LIVING IN THE VIEW OF GLORY (4)

“Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this” (Revelation 4:1 NKJV)

God has so much to reveal to us than we are willing to receive. Sometimes we are too busy to give Him the attention He needs to initiate a revelatory process with us. Moses was totally consumed in his job of tending his father-in-law’s sheep in the wilderness until one day God was able to arrest his attention. “And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed” (Exodus 1:2 NKJV). Notice the sequence of events that brought Moses to a destiny-changing encounter with God. First, he looked and saw the burning bush, which aroused his curiosity and birthed a hunger to see more of what God is doing. He could have dismissed the whole incidence at that point like most of us often do.  He would have found the bush burning without being consumed a mere amusing spectacle with no spiritual or divine connotation.  Instead, he considered it a sign and wanted to know what the signification could be. Therefore, he did the second thing that is often critical in processing a revelation from God –he probed further.   “Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn” (Exodus 1:3 NKJV). He turned aside to study the phenomenon –why the bush does not burn even though the fire was raging. What Moses did that doesn’t come easily to us these days was that he set time aside to reflect deeper what God seem to be doing around him.  This seems to be all that God was waiting for.

God immediately took advantage of Moses’ attentiveness and began download revelations to him –“So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am. Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’ Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:4-6 NKJV).  Moses was certainly not prepared for this. God likes throwing surprises at us sometimes. Notice that Moses did something that triggered the flow of revelation and positioned him to hear God – “when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look.”  Moses turned away from his business and preoccupations and paid attention to what God was doing around him.  Moses must have thought to himself, my business is truly important to me and should command all my attention, but even more important is checking out on God to see what He had for me.

We see similar incidence in our text. John has been enjoying a series of visitations from God’s Angel who has been speaking to him about God’s assessment of the seven churches in Asia. These were by every means very powerful encounters   but there was more that God had in store for him. God had spoken to John on earth through the Angel, now He wants to bring him to heaven so he could experience deeper intimacy with his Father.  Friends, it does not matter what level of revelation God has given you now about His person and His program, there is always more for us. Notice the same revelatory process as we saw in the case of Moses.  “Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast.”  He looked! Searching always leads to revelation. Many of us are not receiving much from God because we hardly truly seek Him. John sought Him. As He looked for God, he saw a door standing open in heaven. That door does not close. It is always open for those who would seek God. As he gazed at the open door wondering what it meant, he heard a voice inviting him to the Throne Room in heaven. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” What privileges are ours as God’s children that we never enjoy because of ignorance and busyness?  John looked, his eyes were open to see an open door in heaven, and he heard a voice inviting him to step through those open doors to a life-changing, sin-blasting, and God-glorifying encounter with our Father. You are next in line for similar favour and blessing in Jesus’ name.