M.A.G.H.A.N. #3
Our theme this month is: Make America Grateful Here And Now
THIS WEEK! TIMES AT THE ALTAR, ALTER THE TIMES.
OUR MANDATE TO ALTER THE TIMES
Matthew 28: 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Acts 17:6
6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.
Acts 2:40
With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
Our time that needs to be altered.
- More Americans are “Fully Confident” That satan exists than a God that exists (56% vs 49%) AWVI research
- In 2004 no major christian denomination had a majority of support for homosexuality. Now on average, since 2018 across all denominations THE MAJORITY support. Pew Research Center
- 62,502,904 babies aborted since Roe V Wade in 1975. The main reason for these murders is “Financial stability”. Only 1% were because of rape. https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/pubs/psrh/full/3711005.pdf
- LGBTQ issues.
- 50% of all marriages in the US are expected to end in divorce. They more times some divorces and remarries, the more likely they are to divorce again https://www.wf-lawyers.com/divorce-statistics-and-facts/
- More US Soldiers have died of suicide than war since the year 2000.
- Native Americans and White male Americans have the highest suicide rate in the US. 70% more than the rest of the population.
How do we fix this?
TIMES AT THE ALTAR.
The Altar in the OT is where you bring your offering to God. It’s where you would go to connect with God, To get right with Him. The OT has a huge array of laws as to how one’s sins must be atoned for at the altar. The Altar can be seen as the door the to enter the presence of God, that needs to be unlocked by sacrifice. It’s where we bring what we have to HIM. Built into the human heart is the idea that we must sacrifice something to God. Almost ALL cultures have examples of altars and sacrifice. As the Bible tells us, God has placed eternity in our hearts.
In the NT, The Altar is our HEART!
THE ALTAR IS THE HEART!
SAUL VS DAVID
Saul was the man who was picked according to what people seek. David in contrast is the King who was picked for his heart for the Lord. Saul started ok, but turned out to be an absolute tragedy. David on the other hand is one of the most revered kings of history! It’s David’s Throne that Christ Himself will occupy. The Difference is the HEART.
1 Sam. 15:22
““Does the Lord have as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.”
We see this in Saul’s errant sacrifice that lead to him losing the kingship. He fought a battle and was told to utterly destroy the opposition. Saul went ahead and decided to keep some animals to sacrifice to God contrary to God’s command. Saul’s heart was for himself. He was sacrificing to get what he wanted. Most likely to look good in front of his subjects. He didn’t obey God, or inquire of what to do. David on the other hand, would only sacrifice on the altar if it COST him [2 Samuel 24:24] this shows his heart is yielded to God. His desire was that God be put first, and to do that is must cost us personally.
THE HEART
Proverbs 23:26
My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,
Matthew 5:8
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"
Psalm 51:10-19
"Create in me a clean heart."
Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.
Matthew 22:37
“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
Romans 8:27
"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."
Hebrews 4:12
12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Proverbs 21:1
The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord,
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts
Matthew 15:17-20 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Acts 2:38
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,Men and brethren, what shall we do?
2 Corinthians 3:3
Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.
SPENDING TIME
Exodus 33:7-11
7 Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.
JOSHUA REMAINED IN THE PRESENCE. JOSHUA ALTERED THE TIMES (Taking over Canaan, and ALSO literally with the time stopping)
Keys to giving your heart to God
1. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - [Mat 6:21]
2. Read the word! Hebrews [4:12-13\
3. Give so that it costs you. [2 Samuel 24:24]
4. Obey God’s commands. [2 Cor 3:3]
5. Control your tongue [James 1:26] "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless.”
BID
- Salvation
- Give your heart to God.