Build An Altar Before You Build A Platform.

2 Chronicles 7:14: “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.”

In this hour, I’ve become increasingly aware that freedom of speech is at an all time high. If you have an opinion, you can give it. If you have a judgement, you can post it. You can agree, disagree, like, comment or share as you please. Many are spending thousands of dollars to build their platform and spread their message. Even if they have little to no substance, with the right branding and look, many can rise to the top.

I appreciate social media. Social media is not the devil. It’s a platform for our thoughts, an avenue for spreading the good news, encouraging the masses and to keep in touch with friends and family. I plan to keep using it. Lol. But, the negative side is that it can be a platform for ignorance, hate, “Christian-ese” that doesn’t make a difference, etc. Again, I don’t believe that using social media for the Kingdom is bad. My emphasis is: Build an altar before you build a platform.

What does it mean to build an altar? Spiritually, an altar represents a place of encountering God, worship, forgiveness, intercession and our covenant with God.

The altar requires three things: brokenness, sacrifice and fire.

Brokenness: What it takes to build an altar are rocks - broken things. The geological application is relevant: There are volcanic explosions in our lives, seismic events, the grinding of life. You can take the hard things and arrange them before the Lord, or you can drag the rocks around and be burdened by them. Or, when you’re frustrated at lugging them around, you get mad and throw them at somebody else. The way you build an altar is to bring those hard, broken things before the Lord and put them there.

When we create platforms, it is to lift up ourselves, our message or product for the world to see. Altars are not as beautiful as platforms. Altars are built by the bringing the broken, obscure and jagged places of our lives before a perfect God. He takes pleasure in our brokenness. Platforms are meant to be stood on. Altars are meant to be bowed before.

Sacrifice: There is no altar without sacrifice.

Psalms 51:17: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

True sacrifice is not just giving offerings and serving in church. True sacrifice is radical obedience to Jesus. That’s why we must count the cost.

Sacrifice costs something.

2 Samuel 24:24: But the king replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.’(

Jesus freely gave His life so that we could live. This was done in obedience to the Father. A sacrifice may be freely given, but it’s not a genuine sacrifice if it doesn’t mean anything to us. Many times, we will feel the pain of our sacrifice—our obedience to God is not always pleasurable. We can buy likes, follows and friends with our different platforms, but it is only the sacrifice done in faith that pleases God. As we grow in our faith, we give our sacrifices to God more freely because we understand His greater sacrifice that allows us to know His grace.

Fire: God will come and consume what we bring before Him. He will try our hearts so that we can come forth as pure gold. An altar with no fire is like a check with no signature.  The fire of God in our life is His proof of acceptance. The fire came on the altar in the days of old as a sign that He had answered. That He had approved His covenant with His people. Many times, we post things with no approval of heaven. We build platforms, that if they were tried by fire would be burnt to the ground. I believe that we must begin to ask for the fire of heaven to come and consume everything that is not like Him.

I believe that so much division has come because of individual platforms. But, if we would take the time to build altars through prayer, we would see a greater unity in the Body of Christ concerning Kingdom advancements.

Beloved, in this season, ask yourself, “Have I tried to build a platform before I’ve built an altar to God? Have I brought my brokenness before the Lord? Is my life a pleasing sacrifice of obedience and faith? Has my life been a check with no signature? Has my life been marked by the fire of God?”

Build an altar.