Is God the Altar of Your Heart?

God is serious about a relationship with Him as He was in the days of Moses. Sin separates us from God. In Exodus, God set up a system of sacrifices so people could approach Him after purification.

God sent His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the Cross so we could gain access to a relational God. Before Christ, the Priests were the people's representatives before God. Christ’s death on the Cross allowed us to directly fellowship-communion with God. A direct line of communication through Jesus’s Holy Spirit, His compassionate, merciful, healing spirit that now lives in Us if we believe in His death and Resurrection in our hearts. 

Are you seeking a relationship with Christ? Abba Father? Do you know how to do that on your own? No, let me show you the way. He set me free, and you can be set free, too. Chained to Hope and Joy instead of past trauma and addiction. Hope with me, heal with me, and follow me as I show you my intimate journey with a relational God.

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Transcript

Welcome to Reflective Hour with Tammy Toney-Butler. I'm your host today. I'm just glad that you could come and reflect with me today. Let's reflect on our relationship with Christ: our Waymaker, who brings us joy and peace amid any circumstance. So let's spend this time together getting better acquainted with our Father, our true Father, Abba Father.

We worship You; we glorify You. Holy Spirit, I ask that you come and have Your way in this reflective time. Let them see You and only You, and not me. Let Your words bring truth into their hearts. May the veils be lifted off their eyes so they can see, any obstructions in their ears be removed so they can hear, and may they see the light of Christ, the love, and the joy, and the peace and it follow them throughout this day.

Grab your coffee, grab your tea, and let's begin.

As I was reflecting on scripture and in my devotions this morning and just sitting with God,  there was a word in the scriptures and things that just kept jumping out at me. And so I wanted to bring that to you because this is how I process. Christ has done this in my life, and I'm still healing. I seek Him for comfort in all things, and I seek His wisdom, and God is my friend. The Holy Spirit, Jesus, that Threefold Cord, that union. We are one, and I mean, I pray continuously and seek Him continuously. I glorify Him, I exalt Him. So, let's get into His Word.

And I wanted to title this: Is God the altar of your heart?

So many times we can make things altars in our hearts, and we can worship them and not our Father, not Jesus. And as Christians, Christ is called the altar of Christians. He is the atoning sacrifice for sin. And therefore, we need to eat, drink, and thirst for Christ, for that Living Water, that Bread of Life, search Him and seek Him in that relationship with him. In modern churches, even the communion table, altar,  or even the church or place of worship, anything you worship could become an altar. And we must ensure that the only altar we worship is Christ—that relationship with Him and putting God first above everything else in our lives. And when we do that and make Him first, everything else comes —everything else we need. We crave something we often can't find; we search it out.

We don't know exactly what it is, but we know something's missing. What's missing is Christ in our lives. That relationship, God is a relational God, and He wants His children to come to Him.

Now, let's explore that in His Word. I'm going to read out of Exodus. I'm going to start with 29:37, the King James Version.

37: Seven days thou shalt make an atonement for the altar, and sanctify it; and it shall be an altar most holy: whatsoever touches the altar shall be holy.

The New International Version says:

37: For seven days make atonement for the altar and consecrate it. Then the altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will be holy.

And then finally, the Tree of Life Version, again Exodus 29:37,

37: You are to make atonement for the altar for seven days, and so sanctify it. The altar will be most holy, and whatever touches it will become holy.

Now, when we look at Exodus 29: 42-46 in the King James Version,

42:This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.

43: And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory.

44: And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest's office.

45: And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.

46: And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the Lord their God.

And when we look at that in the New International Version, again Exodus 29: 42-46,

42: "For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord. There I will meet you and speak to you;

43: there also  I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.

44: "So I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests.

45: Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

46: They will know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the Lord their God.

And then, again, Exodus 29: 42-46, The Tree of Life Version.

42:  It is to be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before Adonai. There I will meet with you, to speak with you there.

43: I will meet with Bnei-Yisrael there. So it will be sanctified by My glory.

44: "So I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar. I will also sanctify Aaron and his sons to minister to me as kohanim.

45: So I will dwell among Bnei-Yisrael and be their God.

46: Then they will know that I am Adonai their God, who brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, so that I may live among them. I am Adonai their God.

I did not pronounce that correctly, but Father always wanted me to do the Tree of Life version. So those of you that can speak that better, so be it. Maybe even comment and let me know how to say it correctly.

God is serious about a relationship with him as he was in the days of Moses. Sin separates us from God. In Exodus, God set up a system of sacrifices so people could approach Him after a purification process.

God sent His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross so that we could gain access to a relational God. Before Christ, the priests were the people's representatives before God. Christ's death on the Cross allowed us to have a direct fellowship and communion with God, with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

A direct line of communication through Jesus's Holy Spirit, His compassionate, merciful, healing Spirit that now dwells and lives within us if we believe in His death and resurrection truly in our hearts. And we are transformed and renewed by His presence, His holy presence in all we do. Guiding us like a beacon of light on a dark hill, carrying us through times of turmoil, adverse circumstances, and periods of drought in our finances,  in our lives, in our careers, and so many things.

