Sermon Title: Building your altar unto the Lord – what, how and why.
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
The world is defined by monuments.
Everywhere you look, there are buildings, statues and icons that remind a particular society its history, identity and hope for the future.
When we look at the Parliament House, it reminds us that each of us is represented in a democratic society; that we each have a voice – as to how society ought to look like.
The recent riots at Capitol Hill sent shockwaves all across the world because it was widely perceived that the very monument and model of democracy was “desecrated” by insurrectionists.
Phrases normally reserved in religious contexts were extensively used to describe the event; and we read of headlines and resolutions to this very effect: “Capitol infiltrators defiled the seat of American democracy”, and "to those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of ... American democracy, justice will be done."
It would be remiss of me not to mention that clearly, such language reveals the insidious idolatry - worshiped by many - known as “democracy”.
Nevertheless, monuments are essential in any given fabric of society – as it serves to weave the past to the present, and onto the future.
If we were to remove all our monuments today, we can forget about our future because we have chosen to forget our past.
Likewise, consciously or not, we are defined by personal monuments – symbols of our history, our identity, our passions and our hope for the future.
Cemeteries abound with personal monuments that connects generations within families.
Other personal monuments could take the form of the house we live in; with its many, many memories – of celebrations, and losses; memories of family and friends gathered together.
Personal ‘time’ monuments could take the form of an anniversary of a significant event, such as birthdays, weddings, the loss of loved ones; and for us, as Christians, we remember our baptisms; observe Good Friday, Resurrection and Pentecost Sundays, and of course, one that the world celebrates with us - Christmas.
Monuments – of both space and time - are synonymous with memories; and most significantly, monuments speak to a passion to remember.
That which we monumentalize, we would memorialize – of which, we would be most willing to commit to memory - to remember, to observe, to celebrate and to honor – with a passion.
To remember and never forget; that’s what monuments must do for us, and that is why monuments are essential to us.
The bible speaks deeply to building monuments, and to the kinds and purposes of monuments that are built by God’s most faithful of servants – monuments built not unto themselves, but altars that they built unto the Lord.
The most obvious trait found in the greatest bible heroes of faith: is their intimate relationship with God based on worship and obedience.
We see this trait of true worship and resolute obedience in the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Joshua – the great heroes of faith in the Bible, and arguably, in the history of Mankind.
For Noah, it was in the process of obeying God to build the ark; for Abraham, his obedience led him to leave the land of his forefathers and go to the land of Canaan, and in Genesis 22, even led him to the greatest test of any father of all time – to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering unto the Lord.
We read of this in Genesis 22:10-14:
“Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. (Pastor’s Note: To which we abstract the name of God - Jehovah Jireh)
For Moses, it was to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt and make their way to the Promised Land; and for Joshua, it was to succeed Moses and bring Israel into the Promised Land.
In the weeks past, we have been emphatic about this reality:
We cannot truly worship God unless we are truly obedient to Him – for “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22)
These men of great faith – men who served the living God with the uttermost faith – were clearly marked by true worship and obedience; and the most obvious way in which they built their relationship with the living God was by building monuments that would help them remember that they are God’s servants; to remember that God is Holy; to remember to always serve, honor and worship God alone; and to remember to teach their children and their children’s children about the Almighty God – the Creator of the Heavens and the earth.
Church, listen well.
We cannot build a relationship with God unless we devote time and space in our lives to encounter Him; and that sacred time and space was marked by the great men of faith by building altars to the Lord.
As Christians - children of the Most High God, disciples of Christ and agents of the Holy Spirit – we must follow in their example; to recognise and remember the reality that we belong to God; that God is real and present to us; and that we are actually and truly serious about building an eternal relationship with the God eternal.
To these men of utmost faith, the building of altars unto God was their way of building a real and present relationship with the living God.
The moment Noah came out of the ark, he built an altar to the Lord – in praise, thanksgiving and worship.
Genesis 8:18-22:
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.
21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.
And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
Wherever Abraham went, he would built altars to the Lord God – where in profound vulnerability that comes with living in a foreign land, he would call on the name of the Lord, entrust his life into His hands and worship Him (Genesis 12:7,8; 13:18).
Genesis 12:7-8:
“The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”
After the defeat of the army of the Amalekites, Moses build an altar and called it – “Jehovah Nissi” – in honor of God who defeated Israel’s enemy; an altar built specifically to remind Joshua and all Israel - that victory belonged solely to God.
Exodus 17:8-16 - The Amalekites Defeated
“8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.
11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.
16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
Later, Moses instructed and commanded Israel to build an altar to God – to remind them of the laws of God.
Deuteronomy 27:1-8 - The Altar on Mount Ebal
27 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all these commands that I give you today.
2 When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.
3 Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster.
5 Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool on them.
6 Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.
7 Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God.
