You Can't Lose Your Altar

Genesis chapter 12 very very familiar passage of Scripture if you haven't been saved I mean if you have been saved for any amount of time you have probably heard about the man that we're going to talk about today is name is Abram in particular in particular God came to Abram and this verse right here I think most all of us have read it at least once or twice or 20 or 30 or 40 times but in verse 1 it says now the Lord has said to Abram get out of your country get away from your kindred get away from your father's house to the land that I will show you now let me tell you something it's one thing to get away from your country and to pick up and move and start all over if you're young you know when you're young you ain't got no sense and you just go for it how do I know that I've been there done that but you know I want you to understand that Abram was about proximately 75 years old when God said I'm ordering a change for your life you're like God why didn't what you could have just done this in my 30s if it would have been a lot easier and not only that but his wife Sarah was 65 years old about that time and here comes God just when you least expect him to change your world or to rock your world here he comes telling you to get away from your country your family your father's house and go to a land that I will show you that always gets me right there because he didn't even give him specific a specific place to go he just said I'm gonna show you so in awe in other words if you're gonna find out where I want you to go you have to start moving by faith you're gonna have to start look at somebody and tell him you got to move by faith and so the Bible says in verse 4 that Abraham departed as the Lord spoke unto him verse 7 and it says and then the Lord appeared to Abram and he said to your descendants I will give this land and there at that moment he built an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him go on down into verse 10 the Bible says now there was a famine in the land and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell therefore the famine was severe in the land and it came to pass when he was close to entering into Egypt that his he said to Sarah I want you to listen to this smooth operator right here he he said to Sarah his wife he said look indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance therefore it will happen that when the Egyptians see you that they will say this is his wife and they will kill me but they will let you live please say that you are my sister so that it can be well with me for your sake oh my god he is such a talker and that I may live because of you so it was when Abram came into Egypt that the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful the princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh and the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house he treated Abraham well for her sake well thank you sir he had she he had sheep and oxen and male donkeys male and female and and servants the female servants and female donkeys and camels so in other words this man just loaded Abraham up because of Sarah but the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because because of Sarah Abraham's wife and family didn't say Abraham's sister he said fake their a Sarah Abraham's wife and pharaoh and pharaoh called abram and said what is this that you have done to me why did you not tell me that this was your wife why did you say that she was your sister I might have taken her as my wife now therefore here is your wife take her and go your way because there is trouble that'll make the devil let you go because when God gets on your team and he starts fighting for you see when it comes to them that kind of fight you are no match for God so now now therefore here here take your wife take her and go away so Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him and they shoot him away and his wife and all that he had what I think is cool right there is in spite of his mess-ups Pharaoh did not take the things that he had given him he let him go with all of the blessings that he had given him that that's something right there to me and then go to 13 and 1 and then Abram went up from Egypt what I want you to notice is in verse 10 of 12 and verse 10 the Bible said he went down into Egypt but now he's on his way up and go to verse 3 and he went on his journey from the south as far as Bethel to the place where his tent had been at the beginning between Bethel and AI to the place of the altar which he made it there at first and there Abram called on the name of the Lord we're talking about guardrails today and I don't know any other guardrail in your life that is any more powerful than your prayer life your altar is a major guardrail in your life look at your neighbor on the right and say neighbor whatever you do you can't lose your all turn turn to your other neighbors say neighbor you can't lose your altar oh you can you can't afford to lose or alter your life revolves around God your life revolves around hearing his voice so whatever you do you gotta be able to hear him and the way you hear him it's when you build an altar and you give him your ear father today I love you and I thank you thank you for your word thank you that the grass will wither but the flower will fade but your word will always abide it will be there it will stand fast in our lives today I don't know who needs what I am about to say but I pray God that by your spirit that you will give every person in this room and those that are watching online and ear to hear and when we