WELCOME TO THE THRONE ROOM OF THE UNIVERSE

Very rarely do the soldiers in earth's armed forces personally meet and know their Commander-in-Chief. They receive his/her orders that are passed down the chain of command, but other than that, they are really ignorant (except via gossip) of what their Leader is like.

But in heaven's army here on earth, our Commander-in-Chief wants us to meet Him, and the Family, and get to know Them intimately. How this is accomplished is through three simple but effective ways:

1) Listening to what They have to say (studying the Word, the Bible) Spend, at least, one thoughtful hour every day contemplating the life and teachings of JESUS as recorded in the Word.

Read the Gospels, particularly review Matthew 27 and the other crucifixion scenes. As you do this, linger on each scene and ask yourself: What is there to see? What is there to hear? What is there to feel? Go through each scene doing this and use your imagination to fill in the details.

Remember as you do this that our Commander-in-Chief, who is also the Creator of the Universe which in our galaxy alone most astronomers suggest contains at least 100 billion stars and is 100,000 light year across, was once a baby; a youth; and an adult just like us. He "knows and understands" you and me. (John 10:30)

2) Talking with the Father and He talks with us (Prayer). A lot of Christians have the habit of doing all the talking, monopolizing the conversation. But to be effective Prayer Warriors we must learn to listen to our Commander speaking.

Prayer is having a conversation with our Best Friend. In his book Yours for the Asking, Edwin Gallagher wrote: "Unless God speaks back to us..., we are merely talking to God, not with Him, and that is not prayer." (emphasis supplied).

Another author says: "It's ironic that most of the time we think of prayer as talking to God, rarely stopping to wonder whether God might want to talk to us..." ~Bill Hybels, Too Busy Not To Pray, pp.107,108.

You may not really hear an audible voice, but at times it seems like it was; at other times the HOLY SPIRIT will bring conviction to you to change or make things right; or He will bring Scriptures to mind to encourage and build up faith. Take time, though, to listen.

3) Doing things together (Witnessing). When the other two methods become a part of our lives we will have CHRIST's desire to share His gospel with others. We will be modeling His love and compassion and godly living. Our lives and witness will make a difference with others when we make the first two simple methods of getting to know our Commander-in-Chief top priority.