8 And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up.”
In our last example, the Lord commanded Joshua to build an altar with stones from the middle of the Jordan River as a reminder to the generations to come of who God is.
Joshua 4:1-9, 20-24:
“1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.
Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you.
In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.
These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them.
They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.
9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood.
And they are there to this day.
20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’
23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over.
The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.
24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
For these men of utmost faith, the altars were built before the Lord to remind them NOT just of who God was, but who God IS!
The altars were built so that they, and their children, would remember and never forget to live their lives for the sole and sacred purpose of building a holy relationship with God.
Have you built your altar unto the Lord?
Have you established a sacred place and time in your daily routine as an altar unto the Lord?
Church, I cannot be emphatic enough:
IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD… BUILD AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD TODAY!
In the biblical pattern provided by the example of these heroes of faith, your altar unto God must likewise constitute a specific time and specific space that is dedicated to the task of building an eternal relationship with the eternal God; and it must integrate these five elements of faith:
Your altar unto God must be:
A time and place of PRAISE – Of remembering who God is, and what He has done in Your life – and then to give thanks. Remember. Praise of God must be always followed with thanksgiving unto Him.
A time and place of OBEDIENCE – Of learning and remembering the word of God. Spend specifically allocated time daily in this sacred space to read the word of God - to eat the word of God (Ref: Jeremiah 15:16) - and enter His world; to memorize Scripture and to prayerfully discern and committing to be obedient God’s Commands and Will for your life.
A time and place of WORSHIP – Of remembering to put God first in your life; in declaring to the Lord, “I will love You with all my heart, all my soul and all my might” (Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27); and to ‘throw away’ – to completely rid yourself of - all idols in your life – for: to say ‘yes’ to God is to say ‘no’ to everything else; to declare your love for God is to declare that you have no love for everything else.
Joshua 24:23-26:
23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws.
26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord.
As you come daily to your personal altar before the Lord and worship Him - which is essentially declaring that you are putting Him first and foremost in your life - He will reveal ’idols’ in your life that need to be thrown away - removed completely and considered as ‘garbage’. (Ref: Philippians 3:8)
Idols are things that you have placed before God in priority and importance – a great wickedness in the sight of God (Ref: Exodus 20:3-6, Revelation 21:8) – and are areas of pride or personal desires, which are self-serving and ultimately, self-idolatrous. With help from the Holy Spirit, be honest and check yourself – for the idolatry of material wealth, career, people whom you depend on, are close to, or idolize, even your children – beware the sin of idolatry!
In your moments worshipping God at the altar, let the Holy Spirit reveals to you your idols, and resolutely ‘throw away’ these idols in the Spirit’s Power. Be cleansed by the blood of Jesus and recommit to God’s covenant, and to faithfully worshipping Him alone.
A time and place of ENCOUNTER – Of remembering that He is Immanuel – “God with us” and then entering His Presence - seeking to hear His voice, to see His Face, to receive the Power of His Holy Spirit.
A time and place of REST – of remembering to “humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time”; to “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7); of remembering that He is Your Shepherd – that in our Lord Jesus Christ, you lack nothing (Ref: Psalm 23); to come to Him – in your tiredness and heaviness – for He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28); and to remember that we may remain in His Rest because Christ has overcome the tribulations of the world! (Ref: John 16:33)
If you truly desire P.O.W.E.R. to live and to fulfill God’s Call for your life, build an altar unto the Lord!
Sacred and specific space for your altar unto God.
Carefully consider where would be a good place in your home to create the sacred and specific space for you to build an altar unto the Lord. When you have done so, consecrate the place – in prayer, commit to setting this place apart from the rest of your house, and dedicate this area as the sacred and specific space where you would build your relationship with God.
Sacred and specific time for your altar unto God.
Relook at your daily schedule – and if you need to – clear it out. Schedule in - first and foremost - the sacred time for you to come to the altar that you have built unto the Lord. Consecrate the time of the day – in prayer, commit to the time and set it apart as the dedicated time where you would focus only on building your relationship with God.
If you are passionate and serious about Christ; you must be passionate and serious about building your altar unto the Lord – determine a specific place for the altar, determine a specific time to enter God’s Presence – Praise Him; Obey Him; Worship Him, Encounter Him, Rest in Him;
At the altar,
Sing songs of Praise and Worship unto the Lord;
Commit to systematically reading the bible, and contemplating the Word of God;
Pray.
Pray for the Church, for yourself, for the people around you – and that should take you about all of 3 minutes, then for the rest of the time, pray in the Spirit …
Pray in tongues; pray in the language of God’s Kingdom.
Know that the supernatural ability to pray in tongues is God’s Spirit-gift to us. (Ref: 1 Corinthians 14:2)
If you truly believe that you are destined for God’s Kingdom, in faith, pray in the heavenly language - believing that the Holy Spirit lives in you, and that He is teaching you, and empowering you to pray in a language no one, not even yourself, would understand, but in the heavenly language that God understands perfectly.
