SEEKING JESUS

The story details follow: However, if you care to catch up on my prior postings that are a prelude to this story, follow the following links:

Entering The Spiritual Realm, MY JOURNEY TO SPIRITUAL GOLGOTHA, IN HELL – CONFRONTED BY THE DEVIL, SWIMMING IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE, Standing On The Seat Of Judgment Before God, MY EXPERIENCES IN HEAVEN AND HELL, THE DAYS AFTER DEATH, MY ABILITY TO BREATH IS ATTACKED, UNABLE TO GET ENOUGH NUTRITION TO SURVIVE , MY MEAGER ATTEMPT TO FIND GOD BRINGS A MIRACLE, THE ATTACKS CONTINUE – STREP INFECTION

I SURVIVED THE INITIAL ATTACK, BUT THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE CONTINUES

Despite the evidence that God was behind all my progress, it never occurred to me that I should be thanking Him for delivering me from the calamities inflicted by the devil’s attacks on me. This ignorant and foolish position would soon result in another torrent of aggression as I was still unaware of Spiritual Warfare and had no idea I should turn to God for help.

I had been in the hospital or in-home care for over four months, and my physical condition gradually improved. After being released from the hospital and no longer needing home care, I became restless and desired to return to work. So I proceeded to my company’s personnel department, passed the required physical exam, and started on a restricted work schedule. However, I did all of this despite warnings from my doctors that I was not as strong as I presumed.

A DIFFERENT LIFE

My doctors explained how my medical condition would influence my future life activities. They informed me that pancreatic dysfunctions typically arise from three lifestyle determinants and that I must focus on each to stay healthy. The most treacherous factor would be alcohol consumption; consequently, I would have to stop drinking altogether. The other two factors would be a high-fat diet and a high-stress lifestyle. They were right. When I thought about it, I occasionally drank excessively, ate loads of fatty and deep-fried foods, and had an exceptionally stressful job. I would have to focus on all three.

They further explained that acute pancreas infirmities like what I experienced would likely reoccur without this focus, especially if I began alcohol consumption again. They reinforce their point by providing the following statistics: If I resumed drinking, I would have a ninety-nine percent probability of experiencing a reoccurrence, and such an occurrence would be much more damaging than the first episode, ninety-nine percent of the time. They additionally disclosed that my likelihood of surviving the first attack was one in three. I then realized I would probably die if I began drinking again. Drink or live, that was the question. I chose to live.

STARTING OVER FROM SCRATCH

But I never comprehended how difficult it would be to quit drinking. I was about to find that drinking had become the focus of my interpersonal relationships. Liquor was almost always entangled in my social life and, quite candidly, had become the foundation for many friendships. While interested in numerous activities, I soon realized I did them while drinking. Drinking was a part of the softball leagues, canoe trips, camping, bowling, poker, parties, traveling, and other pursuits. My life activities predominately involved drinking, and I would face a large void without it.

Initially, I believed I could avoid drinking at bars and social events, but when I did, I noticed that my friends, who I still have high esteem, seemed less friendly than before. Sure, they were cordial and gracious every time we got together, but even so, a new distance seemed to exist. It was as if they were skeptical of our friendship since I would not drink with them anymore. I can not fault them since they were right. I was not hanging out with them as often as before.

Then I thought, what the heck? There is no reason I should avoid going to these activities with my friends. I will drink ginger ale or club soda and forget the alcohol. In practice, however, that did not work either. My world-class comedian buddies were not as humorous when I was sober. I saw myself being the stick in the mud—the only one not laughing. Then I thought, well, maybe I will try recreational drugs. Perhaps this will allow me to get down with the crowd. But these drugs only dumbed me down, which was not what I wanted either.

In the end, I dropped out entirely. I started thinking about how few people visited me during my three-month stay in the hospital. I suddenly felt like a stranger and realized my old life was gone! I was also disheartened at home and eventually moved into an apartment about a year later. I needed to reinvent myself—build a new life. I had to change, but into what?

SATAN CALLS

One day shortly afterward, I was alone in my apartment when the phone rang. I answered, and a horrific-sounding voice answered, This is Satan. The voice seemed mechanical, like a monster in a science fiction horror movie. The sound of it was loud, garbled, reverberated, and possessed a ringing tone. It also had several well-defined distinctive octaves. The resulting sound echoed as if numerous individuals were uttering exact phrases but slightly out of synchronization, which created a garbled effect.

You can imagine my horror based on my encounter with Satan in Hell several years prior. I was terrified, trembling, and panicked; I quickly hung up. I reasoned, however, that perhaps this was a prank. Maybe someone was having fun with me—using an electronic device to frighten me. But who would do such a thing? No one I knew would, nor would they have the capability. Besides, I had not told anyone of my encounter with the devil. So, just as before, I tried to put this horrific memory in a faraway place in my mind; I made it small and rationalized it away. But then, just a few days later, an identical incident occurred. I then understood that the devil was relentlessly stalking me again and that his harassment would not likely stop soon.

