What are altars?
Structure on which offerings are made to a deity. The Hebrew word for altar is mizbeah [;eBzim], from a verbal root meaning "to slaughter.

Altars were places where the divine and human worlds interacted.

let's get started.
who was Abram?
We meet him through his linage in Chapter 11 of Genesis, as the son of Terah, who took Sarai (the barren woman) as his wife.

The first altar
Abram understood sacrifice.

His faith moved him! Believing in a God of the impossible!
we we're all like Abram.. lost, searching, messing up, waiting for the call from Him... even thought we may not know it.
Abram's first altar was an altar of Promise

It was the promise that made him move, the promise that made him stay.
do you have a promise?
Have you asked God for your promise.. the one that you can build an altar on and remind God about. Why has God called you out of your circumstance, where is He calling you?

voor sy vyande bou Abram 'n altar aan die God wat hom uitroep uit Ur.

God sal sorg vir die dinge wat ons nodig het om te doen wat Hy ons geroep het om te doen!!

ons geloof word getoets, maar dit is net om ons sterker te maak vir die pad wat voorle!!

in our lives an altar is not a heap of stones, not a physical-man-built thing, but it is a coming to the Lord in desperation.
'n gejaag na die wind as jy wil.
we build altars in the spirit and we also bring sacrifice before the Lord.
but now, let's look at the second altar

Abram's second altar

the more time we spend with God the more we want to build His praise. as Shawn said in week 2 of Game of Thrones, if He is greater in our lives than anything else, then we want to talk about Him, praise Him, declare His goodness. we want to exalt Him, worship Him.

Abram was called, just like us, to Salvation, a new beginning, but also to service and sacrifice.

but it is after this time of moving away from God that Abram builds the 3 altar, the Altar of No Return..

Abram comes back to God. He realizes that he can't do it without God and builds a new altar where the old one stood.

He beleived God for the impossible, he saw miracles, he even had his name changed, although that only happened much later.

Abram, who would later become Abraham's, life is a full, exciting and adventurous one. Take time and read through his story.. you will surely find comfort, guidance and faith through it.

Even after building the Altar of no return, Abram still made mistakes and missed the mark some days, but he had an overwhelming 'knowing' that God will take care of him.

The Altar of Possession
it is one thing to have a 'given promise', it is another to have a 'possessed promise'
Hebrews 13:15
through Him every promise is yes and amen.
we can't try to live lives from prophecy to prophecy, but from fulfillment to fulfillment..

The altar is a place where your life can be altered!

Each time he brought a sacrifice.... Today we don't have to slaughter animals, but we sacrifice in other ways. giving our time to serve others, bringing the tithe to the store house, offering and alms. we sacrifice through our giving.

We need to take hold of, possess through faith the promises of God!

where are you my friend, at which altar do you find yourself?