Praying in tongues is the Holy Spirit speaking through you, and speaking to you.
When you pray in the Spirit, the words that come out of your mouth are declarations, deep utterances of God’s Sovereign and Perfect Will for your life which the Holy Spirit knows fully – because He is God.
The Apostle Paul reveals in Romans 8:26-27 –
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
The Holy Spirt was sent to us to grant us the courage, strength, resolve and wisdom to live in the Sovereign Will of God. We live in the deepest fulfillment when we live in the Will of God.
When you pray in your known language, you are trying to process God’s Will with your mind – which is very limited, and very broken.
But when you pray in the Spirit, you are immediately praying the Will of God precisely for your life and for your situation. Your mind may be at a loss, but your spirit is now made aware of God’s Will for you, and you would begin to have this holy sense of where God is leading you, what needs to be done, and why all these things are happening.
This has been my experience, and to pray in the Spirit in the utmost faith in God has always been my counsel to anyone who is discerning God’s Will in their lives.
Do not struggle to hear from God – for you are struggling needlessly.
Build first your relationship with God; pray in His Holy Spirit. Sense and embrace His Holy Presence and Leading in your life; release your spirit to pray in tongues, and know that your mind will catch up to His revelation when His time has come.
Build an altar unto Him. Determine a specific place, determine a specific time – be very serious about building the altar.
Be very conscious and conscientious about building your relationship with God.
And then, daily – Praise Him, Obey Him (learn, remember and obey His commands), Worship Him, Encounter Him – pray in the spiritual language, pray in tongues… and then Rest in Him.
As long as the Holy Spirit lives in you, you can live in the P.O.W.E.R. of God.
As long as the Holy Spirit lives in you, you can know God’s Perfect Will for you - because the Holy Spirit knows.
As long as the Holy Spirit lives in you, God’s answer to all your prayers is always there.
When you pray in tongues daily, there is a quickening in your spirit - a direct line to God through the Holy Spirit. When you allow the Holy Spirit to fill your mouth with His declarations in tongues - in that heavenly language – God will fill your heart with the divine knowledge of what needs to come into your mind, what needs to happen, what must be done, and how it must be done.
The Holy Spirit will bypass your mind – for now; and that is simply because your mind is still entrenched in the world, and filled with so much doubt and uncertainty.
Only directly to your spirit, would the Holy Spirit reveal to you that which He desires for you to know.
When you pray in the Spirit, the utterances and words that are coming out of your mouth are impartations and revelations of the Spirit that will be impressed upon your heart, your spirit; but will ultimately be revealed to your mind – in His time.
For the Spirit’s impartation and revelation to come, you must first be willing and obedient to surrender all that you know – especially your language, which is the foundation of your worldview – and utterly desire to be filled with His Power to declare, to sense, to know and then to act in God’s Sovereign, Perfect and Eternal Will.
What would have taken you a year to perceive, could take you only a day – when you are serious about seeking only the heart of God, and become serious about praying in tongues as the Holy Spirit gives you utterance; for what you are asking is to receive supernatural revelations from God about things that you simply cannot know by your own power.
The true seeker seeks and speaks only the truth of God; and His truth is infinitively better received in the language that comes from Him.
Our language – as is our mind and flesh - is severely limited.
We are limited, because we are broken and our flesh will one day completely break down. However, the Holy Spirit is perfect and unlimited in power. When He lives in us, He gives us eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord; when He speaks through us, He gives us the Kingdom language that reveals the Will of God in our lives.
If you are serious about building your relationship with God and fulfilling His Will in your life, seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit daily, pray in tongues and receive His Power to live!
If only we would die to our flesh; and live only according to the Holy Spirit, to pray only in accord with the Holy Spirit, we would be able to receive God’s Will immediately and live a life pleasing to Him – a life of perfect fulfillment...
The Apostle Paul reveals yet again in Romans 8:5-11:
“5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Are you serious about God? About being restored into 'Right Standing' before God? About His Eternal, Kingdom Destiny for You?
Are you serious about building a relationship with God – who raised Christ from the dead, and who will also give you eternal life because His Holy Spirit lives in You?
For the men of utmost faith in the living God, they built altars before the Lord to constantly remind them NOT just of who God was, but who God IS!
They built those altars so that they, and their children, would remember and never forget to live their lives for the purpose of building a relationship with God.
If you truly desire to build a relationship with the living God, build an altar unto the Lord this day.
If you truly desire P.O.W.E.R. to live and to fulfill God’s Call for your life, build an altar unto the Lord this day.
If you truly desire to leave something substantial and eternal for your children, build an altar unto the Lord this day.
Consecrate and commit to that sacred place in your home and sacred time in your daily routine as an altar unto the Lord today – and begin building a real, present and eternal relationship with Him.
