day no. 17,340: in season and out of season

“Never allow a feeling which was stirred in you in the high hour to evaporate. Don’t put your mental feet on the mantelpiece and say — “What a marvellous state of mind to be in!” Act immediately, do something, if only because you would rather not do it.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest 

When we feel spiritual we don't want to do things, we want to enjoy feeling spiritual, but when we don't feel spiritual, we don't want to do things because we feel like it would be disingenuous. 

As a result, we rarely do the things God requires.

When we feel like we are on the mountaintop with Jesus, we want to enjoy being there, not going back down into the demon-possessed valley to do things. 

When we feel like we are in the demon-possessed valley, we don't want to do things because we don't feel like it.

2 Timothy 4:2

Be instant in season, out of season.

What this all amounts to is that we are going to have to obey God when we don't feel like it. We must be instant in season and out of season. We must obey when we're feeling it and when we're not. When we feel like obeying God, we need to take that energy and apply it to the next thing God has for us to do. When we don't feel like obeying God, we need to power through and obey Him anyways.

Our feelings cannot be the basis for our obedience or we will never obey.

day no. 17,083: not even a sliver of sin will make it in

"There is no heaven with a little of hell in it.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

The deadbolt on the door of devilry will fail and the gates of Hell will not prevail. They will give way before the glory of the Lord. The gates of gross will not be able to successfully keep any of God's goodness out. The darkness will not retain a corner of corruption so that not even a sliver of sin will make it in. Satan will not be able to smuggle any secrets into the open air of God.

1 Peter 4:3-5

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

Do not daydream about the nightmare that was your life before Christ. Do not scrapbook your days in Egypt. Forget about the leeks and onions of your days in the dark. Nothing good will come out of providing quarter to yesterday's evils.

Revelation 20:14

And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

Death and Hell will someday be shut out from the light of day. They will be no more.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

No enemies will remain. Some will be converted to friends while the others will be confined to the lake of fire, but none will retain any presence of power in the kingdom of Christ going forward.

Revelation 21:25-27

And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

The gates of glory shall welcome in every repentant friend of God: every friend being a former enemy and every enemy being kept from coming in. No speck of hellish dust will find its away into the streets of Heaven. No pinch of impurity will linger in paradise. 

1 Corinthians 3:12-15

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The gates of Heaven will burn away any dross that knocks at the door and all the chaff will be blown away so that only a harvest of pure gold will enter into glory.

Revelation 22:14-15

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

The tree of life was kept from Adam and Eve after they fell for sin will not live forever; but they were sent out from the Garden of Eden with a promise of a serpent-slayer who would someday secure for them safe passage back to the Tree of Life. In the end, sinners will be sanctified and the fruit of the Tree of Life will be enjoyed by His saints forever and ever, world without end. And amen.

day no. 16,444: we serve that to which we surrender

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful.” — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde’a godless take on temptation testifies to the tyranny of self assessment. Let's look to another Oscar for a more godly take...

“A man’s disposition on the inside, i.e., what he possesses in his personality, determines what he is tempted by on the outside. The temptation fits the nature of the one tempted, and reveals the possibilities of the nature. Every man has the setting of his own temptation, and the temptation will come along the line of the ruling disposition. Temptation is a suggested short cut to the realization of the highest at which I aim – not towards what I understand as evil, but towards what I understand as good. Temptation is something that completely baffles me for a while, I do not know whether the thing is right or wrong. Temptation yielded to is lust deified, and is a proof that it was timidity that prevented the sin before.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

We are mastered by what we yield ourselves to.

2 Peter 2:19

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

We serve that to which we surrender. Sin sets the hook of slavery with the bait of freedom.

day no. 16,340: wisdom's children

"Belief is not an intellectual act; belief is a moral act whereby I deliberately commit myself.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Belief does not exclude the intellect, but neither is it reduced to it. It involves, but is not limited to, the mind. Belief is not merely a superficial acceptance of fact. It certainly includes facts, with God accepted as the most certain fact of all, but it does not end in simple assent. Belief is not merely saying, "Uncle!" it is saying, "Father!" Agreeing with God, i.e. repentance, certainly includes a change of mind, but that change is demonstrated and accompanied by a moral act of will that follows through and complements the change of mind. All that to say, belief is not certified by a placement exam, it is a commitment to think and to behave in concert with said belief.