leave here we believe you changed because of your word not because of a person but because of your word bless now in Jesus name somebody holla Amen on your way down hit somebody and tell him to lose the altar the Hoosier altar I'm gonna give you just a quick backdrop just to kind of set this up for you a little bit this morning the Bible said that in the beginning that God created everything he created everything he created the Sun the Moon the Stars the galaxies he divided the waters that were above the firmament from the waters that were beneath the firmament he created the earth he created the world he created the entire universe and then once he created it he populated it and he populated what he created with plants and with fish with vegetation with birds with animals and ultimately finally with human beings and the Bible said that I was good as a matter of fact the Bible said it was very that is until Adam and Eve violated the one and the only rule that they are created gave them to obey he said of all the trees the millions of trees that are here he said you can eat from all of them but there is one tree one fruit in specific one fruit tree in specific that you are not allowed to touch and when they chose to ignore the grave warning that came from their Creator and decided to eat it anyway it changed everything their choice to disobey God was an act of rebellion and out of that act of rebellion it changed the entire way that the world would operate before the fall took place with Adam and Eve everything worked a hand in hand it worked in synchrony it was synchronized and it worked and it flowed by the grace of God but afterwards after the fall the world became characterized not by peace joy righteousness but it became characterized by suffering by disease by pain by selfishness by violence and by death the entire human race became so corrupt that God decided he wouldn't destroy the entire earth every person that was on the earth and he decided he would do it through a flood he did that and he destroyed every person except for one man and this one man his name was Noah and he preserved Noah and his entire family and he gave the world through this he gave the world a brand new beginning but several generations later after this new beginning even though the population rebounded the moral conduct the moral condition of people it did not rebound and and yet what I think is so amazing about God is that rather than turn his back on his creation and rather than turn them over to their self-destructive ways he decided he would establish a plan to redeem his world and he did it by beginning with one man he would make this one man a recipient of his grace and he would establish him as the founding father of a new nation in in time this new nation that would be established it would become the nation it would become a means whereby that God could have the opportunity to be introduced to every person the one the true the Living God would have the opportunity to be introduced and be connected with every person God's redemptive plan for his world began at the choice of just one man whose name was Abram now we know him by the name Abraham that's what we call him but he was born Abram and at a very critical point in his life God changed his name but for the first 99 years of his 175 years he answered to the name of Abram Abram was just an ordinary citizen he was an ordinary member of society he was no different from his neighbors as a matter of fact like his neighbors and like his relatives he worshipped idols he was into mythology he chose to believe mythology is truth and yet it was to Abram this sinful superstitious I don't worship her that God showed up and appeared to him and said leave your country your kindred get away from your father's house to a land that I will show you and he gave him some promises and he said to him if you'll do this I'll make you agree he said I'll make you a great nation I will bless you I will make your name great I will make you famous I will bless you to be a blessing I will bless those that bless you and I will curse those that curse you and through you sir all of the family the families of the earth will be blessed why Abram out of everybody why would God go to him just get somebody next to you and tell him it was just grace it was grace it was nothing more than grace he he did nothing to earn this he did nothing to deserve this and only heaven holds the reasons as to why God would pick this man whose name was Abram God simply wanted to use him and because he wanted to use him he appeared to him he was chosen by God he was blessed by God and as a result of the relationship that the two of them established he became the one to whom God would reveal his secrets he became the one that God would refer to oh that's my friend Abraham he was one of the first great intercessors that the Bible talks about his prayer life caused him to know God and knowing God was important because in knowing God it gave him the faith to step out and to believe God Abram was a man of many many convictions he was a man of principle he was a man of wealth he was a man that had lots of promises and yet his hope was never in the promises his hope was in the promise her because let me tell you something today the God the God that is behind the promise is greater than the promise and he told us in his word that if you keep your mind stayed on me I will keep you in perfect peace Abraham was greatly blessed by God and he yet he told us as long as you cling to things that are material you will never embrace the reality of the promises of God Abram could