Right now, we are at the very altar of the church – as we remember the finished work of Christ for the atonement of our sins at the Cross of Calvary.
The Lord’s Supper is one of the key sacraments of the church – and thus, it is the altar in which we commit to praising God , to obeying God, to worshipping God, to encountering God and to resting in God alone - as the Body of Christ.
As we hold the emblems of communion is our hands, I encourage you to begin praying in the Spirit… softly but surely.
Allow the Holy Spirit to fill your mouth with the language of God’s Kingdom.
If you are struggling with areas of obedience, now is the time for you to repent of your sins and turn to God and believe in the power of God to free you from the bondages of evil – take authority in the Name of Jesus to rid your life of all demonic influences, and pray that the Holy Spirit will destroy your sinful impulses and proclivities and make you come alive in Christ alone;
If you are struggling with idolatry in any way, shape or form, now is the time for you to repent of your idolatry, resolutely throw away and rid yourself of these idols, removing its grip on your heart and consider ;
If you are struggling in discerning God’s Will for your life, now is the time for you to pray in the Spirit, and then, commit to praying in heavenly tongues daily – and I would personally guarantee that your life in consistently encountering the power of God will never be the same again. The meaning and purpose of your life will become so much clearer; as you begin to realise that you were created foremost to worship, obey and honor the Lord your God – and designed to be in ‘Right Relationship’ with the Creator of the Heavens and earth through Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
Let the Holy Spirit quicken you to embrace God’s desire, design and destiny for your life – that you would begin to right now, live in the deepest and greatest fulfillment of fulfilling God’s Will for you.
And it all begins and happens at the altar of Communion – where we remember our utter need for the gift of God; what this gift is all about, how this gift was wrought for us – the gift of God, which is life through Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. (Ref: Romans 6:23)
For those of us who have children, or perhaps, grandchildren:
As we remember the Lord’s finished work of atonement for our sins and salvation from death unto eternal life, let us be mindful that – as with all altars – the Communion altar is not meant just for us, it is meant for our children – to teach them, to help them remember the Grace of God through Christ, and to personally build their relationship with God.
So I encourage you, regularly partake of the Lord’s Supper together with your children and your grandchildren at home.
Pray and believe in the Lord’s Providence for the opportunities to partake the Lord’s Supper as a family; and in faith, believe that the Holy Spirit who is at work in you, will also be at work in their lives, leading them, and empowering them to build a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen?
Let us come before our Lord Jesus together; and in remembrance and faith, know that He is our Saviour, and that He is here with us.
The Apostle Paul exhorts the Church in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:
“23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Be serious about building your relationship with God; and be serious about building your altar unto the Lord – that you and your children would come together to the saving and eternal knowledge of Christ Jesus, our Lord, our Saviour, our King and our God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord Jesus, thank You for leading us to the altar of Holy Communion; where we remember Your Love, Grace and Mercies in our lives.
As we hold the emblem that represents your Holy Body; empower me to build a real and present relationship with You, and empower us to build Your Church O Lord!
We believe that by Your stripes, we are healed and given the gift of eternal life in Your Coming Kingdom (Ref: Isaiah 53:5).
We declare that we belong wholly to You, and that our purpose in life is to worship You, to serve You and to glorify You.
Lord Jesus, thank You for the Cross, and thank You for dying in my place; that I may be forgiven of my transgressions against You. Thank You for resurrecting me unto New and Eternal life. In Your most Holy Name we give thanks and pray. Amen.
As we hold the emblem that represents Your Blood, we remember Your Covenant of Redemption from death, and Restoration unto eternal life in Your Kingdom; and pray that we would live in Your Holy Covenant now and forevermore, and even becoming Your Holy Nation – Your Church - here in this present, dark world.
Help us daily grow in Your likeness, Lord Jesus, as we covenant to daily build our relationship with our Father in Heaven.
Deepen our faith in You, Lord Jesus – and empower us with the Power of Your Holy Spirit – that we may fulfill Your Sovereign Will in our lives; and fulfill the Great Commission to be Your Witness to the Nations.
Empower me to daily pray in tongues – the language of Your Kingdom – that my heart and spirit would be quickened into Your Holy Calling and Perfect Will for my life.
I believe that Your blood flows through my life and believe that I belong wholly and utterly to You.
Thank You for the gift of Your Presence in my life today; and thank You for the gift of life in Your Presence now and forevermore.
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
The world is defined by monuments.
Everywhere you look, there are buildings, statues and icons that remind a particular society its history, identity and hope for the future.
When we look at the Parliament House, it reminds us that each of us is represented in a democratic society; that we each have a voice – as to how society ought to look like.
The recent riots at Capitol Hill sent shockwaves all across the world because it was widely perceived that the very monument and model of democracy was “desecrated” by insurrectionists.
