I feel there is no better time than this when everyone could use encouragement. People on the verge of death need much encouragement , but the same is true for those whose death does not seem imminent. Those with wavering faith in God need much encouragement too. Many people read this blog but only very few comment. My hope is that this post will stimulate comments from readers so we have a long thread of encouraging and faith building words. For this post, any one with a supernatural encounter with God is encouraged to comment. I also encourage those with miraculous experiences in their lives. Anything authentic but also supernatural, phenomenal or inexplicable by human wisdom is welcome. Of course , the result should be drawing readers closer to God. Please add your contribution by leaving a reply in the comment box at the end of this post. Please give a title to your contribution. I will start by rewriting 2 of my previous posts.
When death is seemingly imminent, what goes on in the mind?
“I have some bad news”. I listened carefully because these words were not familiar in this setting. Those that followed would set off a series of thoughts in my mind that I`ve never had before. “The left sided engine has got….” That’s all my mind could take in for a while as it came to reality that the left engine of the plane we had boarded had a problem, passengers seated on the left row remember seeing smoke coming from it. We all later felt the plane losing balance as the pilot said he was flying back to Johannesburg after only 20mins of being air borne. The shaking increased as we descended and the smoldering from the left engine continued.
The journey back was a terrifying one to all of us. I had never been so scared in my life. I went through the well-known stages of grief within 20 minutes only. This usually happens in individuals with terminal illnesses.
I know every one would like to hear the events that followed ,but what I want to share today is what went through my mind in those twenty minutes. I imagine many people think about the same when facing death. Before that trip I had many plans , just like many of us but one thing I remember is that only a few of the plans I had really counted. The financial, career, prosperity plans really don`t matter. The three things I remember thinking about are : What has my relationship with God been like?; What have I done for the people I love most? And why have I wasted so much time running after things that don`t matter in life? A quick self-assessment showed me that I hadn’t been doing well.. As I went through the last stage of grief which is acceptance, I begged for forgiveness from God- I repented for all the sins that I had committed. I realized that God forgives those who repent of their sins (1 John 1: 9) and knew very well that Jesus forgives our sins. But then after “accepting” the imminent death , I wondered how my loved ones will take the bad news, and how life is going to be… I then begged God for another chance to live.
Since then I very much know that the many things we commonly chase on earth really don’t matter. We usually leave out the most important things in life and pursue the “perishable” and those that don`t matter. When we are facing death what really counts is how we have lived our lives, whether God approves of them or not and how we have treated our loved ones and those we don`t know.
Divine Encounter
According to Romans 1:20, God`s invisible qualities have been clearly seen and are understood from what has been made so that we are without excuse.
Despite the above fact, many choose not to believe in God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Many skeptics will do whatever it takes to deny the existence of God and many go a long way to ridicule believers.
I hope this post will touch people`s lives and bring many to salvation. Share freely and widely to many others. Many people have died without salvation because of the denial of the existence of God despite the present evidence. Since creation, God has provided us with too much information about Himself and even to this day, miracles are happening but people still deny the divine nature of God and the Lordship of Jesus. Jesus is divine. He died for our sins so that we receive salvation. I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and savior and my life has been totally changed positively because of that.
My divine encounter begun as a dream and continued in the physical state when I woke up. Before I continue, I would like to let you know that I gain nothing from telling you lies. Any skeptic who will tell you that what am writing is not true should know that I have no interest in telling you a lie. I don`t benefit anything by giving you false information.
The encounter occurred when I was 11 years old. It was a certain day in November. While I was sleeping, I dreamed that I arrived in heaven and found people worshiping God. I joined them. It was a joyous moment as we worshiped God. Our focus was on God. I don’t remember the circumstances that immediately preceded my arrival in heaven.
My next encounter in heaven was a show. The show was about what happened after Jesus arrived in heaven from earth after His earthly ministry. I have no intention of casting doubt on any other person`s heavenly dream or other encounter. What I remember in the show is that Jesus was evidently filled with joy on arrival in heaven. My thoughts are that he was excited about his accomplishments on earth. The accomplishments of salvation to human kind. I don’t remember what happened next during my stay in heaven, or if I stayed any longer in heaven. What I recall next was me awake in my bed on earth. The dream had ended.
