Throughout the Bible, we find some of the greatest altar calls taking place outside the physical church building, yet many of us today are stuck in the mindset that God will only move inside the walls of a church. We plod along in our Christian walk, frustrated and discouraged, thinking that, in order to receive our healing, deliverance or freedom, we have to wait for the next church service or the next altar call. We are constantly looking to tomorrow for that mighty encounter with God while squandering today.
We cannot go from Sunday to Sunday having only one conversation with God a week. Living like this is akin to eating one meal on Sunday and wondering why you are starving and lacking in health and strength the rest of the week.
The good news is that we don’t have to wait for Sunday, or some other special day, to encounter God. We can encounter God anywhere, anyplace, anytime. All it takes is being desperate for His presence. Abraham encountered God on the top of the mountain when he put his hope and trust in God instead of his own dreams and desires. Instead of building an altar to what he wanted, he built an altar and gave God what He wanted (Gen. 12:1-8).
In Joshua 22, when the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh dishonored the Lord by building an altar facing the land of Canaan, the entire congregation of Israel went to them and said, “What is this trespass you have committed against the God of Israel? Today you have turned from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar to rebel against Him” (see Josh. 22:16-18). They knew the power of the altar. It wasn’t to be a once-a-week experience; it was to be a lifestyle of pursuing what God wants of us and not merely what He can do for us.
Is it time for your altar to become about what God wants from you, instead of what He can do for you? Don’t wait until next Sunday or even tomorrow to meet God at the altar. Tomorrow can be the thief of today’s miracles.
Let today be your tomorrow—choose to meet God at the altar wherever you are right now. If you are waiting on tomorrow to meet God at the altar, then likely you are missing your moment. God desires to meet you today! He has something for you right now.
Moses encountered God through a burning bush on the back side of a desert when he came to the end of himself (Ex. 3), and he went on to be used by God to rescue His people. Jacob encountered God on a lonely road when he wrestled with his past; as a result, God changed his name and restored his family (Gen. 32:22–32). Isaiah encountered God while running for his life and was forever changed as he declared, “Woe is me!” (Is. 6). God then used Isaiah as a prophet to the nations. Even though they were outside the church, as soon as these men decided to abandon their own desires, surrender all to God and listen to what He was saying, they encountered the true and living God. Just as He did for these men of the Bible, God has a “today” for you—a moment in time when He reveals Himself to you so radically that it changes the course of your future.
So why wait until tomorrow to meet with Him?
I (Karen) spent the majority of the first half of my life with tomorrow as my nemesis. I wasted years waiting for my turn, my promises and my opportunities. I was busy waiting for God to use me, waiting for my purpose to emerge, and all the while God was waiting on me to get up and run to Him!
Friends, it’s time to wake up. Don’t wait any longer. Seize what God has for you now. Stop worrying about what others will think of you. Don’t worry about stepping on toes. When you seize your moment, you will find yourself so busy stomping on the enemy that there will be no time to worry about the toes of others. Leave those worries to God. He is standing by patiently waiting on you to realize that you are the change the world needs. It’s time to say yes to God as you wave good-bye to the lies of hell that tell you to “just wait until tomorrow.” God is calling you to walk in freedom, authority and fresh revelation, but you can’t begin that walk until you are desperate to change, to throw aside your tomorrow and your old ways of thinking. {eoa}
Pat and Karen Schatzline are international evangelists and authors who co-lead Remnant Ministries International and the I Am Remnant Movement. They are known for their passion to lead people of all ages into deep encounters with God. They are frequent guests on Christian television and radio shows such as The Jim Bakker Show, Sid Roth’s It’s Supernatural!, and Ask Dr. Brown, as well as on networks such as Daystar, TBN, JCTV and GodTV. They have written several books, including Why Is God So Mad at Me?, I Am Remnant, Dehydrated, and Unqualified. Married since 1990, they make their home in Birmingham, Alabama. This passage is an excerpt from their book Rebuilding the Altar (Aug. 1, 2017).
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