Phrases normally reserved in religious contexts were extensively used to describe the event; and we read of headlines and resolutions to this very effect: “Capitol infiltrators defiled the seat of American democracy”, and "to those who engaged in the gleeful desecration of this, our temple of ... American democracy, justice will be done."
It would be remiss of me not to mention that clearly, such language reveals the insidious idolatry - worshiped by many - known as “democracy”.
Nevertheless, monuments are essential in any given fabric of society – as it serves to weave the past to the present, and onto the future.
If we were to remove all our monuments today, we can forget about our future because we have chosen to forget our past.
Likewise, consciously or not, we are defined by personal monuments – symbols of our history, our identity, our passions and our hope for the future.
Cemeteries abound with personal monuments that connects generations within families.
Other personal monuments could take the form of the house we live in; with its many, many memories – of celebrations, and losses; memories of family and friends gathered together.
Personal ‘time’ monuments could take the form of an anniversary of a significant event, such as birthdays, weddings, the loss of loved ones; and for us, as Christians, we remember our baptisms; observe Good Friday, Resurrection and Pentecost Sundays, and of course, one that the world celebrates with us - Christmas.
Monuments – of both space and time - are synonymous with memories; and most significantly, monuments speak to a passion to remember.
That which we monumentalize, we would memorialize – of which, we would be most willing to commit to memory - to remember, to observe, to celebrate and to honor – with a passion.
To remember and never forget; that’s what monuments must do for us, and that is why monuments are essential to us.
The bible speaks deeply to building monuments, and to the kinds and purposes of monuments that are built by God’s most faithful of servants – monuments built not unto themselves, but altars that they built unto the Lord.
The most obvious trait found in the greatest bible heroes of faith: is their intimate relationship with God based on worship and obedience.
We see this trait of true worship and resolute obedience in the lives of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Joshua – the great heroes of faith in the Bible, and arguably, in the history of Mankind.
For Noah, it was in the process of obeying God to build the ark; for Abraham, his obedience led him to leave the land of his forefathers and go to the land of Canaan, and in Genesis 22, even led him to the greatest test of any father of all time – to sacrifice his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering unto the Lord.
We read of this in Genesis 22:10-14:
“Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
“Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.
So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. (Pastor’s Note: To which we abstract the name of God - Jehovah Jireh)
For Moses, it was to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt and make their way to the Promised Land; and for Joshua, it was to succeed Moses and bring Israel into the Promised Land.
In the weeks past, we have been emphatic about this reality:
We cannot truly worship God unless we are truly obedient to Him – for “to obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22)
These men of great faith – men who served the living God with the uttermost faith – were clearly marked by true worship and obedience; and the most obvious way in which they built their relationship with the living God was by building monuments that would help them remember that they are God’s servants; to remember that God is Holy; to remember to always serve, honor and worship God alone; and to remember to teach their children and their children’s children about the Almighty God – the Creator of the Heavens and the earth.
Church, listen well.
We cannot build a relationship with God unless we devote time and space in our lives to encounter Him; and that sacred time and space was marked by the great men of faith by building altars to the Lord.
As Christians - children of the Most High God, disciples of Christ and agents of the Holy Spirit – we must follow in their example; to recognise and remember the reality that we belong to God; that God is real and present to us; and that we are actually and truly serious about building an eternal relationship with the God eternal.
To these men of utmost faith, the building of altars unto God was their way of building a real and present relationship with the living God.
The moment Noah came out of the ark, he built an altar to the Lord – in praise, thanksgiving and worship.
Genesis 8:18-22:
18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.
21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.
And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
Wherever Abraham went, he would built altars to the Lord God – where in profound vulnerability that comes with living in a foreign land, he would call on the name of the Lord, entrust his life into His hands and worship Him (Genesis 12:7,8; 13:18).
Genesis 12:7-8:
“The Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.
From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.”
After the defeat of the army of the Amalekites, Moses build an altar and called it – “Jehovah Nissi” – in honor of God who defeated Israel’s enemy; an altar built specifically to remind Joshua and all Israel - that victory belonged solely to God.
Exodus 17:8-16 - The Amalekites Defeated
“8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”
10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill.
11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.
12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset.
13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”
15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.
16 He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
Later, Moses instructed and commanded Israel to build an altar to God – to remind them of the laws of God.
Deuteronomy 27:1-8 - The Altar on Mount Ebal
27 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people: “Keep all these commands that I give you today.
2 When you have crossed the Jordan into the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster.
3 Write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
4 And when you have crossed the Jordan, set up these stones on Mount Ebal, as I command you today, and coat them with plaster.
5 Build there an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not use any iron tool on them.
6 Build the altar of the Lord your God with fieldstones and offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God.
7 Sacrifice fellowship offerings there, eating them and rejoicing in the presence of the Lord your God.
8 And you shall write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up.”
In our last example, the Lord commanded Joshua to build an altar with stones from the middle of the Jordan River as a reminder to the generations to come of who God is.