have never become Abraham he could have never become the father of the faithful he could have never become a mighty man of faith if he had continued to live his life where he had lived it for 75 years in the land of her her was full of idolatry had he stayed there he would have it would have serious affected the outcome of his life think about your life think about the places that had God not pulled you out of you would not be where you are today but God in His grace and God in His mercy came to you revealed himself to you and said get out of here you don't belong here and so God came to Abram he said get out he said even though I know this is your home this is your comfort zone he said I am calling you to come out of here and Abram had to lay lay it all on the altar him and his old self and stop he had to stop and he had to walk away from his comfort zone because comfort and growth never coexist I said comfort and growth never coexist so in order to make an advancement in the kingdom of God he had to lay some things on the altar let me tell you today that if you're ever going to have any real advancement in the kingdom of God it will involve an altar on which you lay pieces and fragments and and and things that are dear to you you will have to lay them on the altar every last one of them if you did not get the if you were not here for the service when when pastor Meadows was here I want to encourage you to pick that up because he gave us he gave us a view of the altar that was incredible but Abram Abram understood that altar let me tell you something about him Abram ultimately Abram loved God and he served God and he he absolutely believed God and he consecrated himself to God he was a great husband he was a great he was a great friend but the thing that made him such a great person was was not oh not not not all of his money are not only his cattle are not the things that God that God had blessed him with the things that made him a great man was the fact that he understood what it meant to have an altar what is an altar if you think about it it is more than what you are looking at up here on this stage an altar is a place where where where where thing began to change in your life it's the place where change occurs think about alterations you take your clothes to an alterations place and when you take them back out they are different than they were when they went in why because they have been altered it is where you touch the Almighty that's what the altar is and it's also where the Almighty turns around and touches you it is the place where you humble yourself when you go to the altar you humble yourself and that's important because I don't care how tall you are you still have to look up in order to see him an altar is a place that you have set aside exclusively for communication between you and God can I tell you if you never never ever own a house or a car if you never own your own business if you never have a tailor-made suit if you never have fine jewelry or furs or anything that the world would call luxury if you never have any of that it is imperative that you have an altar if you never have a friend if you never have a child if you never have a spouse if you never have anybody that you can call a confidant to your life if you have him you will have everything you you've got to have that altar every believer needs a spot in their life that they mark out and they say this right here is praying ground if I can just get to my praying ground it's going to be all right in my house look at somebody and tell them you need praying ground this is a little dry if you could help me with it you need a place in your life where you separate and you isolate yourself a place that you shut yourself in and you shut everybody else out you know what I'm talking about not only do you need a place where you can build a physical altar but you need that spot in your heart that you don't give to anybody else it's the spot that is off-limits to everybody else it is it is it is a place that that you say this is just me and God right here it's the place where you don't let nobody in but God himself it's where the altar is also where you lay a knife to your fleshly attachments and you start cutting things out of your life and you say if I gotta let go of you in order to have more of him then just give me the knife cuz I got to cut this thing out of my life your altar is a place where you don't make any apologies for it I make no apologies for my altar and I make no exceptions for it either when you have an altar you defend it with everything that you have in you and just for the record let me set the record straight and you ought to set it straight too you ought to let people know right up front just because you are in my life it doesn't matter how close we get you will never get my altar you know why because if you get my altar then you've got me I'm not saying you can't love people I'm not saying you can't be good to people but I am saying that there ought to be an inner sanctuary when I can't go to a place and kneel down there ought to be an inner sanctuary a place that is reserved for God alone he's got reserved seating in my heart he's got reserved seating in my life and you don't let anybody sit in the seat that belongs to God you don't let a spouse you don't let kids you don't let friends you don't let your mama you don't let your worries you don't let your bills you don't let anything sit in the seat that belongs to him you don't let anything get in that place because it is that place where God restores you it's there where he renews you it's there