Luke 7:35

Wisdom is justified of all her children.

Wisdom is never barren. It never struggles to conceive or delivery. It is fruitful and it labors successfully. It is fertile soil and ample rainfall. Wisdom is palpable. It is proved by the presence and the quality of its progeny. It is never an empty nester. There are always offspring. It is never left without an heir apparent.

Belief is bountiful and robust. It always bears fruit.

day no. 16,333: individuality is all elbows

“Individuality is all elbows, it separates and isolates. It is the characteristic of the child.” - Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Individuality boxes others out. It wants to carve out a convenient corner of the universe all to itself or to retain a private luxury suite of sin in its soul.

Personality, on the other hand, is the individual under his Maker’s authority. Personality is dynamic because it is connected to its source of power.

Individuality is disconnected from God and others and it suffers for it. It is boring, always engaging in the tired ol’ game of catch and catch can.

Personality receives from its Creator and is therefore creative. It is genuine.

Trying to be genuine is one of the most hackneyed, disingenuous tactics imaginable and everyone sees through someone trying not to be seen through. There are few mysteries easier to solve than the whodunnit where one suspect doth protest too much.

day no. 16,255: the gift of second sight

Hebrews 11:6

Without faith it is impossible to please Him.

"Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism, and common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relation. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual; of impulse and inspiration." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Faith is not unreasonable. Faith, for sure, is more than reason, but it isn't less.  Those who abandon reason in the name of faith embrace fanaticism. Those who abandon the faith in the name of reason embrace materialism. Common sense, however, is common grace and since it is a gift, it is not necessarily a given, as those immersed in materialism often eagerly demonstrate.

Christians walk by faith, not by sight, but they don't have to close their eyes in order to do so. Faith is the gift of second sight. It isn't being blind to material reality, it is seeing the spiritual reality in or behind all things visible and invisible. Second sight does not replace the first. It isn't instead of, it is in addition to. The materialist is blind to the spiritual. The spiritualist may be blind to the material. The Christian sees all things simultaneously without confusing the categories. The Christian sees the wine and the blood, the bread and the body.

Ironically, the materialist denies the cross and the spiritualist denies the resurrection.

2 Corinthians 5:7

We walk by faith, not by sight.

Faith is not walking in blindness. It doesn't deny sight, it surpasses it. It is binocular. It reconciles two worlds into one vision. It sees the situation and its significance. It simultaneously looks at the object and its abstract. It is logical and poetical. It is fact and romance. It is principle and passion.

Faith is holistic. It is a way of seeing that is superior to the material or the spiritual in isolation. Faith sees in stereo; it boldly refutes gnosticism and Darwinism by seeing what they are blind to.

day no. 16,099: grace and mercy imputed

"The mystery of sanctification is that the perfections of Jesus Christ are imparted to me, not gradually, but instantly when by faith I enter into the realisation that Jesus Christ is made unto me sanctification. Sanctification does not mean anything less than the holiness of Jesus being made mine manifestly." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

2 Corinthians 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Grace is getting something good that you did not deserve.

Mercy is not getting something bad that you did deserve.

Grace imputes righteousness to us;

Mercy imputes wickedness to Christ.

God’s grace gives us Christ’s righteous reward.

His mercy gives Christ our due punishment.

God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, but He must treat our sins as our sins deserve.

Thus, He put our sins on His Son and put His Son's righteousness on us.

Grace imparts sanctification;

Mercy imparts substitution.

Rock of Ages, cleft for me,

Let me hide myself in Thee;

Let the water and the blood,

From Thy riven side which flowed,

Be of sin the double cure,

Cleanse me from its guilt and power.

-- Augustus Toplady, Rock of Ages

day no. 15,958: the temple of God between your temples

“Have we come to realize that our ‘body is the temple of the Holy Spirit’? If so, we must be careful to keep it undefiled for Him. We have to remember that our conscious life, even though only a small part of our total person, is to be regarded by us as a ‘temple of the Holy Spirit.’"

— Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

God must live in our minds. He must rule and reign there as He does in our physical bodies. What we do with our hands and where we point our feet must be determined by Him, but what we do and where we go must be informed by minds submitted to the mind of Christ. He must reside in our bodies and in our minds. Each is a room in the temple of our worship. We give sacrifices of praise and gratitude at the altar in our thoughts. We bring our bodies before Him. Our bodies and our brains cannot be disconnected. They are both to be brought hand in hand to the feet of Jesus and made to serve Him.

Romans 12:1-2

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The temple of God must be located between our temples.

1 Peter 1:13

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13:15

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Our minds must be kept swept and clean. Every thought must be barefoot before our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Every meditation must be made to bow. Our hearts, heads, and hands are a temple of the presence of God on earth and as such, must be kept to reflect that fact.

day no. 15,850: self-love potion no. 9

“Discouragement is disenchanted self-love, and self-love may be love of my devotion to Jesus.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Sometimes the spell breaks. Our ability to love what we want to love falls flat and we find ourselves insufficient to persevere in what we prefer. Our love finds its limit. It reaches terminal velocity and we cannot eclipse our constraints or sustain our max effort any longer. Our confidence fails us and we find ourselves discouraged. The love of Jesus has not let us down, but our love of our love for Jesus has. Sometimes what looks like humility is merely wounded pride. Sometimes the spell is broken, but the self-love potion is still right at hand.

day no. 15,846: cajole

ca·jole /kəˈjōl/

verb

persuade (someone) to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery

After reading 1984 and the preface to Mere Christianity recently, I have gained a new found zeal for the recovery of words. We could all stand to be a bit dictionarier. After talking to Paige about it, I'm even more committed to the preservation of vocabulary. Words matter and when you know two words for the same thing, pick the more unusual one if only to keep it in circulation. Paige suggested this, so when I came across "cajole" this morning (8/17/20) in Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest, I decided to put it to use.

Jesus never cajoled. He did not flatter. He did not say things nicer than they were true in order to produce behavior better than it would have been. That end does not justify those means.

Matthew 15:12

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”

Like Christ, we should not cajole. Flattery is not a permissible Christian tactic. We must trust the truth to persuade or not persuade at all. If a man is not won over by the truth, you cannot lie him over to a better appreciation of it. You cannot spark an affection for truth with the matches of lies. You cannot encourage purity through provocation. A Christian girl in the backseat with a boy is not in a better position to teach him purity than a pastor in the pulpit merely because she has a more captive audience.

God has called us to proclaim a particular message and His promise is that those He has elected will believe it. When we muck up the message with flattery and half-truths for the sake of being more persuasive than God's Good News, we do not tell sinners about a true assurance of the Kingdom, but a false assurance for living outside of it. So, in one fell swoop, flattery provides a false sense of security and makes the real one even harder to access.

day no. 15,843: when he is old enough to die

Ye must be born again. — John 3:7

"The answer to the question 'How can a man be born when he is old?' is — When he is old enough to die — to die right out to his 'rag rights,' to his virtues, to his religion, to everything, and to receive into himself the life which never was there before. The new life manifests itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness." -- Oswald Chamber, My Utmost for His Highest

You cannot be born again until you die to your self. You cannot have new life until you have a former life. You cannot live until you die. You cannot be God's until you cease to be your own. You cannot be new until the old has passed away. You cannot be virtuous until you deny your virtues. You cannot have a new mindset until you repent. You cannot have anything worth keeping until you give away every thought of being worthy. You cannot inherit the earth until you renounce any claim to it. You cannot be saved until you confess you are damned.

day no. 15,839: dead ends

“Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to do for me; sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me.” — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Many of us aspire to a type of personal holiness that providence must deny us access. We have ideas, hopes, and dreams about the kind of Christians we want to be, but they are not in keeping with the reality of what saints actually are. We imagine God’s people to be something none of them are and then aim our efforts at the wrong model. We want things for ourselves which God does not desire or require. This is not because we are more refined in our tastes than God, but because we are too hipster to see what's actually good for us.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it.

Sanctification is an act of God. No one can become more godly without God's intervention. Our intentions often take us off course. Combine that with our ineptitude at getting there and you get a tragic ending… unless He interferes. And by His grace, He does.

If God does not change our aspirations, our inclinations are deadly.

