Refill Needed

The altar of God is a place of healing, but many just see it as a place of judgment or punishment. They fear approaching a holy God, probably because they don't understand the intensity of his love, nor the extreme privilege of his grace. We need to see the altar as a place of encouragement, where we are filled with the presence of God, and celebrate his goodness, grace, and strength.

Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy. (Psalm 43:3-4)

Discouragement abounds today, making it ever so important to understand where it is we go to find our encouragement. It isn't in the rise of the stock market, or even the momentary good times we enjoy at family celebrations. It is at the altar that we are renewed and regenerated. It is there we find a lasting peace and an enduring courage for the trials ahead.

Whenever we only see the battle that makes us so weary and worn, we falter. Whenever we proclaim our woes over and over again, we falter. Both of these will drain us of hope quicker than just about anything else. God made a way for hope to be continually renewed, even when it is faltering more than a bit. It is the way of the altar. Light and truth mark that path - they show us the way into his presence, and they guide us out into our daily 'grind'.

There is a different path planned for us that we may not ever see without his light and truth guiding the way. We need those altar times in order to understand his purposes and see clearly the path he has laid out for us to follow. At the altar, we find our hearts want to be unburdened, set free from all the worries and cares of the day. How? His presence dwells there! Wherever his presence dwells, we will enjoy peace. At the altar, we welcome his presence into our lives and come to a place of peace each and every time we approach.

Praise and worship are powerful tools to use against all manner of discouragement in our lives. What are we doing when we praise God? We are using the truth we have been given to encourage our hearts. What's more is that we send our enemy packing each time we declare the name of Jesus, celebrate his goodness, and lean into his grace - all while being refilled, renewed, and regenerated at that altar. Just sayin!