A grill is an altar. Isn’t it?! What is an altar for? The Lord’s temple always has an altar, right? Are we not the temple of the Lord now? Hmmmmm. In Strong’s Concordance, the word altar is described as slay…… Let us ponder on the following scriptures.
This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends, ( John 15:12-13).
Then he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said that they should rest a little longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed, ( Revelation 6:10-11). Notice the testimony of the Lord they spoke refers to the Lord’s testimony of Himself in the Phildelphia church. The testimony of the Lord is of the One who is holy, true and has the keys! This tells us a clue as to the church they belong in the seven churches of Revelation……
Then I Heard A Voice From Heaven Saying To Me……Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them, ( Revelation 14:13).
Then he said to me, Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God, ( Revelation 19:9).
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called, the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses, ( Revelation 19:11-13).
And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people, ( 2 Corinthians 6:14).
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, ( Romans 12:1-2).
So, when he( Judas) had gone out, Jesus said, Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately,( John 13:31-32).
The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us, ( Romans 8:16-18).
As it is written: For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, ( Romans 8:36-37).
I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily, ( 1 Corinthians 15:31).
But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world, has been crucified to me and I to the world, ( Galatians 5:14).
Where there is an altar, there has to be a fire burning!! As Christ dwells within, picture the symbolism of the seven lamps that burn before the throne of God…so He burns within us as we lay on the altar as a living sacrifice.
The fire is turned up to burn away the old gunk from the past, our old man…. So we are then a sweet smelling fragrance to our Lord, of our Lord….
We cannot burn with out God…. He is the Fire and He refines us to His liking…. This is not of our doing. He is the Expert Craftsman for each one of us… The flaming trials and tribulations are set perfect for each of us to go through with Him… He knows what we need to prove Himself in us…. What needs to go and what needs to grow.
Through the coming times of our fire and water experiences as well as what comes to the sons of men on the earth, it is imperative to remember and know His word for us:
For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so I have sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains will depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has mercy on you, ( Isaiah 54:9-10).
When we want to clean our grill, we turn the fire up to get off all the old gunk that is on the grill….. The same procedure comes from the Holy Spirit…. What is not Christ’s will be burned up by fire as written in 1 Corinthians….. The blessing as we offer our selves truly as writtin in Romans 12:1-2, we will be as He is when we awaken or He is revealed.
We have to be patient in living out His great love for us. We have to trust that His work in us is so great that we are worthy to be part of His plan and anxious to see His work. We also walk in faith with our brethren as they also are in the hands of the Great Potter. God is the Great IAM and He always speaks as He sees, not what is….. so should we…!!!
When the disciples yelled in fear to the Lord as the waves were increasing on the lake, His reply was you of little faith- Where is your faith?
When the waves or fire increases in our lives, it is His good pleasure to work His work in us……Do not fear we have missed any mark, know for certain we did! That is okay. God’s way or standard, His Son, is higher. If we were not being made into the Lord’s image, there would be no need for the Holy Spirit to be our Guide. We are being made into His image because we still lack His completeness within. There are ways of God we have not yet uncoverered, but we are being molded into a higher standard. He is working out His purpose in our lives……as we lean on Him as our All.
If we would see a sculptor working his clay, if the clay could speak it would say…. Ouch, that hurts!……However, when the art is completed, the clay will look back and think, I am glad He did what He did….. His work shows all His beauty which He put in me,….. a lump of clay.
So as we are the temple of the Lord, we are in His loving great hands…..no, not all the remaking in the fire will be easy….. but in the end……we will reveal His beauty of holiness.We will be riding on the power of the Holy Spirit with the Lord in pure white linen.
The Holy Spirit is saying, turn the fire up and get rid of the junk on the grill that is old. He wants a clean altar…..He is going through the temple of His Father’s house today….. He is throwing over things in our lives that are a great offense to Him. He wants obedience and holiness from us…. He purifies us so we may love Him with a greater love….. It takes God to love, so God or Christ must dwell in us to love through us!