If God does not provide an inspiration,

our destination is always a dead end.

day no. 15,829: rally caps

"Only one thing can account for it — the love of God in Christ Jesus. 'Out of the wreck I rise' every time." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

When we pray for revival and reformation, we are putting on our rally caps. We are sitting in the dug out and looking up at the scoreboard with hope. Whatever the deficit, we turn our hats inside out in unison and pray for the next batter to lay the foundation of a comeback. We begin by getting on base and it grows to getting them into scoring position and it ends with a walk off hit which clinches the victory. 

Rally. Rally. Rally. Rally. Rally.

Micah 7:8

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

However fakakta the score, we know what's in store. So hats inside out and backwards boys. It's going to be a barn-burner.

day no. 15,821: the strain is the the strength

In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. — John 16:33

"An average view of the Christian life is that it means deliverance from trouble. It is deliverance in trouble, which is very different.  If you are a child of God, there certainly will be troubles to meet, but Jesus says do not be surprised when they come... God does not give us overcoming life: He gives us life as we overcome. The strain is the strength. If there is no strain, there is no strength. Are you asking God to give you life and liberty and joy? He cannot, unless you will accept the strain. Immediately you face the strain, you will get the strength. Overcome your own timidity and take the step, and God will give you to eat of the tree of life and you will get nourishment. If you spend yourself out physically, you become exhausted; but spend yourself spiritually, and you get more strength. God never gives strength for to-morrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute. The temptation is to face difficulties from a common-sense standpoint. The saint is hilarious when he is crushed with difficulties because the thing is so ludicrously impossible to anyone but God." -- Oswald Chamber, My Utmost for His Highest

Too often we see our spiritual strength like a set of tires that wear out the more they're used, but spiritual health is more like an immune system that grows stronger the more it learns how to fight. The more it is exposed to threat the stronger it is. It is like a muscle that grows as it is exercised.

Proverbs 11:25

Whoever brings blessing will be enriched,

and one who waters will himself be watered.

Spiritual strength poured out for the glory of God and the good of others produces more spiritual strength, not less.

day no. 15,717: non-excused absence

"Knowledge brings moral culpability with it. Natural revelation can certainly be called natural law. It has all the ingredients -- a lawgiver, a standard, a subject, and a moral responsibility." 
-- Douglas Wilson, Rules for Reformers

"There is a difference between an ideal and a vision. An ideal has no moral inspiration; a vision has. The people who give themselves over to ideals rarely do anything. A man’s conception of Deity may be used to justify his deliberate neglect of his duty. Jonah argued that because God was a God of justice and of mercy, therefore everything would be all right. I may have a right conception of God, and that may be the very reason why I do not do my duty. But wherever there is vision, there is also a life of rectitude because the vision imparts moral incentive." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

"We are forced to believe in a real Right and Wrong. People may be sometimes mistaken about them, just as people sometimes get their sums wrong; but they are not a matter of mere taste and opinion any more than the multiplication table." -- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

We have a moral responsibility and obligation to obey what God has revealed to us. In nature, we observe certain qualities consistent with God's character and commandments that are in keeping with the qualities He reveals to us in His word. In other words, His world is consistent with His Word and while not everyone has access to His Word, everyone has access to His world. As such, we are required to keep His commands and there are adequate excuses for refusing to do so. Ignorance is not an intellectual defect, but a moral one. We cannot claim even claim intellectual ignorance because every one of us knows on account of the sun coming up; and knowing them obligates the knower to do something in response to them -- something specific which if not done becomes a clear violation.

In other words...

Romans 1:18-23
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

day no. 15,658: feelings don't do anything

Be instant in season, out of season. — 2 Timothy 4:2

"Many of us suffer from the morbid tendency to be instant ‘out of season.’ The season does not refer to time, but to us. ‘Be instant in season, out of season,’ whether we feel like it or not. If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would do nothing for ever and ever. There are unemployables in the spiritual domain, spiritually decrepit people, who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.

One of the great snares of the Christian worker is to make a fetish of his rare moments. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you say — ‘Now I will always be like this for God.’ No, you will not, God will take care you are not. Those times are the gift of God entirely. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best, you become an intolerable drag on God; you will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously inspired. If you make a god of your best moments, you will find that God will fade out of your life and never come back until you do the duty that lies nearest, and have learned not to make a fetish of your rare moments." -- Oswald Chamber, My Utmost for His Highest

When we are riding a spiritual high, we feel like we could and would do anything for Jesus, but when we are feeling that way we typically sit back and just enjoy soaking in the feeling. When we are experiencing a spiritual low, we long for the days where we felt like we could or would do anything for Jesus. Either way, if we orient our spirituality around highs and lows, nothing gets done for Jesus - whether we feel like it or not.

