"From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev." (Genesis 12:8-9)

"Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe." (Genesis 13:1) "From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the LORD." (Genesis 14:3-4)

Abram made an altar with God at Bethel after he was told to stay in the land of Canaan, but he decided to go down into Egypt because of a bad famine in the land. It was there in Egypt that he got into trouble with Pharaoh by saying that Sarah was his sister. With so much time wasted and his reputation in tatters he then had to come right back to the same altar that he had made in Bethel a long time before and there renew his vows to God. He had to repent and start again.

I believe that we too have altars in our lives where we experienced God moments of grace. Some are great experiences like the altar that Elijah made on Mt. Carmel with fire coming down from heaven and others are hard like the one that Abraham made with Isaac on Mt. Moriah. When Israel had great moments in their history they made an altar to God, like when they crossed the Jordan or before a battle against their enemies. We may not have to build a literal altar in these days but we do have significant times when we make decisions in God. There are moments in our Christian walk that we will always remember, maybe because they were really bad or maybe because they were really good. What we do after them is very important, for if badly handled God will always bring us back to fix up the mess. By running away God can’t bring all the blessings to pass in our lives.

As I said making an altar is wonderful but what we do after these experiences is very important. God doesn’t forget what happened even if we do and always brings us back if there are unresolved issues. We may run away to Egypt like Abram did but God will bring us back to Bethel and make us start again. Whenever we run away, its always a downhill slope, just ask Jonah. Jonah 1:1-3, 5,17

I speak to Christians at times and ask them why they are struggling over certain issues, like unforgiveness, tithing or not being used in the Gifts of the Spirit. I often hear how someone hurt them way back when or how they gave and nothing happened. As for being used in the Gifts of the Spirit, someone criticized them many years ago and since that bad experience they have not been used again. It was like an altar where a sacrifice had to be made and their response was meant to be forgive and go on for God, but instead they have shut down and have run away to Egypt.

This incident was a stumbling block set up by the enemy which God could have made into a stepping stone but the wounded party has run away. God will always want to bring you back to that altar and get you to deal with it. Even after counseling folk with these issues, I still hear them say the same thing a year or two later; about the person who offended them, so it’s obvious that the stumbling block remains and another year is wasted with them down in Egypt. This is not just concerning the Gifts of the Spirit but all sorts of other offences. God tells us to forgive and we are just like Abram who was told to stay in the Promised Land, but we decide to run away to a more comfortable place like Egypt. There we hope to forget it all and maybe bury our heads in the sand but often it’s there that we lose our reputation and also our authority in Christ. We may try and kid ourselves, but there will always be something missing, like our peace. Things will never be the same again between us and God until we go back to that altar and get things right.

If we are still referring back to that incident in the past then we still need healing and will never grow up spiritually into our full potential.

We need to return to that altar we once made with God so as to get back that wonderful clean feeling of being forgiven and right with Him once more, even though we may have to swallow our pride like Abram did and admit we were wrong. Even a faithful believer has a tendency to lose their first love and run away from the altar. Husbands how many times have you had a fight with your wife and handled it badly? You have walked away after hurting your spouse hoping that it would all just go away but God hasn’t forgotten and wants you to come back to that altar. Maybe your lack of peace today is from handling a situation like this badly. So many of us are working incessantly and keeping ourselves constantly busy because we don’t want to stop and hear God telling us to sort things out with someone.

"Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place." Revelation 2:4-5

We can lose our first conviction that all Christians love God and have pure hearts; and our original sense of there being nothing between us and our Saviour; and also lose our zeal for the Lord. Often, even if we continue to go to church and serve, we live the remainder of our days as spiritually stunted, not growing in the things of the Lord and not fully enjoying our inheritance in Christ. We need to return to the center of God's will and favor.

It says that Abram returned from Egypt as a very rich man. Genesis 13:1-2. He may have been rich in money but he had lost all credibility with the Egyptians. Having money is highly prized by the people of the world, but not so with God. It may give you power with man but doesn’t give you any authority with God.

Because Abram repented and came back to the Altar, God was able to fulfill the Sevenfold Promise that was given to him when he left his home of Ur of the Chaldeans. Genesis 12:2-3

I will make of thee a great nation

I will bless thee

I will make thy name great

Thou shalt be a blessing

I will bless them that bless thee

I will curse him that curses thee

In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed

It’s interesting to note that this promise has never been done away with or disannulled and is still available for us today. The sooner we get back to that altar and repent God can bring to pass this promises in our lives. Galatians 3:15-18

"Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ. What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise."

This can still be realised in us as followers of Christ, for He has given everything to us as the Children of God. Abram may have had a few failings but he was called a friend of God because he always repented and came back to the Altars that he had made. By coming back to the Land of Promise God was able to bring all those promises to pass. Let us too repent as well and get back that peace we once had with God. Lot came with Abram out of Mesopotamia and could of shared in these blessings too but he compromised by living in that wicked city of Sodom and lost everything. Let’s not get to the end of our race and have run it in vain like Lot did but repent and be blessed like Abram.