What is God saying to us, His true church?

He's saying  I desire to communicate with My children, but most do not know Me. They make material possessions as altars in their life, and they worship them. They build up these altars and serve them by working all the time, worshiping what they built, a mountain of wealth that serves no one. They do these things and crave something they can't quite understand, only to be hungry and thirsty again and lack fulfillment.

When they seek Me, as I say in My Word, they will be fulfilled, and I will supply all their needs. They need only to knock, and the door shall be open, seek and they shall find.

He's saying I'm waiting at the altar of their hearts. What is filling up that reserved space for Me, for My love? What are they obeying?

Whose voice are they listening to? My sheep know My voice, the Whisper; come to Me, all who are heavily laden, and I will give you rest. Seek Me, seek My kingdom, seek My glory, seek My rest, My joy, My children. Put Me above anything else. Seek Me first before you seek things of this world that last briefly.

In my own life and when I share my testimony, as I like to reflect, no drug, no glass of wine, no food, nothing filled me, nothing took the "icky" away, nothing lifted that weight off.

I would sit outside, and it would be a beautiful day. But I wouldn't see it because I was dead inside. Struggling to fit into a world I didn't understand and didn't even think saw me struggling to take off the apron of trauma and just find joy. But I couldn't. I'd get angry; I didn't know why. I'd curse; I didn't know why. I reached for everything I could, but Christ. I couldn't sleep at night. I had no peace. None. All I saw was darkness. It didn't matter.

We purchased a sailboat, rode in it everywhere, or piloted it everywhere. Often, I'd feel out of control and have fear, and I couldn't even truly enjoy that. It was like there was always something missing. I was there in the moment but not present in the moment, not living in them. And even in our house then, we lived in a country club, a gated community. Nothing, nothing helped me. I felt dead longing for something. I threw myself into being an emergency room nurse for almost 30 years and thought if I healed everybody else, I'd heal myself, losing myself and sacrificing and serving others.

It didn't work. So many things never worked. My shame, guilt, fear, regret, everything threatened to consume me. I needed just one moment without the constant negative thoughts saying I was worthless. It didn't matter I was a published author. It didn't matter that I would, you know, be in charge in the emergency room. It didn't matter that I was professionally successful. It didn't matter that I had a man who loved me in my life.

 I didn't even know how to love David when he came into my life. I didn't know what healthy was, what normal was. I sought out abnormal. I sought out chaos and drama, so I thrived in the emergency department all those years. Until I started having panic attacks and anxiety, driving and just getting sweaty and thinking I was suffocating and drowning.

It was my childhood trauma, the leftover, the residue that was coming out from my multiple sexual assaults, as I now know was human trafficking and the death of my father, the loss of him to suicide. But I lost him before that when he returned from Vietnam to trauma, alcoholism, and trying to cope. He abandoned me as a dad. He did. I spent many years trying to find a father, someone to love me,  accept me for who I am,  and let me know that I was fearfully, beautifully, and wonderfully made. No male I put in my life, and I slept with many men. Oh, a lot. That ache never went away. I was looking for love in all the wrong places.

Christ is the only thing that set me free; from the moment the Holy Spirit, that compassionate, merciful spirit came inside me. When I repented of all my sins and surrendered and died to myself to be resurrected and transformed by His marvelous light. And I owe him everything because He took it away. I had joy and the "icky," the weight of it all, left me.

It doesn't matter the chaos of the world. It doesn't matter the darkness. I have joy. I have hope. I love to get up and seek Him. I'm able to sit quietly, and I'm so full of peace, and I'm able to sleep through the night, and I don't need the addiction of food to cope, or sex, or drugs, or money, or material possessions.

I sold everything to follow Him: my sailboat, FJ Cruiser, and that house on the golf course. We now live in a tiny home on 10 acres of land, surrounded by still waters and green pastures. I'm happy, full of joy, at peace, so at peace, a peace that surpasses all understanding. I am the living, breathing example of  God manifesting in our lives. You can walk in it too. Seek His presence, seek out the Holy Spirit, the true gospel, the true church. Where two or three are gathered in His name, seek Him, stretch out your hand.

Check out our blogs at Reflective Spaces Ministry if you don't know how. I wear many hats, and one of them is the Founder of the nonprofit prophetic healing ministry. Seek that avenue out if you need other resources. You can find my contact information,  but if I've done nothing more this Reflective Hour than have you see Him, I've done my job.

Drink of Him. You'll never thirst again. Seek Him. He's waiting.

Holy Spirit, God, fill them with Your peace that surpasses all understanding; help them see You as I see You, love You as I love You, to know You as I know You.

And He's amazing. He's freedom—a true friend.

Thanks for joining this program surrounded by His peace.

Let's rejoice in His goodness.  

He's in charge. I'm just obeying his words, His story. 

See you next time on Reflective Hour with Tammy Toney-Butler.