Is your all on the altar?

The Altar call was always a central part of church growing up.  Not only were sinners and backsliders called forward to give their lives to Christ, but believers were called forward to dedicate themselves to full-time ministry or surrender to God.  The physical act of going to an altar is symbolic of the religious ritual the Jews practiced of sacrificing animals to God only going forward represents sacrificing or giving oneself to God.  Romans 12:1 states "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship."  What we give ourselves to is what we worship.  The way we worship God is by giving ourselves fully to Him.  This is not just going to the front of the church to make a commitment, but this is a daily, moment-by-moment lifestyle. 

True worship is a heart-movement continually towards God and away from self and worldly distractions.  As John the Baptist said in John 3:30 "He must increase, but I must decrease.”  Is Jesus getting bigger in your life or smaller?  The way to test this is by answering a few simple questions:  What do I talk about?  What do I spend my money on?  What do I do in my free time?  What do I dream or meditate on?  We can easily get "off" kingdom business and increasing Christ with a myriad of other things but the bottom line is who is in the driver's seat/on the throne/in the heart.  That is why Proverbs 4:23 says  "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. ..."  What we let rule in our hearts will take over our lives.  This can be powerful when it is the Holy Spirit, guiding, directing and orchestrating; but it can be spiritually devastating if it is worldly cares or weeds that choke out the life of God trying to spring up on the inside. 

Tending the heart comes to the daily act of our will.  As we choose to give ourselves to the things of God, our heart enlarges and we begin to love God and others more than ever before.  When we starve the flesh cravings like we would the appetites for junk food after a while we do not want them anymore.  We can give ourselves to the service of God or the things of the world.  The scripture also states in Romans 6:13 "Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness."    In Luke 9:23 Jesus said " "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.…"  In other words there must be a loss before there is a gain.  We must give before receiving.  We must sow before we reap.  This is a physical and spiritual principle.  Jesus calls us to give up our will and offer every part of ourselves to the service of God and follow Him where He leads before we can have spiritual life, power and blessing.  Jesus also says this is a daily act.  It is not enough to make a one-time commitment or even just a Sunday commitment to God.  Jesus has need of us everyday and being a Christian is not a part-time or even 9-5 job, but it is who we are and who we should be 24/7.

There are times in our lives when God tests us to see what is in our hearts.  There are God-moments where we stand at a crossroads and we must decide.  The decision at that time could change the course of our life.  Jacob was at that place in Genesis 32.  He was in fear for his life because he was going to see his brother Esau.  It says in verse 1:  "Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him."   The Holy Spirit is a comforter and He sends angels to accompany us especially during the critical times.  Jacob was able to see those angels and it was as if God was giving Him comfort concerning His protection and a taste of heaven and what He had for Jacob.  God also meets us and gives us visitation, words, and angels when we are in crisis.  This enables us to gather courage to press on and to trust God fully through difficulty.

Jacob was an organizer and a planner.  He always had to have things figured out and be in control.  Jacob had this plan that he would divide his people into parts and send generous gifts to Esau having all his servants pay homage to him to avoid his brother's wrath from the grudge that occurred years ago when he stole the birthright.  No doubt this was an impressive show of deference to the elder brother, but sometimes even our best efforts are not enough.  In verse 23-24 it says "And he..sent them over the brook and sent over all that he had." God brought Jacob to a point where he was entirely alone and to where he gave up everything.  At this point Jacob could not hide behind his money, herds, wives, or children.  It was just him and God.  In that place of utter helplessness, Jacob began to struggle with what he thought was a man, but really he was fighting with God.  It says "and Jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day"..."and he said I will not let thee go except thou bless me."  When Jacob was stripped down to just Jacob, he contended with God for what he really wanted and what he had been wanting even from the womb when he first grabbed the heel of Esau to be the firstborn--the blessing.  In fact he told the man he would not let him go until he got the blessing.

There are times in our lives where God wants to see what we really want.  We go after so many noble but lesser things in life--houses, lands, spouse and children, but at some point when standing before God he want us to voice what He sees anyway--what we are after.  God doesn't just want to know what we want but how much we want it.  What if Jacob let go at midnight, or even after the man made his thigh go out of socket?  No, Jacob wanted God's blessing on His life so bad that he was willing to fight even if his thigh was out of socket.  He would not let go of God until He got that blessing.  God will honor the faith of a man that pursues Him over everything else/when there is nothing else and will not let go.  God will honor the person that chases him even when it is painful and seems like God has brought that punishment and pain.  It is easy to serve God when there are blessings flowing on every side, but sometimes God want to see if our hearts are after Him even when there is nothing left like it was with Job.

Today there is a wrestling match today in the spirit-realm.   The enemy of our souls is trying to get us away from God, but the real struggle is within because we choose what we want.  We choose what is important to us and our flesh nature is constantly fighting for control, for gratification, and for attention.  The spirit is willing but the weak flesh must be put down to gain what the spirit has to offer.  The first part of putting down the flesh--which some never get to--is admitting what you are.  When the man asked Jacob his name he said "Jacob" (deceiver).  God will first show you what you are and then show you what He makes you before He transforms you.  This will be so He gets glory and so that you know it is not you that made yourself, but He that made you.  As it says in Psalm 100 . "3Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;" When Jacob chose to be honest with God and cry out for God's blessing over his own self preservation, and in that critical moment, God changed his name/identity from Jacob (Deceiver) to Israel (Prince of God).  God commended Jacob saying that he had power with God and with men and had prevailed.  In other words, Jacob had effectively obtained blessing from his earthly and heavenly father.  He had earned himself a royal title and inheritance.  When we choose God over what the flesh wants, He gives us spiritual authority and favor that we have not walked in before.  He begins to transform our identity to be a new creation that walks different, talks different and thinks different.

When Jacob got his blessing he named the place Peniel (face of God) "for I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved."  The moments we have when we truly get heart to heart with God are moments that He will show us His face.  These are moments where we will never be the same or go back to what was.  It is interesting that from that day forward, Jacob walked with a limp.  This goes to show that sometimes when we leave God's presence we become very weak and foolish in the natural, but on the inside we are like a lion.  This is because we are no longer relying on our looks, intellect or ability to get what we want, but we have found what we want and the rest doesn't matter anymore. 
I think this is what Isaiah experienced in chapter 6 when "the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. 5
Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."  Isaiah was completely beside Himself when He got a vision of God.  He yielded himself completely to do whatever God wanted for him when he said "Here am I send me."  God told him to actually make the people dull of hearing so they would not be healed for a season, however there was a purpose in this suffering.  At the end of the chapter, God said the spiritual bankruptcy would continue:

12until the Lord has sent everyone far away

and the land is utterly forsaken.

13And though a tenth remains in the land,

it will again be laid waste.

But as the terebinth and oak

leave stumps when they are cut down,

so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

God's purpose in testing is to bring forth a holy seed.  He will cut a man or a nation down to a stump to get a holy remnant that will accomplish His purpose no matter what the cost.  Therefore do not be distressed if God has you at Bethel or you see the winds of trouble blowing people away and you are holding on with all your might wondering if anyone will survive.  God is doing a deep work to purify His bride.  Those that stand firm to the end will come out like gold shining, brilliant, pure and ready for every good work.