in the pursuit of things; they are found only in God himself.

We aren't called to pursue the American Dream...we are called to pursue God. Abraham, a very ordinary man became an extraordinary man for one pivotal reason: he pursued God in a life of obedient faith, not knowing where that decision would take him.

May you Father be our pursuit, our obsession.

Blessings,

Sharon

"Blessed Subtraction"

Isaiah 6:1 "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the LORD seated on a throne, high and exalted..."

Have you ever had something that you trusted in, something that you just knew would be the answer to all your troubles, NOT turn out the way you expected? Perhaps a job, a spouse, a friend,a church?

I remember reading a book years ago called the Cinderella Syndrome. It talked about how we look to things or other people to find fulfillment or joy in our lives:

If only I get that job...then I'd be happy, if only I could find myself a husband, if only we could buy a house, if only I could have a baby, If only I could lose 10 lbs...then life would be good.

King Uzziah became the “hope of Israel”..their savior. Here was a king who knew how to make Judah a great nation and, with God’s help, the wisdom to use that knowledge. The people trusted Uzziah because he was a man of wisdom and integrity.

Under his rule the land was made fruitful and the people were safe from their enemies...Everything was going great until we read 2 Chronicles 26:16 "But when

he (Uzziah) was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense." King Uzziah became prideful and God struck him with leprosy and then he died...

We all have those things in life that we tend to put too much trust and reliance on. But what happens when those things, those people are removed? With the death of King Uzziah...the hope of Israel died too!

"...I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted..." Isaiah 6:1b

Isaiah saw that the future of Israel didn't depend on Uzziah, but upon the LORD, sitting on His throne high and lifted up. God was in control, not Uzziah! And God is our source, not our job, not our spouse, not our business, our church, or anything or anyone else.

Sometimes things need to be removed for us to truly see the LORD....their removal becomes a "blessed subtraction."

Isaiah 6:1c "....and the train of his robe filled the temple"

Isaiah saw that the Lord's "train filled the temple". There is no room in God's house for anything other than God. No praise of man, no power of man -- nothing at all, for God fills his house and will share his glory with no one.

LORD, remove those things in my life that would get in the way of me

seeing You. Please bring your cleansing fire to my lips, to my heart, to my life and forgive me of my sin. May I place You and only You on the throne of my life...exalting You to Your rightful position. Fill me with Your spirit so I may glorify You and You alone. In Jesus name, amen.

Standing in Him,

Sharon

"Come to the Mountain of the LORD"

Isaiah 2:3 "Many nations will say "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the Temple of the God of Israel. There he will teach us his ways, so that we may obey him."

This passage is speaking of the time during the Millennium...and I look forward to being there saying the same thing. But I also want to be saying that today too...."Come, let's go up to the Mountain of the LORD and learn His ways, obey Him and worship Him.

And look at the heart of the people...they are excited to go to the mountain of the LORD, to be in His presence, to learn his ways and obey Him. Father, give me a heart like that today and continually.

And look at the results of the total surrender of the nations to God: Isaiah 2:4c "All wars will stop, and military training will come to an end." Ah, I look forward to seeing and experiencing that during the Millennium. But for now...I want that in my own heart and life...absolute surrender to the LORD day by day.

Isaiah 2:5 "Come, people of Israel (Come, people of Harvest, California, United States, the world), let us walk in the light of the LORD!

Blessings,

Sharon