where he preserves you and it's there where he stabilizes you I am and you are who you are simply because of that place you are who you are and I am Who I am because of my alter and if I give up my alter I can't be the woman that I need to be you can't be the man that you need to be I can't be the friend I can't be the leader I can't be anybody that I need to be if I don't have an alter because here's why I lose my altar I lose my convictions I lose my consecration I let my standards fall and icier my conscious and then I might become somebody that you don't even know as a matter of fact you might not even be able to recognize me if I lose my alter and that is why I got to keep my alter look at somebody and tell him you can't have my alter having an alter was important Abram had an alter Noah had an alter Moses had an alter Gideon had an alter saw had an alter David had an alter when the rain ceased and the flood subsided the first thing Noah built was not a database so that they could build a ministry the first thing that he built was not a house no it wasn't it wasn't a business he didn't come off the ark and say I'm gonna build a church now well it's the first thing you build the first thing he built was an altar and you know why he did that because he needed a place to offer sacrifices to the God that brought him safely through the storm that he was in my question to you today is do you have a place where you can say I just want to say thank you today Lord a place that says I honor you today because if it had not been for you was on my side I would have never made it through you gotta have a place where you just say God I've given to you that is my altar my Ultra is where my life changes it's where my it's where I wrestled down my desires it's where I decrease and God increases it is where the turning of the soul takes place under the Oh Lord do I lift up my soul what is your soul your will you intellect on your emotions your altar will help you wrestle down the old man and allow the new man to come to life we need our altar God will give you answers at your altar look at somebody and ask them have you prayed about it it will give you answers at the altar he'll give you direction at the altar he'll give you strategies and you'll find a way to figure it out and put it all together at the altar he'll give you counsel at the altar he'll give you hope when you are at the altar and nothing will anchor you nothing will save you nothing will hold your steadfast unmovable like having an altar in your life when I have been through the fire and I've been through the storm if I have an altar in my life I can say winds go ahead and blow but when it is all said and done I'm go still go that direction because that's the direction that God has assigned me to go when your heart is overwhelmed a good thing about God is when you got him you don't have to run to people oh you don't have to call people when your heart gets overwhelmed you can say leave me to the rock that is higher than I am because this word said call on me in the day of trouble and he said I will answer you Abram had an altar he had faith he had an assignment from God and he was going to do it but then something happened and he went down into Egypt what does that mean best friend going down into Egypt is pretty much like aligning yourself with the world with the spirit of this age it's like you depend on the arm of flesh and Isaiah told us woe unto them that go down into Egypt and I get it I know there was a famine and he got scared but how much better would it have been in his life if he would have just said you know why God him will throw all this back on you you're the one that told me to move you're the one that has me where I am and there is a famine in the land I need you to provide for my household you brought me here God I didn't bring self here how much better would it have been if even just said this up to you god you got to take care of us and rather than trying to rather than trying to see God through a famine what he should have done was he should have solved the famine through God because God says I am Jehovah Jireh and it doesn't matter that you don't have a job it doesn't matter that you don't have a paycheck it doesn't matter that you don't know where your next meal is gonna come from look at it through my eyes I am Jehovah Jireh I've never forsaken you I've never failed you I catch you through this and Abram who was God's friend who was God's man of faith he was a man of integrity a man of character and yet he still went down into Egypt went down there and got sucked into paganism and more idolatry God's friend do you mean God's friend found himself overwhelmed by his environment if God's friend the father of faith finds himself overwhelmed by his environment then that makes me feel a little bit better when I feel overwhelmed by mine so he goes and he messes up and he gets overwhelmed and now the man of faith becomes a man of fear uh who's the woman that's with you sir um that's my sister he lied she wasn't his sister well wasn't she kind of his half-sister there is an element of truth to that yes there is but he meant it as a lie he meant it as alive and now because of what he is facing God's friend God's a man of faith God's a man of power he has now become a liar why in the world would Abraham lie I'll tell you why because one sin will always lead to another once and I'm gonna get much help in here today but one sin will always lead to another and so when Abram lost his altar he lost his faith when he lost his faith he went down into Egypt and when he got down into a