Somewhat later, I contemplated relocating to another city and was using the National Business Employment Weekly to look for job opportunities. I spotted an ad requesting my skill set and called them. I was enthusiastic about this great prospect and hoped to present my qualifications. Instead, the same garbled voice answered, This is Satan. I replied, what? The voice replied This is Satan. My heart was pounding as I smashed the receiver down. How in the world could this be? You know, sometimes a person just will not read the handwriting on the wall. That was me. Believe it or not, I redialed the number, reasoning that maybe I had misdialed by accident. Astonishingly, the identical thing transpired once again. I hung up, dreading that Satan was still coming after me.

THINGS CHANGE

After that incident, things started looking up for a while. I transferred to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and had a lovely lady in my life who would become my wife. She would eventually play an influential role in helping me through some troublesome times and supporting me in finding the pathway to the Lord. I felt like I was reinventing myself by moving to a new environment and having a new love and home—I was delighted with all these things.

But things were imperfect, as my dad died from a prolonged heart condition. I lost the one person who truly believed in me by losing my dad.

I then began having work-related difficulties. There had been a departmental reorganization, and I ended up working for someone with whom I did not see eye to eye. As time went on, the situation became very strained. Late one night, while my wife was in bed, I found myself pacing the hallway, pondering the consequences of potentially being out of work. I speculated that obtaining another job in the current downturned economy would be difficult. More than anything, I reflected on how letting my wife down by being unemployed would feel. This circumstance became a breaking point for me; I finally gave in, slumped against the wall, and blurted out the words in my heart, Okay, God, I give up. I will do whatever You want me to do.

I did not comprehend it then, but several beautiful transformations began when I surrendered to God that day. God was about to lead me toward a vision of the future, and I would receive His blessings and favor as I walked toward it. I was about to see the manifestations of God’s power and glory. I had been saved from the dreadful fate of the second death and placed on a pathway leading to God’s Glory.

A GLORIOUS VISION

The vision came just a few nights after surrendering to God. It appeared when I was in bed, in that twilight place, somewhere between slumber and consciousness.

I saw a fluorescent orange globe fronting a steel blue-black backdrop. It was gorgeous; its colors were vivid, emitting light from within. Despite the missing oceans, continents, and coloring, I immediately understood that the orange planet was Earth. I knew this because God began inserting knowledge into my brain to help me comprehend what I saw.

Then a small black arrowhead-shaped object emerged above the North Pole, and the idea of it being a shuttle entered my mind. The shuttle trekked due Southward leaving a thin black stripe across the Earth’s sky before vanishing over the Southern Pole. Shortly afterward, it reappeared at the North Pole, now orbiting on a new longitude and eventually disappearing beyond the South Pole again. It then persisted in this manner, drawing the longitudes over the Earth until it had printed the major longitudes across the face of the Earth, leaving the planet resembling a peeled orange.

With the longitudes printed, the shuttle emerged at the Eastern Equator, traversing the Earth on a Westerly course while circling the planet until it had painted its significant latitudes across the sky. When completed, the sphere looked like a globe of the Earth, like one you may find in a school room or office, except for its bright orange color and lack of oceans and continents.

As I watched in amazement, the skin of a single orange slice (that space between two of the Earth’s longitudes) began peeling back, starting at the top and then curling downward into a scroll shape at the Equator, exposing an astonishingly beautiful pink underlayer. Each section then, one at a time, in sequence, unwound identically. When completed, a gorgeous pink upper hemisphere was visible above the coiled-up orange skins at the Equator. As I watched, The silky pink exterior revealed itself to be the petals of a tightly wound blossom that began maturing. I saw new growth forming and growing from the flower’s nucleus. This expansion forced the outer petals to flow over the periphery, creating a cascade of pink petals streaming downward.

I was awestruck by the majestic beauty of this ever-expanding flower. I couldn’t help but continue observing this awe-inspiring sight but then wondered if I might be dreaming. I pondered, what would happen if I reopened my eyes? So, I opened them and lifted my head, and looked around my bedroom. To my astonishment, I could see the flower superimposed over the features of my darkened room. It was as if my retinas had semi-transparent videos projected onto them. Even though I did not understand how this could occur, I instantly reclosed my eyes, not wanting to miss any part of this captivating experience. Next, I started to wonder why this was happening to me. Why should I know this, and what importance should this be to me?

Then unexpectedly, everything around me began moving. My vantage point to the flowering globe rotated ninety degrees, such that my view was directly over the hub of the flowering planet, precisely where the new growth had arisen at the North Pole. Afterward, a hole dilated open there, and an unseen force drew me inside. I looked around and realized that I was at the feet of a Jesus, who filled the Earth from pole to pole. When I looked up into the immaculate clarity of this place, I saw His outstretched arms and somehow knew He was delivering blessings to the souls of the Earth. At this point, all of my vision’s heavenly peace faded away.

Interestingly, I received this vision of a world filled with Jesus just a few days after surrendering to God. I was unsure of what this meant then, but the reality is that everything in my life would rapidly change for the better from this point forward.