Joshua 4:1-9, 20-24:
“1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, 3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, 5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan.
Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, 6 to serve as a sign among you.
In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.
These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them.
They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.
9 Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood.
And they are there to this day.
20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
21 He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 22 tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’
23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over.
The Lord your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over.
24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”
For these men of utmost faith, the altars were built before the Lord to remind them NOT just of who God was, but who God IS!
The altars were built so that they, and their children, would remember and never forget to live their lives for the sole and sacred purpose of building a holy relationship with God.
Have you built your altar unto the Lord?
Have you established a sacred place and time in your daily routine as an altar unto the Lord?
Church, I cannot be emphatic enough:
IF YOU ARE SERIOUS ABOUT BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD… BUILD AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD TODAY!
In the biblical pattern provided by the example of these heroes of faith, your altar unto God must likewise constitute a specific time and specific space that is dedicated to the task of building an eternal relationship with the eternal God; and it must integrate these five elements of faith:
Your altar unto God must be:
A time and place of PRAISE – Of remembering who God is, and what He has done in Your life – and then to give thanks. Remember. Praise of God must be always followed with thanksgiving unto Him.
A time and place of OBEDIENCE – Of learning and remembering the word of God. Spend specifically allocated time daily in this sacred space to read the word of God - to eat the word of God (Ref: Jeremiah 15:16) - and enter His world; to memorize Scripture and to prayerfully discern and committing to be obedient God’s Commands and Will for your life.
A time and place of WORSHIP – Of remembering to put God first in your life; in declaring to the Lord, “I will love You with all my heart, all my soul and all my might” (Matthew 22:37, Luke 10:27); and to ‘throw away’ – to completely rid yourself of - all idols in your life – for: to say ‘yes’ to God is to say ‘no’ to everything else; to declare your love for God is to declare that you have no love for everything else.
Joshua 24:23-26:
23 “Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.”
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws.
26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord.
As you come daily to your personal altar before the Lord and worship Him - which is essentially declaring that you are putting Him first and foremost in your life - He will reveal ’idols’ in your life that need to be thrown away - removed completely and considered as ‘garbage’. (Ref: Philippians 3:8)
Idols are things that you have placed before God in priority and importance – a great wickedness in the sight of God (Ref: Exodus 20:3-6, Revelation 21:8) – and are areas of pride or personal desires, which are self-serving and ultimately, self-idolatrous. With help from the Holy Spirit, be honest and check yourself – for the idolatry of material wealth, career, people whom you depend on, are close to, or idolize, even your children – beware the sin of idolatry!
In your moments worshipping God at the altar, let the Holy Spirit reveals to you your idols, and resolutely ‘throw away’ these idols in the Spirit’s Power. Be cleansed by the blood of Jesus and recommit to God’s covenant, and to faithfully worshipping Him alone.
A time and place of ENCOUNTER – Of remembering that He is Immanuel – “God with us” and then entering His Presence - seeking to hear His voice, to see His Face, to receive the Power of His Holy Spirit.
A time and place of REST – of remembering to “humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time”; to “cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7); of remembering that He is Your Shepherd – that in our Lord Jesus Christ, you lack nothing (Ref: Psalm 23); to come to Him – in your tiredness and heaviness – for He will give you rest (Matthew 11:28); and to remember that we may remain in His Rest because Christ has overcome the tribulations of the world! (Ref: John 16:33)
If you truly desire P.O.W.E.R. to live and to fulfill God’s Call for your life, build an altar unto the Lord!
Sacred and specific space for your altar unto God.
Carefully consider where would be a good place in your home to create the sacred and specific space for you to build an altar unto the Lord. When you have done so, consecrate the place – in prayer, commit to setting this place apart from the rest of your house, and dedicate this area as the sacred and specific space where you would build your relationship with God.
Sacred and specific time for your altar unto God.
Relook at your daily schedule – and if you need to – clear it out. Schedule in - first and foremost - the sacred time for you to come to the altar that you have built unto the Lord. Consecrate the time of the day – in prayer, commit to the time and set it apart as the dedicated time where you would focus only on building your relationship with God.
If you are passionate and serious about Christ; you must be passionate and serious about building your altar unto the Lord – determine a specific place for the altar, determine a specific time to enter God’s Presence – Praise Him; Obey Him; Worship Him, Encounter Him, Rest in Him;
At the altar,
Sing songs of Praise and Worship unto the Lord;
Commit to systematically reading the bible, and contemplating the Word of God;
Pray.
Pray for the Church, for yourself, for the people around you – and that should take you about all of 3 minutes, then for the rest of the time, pray in the Spirit …
Pray in tongues; pray in the language of God’s Kingdom.