I woke up with my head covered by a blanket, my blanket. At this moment , I was fully awake. I know when am fully awake. If I was not awake then, that would mean am dreaming right now while typing this post and it also means my entire day today I’ve been dreaming since the time I woke up in the morning. It would also mean my entire life is actually a dream. I am emphasizing being awake to counter the skeptics who might want to say that what am going to write next was a continuation of my dream.
When I woke up, my head was covered in my blanket. As I uncovered my head, I saw a white surface in front of me. I wondered if some one had poured a white substance on the floor a few feet away from my bed. As I opened the blanket further to gain better visibility, I realized that what I thought to be a horizontally oriented white surface was actually vertical and I was only seeing the lower portion. I then noticed that it was a white robe. On realizing that it was a white robe in front of me, I got frightened. Because of fear , I chose to open the blanket slowly rather than suddenly throwing it away from me. By opening slowly, I allowed my self to see small incremental portions rather than have an entire view all at once. To this day, I wonder why I did not throw off the entire blanket at once. My usual response to my self is that I would probably be over come with fear. Whatever would happen I don`t know.
As I opened the blanket further, I clearly saw that in front of me was some one donning a white robe. The robe was very white. My estimation is that the person was not more than three meters away from me. The person had spread his ( at this moment allow me to use this pronoun to represent the person I was seeing ) hands away from his body. He stood still with both hands spread. The robe was extending to the fore arms. I cant recall if it was reaching the wrists or the hands. I then remembered that I had a dream about heaven before waking up. I connected the dream to the vision. This increased fear in me. I was not prepared for what was happening. I started wondering what to do for me to get out of this situation. When I realized that in front of me was a person, I was not ready to see more. I did not open the blanket further to see the face. The person stayed there for sometime. I would cover my self and then open the blanket again. The person was still standing in front of me.
I don`t know why this happened. I have tried to recall if there was a special occasion immediately before or after the day of my vision but I do not remember one. What I remember though is that I gave my life to Christ at a young age. It was around that age that I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior ( I got born again ) . I cant recall with absolute certainty that I got born again at 11 years, but if not at that age, then it was not so long before or after that.
I remember telling my immediate relatives about this encounter when every body woke up. Its my mum I told first, before telling my other relatives. Later, I told a few friends. I did not tell many people because I thought they would not believe me. So for the most part I kept it to my self. But along the way, I discover that many people don`t believe in the existence of God. I also know that some people who initially believed choose to stop believing. There are many reasons for this, but for some , its because they suddenly start doubting the existence of God. I am not suggesting that we should only believe after having a vision. God communicates to us mainly through his word, the Bible. And as I mentioned earlier, God`s invisible qualities have been clearly seen and are understood from what has been made so that we are without excuse ( Romans 1:20 ). This has been so since the creation of the world ( Romans 1:20 ). The reason for my post is the hope that some person(s) life might be touched and changed. I hope that some one/ people reading this will receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior or they will re commit their lives to Christ and the salvation He brought us. Visions are spoken about in the Bible. Joel 2: 28 says “…your young men will see visions.” Several other scriptures also talk about visions. In Acts 9:10, the Bible talks about the Lord calling Ananias in a vision. Vs 12 of the same chapter talks about Saul seeing Ananias in a vision, placing his hands on him to restore his ( Saul`s ) sight.
Do not worry about authenticating what I have written. I have no reason to lie. I am not seeking for publicity. If I was seeking for attention , there are better avenues of me doing so than posting here.
On realizing that the person remained standing in front of me, I decided to spring out of my bed. I run to my mum shouting and waking her up. She woke up but the person in the white robe was not there any more. I then recounted what happened to her. I think the reason for my fear was because I was not prepared for this. I am not giving an excuse for the fear, I wish I did not and I don`t think it was right for me to do so.
May God bless you all, in Jesus` name.
Pleasant Words Heal 