Again, the word of God reminds us of Whose we are!: Do you not know that you are the temple of the of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are, ( 1 Corinthians 4:16-17).
So as the fire turns up in our lives over the next few months, remember, His love and His plan will come to pass in our lives, if we lay still on the altar….. We know the finished work of His hands all will be made new. We have been remade through the fire of His great love. We are His work and beautiful in His sight. Just hold on to His love.
When we got a tap on our behind when we were little so we would learn not to run out into the street, it hurt ( mostly our pride!). But that little tap was to keep us safe in our family…His discipline is to keep us from destruction. Keep us strong in Him, in His family.
There is a mystery being revealed to us, if we are quiet in His hands and rest to learn the secret….. If Christ will be all and in all…..Does not that scripture include us, right? Right…..We have to be aware of the plan of God and this promise, Christ will fill all things…… His work will work in us, we will burn so others may also! That is the plan, we will let Him have His way…. I rather be found on His obedience side to the fire with His care then found on the rebellious side with out His comfort. God will have His way so the fullness of God may dwell in the Lord’s body…..as written.
Let the waves rustle and bustle and raise up before us, we stand in our God, knowing He is God. He gives strength to us…. This is His battle around us as He goes before us and is our rear Guard….. It is His delight to be our Potter in us…..So let us rest in our faith, which is not freaking out by what is in our sight, but resting in His love and faithfulness….So as we stand on the knowledge of His greatness and rest as His plan is being played out among the sons of men, we wait, we pray, we stand and we burn in a holy fire for Him.
Remember, when we barbeque on the grill, if one item catches on fire and is burning…..eventually it will spread to the other items on the grill too….. For we burn in and out- around our surroundings.
King David knew that any offering to the Lord had to cost something as written 2 Samuel 24:24. David knew the Lord was worthy of nothing less than a sacrifice on his part. Let us remember that in the coming days…. So as we remember the Lord, we eat the bread in remembrance of His body broken for us…..We partake of the new convenant by drinking the wine representing His blood shed for us….. His eternal life given to us by faith…..He gave us His all with a great cost…
Shall we also give Him our all with a cost as our devotion and faithfulness to Him… Christ will be all in all in us, we also allow ourselves to be broken—– Let us rest in Him as He works His work…..As we also take all from Him that He died to give to us to live His way and live in His life.
Child, do not fear as the waves rise for I allowed the rising and the falling so you may turn and find your solace and rest in Me…. I hold you in My hands. No one may snatch you away from Me. You are Mine…My concern for you is great. You are My great reward…. Know how I love My children. Do not fear for what you fear is not greater than I AM. You say you believe in Me, than I say to you, from your belief let trust arise. I guide you and instruct you to allow your trust to rise higher than the billowing waves…. For they are like grass, they will be gone tomorrow, but alas, I AM and you are with Me.
Prove your professing love of Me, rest in Me. Speak to Me often, come, I love to hear your voice. Ask Me, for I will show You….. Ask Me, Seek for Me, Knock for Me…… I will be found, but AM I what you are seeking? I know your hearts….. Please turn your hearts to know Mine…. Time is quick, a blink of an eye and it will be gone. In My hands are your tomorrows. The knowledge of how well the time was spent will be measured…. Do not turn away from Me. You will find rest for your wandering souls. I AM your Rest. I fill the earth with the glory of God….. All will see His glory, but not all will live in His glory.
I Am your Wisdom, hear My voice. Follow My words, they are full of eternal life….All those who follow My words abide in Me, so then you will ask of Me what you desire and it shall be done for you.
Hear Me today for My words are Life and Rest to you.
Our response to the Lord besides Yes, Sir and….: I love the Lord, because He has heard my voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live, ( Psalm 116:1).
When we refuse His handiwork, we refuse the new height of revelation that He plans to show us by our increased trust and faith…….
Selah!