gym he lost his courage and now he's become a lion do you see how little by little by little the progression of his life started going downward you´d he went down into a Jeff and he started lying you'd be shocked to know how many Liars are in the church you'd be shocked people that lie and they don't even have to lie they lie oh and they'll tell you my friends that they don't have they'll tell you about money that they don't have they'll tell you about accomplishments that they never accomplished and they do it just so that they can feel like they can fit in they compromise their standards they compromise their principles they compromise their character just so that they can be accepted Abraham was terrified and because he was terrified now he commits a cowardly indefensible act and he endangers his own wife whose name is Sarah he exposed Sarah to danger he exposed her to rape and he did it all because of fear and all because of selfishness the man of faith the man of promise he was doing so great until he went down into Egypt and he was on his way to the promised land he was on his way to his vision to his purpose to his destiny but because he went down into Egypt now he's becoming something that even himself he doesn't like what he is saying he should have never went down there it's somebody next to you and tell him to stay out of Egypt stay out of Egypt I just some places that you don't go you think y'all hear me today there are just some places you don't go there are just some things you don't do there are just some people that you don't hang out with and it doesn't matter who you are and it doesn't matter what your title is he was the friend of God but he still needed some boundaries in his life he still needed some guardrails in his life oh yeah I don't care how alone as you are even anointed people need guardrails [Applause] that means you don't stick your head in every conversation sometimes you just walk by and you're like no matter that it don't stick your head in every door that opens every door is not a blessing I said every door is not a blessing you don't answer every call that comes on your phone I've told you before get caller ID identify the devil that's what ID stands for I don't care how anointed you are you need some boundaries in your life whatever like I'm not talking to you today because I am talking to you I'm talking to you I'm talking to me I'm talking to all of us and it's time for us to quit being phony and begin to realize that temptation is coming to every man we need to stop having church long enough to say you know what hey I've got some issues I've got some problems my issues are not your issues but that doesn't mean I don't have them because I do have them and if I don't identify them they will become huge distractions in my life look at somebody you tell him you better you better identify them so there are certain places that you don't go there are certain things you don't do isn't matter that other people can do it you can't you gotta keep walking do not pass go do not collect $200 you gotta stay focused because the what will end up happening is it will end up becoming a distraction a distraction not just a distraction but it could be a Dalila distraction you know those kind of those kind of distractions so sometimes you have to look at stuff and say listen I can't even afford to give you an inch I can't give you an inch because if I give you it's gonna take a mile I cannot afford to get set back you are a setback in my life waiting to happen and so I can't afford that if I keep laying my head in Samson in the lap of Delilah eventually she's gonna take your hair she's gonna take your strife she's gonna take your vision that she's going to take your life I can't keep acting like this is not an issue this is an issue and if you have one identifier admit it and whatever you do stay away from it it doesn't matter who says it's okay you'll ain't okay I said it ain't okay it ain't all right because it could set you back it can make you relapse it could cause you to go back into something that God brought you out of and it don't let my friends said they can't it don't matter what your friends can do what matters is what you can't do you gotta work out your own salvation the Bible says with fear and trembling and until you get some things worked out of you you better stay away from two Lila because you're not strong enough yet and a man that don't know is over a woman that don't know their own weakness it's a fool look at somebody tell them don't be a fool is expensive it will cost you your stuff it will cost you your life Abram went down into Egypt and he compromised his wife safety and the bad thing about it is he didn't even have to do it but he did it and the very second the very minute that he did it uh that's my wife that that's that that's what this just my sister it was like oh God why did I do that have you ever said that to yourself like oh I mean the very minute y'all can't say Amen right now but it's true the very minute you said that was so stupid what the / was I thinking I'm crazy why did I do that you of all people a bruh you how did you get in this conversation how did you get in that room how did you get on that website how did you get there I'll tell you how you got that sir you ignored the guardrails that God had put in your life and now because of that things that used to be under your control I'm not under your control anymore they have become out of control why because you went down into Egypt and once you allowed yourself to go pass one guardrail over another guardrail and you become