The Great Palace

The Great Palace

A palace is a place of residence that a king or ruler inhabits.  It is of exquisite beauty and grandeur with all of the commodities that could ever be asked by a human.  All control and functional capabilities of a government can be handled in this one place.  There are many rooms and corridors inside this palace that serve a purpose to allow the daily functions to occur.  One area of this palace is the control room, the throne room if you care to call it, that is the nerve center of everything that comes out of the palace compound.  A central chair or throne is the place where the head of state sits and makes the decisions that is vital to the survival of the state and its people.  Whoever controls this chair virtually controls the entire state with just one word or command spoken.

Being a typical boy in life, I have always been fascinated with the art and concept of war.  This idea of war in me actually began when I was young and living in Salinas, California.  I had a “train board” as I called it with a few mountains, a town and many plastic soldiers.  I would spend hours upon hours setting up scenarios where the different groups of soldiers fought each other to see who would have control of the area in question or who would have control of the railway.  I would end my days with the feelings of conquerors and also the defeated wondering what would be in store tomorrow.

I asked my father one time why I liked war so much, he stated the basically the same thing to me that I was a boy and that boys usually are aggressive and like to be kings of things, and that the show of strength towards others was a normal human thing to experience.  He also stated that King David, in the Bible loved war and that being a king or a leader you sometime had to show your strength to others in certain times.

When the initial stages of the Iraq War were unfolding a certain image caught my attention.  At the time I saw this situation I felt it was a time of rejoicing and celebration since it had to do with a palace of Saddam Hussein and how an American military unit had captured it with basically no opposition.  This image has always stuck in my head for some reason and I could not figure out why, until now.  One question continued to cross my mind, where were the defenders of this palace?

After a few moments of fighting the American troops had occupied this palace of the ruler of that country.  Smoke and dust filled the air and it was visible someone in the very recent past had been present in this location.  The only ones present now were the American soldiers who were making sure that everything was secure so that someone else could occupy this command center.  With the modern technology news camera crews were filming this situation to the world at a live pace.  Wow!!!! I said to myself as I actually got to watch this war unfold in real time.

The soldiers entered into one room, it opened up into a large area with a few desks at the front with a single chair located in the center of the room.  It was a lush chair that you could tell some important person had at once time sat in this chair.  As the cameras panned the entire room a person could assume that this was a command center of some sorts and that at one time a commander had made decisions in this room.  The camera turned to the American soldier in charge as he was just getting ready to sit down in this chair.  As he was sitting down he looked at the camera and said to the camera, where is he at, we are here and want to ask him a few questions.  Of course the soldier was referring to Saddam Hussein.  Next the soldier took out a cigarette and lit it, crossed his legs and again asked the same question.

Now, please understand I am not comparing the American soldiers to any person, or group of people, I am merely using this situation as an example to get my point across.  How easy was it for this opportunity to arise and for this place of control get overrun so easily?  The outside looks like it could withstand an entire army’s attack, yet a small group of attackers successfully take control.  Who was actually in command of this fortress and why didn’t the defenders stand up to its attacks when the enemy began their assault and where did they go?  So many questions of how this event unfolded but there is only one answer.

The same can be true to our command center.  The Bible states that we are the temple of God and that we are holy and should be treated as such in everything that we do.  It is very hard for us to realize this statement since all that we know is sin, death and destruction.  Seeing our goals and visions that God has for our lives seem obscured most of the time.  Yes, our enemies know this situation and will attack to take control.

Many times our attackers have already infiltrated our defenses before we know what has happened.  The definitive lines of the battleground become strained due to the fact of questions that have been placed by our enemies to sway us from keeping on our guard.  Questions and doubts to why we need our defenses are constantly presented to us which get our minds and “committees” acting towards a peace settlement or an appeasement opportunity.  These are the defensive mechanisms that the enemy infiltrates, and once this infiltration has been achieved it might already be too late to save the fort.

We see this happen all the time in our world; people, communities, governments become distracted with petty differences and then get totally blown away when the enemy attacks.  By this time our propaganda agents, our mouths, have begun to control the visible damage and usually ends up causing more confusion and even more questions.  You ever wonder if the enemy plants these distractions in our way to help them achieve their own goals?  Your answer better be yes and if your answer is not “yes” then you have already been distracted and a re-evaluation of your defenses needs to be completed immediately.

What happens when your command center is overtaken by your enemy?  _________  Fill in that blank because any answer that you can imagine will be a correct answer.  Everything that you have been taught, everything that you know to be true, is subject to be overthrown and destroyed.  A change that is forced upon you that you cannot control any longer.  Your thoughts and actions change to allow more attacks to appear in your life, affecting virtually every relationship that you have established.

Your defense is this: YOU are the temple of God!!  Your command center needs to have God as number one in your life.  He will charge His son, Jesus and as many angels that are needed to guide and protect your command center.  No, it will not be an easy fight but at least you will know who is one your side and you will also know who he enemy is and what they are doing at all times.  With this defensive personnel in your corner all battles will be fought with the supreme commander in your corner. 

This command center is your palace.  The place where all decisions are begin made not only for your own life but also the lives around you.  Do not become jaded with your surroundings, allow yourself to see the entire situations that being played out in your world.  Allow God to speak to your command center so that you will understand the attacks that being presented to you.  Continually know and understand that this battle is about you!  The prize is you and control of you is the most important objective that the enemy has and he will stop at nothing to obtain this objective.

Know that you cannot do this on your own or by yourself.  Your friends cannot help you in this battle nor can your family; yes, they can give you advice but you are ultimately the one who controls your destiny and to whom you listen.  Guidance comes in a continual force that no one can explain but it is there and this guidance is the tug of the Holy Spirit urging you to listen to your Supreme Commander for instructions.

The Supreme Commander can restore your control center back to its rightful owner, YOU!  The battle will be tough and it will be to the death but according to Him you are worth it.  He paid a price to have this access to your life, your control center your palace.  He represents himself to us in our own lives and through our own lives and without this knowledge we automatically become mute and defenseless against all attacks of our enemies.  This concept is true for both physical and spiritual attacks.

Restoration is a painful process in itself but the end result is a complete new beginning for your life.  It brings new life to your existence and a renewing of your mind that only can be explained by the new relationship that is established first with God and then your physical life.  New meanings to “living” become alive in your spirit, which bring a new strength in your defenses for future attacks.  God loves restoration that is His business and He is just waiting for the opportunity to be allowed back into your control center to take back what was stolen from Him.  See, if we are the temple of God that means we were His to begin with and just as parents rush to the sides of their children, God is ready to return to His child.

Think on this statement:

            “For as Judas sat among the apostles “the man of sin” sits in the temple of God” 

            History of the Christian Church by Schaff and Schaff pg 26 1882