At our best, we only imagine we could or would do anything; and at our worst, we can't imagine wanting to do anything ever again. Feelings-based, experientially-emphasized spirituality never amounts to anything. It can't... and it doesn't really want to. It just wants the experience of inspiration back without ever actually aspiring to do anything more than that with it.

day no. 15,576: God is everywhere that He is anywhere

"The Holy Spirit cannot be located as a Guest in a house, He invades everything." -- Oswald Chamber, My Utmost for His Highest

God is not a house guest. He never rents to own. He cannot be contained to a compartment. He is everywhere that He is anywhere. All authority in heaven and on earth and in you belongs to Him. There is not an inch or acre of anywhere, including you, that does not have His name on the deed. There is not a single cent in any account, including yours, that is not borrowed from His treasury. There is not a second that passes on any calendar, including yours, which does not tick by at His command. Seconds don't pass because they have to. The clock doesn't tick because it must. It's hands move and time continues because He decrees it. Things do not fall because of gravity, they fall because of the God of gravity.  

God does not set up embassies in people. He does not set aside a sacred space within the boundaries of a person as the official representation of His kingdom. He either takes over a country or He doesn't live there. His banner is the either the flag that waves over the entire nation or it does not fly inside a nation's borders. He is not a state or province, He is the kingdom.

God is not interested in being part of your life. He is not anxiously awaiting an invitation to the graduation party of your heart. Either Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. He cannot be located anywhere that He is not everywhere. He is no one's house guest. He either owns the house or it is condemned.

day no. 15,468: let go to lay hold

"We must let go before we lay hold." -- Oswald Chambers. My Utmost for His Highest

In order to hold on to Jesus, you must let go of everything else you've been holding on to. You must have empty hands in order to have them filled by God.

Philippians 3:12
I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.

One of the efforts that must be made is to free our hands up to hold on with everything they have by not trying to hold on to anything else.

day no. 15,361: compound interests

"Are we prepared for what sanctification will cost? It will cost an intense narrowing of all our interests on earth, and an immense broadening of all our interests in God. Sanctification means intense concentration on God’s point of view." -- Oswald chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

When we begin to see things from God's point of view, our earthly interests will wane and our heavenly interests will wax. Concentration boils things down to their essence. Concentration on Christ will tighten the focus of earthly endeavors to their connection with Kingdom come. Simultaneously, this concentration with respect to what is above, though a narrow door, gives way to an expansive playground of increased interests. There are matters about which one never imagined or considered now unlocked by passing through the narrow door of faith in Christ alone. So we see former things narrowed and faithful things broadened. We do not become less interested by losing interest in some earthly matters, but gain, overall, more interest in retaining the matters of faith concerning our everyday duties while gaining an array of faithful duties and delights of which we never previously showed interest.

day no. 15,355: pollute, distribute, substitute, salute

“'Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.' The altar means fire — burning and purification and insulation for one purpose only, the destruction of every affinity that God has not started and of every attachment that is not an attachment in God. You do not destroy it, God does; you bind the sacrifice to the horns of the altar; and see that you do not give way to self-pity when the fire begins." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

God has given us the command to bind our sacrifices to His altar. We do not make an end of the thing, He does. It is our duty to bring it, to keep nothing back and to take it where He has commanded it.

If we bring something else, we pollute the altar.
If we bring only part of what was asked, we distribute the altar.
If we bring all of the right thing to the wrong place, we substitute the altar.
But if we bring all of the thing required to the place required, we salute the altar.

And once you've bound it to the altar, do not begin to feel sorry for what will happen to it. Do not let self-pity form your thoughts about God's fire. If you empathize with that which God has commanded you to be brought for destruction, you declare God unfair while justifying the object of His wrath. This is why we must bind our sacrifices with cords. There is too much temptation to help break our sacrifices out of prison once the fire begins to fall. Our sympathies are often with our loss instead of God's grace. We empathize with the loss we are suffering instead of the gain God is purifying for us.