undisciplined and you become lazy and you're slacking your prayer life and you just chill and you let down your guard and you let down your standard I'm telling you your flesh will begin to increase your flesh will increase in Egypt your flesh will rob you of every promise that God has made to you your flesh will start flexing its muscles if you go down into Egypt and I told you if you give it an inch it will take a mile and when it happens it's so embarrassing it's embarrassing because now the thing that you used to have the victory over now the thing that you used to have the power over the thing that used to be under your feet that you used to shout about the thing that you have reckoned as dead now it's alive and it's well and you don't want to tell anybody because how do you tell them that you went down into Egypt it's embarrassing because so many people respect you so many people look to you France or so many people has confidence in you and the reason that they have confidence is because you used to have a real prayer life you used to be an assassin you used to be a prayer warrior Abram used to have all kinds of power in your prayer life so of course people look to you they believed in you they trusted in you so how do you tell them I don't have the power used to have because I went down into Egypt I lost from my prayer life I lost my altar I disregarded the guardrails disregarded the guardrails in my life oh and that puts you in such a miserable place and here's why because whenever you have had the real power of God in your life and you don't have it to the dimension that you and one time had it it messes you up because once you've known the real power of prayer I'm talking about when you tap into that realm where it's not just you pray out of your head but it comes up out of your spirit when you have had when you have known the real anointing of God when you've had a real walk with God when you had a real commitment with God a real communion with God a real relationship with God you will know the difference between what is genuine and what is generic what is pure and one is unpure what is pure and what is tainted what is true and what is untrue you know the difference how many of you know what I'm talking about if you've ever encountered God you know what it's like when you tap into the real thing yet somebody telling me nothing like the real thing pain he went down into each of our chew to just follow this with me for a moment he went down into Egypt when he did he picked up a few things that was never the will of God for his life picked up a relationship that wasn't the will of God for his life picked up a woman by the name of Hagar picked up a soul tie there is souls that have never been tied up in now he's making wrong decisions wrong choices hooking up with wrong people making wrong connections now he's connected to somebody that ends up pulling an Ishmael out of him Ishmael his son Ishmael his name means a wild ass there are certain people that will pull things out of you that you might not even realize you have in you oh I slept with her she was bound and he slept with the bound and whenever you sleep with the bounds you gonna be bound yourself because you can't lay down with less and never expect to get up with more cuz it does not work like that oh [Music] god help us today look at somebody on your right and say hey guys waiting for you in Egypt tell your other neighbor hey guys waiting for you in Egypt Hagar distracted him broke his focus Hagar got him off cause Hagar set this man of God back she slowed him down and she almost destroyed his marriage almost destroyed his ministry and delayed his destiny and he would have never ever been through any of that had he stayed up out of Egypt but instead of instead of abiding within the boundaries and the guardrails that were in his life he climbed all over them and he got into trouble that he did not have to get into I want to tell you today that trouble is waiting for you in Egypt but God has put a guardrail in your life that is called prayer not only did he jeopardize his future and his destiny he'll his assignment but he jeopardized his wife's assignment to because to endanger Sarah at this point in the scripture would have been to endanger the promise of God Sarah you gotta understand was beautiful she was gorgeous but in the Bible days Beauty would only set women up Sara could have been raped she could have been abused she could have a whole lot of things could have happened to her this is what I want you to see now look how his whole family is at risk because he lost his altar he ignored the guardrails he ignored his prayer life he didn't pay any attention to the boundaries and so now he compromises her safety and they did it because he ignored the flashing lights he ignored the warning signs his faith got weak God could have provided for him in a famine but instead now he starts losing his faith because he lost his altar and now the ignored now he's ignoring the very thing that God put in his life to protect him and let me tell you something whenever you mess up like that it don't just affect you do you hear me it affects everything that's connected to you so if you don't do it for yourself do it for those that are connected you to you but whatever you do hit somebody tell her stay out of Egypt stay out of Egypt Abram had it all somebody lost it and when you lose your altar is such a whole family up for destruction because they will become exposed to stuff that they would have never been exposed to had you not lost Shorter exposed to sin exposed to danger exposed to disease