Know that the supernatural ability to pray in tongues is God’s Spirit-gift to us. (Ref: 1 Corinthians 14:2)
If you truly believe that you are destined for God’s Kingdom, in faith, pray in the heavenly language - believing that the Holy Spirit lives in you, and that He is teaching you, and empowering you to pray in a language no one, not even yourself, would understand, but in the heavenly language that God understands perfectly.
Praying in tongues is the Holy Spirit speaking through you, and speaking to you.
When you pray in the Spirit, the words that come out of your mouth are declarations, deep utterances of God’s Sovereign and Perfect Will for your life which the Holy Spirit knows fully – because He is God.
The Apostle Paul reveals in Romans 8:26-27 –
“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.
We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
The Holy Spirt was sent to us to grant us the courage, strength, resolve and wisdom to live in the Sovereign Will of God. We live in the deepest fulfillment when we live in the Will of God.
When you pray in your known language, you are trying to process God’s Will with your mind – which is very limited, and very broken.
But when you pray in the Spirit, you are immediately praying the Will of God precisely for your life and for your situation. Your mind may be at a loss, but your spirit is now made aware of God’s Will for you, and you would begin to have this holy sense of where God is leading you, what needs to be done, and why all these things are happening.
This has been my experience, and to pray in the Spirit in the utmost faith in God has always been my counsel to anyone who is discerning God’s Will in their lives.
Do not struggle to hear from God – for you are struggling needlessly.
Build first your relationship with God; pray in His Holy Spirit. Sense and embrace His Holy Presence and Leading in your life; release your spirit to pray in tongues, and know that your mind will catch up to His revelation when His time has come.
Build an altar unto Him. Determine a specific place, determine a specific time – be very serious about building the altar.
Be very conscious and conscientious about building your relationship with God.
And then, daily – Praise Him, Obey Him (learn, remember and obey His commands), Worship Him, Encounter Him – pray in the spiritual language, pray in tongues… and then Rest in Him.
As long as the Holy Spirit lives in you, you can live in the P.O.W.E.R. of God.
As long as the Holy Spirit lives in you, you can know God’s Perfect Will for you - because the Holy Spirit knows.
As long as the Holy Spirit lives in you, God’s answer to all your prayers is always there.
When you pray in tongues daily, there is a quickening in your spirit - a direct line to God through the Holy Spirit. When you allow the Holy Spirit to fill your mouth with His declarations in tongues - in that heavenly language – God will fill your heart with the divine knowledge of what needs to come into your mind, what needs to happen, what must be done, and how it must be done.
The Holy Spirit will bypass your mind – for now; and that is simply because your mind is still entrenched in the world, and filled with so much doubt and uncertainty.
Only directly to your spirit, would the Holy Spirit reveal to you that which He desires for you to know.
When you pray in the Spirit, the utterances and words that are coming out of your mouth are impartations and revelations of the Spirit that will be impressed upon your heart, your spirit; but will ultimately be revealed to your mind – in His time.
For the Spirit’s impartation and revelation to come, you must first be willing and obedient to surrender all that you know – especially your language, which is the foundation of your worldview – and utterly desire to be filled with His Power to declare, to sense, to know and then to act in God’s Sovereign, Perfect and Eternal Will.
What would have taken you a year to perceive, could take you only a day – when you are serious about seeking only the heart of God, and become serious about praying in tongues as the Holy Spirit gives you utterance; for what you are asking is to receive supernatural revelations from God about things that you simply cannot know by your own power.
The true seeker seeks and speaks only the truth of God; and His truth is infinitively better received in the language that comes from Him.
Our language – as is our mind and flesh - is severely limited.
We are limited, because we are broken and our flesh will one day completely break down. However, the Holy Spirit is perfect and unlimited in power. When He lives in us, He gives us eternal life in Christ Jesus, our Lord; when He speaks through us, He gives us the Kingdom language that reveals the Will of God in our lives.
If you are serious about building your relationship with God and fulfilling His Will in your life, seek the baptism of the Holy Spirit daily, pray in tongues and receive His Power to live!
If only we would die to our flesh; and live only according to the Holy Spirit, to pray only in accord with the Holy Spirit, we would be able to receive God’s Will immediately and live a life pleasing to Him – a life of perfect fulfillment...
The Apostle Paul reveals yet again in Romans 8:5-11:
“5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.
7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.
8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
Are you serious about God? About being restored into 'Right Standing' before God? About His Eternal, Kingdom Destiny for You?
Are you serious about building a relationship with God – who raised Christ from the dead, and who will also give you eternal life because His Holy Spirit lives in You?
For the men of utmost faith in the living God, they built altars before the Lord to constantly remind them NOT just of who God was, but who God IS!
They built those altars so that they, and their children, would remember and never forget to live their lives for the purpose of building a relationship with God.
If you truly desire to build a relationship with the living God, build an altar unto the Lord this day.
