Rebuilding the Altar 2- 1 Kings 18:30-40

By Kevin Forlong on Monday, November 1st, 2010 02:48 pm

The two specific things the Lord has been speaking to me about in relation to a Biblical pattern of worship have to do with what we often refer to as ‘worship’ as it relates to the use of music and singing, etc ... and the place of the preaching/teaching of the Word of God.
 
When we gather in corporate worship, it is with two objectives in mind ... Firstly, to meet with God and enjoy the heightened sense of His presence out of our corporate anointing and faith so that we might personally hear the voice of His Spirit ... Secondly, to be instructed in the Word of God that we may be more like Him and be better aligned to His will and purpose for our lives ... times of personal devotion should have the same objectives in mind. 
 
Psalm 95:1-8
Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2  Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3  For the LORD is the great God, And the great King above all gods.
4  In His hand are the deep places of the earth; The heights of the hills are His also.
5  The sea is His, for He made it; And His hands formed the dry land.
6  Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
7 ¶  For He is our God, And we are the people of His pasture, And the sheep of His hand. Today, if you will hear His voice:
8  "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness,
 
Sing ... shout ... thanksgiving ... praise ... worship (change of posture and tempo) ... listen
 
It is a process and progression designed to prepare us mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually so we become quiet before the Lord and accurately hear what He wants to say to us ... it is about priority and focus ... it takes time and effort to become stilled and to wait upon Him that we might personally hear His voice.
 
It is a progression that enables me to more fully ‘meet with God’ and position myself under His government as an obedient and attentive son or daughter of the King.
 
That is what Praise and Worship is supposed to be all about!
 
2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
17  that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
 
Today, we have a HUGE focus on ‘feel good’ preaching ... and I love that and fully embrace it BUT, I also believe that the Bible shows another perspective which we ignore at our peril ... not all Scripture makes you feel good!
 
Hebrews 10:26-31 reminds us that if we continue in wilful sin we will come to a point where there is no longer any forgiveness ... if we trample over the Blood of Jesus sacrifice for us and in so doing make a mockery of the grace of God ... the judgement of God will fall on us.
 
The Writer reminds us that it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of Almighty God ... and that He still is, in this Day of Grace, a consuming fire!
 
That mightn’t make us ‘feel good’ but, how many of you know we need to hear that?
 
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
4  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
 
Could it be that we are living in that day?
 
Mount Carmel is the mountain of spiritual authority where the powers of darkness are confronted and a nation is turned back to God ... it is the place where the fire falls and drought breaking rain begins to fall
 
Before the fire and rain can fall the Biblical order of worship must be re-established and that involves surrendering our hearts and lives to the government of God. 

• Making intimacy with the Father a priority in both time and effort. 
   
• Understanding that the worship of God involves every decision I make, every priority I choose and every value I hold. 
   
• In times of personal and corporate devotion and expressions of worship we may use music, but as a vehicle to heighten our awareness of God and we are to take the time to quieten our minds and hearts, to wait upon Him and listen to Him 
   
• It means embracing not just the ‘milk’ of the Word ... the nice, easy and comfortable passages of Scripture ... but also to develop an appetite to eat the ‘meat’ of the Word ... the tough and challenging passages that cut into our hearts and challenge our lifestyles and mindsets ... it is giving honour of place to God and His Word.

I am seriously challenged by the need to ensure there is an altar of true Biblical worship in my own life and wonder if we need to see that kind of altar rebuilt in contemporary church life ... it’s critical if we want to see the genuine ‘fire of God’ fall in our day. KRF
 

Rebuilding the Altar 1

By Kevin Forlong on Tuesday, October 26th, 2010 09:22 pm

Over recent weeks the Lord has been speaking to me about some issues that I believe are critical at this time ... let me share some of those thoughts with you ...
 
1. Rebuilding the Altar - 1 Kings 18:30-40
 
Elijah’s ministry culminated in calling down fire and rain on Mount Carmel ... Mount Carmel is the Mountain of Spiritual Authority where the authority of Almighty God is brought to bear ... it is a place of confrontation and demonstration ... it’s a place where mere words are no longer enough, there must be a demonstration ... the fire must fall ... the rain must come.
 
BUT ... before the fire can fall the altar must be re-built and the sacrifice prepared.
 
Fire to purify ... rain to refresh ... AND, it must be in that order!
 
Elijah gathered the people around ... the people needed to be INSTRUCTED and SHOWN how to worship the true God.
 
Jeroboam had smashed the altar down and they had lost an understanding of how to approach God ... Elijah needed to not only repair the altar that had been destroyed but also to educate and demonstrate to the people what needed to be done and how they were to approach God in true worship.
 
Notice also that Elijah repaired an ‘OLD’ altar that had been broken down and discarded ... friends we don’t need some new method or idea but a relevant and contemporary expression of established truth.
 
Elijah brought them back to what had been abandoned and discarded as no longer relevant ... I believe God is wanting to do that again in many places and in many lives ... bring us back to some of the OLD established patterns of Biblical worship so that the fire might fall.
 
Sacrifices by fire ALWAYS smell of burning flesh... that’s what they are made of ... that’s what they are for ... it’s a smell that God finds particularly attractive ... it speaks of a life given over to the purifying holiness and presence of God ... the fire of God.
 
You can only access the Kingdom of God through yielding... through sacrifice ... the more you die the more you live.
 
On the altar, a life is cut open ... everything is exposed ... everything is seen and known ... nothing hidden or secret ... open to the scrutiny of the Presence and Power of God ... able to be searched through by the fire of His Spirit.  KRF
 

The Number 10

By Kevin Forlong on Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 10:50 pm

At the beginning of the year as is my practise I spent some time asking the Lord about the coming year of 2010. What were the priorities on His agenda? What were the things we needed to be aware of, etc?
 
My attention was taken to the number ‘10’ and the Lord began to show me that ‘10’ is the culmination and completion of a previous order and the commencement of a new order. This is not just true in our current decimal system but the numeric values assigned to the letters in ancient Hebrew and Greek languages also reflect the same structure. So in Biblical numerics the number ‘10’ represents a completion of one order of things and the commencement of a new order of things.
 
I felt that prophetically the Lord was saying to me that during this year of 2010 His intention was to commence establishing a whole new ‘order’ in the lives of individuals, ministries and churches that were looking to breakthrough into a greater expression of His purposes in their lives.
 
This has been true for ourselves. It has been amazing how many things have changed during the course of the year and changed without any effort or particular focus from ourselves. It’s like the Lord has just caused things to happen around us and we’ve walked into a ‘new’ thing. It is absolutely fantastic as some of the things that have changed are things that have caused difficulty and pressure in the past and it so refreshing to come into new levels of freedom, provision, fulfilment and fruitfulness.
 
Hey, the years not over yet! It’s still time for new things to emerge around your life, business, ministry, etc. 2010 is definitely a year for the emergence of a new ‘order’ of things for those who reach out for it.  KF