exposed to hate exposed to crime oh because somebody that was riding with you when you jumped the guardrail and you lost your halter now every passenger in your car is that risk because of your recklessness and what I love about God is that when Abram didn't have the guts to speak up for Sarah God spoke up for Sarah and God went to Pharaoh and said if you touch that woman right there don't you ever lay your hand on that woman right there Sarah is a praying woman and if you touch a praying woman I will cause so much trouble up in here you will have so much adversity I will shut down everything in Egypt if you touch that woman right there judgment this is a lesson that we don't hear about a lot today but there are some things that we need to shut our mouth about and there are some things that we should not be reaching after and there are some people that we just don't touch don't be grabbing for everything maybe that's the reason your life is not coming together because you are putting your mouth on somebody else's look at somebody tell him get your mouth off of me he Ferrell was warned by God said don't touch her all because Abram lost his altar lost his convictions oh my god everything was at stake he thought he was above it all he worked it out on the journey hey babe just make sure you tell him I'm your I'm your brother that you got my sister we'll work it out I thought he was above the game but even Kings are accountable even men of faith are accountable women of faith are accountable because God is the king of all kings God said if you touch her I'm coming after you Pharaoh and you know what I'm tell you something God says if if you keep touching what you're touching he said I'm gonna come after you and know it may not happen all at once it might just happen little by little piece by piece you might just be like Samson and jump up and get ready to do something that you've always done that's always been easy and it's all you've always had the power to do it but like Samson you'll begin to recognize I don't have the power to do this why because you fooled around and didn't deal with the distractions in your life see as long as Samson remained consecrated as long as he remained aware as long as he remained on the altar he as long as he stayed within his guardrails he was uncomfortable he was strong that the problem is that even strong people Harbor hidden weaknesses I said strong people Harbor hidden weaknesses and the secret of this man's strength was in his hair it was in his consecration and it was in his altar and when he lost his altar he lost his consecration when he lost his consecration he lost his hair when he lost his hair he lost his strength when he lost his strength and gouged out his eyes which means they took away his vision and little by little somebody said little by little little by little he lost his alter his consecration his hair his strength his vision oh how the mighty have fallen he was strong at least he thought he cuts withstand all of it but the Bible says wherefore let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Samson lost his alter Abram lost his alter and had it not been for a God that watches over his children she would have been raped and he would have lost his wife but God spoke up and started talking to Pharaoh they all got sick all the Pharaohs crew got sick they were all about to die they got so sick Pharaoh knew something had to be God said don't touch that woman what does he do he goes and he tells Abram man you lied to me that ain't your sister why'd you lie to me I just like almost touched her and look at it we got plagues that I broke out everywhere people are sick everywhere we got trouble that's breaking out on the rider on the Left what I want you to do is I want you to take her and I want you to get out of my face and I don't want to ever see you back in here again get her and get out of here and not only this payroll get sick but all of his palace pimps got sick with him because if you share in the crime you ought to share in the punishment get out of here Abram as well as his character because he lost his courage he lost his courage because he lost his faith he lost his faith because he lost his altar and the only way to get back to where he was the only recourse that he would have was to retrace his steps he lays eyes on Sarah perfect I'm so glad to see are you okay let me just look at you well I look at you I just get so disgusted with myself but we're gonna we're gonna be all right God spoke up for you Sarah I can't even I can't even take the credit for it what may God spoke up for you they caused Pharaoh to release you to release me and I don't know a whole lot that I can do to get us out of this mess but I will tell you something we are gonna come out of it we'll just take my hand Sarah because we're gonna come out of this we may have to cry but we're coming out of it it may take you a minute to trust me again but I'm telling you we're gonna come out of it I've failed you when I promised you this we're going to come out of this I lost my courage my veins my character I lost it all but I promise you I am going to bring us through this God is going to help me I failed you I failed our family I fail god I've failed everybody but I promise you we will come through this together I fooled around too long but we'll come and help our blessings have been delayed I've compromised your safety oh my god and I got to live with that every time I laid down I got to live with the fact that I did that to you I did stuff that I'm ashamed of I'm sorry we will come out of this I hooked up with wrong