Live

God bent down without a sound
and into the man-thing breathed.
And with one gentle breath
the chest of Adam heaved,
his eyes wide opened,
into the face of LIFE he stared;
and at that very moment,
he saw the LORD who cared.
The First and Last the Eternal Word
the Giver began to give.
The first word ever Adam heard
was the word of God, now “Live.” -id

The Altar of my Heart

In every Cathedral and Catholic Church there is an altar. An altar is where sacrifice is made. Every altar requires a priest. On this planet we have no priest, and on Earth Christians have no altar. The last altar was on a hill outside Jerusalem, and on that altar the sacred blood of the Lamb of God was shed, once and for all. The only altar a Christian has is his heart. With the heart a man believes unto righteousness, and upon that heart are offered the sacrifices of praise and worship. Man was made by God to be a living, breathing, temple. If there is a Holy of Holies in the inner man, it must have a center, and at that center a humble flame of gratitude. Our heart is the altar of our faith. God's Word, its foundation. Spiritually speaking, our heart is not a muscle that pumps blood. Your heart is what you want. It is what you desire and what you love. The heart is a place of sacrifice, not only showing what we want, but what we are willing to give in order to have it. On the other hand, once God has your heart, He has everything. Until then, man lives in the rebellious state where the Herod of “Self” holds court. It is a sunless solar system of sin and self-centeredness rotating around the black hole of self-interest. Without divine intervention, the God rejecting self will end up in a self-created solitary confinement of self-worship, alone forever. That is hell. Since the fall, Man has been at war with God. Christ entered this wilderness of war lords and still stands weaponless outside each gate calling the children of Adam, one by one, to surrender. Most still smile as the Romans did when He, without an army or a display of power, rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. But to the humble and contrite, who opens the door to Him, He is Savior and Lord. He gave Himself a sacrifice for sin on the Cross, that we might be with Him forever. Once we surrender the heart, lay down our arms, and throw open the Gates, the King of Glory comes in. -id