Jesus, right before He goes to the cross, tells His Father God about His deepest desire. He tells Him, in essence - Father, I am willing to give up My life. I am willing to die, but this is what I really want. This is My heart’s cry. This is MY DESIRE—I want the ones that You have given Me as My inheritance to be WITH ME WHERE I AM. I want them to BEHOLD MY GLORY. I want them to see the LOVE that You have given Me and the love We share with each other. I want them to be surrounded in the circle of our love.

Genuine Christians necessarily proclaim to belong to God’s kingdom. As such, the citizens of any kingdom look to their king for answers. So, the question that begs an answer is this: How do we effectively pray to God so we have the assurance that He hears us? The answer lies in knowing our King personally, giving us access to the throne. The truth is that God first draws us and woos us to Himself, even into His presence.

Jesus said He would build His church upon this foundation—the Spirit-revealed knowledge of Jesus written upon the hearts of His people. God builds the church by revelation knowledge “precept upon precept,” stone upon stone—it will be His building. Psalms 127:1 puts it this way, “Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is useless. …” Can you think of a better foundation for God to build His church than Spirit-revealed knowledge of His Word?

The sun was setting gently across the broad Pacific. In its breathtaking beauty and confident serenity, it was a majestic and powerful sight.

It was, perhaps, this peaceful sunset, together with the relentless violence and destructive contagion of war, that led the great man to take pen in hand on this evening. Just harrowing days earlier, he and his family were crossing turbulent and dangerous waters in a small PT boat, surrounded by the enemy. He had found solace and protection on this island nation.