Thots of Thanks #3

I thank God for the Altar

Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The altar can alter the Family.

I find that church billboard message to be very cool, not only because of its truths, but because of its play on words.

I do not know who the first person was in my family to find the altar of God, thus altering the course of future generations; because I do not know how far back Christianity goes in my ancestry. I do know that I am the 4th generation on both sides of my family to know Christ and become a covenant member of The Church of God.

When I was a little girl (tomboy ;)…I would get into all kinds of trouble. I loved to climb the flag pole at church in my dress, knee high white socks and mary jane shoes. My pastor Grandad ended up taking down the flag pole and digging up the “switch bush” in front of the church just to spare his grandchildren I guess; removing the temptation and punishment in one fell swoop. Ha!

As I have shared before, another altar that affected my life was a little red pillow, (all my mom’s décor pillows were red back then, so the color didn’t have any special significance). After some serious infraction of the rules, I would receive my punishment and explanation (uh, that would be a spanking and a looooong lecture. Ha!)….then I would be asked to kneel down on the little red pillow and ask God to forgive me.

I didn’t like making my parents upset, and of course I didn’t enjoy the spanking. Honestly I would have rather gotten another spanking just to get out of the lecture…hahahahaha….but it was that talk with God that “got me” the most. I may have shed tears over the pain of the punishment, but it was my heart that cried when I had to explain my sin to God and ask His forgiveness. I had a tender heart and really wanted to please God the most. I don’t remember having to kneel on that pillow very often, but the few times that I did it seemed to be very effective on my spirit.

Although, I don’t own any “red pillows” now, I still find the need for a frequent altar so that my life will remain altered by Jesus Christ.

Paul explained:
Eph 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Paul desired as a spiritual parent that the Ephesian Saints and future generations would be altered by an altar so that …

…we would faint not
…we would be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
…Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith;
…we would be rooted and grounded in love,
…we may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
…we would know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
…we might be filled with all the fulness of God. Eph 3:13, 16-19

Yep, that’s what my parents wanted for me too!
Thank you for altering my life with that little red altar.

Happy Thanksgiving Mom & Dad!
I love you!!!

Tammy Washburn - Thanksgiving Devotion - #3