If you truly desire P.O.W.E.R. to live and to fulfill God’s Call for your life, build an altar unto the Lord this day.
If you truly desire to leave something substantial and eternal for your children, build an altar unto the Lord this day.
Consecrate and commit to that sacred place in your home and sacred time in your daily routine as an altar unto the Lord today – and begin building a real, present and eternal relationship with Him.
Right now, we are at the very altar of the church – as we remember the finished work of Christ for the atonement of our sins at the Cross of Calvary.
The Lord’s Supper is one of the key sacraments of the church – and thus, it is the altar in which we commit to praising God , to obeying God, to worshipping God, to encountering God and to resting in God alone - as the Body of Christ.
As we hold the emblems of communion is our hands, I encourage you to begin praying in the Spirit… softly but surely.
Allow the Holy Spirit to fill your mouth with the language of God’s Kingdom.
If you are struggling with areas of obedience, now is the time for you to repent of your sins and turn to God and believe in the power of God to free you from the bondages of evil – take authority in the Name of Jesus to rid your life of all demonic influences, and pray that the Holy Spirit will destroy your sinful impulses and proclivities and make you come alive in Christ alone;
If you are struggling with idolatry in any way, shape or form, now is the time for you to repent of your idolatry, resolutely throw away and rid yourself of these idols, removing its grip on your heart and consider ;
If you are struggling in discerning God’s Will for your life, now is the time for you to pray in the Spirit, and then, commit to praying in heavenly tongues daily – and I would personally guarantee that your life in consistently encountering the power of God will never be the same again. The meaning and purpose of your life will become so much clearer; as you begin to realise that you were created foremost to worship, obey and honor the Lord your God – and designed to be in ‘Right Relationship’ with the Creator of the Heavens and earth through Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour.
Let the Holy Spirit quicken you to embrace God’s desire, design and destiny for your life – that you would begin to right now, live in the deepest and greatest fulfillment of fulfilling God’s Will for you.
And it all begins and happens at the altar of Communion – where we remember our utter need for the gift of God; what this gift is all about, how this gift was wrought for us – the gift of God, which is life through Christ Jesus, our Lord and Saviour. (Ref: Romans 6:23)
For those of us who have children, or perhaps, grandchildren:
As we remember the Lord’s finished work of atonement for our sins and salvation from death unto eternal life, let us be mindful that – as with all altars – the Communion altar is not meant just for us, it is meant for our children – to teach them, to help them remember the Grace of God through Christ, and to personally build their relationship with God.
So I encourage you, regularly partake of the Lord’s Supper together with your children and your grandchildren at home.
Pray and believe in the Lord’s Providence for the opportunities to partake the Lord’s Supper as a family; and in faith, believe that the Holy Spirit who is at work in you, will also be at work in their lives, leading them, and empowering them to build a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen?
Let us come before our Lord Jesus together; and in remembrance and faith, know that He is our Saviour, and that He is here with us.
The Apostle Paul exhorts the Church in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:
“23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”
Be serious about building your relationship with God; and be serious about building your altar unto the Lord – that you and your children would come together to the saving and eternal knowledge of Christ Jesus, our Lord, our Saviour, our King and our God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord Jesus, thank You for leading us to the altar of Holy Communion; where we remember Your Love, Grace and Mercies in our lives.
As we hold the emblem that represents your Holy Body; empower me to build a real and present relationship with You, and empower us to build Your Church O Lord!
We believe that by Your stripes, we are healed and given the gift of eternal life in Your Coming Kingdom (Ref: Isaiah 53:5).
We declare that we belong wholly to You, and that our purpose in life is to worship You, to serve You and to glorify You.
Lord Jesus, thank You for the Cross, and thank You for dying in my place; that I may be forgiven of my transgressions against You. Thank You for resurrecting me unto New and Eternal life. In Your most Holy Name we give thanks and pray. Amen.
As we hold the emblem that represents Your Blood, we remember Your Covenant of Redemption from death, and Restoration unto eternal life in Your Kingdom; and pray that we would live in Your Holy Covenant now and forevermore, and even becoming Your Holy Nation – Your Church - here in this present, dark world.
Help us daily grow in Your likeness, Lord Jesus, as we covenant to daily build our relationship with our Father in Heaven.
Deepen our faith in You, Lord Jesus – and empower us with the Power of Your Holy Spirit – that we may fulfill Your Sovereign Will in our lives; and fulfill the Great Commission to be Your Witness to the Nations.
Empower me to daily pray in tongues – the language of Your Kingdom – that my heart and spirit would be quickened into Your Holy Calling and Perfect Will for my life.
I believe that Your blood flows through my life and believe that I belong wholly and utterly to You.
Thank You for the gift of Your Presence in my life today; and thank You for the gift of life in Your Presence now and forevermore.
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.