"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.”
And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it.
The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian.
And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow.
Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them.
They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder.
And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames.
This is the seven-fold Spirit of God.
In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal.
In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back.
The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox;
the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.
Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying,
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—
the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.”
Whenever the living beings give glory and honor and thanks to the one sitting on the throne
(the one who lives forever and ever),
the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne
(the one who lives forever and ever).
And they lay their crowns before the throne and say,
“You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
Revelation 4
Oh, how I long for more of the LORD. I want more. I want to love Him better. I want to hear Him more. I want to see Him more - to see Him at work. I want to speak what He whispers in my ear. I want to see what He sees when He looks at others - that I would grow prophetically. I want to have more hunger and thirst for righteousness. I want to long to meditate more and more upon the Word - the Bible. Oh, how I long.
I praise God for that longing. He is the one stirring it up deep within me. He is the one always calling out, "Come up here and see what I have for you." The fact that He wants more for me, ruins me at the core of who I am. The fact that He is pursuing me and believing in me...wow.
"Oh, God, how can You be that wonderful...How can You love me with such a great love? How can You have such pursuit - a pursuit that never has given up, nor ever will give up? You amaze me, LORD. And I bless You. I bless You and thank You for Your Love. By Your Love, I can love. By Your Love, I can be near You. By Your Love, I can know You - my Creator, Maker, Savior, Sustainer, Friend, King. The list goes on and on. You, God, are astounding."
I must climb higher. As God lays before me life, I must choose well - how I will use my time, where I will go, who I will be with, how I will speak, and what I will think upon.
My reality - my filtration system - how I view life, must continue to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. God must continue to take up more residency in how I operate. "Let Your Kingdom come and Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Just as Jesus prayed that prayer and exhorted me to pray in the same way, I trust that I will catch the vision contained in the prayer, deeper and deeper in my soul. God's will is my aim; God's will is my high calling. His will is that I join in with the angels and the twenty-four elders and the living creatures. He wants me to catch the vision of what is happening around His throne at all times. He wants me to see what He sees and know what He knows. He wants me to have the knowledge necessary for advancing and overcoming. THAT is encouraging. And so, with that encouragement, I say, "Yes, LORD. More of You and less of me. Come, Holy Spirit, come.Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I."