people they pulled stuff out of me I didn't even know what's there I let wrong people in my life but we will come out I want you to touch somebody on both sides of you and tell them we're coming out we're coming out we're coming out we're coming out of this we're coming out of this we're coming out of this I don't know who I'm talking to what somebody needs to hear me there is a family there's a man there's a woman there's somebody in this room today that needs to hear me when I tell you you are coming out of this you are coming out of this you are coming out of this and it may not happen with us in a flash but you will come out of and I tell you that because it's not an event it is a journey it is not an invidious it is a journey and you can get out if you want to get out and I take you a minute but you can get out [Music] tell somebody were coming out I'm on my way back to that place Sarah I'm gonna take your gone back to that place I'm going back to my prayer life I'm going back to my relationship with God I'm going back to my concentration I'm going back to putting him first in my life I'm going back to where he's the first person I talked to in the morning and he's the last person I talk to at night I'm going back to building my altar oh my god you have been so good to me how could I have ever went so long when you have been so good but I promise you got out never forget what you have done in my life how can I ever forget how you came and you rescued us I remember I [Music] remember the relationship that we had I remember how when I woke up in the morning I wanted to talk to you and I laid down at night I wanted to lay some things on you I remember that I'm going back to that I'm going I'm going back to my altar I'm gonna I'm going back to my altar I'm gonna recognize the guardrails that you have put in my life I should have never been over on that side of the guardrail I should have been here I should have been within these boundaries and I would have never lost my alter then Abram went back to the place where his tent was at the beginning back to the place of the altar and it was there that Abram called on the name of the Lord he went back to his consecration he went back to his communion with God he went back to his prayer life and let me tell you something when your altar has been destroyed if you want it back you got to do some building you got to be look at somebody telling you gotta build it back how do I read how do I build it back you build it back by going to God and say God restore unto me the joy of thy salvation Lord renew in me a clean heart renew a right spirit within me cast me not away from your presence Oh God cleanse me from my secret faults have your way in my life will ends me from unrighteousness because God I want my altar back more than I wanted in say this I can't get my altar I can't get everything else back but God [Music] I'll get my friends back I'll get my reputation back so I'm asking you to take God give me my altar if I never get the job I gotta have the altar if I never get the house I've got to have an altar if I never have a friend if I never have a child if I never have a husband if I never have a wife I have got to have an altar in my life and I will worship until I worship my way back I will cry until I get back there I'll praise until I get back there but I got to have my altar I want my altar back I want my name back I want my reputation back I want my credit back and whatever it cost I will pay the full price now do not put it on sale [Music] sarah has failed it being your husband but I'm gonna change that cuz I'm gonna get my altar back you know the roles could be reverse and Sarah could be saying I failed it being your wife but I want to get my altar back because I've got to have it because when you don't have an altar it's like being at home without a phone you just feel totally disconnected so if you've lost your altar then you found yourself in Egypt you got to rebuild it in order for to be rebuilt some veils have to be driven there's got to be some noise it won't be quiet the Hammers got a ring you're gonna rebuild back what you've lost because you've ignored the guardrails that God has put in your life I don't know who I'm talking to today but I want to pray a corporate prayer for every person who says I want my altar back I want to ask you I got a minute I want you to get out of your seat and coming to this altar if that's you and you say I want to build it back I want to build it back I want to build it back I want to get back to the point where I recognize the boundaries the lines that God has put in my life I want to be the leader in the house again I want to be the leader of my home again I want to be a person of a character integrity and I'm willing to commit to God and do what it takes to get it back maybe you're watching online today as you say I want it back I want to build it back master for any oh what a building back I can't live like this I can't live one I can't confess what they could be something else I made it come clean before God if that's you I want you to lift up your hands all over this room wherever you are lift up your heads open your mouth and tell God god help me I'm coming back to the heart of worship cuz it's all about you and a master uterus star to me restore allows restore that children restore my integrity

Channel: Sheryl Brady

Views: 92,814

Rating: 4.8455601 out of 5

Keywords: Pastor Sheryl Brady, Sheryl Brady, The Potter's House of North Dallas

Id: nr7iA-fFG4A

Length: 57min 51sec (3471 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 13 2018