It was at the Throne of Heaven where the God Man Jesus offered Himself for the penalty of our sin. And, this is where we as king/priests establish our daily relationship with Him, at the Throne! At the Throne it is easy, better say easier, to "die to self", to "keep our bodies under", to "crucify the flesh"! Yes at the Throne everything becomes "easier" for we literally receive His strength, His power by the Holy Spirit through faith, to tackle each days "battle orders" and then "arise" and go on for Him! Yes at the Throne of Grace, the Lord lets us in on His Plan for our day, so that we might minister to Him with an all encompassing effectiveness, executing His desires and not our own. It is at this same Throne, where we receive mercy for our past failures, and grace for our coming days orders. It is at the Throne where we call upon God and He sets up our Divine Appointments as it were for the day we are about to enter! As king/priests unto God what more could we ask?
So, as in all Spiritual work for the Lord, we as priests unto God must meditate on our calling, putting ourselves in the right frame of mind, recognizing the all important task we have been called to fulfill, for there are jobs that we alone can fill, requests that we alone have just the right capacity to meet the Lord's needs, in each specific area He gives us to minister His grace. Just think of all the lost opportunities we have passed by in the years since we were saved. Better yet, think of all the furture opportunities the Lord will give us, if only we are prepared to meet them.
Preparation! To some of us who might be consumed with the "real quick" syndrome, also known as the "rush,rush malady", preparation can be an "eleven letter word". Yes, being a disciple of the King takes daily painstaking preparation! But we must recognize the painstaking preparation made by our Lord as He entered into the Holiest, with His Own Blood, to come before the God of Heaven with His Holy Sacrifice! Our sacrifices must also be determined by the Lord, if we are to please Him Who rules all eternity! You might be saying "What is this, some legalistic, Old Testament jargon?"
No, the Bible has complete instructions for us as believers, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God, preparing us to enter His Throneroom:
Some of these sacrifices can only be performed once during the believer's walk with the Lord. However, many of these are daily "rituals", and must be included in our "dying daily" battle with the world, the flesh, and the devil! If not daily, it would do us good to remember just how our righteousness was "bought" with the Precious Blood of Christ! Reviewing our testimony and what the Lord has done in our lives will never "block the door" to the Throneroom of our Sovereign! As a matter of fact, it might be the only way into "the Holiest" for some of us! Remembering His great, all encompassing love, and the overpowering grip our sin had on us before we were saved could well bring us into His presence once again, at the foot of the Cross!(Romans 2:4b) This vision of our Lord in His darkest hour, suffering for my sin, always seems to bring me to repentance, breaking my spirit, causing me to rejoice in Him, knowing His righteousness is mine, blessing the God of Heaven for His mercy to me, by sending Christ to die for my sin! It is from this position that we go on to fulfill the other Spiritual Sacrifices listed above.
These sacrifices precede our entering in to commune with God at His Throne. The putting on of His armor, found in Ephesians 6:10-18 must follow after this time of worship and instruction giving by the Lord. The putting on of the Armor of God is in essence, the putting on of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are commanded to "put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision to fulfill the lusts thereof"(Romans 13:14). This positive side of our daily entrance into the battlefield is a must if we are to "get the victory" for Him!
These multiple "put ons" we are commanded to do,"put on the Lord Jesus Christ", "put on the whole Armor of God", "put on the new man" can be accomplished by the Spirit through the Word. Yes, faith is the victory and the avenue by which we must apply this Armor of God, by faith putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, putting off the old man and putting on the new, allowing the Lord to walk within us, as He clothes our earthly "tabernacles", we put on His Heavenly Tabernacle, giving Him the opportunity to accomplish the supernatural work through us that only He can perform! Gideon in his supernatural encounter with the God of Heaven was literally the clothed by the "Spirit of the Lord" (Judges 6:34)
These seemingly complex and mystical Truths,"put off...put on" will become a "faith reality" when we allow the Word of God to saturate our entire being, building the simple faith required to believe the simple commands our Lord has given to us, allowing Him to do the work, while all we do is simply obey His voice and expect Him to do the rest! This simple childlike expectation is what faith is made of! "The substance of things hoped for...", hope is expecting God to do what He said He would! Just like David, who with reverential boldness, expected God to "do as Thou hast said" (II Samuel 7:25). This kind of attitude concerning God's promises on our behalf will not only bless the heart of God, but it will cause our faith to grow in leaps and bounds. (To find the results of David's attitude of boldness in prayer read II Chronicles 6:1-17, the reply of Solomon his son, as he too reviews and expects God to continue to fulfill His Promises to his father David).