“After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the
first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me;
which said, come up hither...” (Revelations 4: 1)

A week ago I was hooking up logs behind a tractor to transport them, when
I saw my dog wandering along. I was standing behind a fairly big log on
the downhill side. I called to him, “Come here.” He came with great joy,
but he came to my feet instead of jumping up on the log. I called him
again and this time he came and sat on the log where I could lavish all
of my attention upon him.
        
What a great lesson is set before us in this simple picture, for at the
feet of Jesus we come and learn of our own sinfulness. In tenderness He
has called us and now as His friend we gaze upward and behold His glory,
the glory of the Father. In His light we see self for what it is: vile,
wretched, and that which keeps us from God. Through this revelation we
find that, like the prophet Isaiah, we can only say, “Woe is me! for I am
undone” (See Isaiah 6:5-8). And like my dog, we will crouch at His feet.

Words like “come up hither” are used most of the time in connection to a
greater revelation. The prophets were called out to receive from God a
revelation of prophecy. Men were called out to receive wisdom in leading
the people of Israel (i.e. Moses, the judges, and the kings).  In the New
Testament, the twelve apostles were called out to receive the revelation
of Jesus Christ.  We have been called out also, as a royal priesthood,
called out of darkness into His marvelous light to receive the blessings
of a relationship that has no hindrances. What is our response to that
call?
        
“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” When faith enters the
picture, then things happen, but there must be a foundation upon which
that faith is built. We find it to be the work of Christ on the cross,
the blood of Jesus that covers all sin, and justification through faith
in His righteousness, and His resurrection. Without this foundation there
is no faith. It must become a living reality to us or we shall never
enter into true fellowship with God. The foundation of Jesus Christ is
like a log that catapults us upwards if we, by the Spirit, will only move
onward and respond to His voice.
        
How can God have that sweet communion He so desires if we do not respond
to His voice? He is the Giver of Life, not one who is there to make your
life a bed of roses void of all problems. I used to come to Him only for
my problems and that is where many are failing, since His desire is to
have fellowship, sweet communion, and to reveal Himself unto those He has
chosen. This calls for a relationship, a face-to-face relationship.

Saints, let us, with eagerness and hearts full of love, respond to the
call to, “Come up hither.” In that place of great blessedness we shall
receive a revelation that will humble us, change us, and lift us upwards,
to where our hearts and minds shall be renewed and His will shall be
fulfilled. Praise God that by faith and His grace we can “come up
hither.”
                                                                        
                                                      M. H. G