SEEKING JESUS

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

A VISION OF A JESUS-FILLED WORLD COMING TO PASS

Despite all the evidence that God was the source of 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. Therefore, this foolish position would soon result in another torrent of aggression by the devil. Further, because I was unaware of Spiritual Warfare, I had no idea that I was even in a war or that I should turn to God for help.

At this point, I had been in the hospital or in-home care for over four months, and my physical condition gradually improved. They had released me from the hospital, and I no longer required IV sugar water feedings at home and was able to digest food properly. Having little to do at home, I became restless and desired to return to work. So, I went to my company’s personnel department, passed the required physical exam, and was authorized to start work on a restricted work schedule. I did all of this despite warnings from my doctors that I was not as strong as I presumed.

For details about the experiences documented here please go to https://possess-the-vision.com/ and look the section titled: THE SPIRITUAL WARFARE OVER ME.

A DIFFERENT LIFE

My doctors described how the pancreatitis damage I suffered would influence my future life activities. They communicated that pancreatic dysfunctions typically arise from three lifestyle determinants and that I must focus on each to stay healthy. The most dangerous factor would be alcohol consumption, and 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 to live.

They further explained that acute pancreas conditions like what I had experienced would likely reoccur without due diligence to these three lifestyle determinants, especially if I began drinking alcohol again. They reinforce this point by providing the following statistics: If I resumed drinking, I would have a ninety-nine percent probability of experiencing a reoccurrence of the condition that sent me to the hospital for three months. Further, such a reoccurrence would be much more life-threatening than the first, ninety-nine percent of the time. They also disclosed that only one in three people entering the hospital in the condition I had that night I entered the hospital would have survived. I then realized I would likely die if I began drinking again. So, my choices were to either drink or live. I chose to live.

STARTING OVER FROM SCRATCH

I never comprehended how difficult it would be to quit drinking, however. What I would soon find out was that drinking had become the focus of my interpersonal relationships. Liquor was almost always intertwined with my social activities and, quite candidly, had become the foundation for many friendships. While I participated in numerous social activities, I soon conceded that drinking was involved in all of them. Drinking was a component of the softball leagues, as well as canoe trips, camping, bowling, poker games, parties, travel, and other pursuits, and I would face a large void without it.

So, I attempted to avoid drinking at bars and social events, but when I did, it seemed that my drinking friends, whom I have high esteem, were less friendly than before. Sure, they were cordial and gracious every time we got together, but even so, I felt a new distance had emerged. I wondered if they were skeptical of our friendship since I was not drinking or hanging out with them as often as before. It was not their fault; I was the one who changed.  

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 funny when I was sober. I saw myself as 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. Its sound was loud, garbled, reverberated, and possessed a ringing tone. It also spoke in several well-defined distinctive octaves concurrently. Therefore, the resulting voice echoed as if numerous individuals were uttering the exact phrases but slightly out of synchronization, creating the garbled effect.

You can imagine my horror based on my encounter with Satan in Hell (IN HELL – CONFRONTED BY THE DEVIL) several years prior. I was terrified, trembling, and panicked, so I quickly hung up. I considered, however, that perhaps this was a prank. Possibly, 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 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 transpired. I then understood that the devil was relentlessly stalking me and that his harassment was not likely to stop anytime 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 opportunity and hoped to be able to present my exceptional 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 immediately smashed the receiver down. How in the world could this happen? You know, sometimes a person will not believe the handwriting on the wall. That was me. Believe it or not, I redialed the number, reasoning that maybe I had accidentally misdialed. Astonishingly, the identical thing transpired once again. I hung up, dreading that Satan was still coming after me.

THINGS CHANGE

Soon after, I transferred to the Dallas/Fort Worth with my current employer. I had a new love, a lovely lady who would shortly become my wife. She would be influential in helping me through some troublesome times and 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, and I lost the one person who truly believed in me.

I afterward began having work-related difficulties. There had been a departmental reorganization, and I was assigned to work for someone with a different perspective on everything. As time went on, my work situation became very strained. Late one night, while my wife was asleep, I found myself pacing the hallway, pondering the consequences of potentially being out of work. I speculated that obtaining another job in the current downturn of the economy would be difficult. More than anything, I reflected on how letting my wife down by becoming unemployed would feel. This circumstance brought me to a breaking point. I finally gave up, 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 apprehend it then, but several beautiful transformations commenced after surrendering 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 (SWIMMING IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE) and placed on a pathway leading to God’s Glory.

A GLORIOUS VISION

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

A fluorescent orange globe appeared, fronting a steel blue-black background. It was captivating; its colors were vivid, emitting light from within somehow. Despite the lack of oceans, continents, and blue and green coloring, I understood this orange planet to be Earth. I knew this because knowledge was being inserted into my mind to help me comprehend what I saw.  

Then, a tiny black arrowhead-shaped object emerged above the North Pole, and the idea of it being a space shuttle entered my mind. The shuttle trekked 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, orbiting on a new longitude and eventually disappearing beyond the South Pole similarly. It then continued in this manner, painting the major longitudinal lines across the face of the Earth’s sky, 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 the significant latitude lines 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.    

I watched in awe as a slice of the planet’s orange skin (that space between two of the Earth’s longitudes) began peeling back on itself, commencing at the top and then curling downward into a scroll shape near the Equator, exposing an astonishingly beautiful pink underlayer. Each section then, one at a time, unwound identically. When completed, a gorgeous pink upper hemisphere was visible above the coiled-up orange skins at the Equator. As I continued to watch, The silky pink exterior revealed itself to be the flower petals of a tightly wound blossom that began maturing. At the north pole, I saw new growth forming and expanding from the flower’s nucleus. This expansion forced the exterior petals to stream over its edge, creating a waterfall of pink flower petals flowing downward.

I was awestruck by the majestic beauty of this ever-expanding flower. I couldn’t help but continue watching this awe-inspiring sight, but then I wondered if I might be dreaming. I pondered, what would happen if I reopened my eyes? So, I opened them while lifting 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 a semi-transparent video projected onto them. Even though I did not understand how this could occur, I instantly closed 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, so my view became directly over the planet’s epicenter, precisely where the new growth had arisen at the North Pole. Then, a gigantic hole dilated open there, and an unseen force drew me inside. I looked around and realized that I was at the feet of 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 shortly 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.

GOD’S PLAN TURNS TURMOIL INTO BLESSINGS

The morning arrived, and it was back to the reality of everyday life. I may have received a magnificent vision of a Jesus-filled world, but my struggles in this world remained for a moment. One of these struggles was my continuing strained relationship with my boss that stemmed from my telling him the truth too often. His retaliation took the form of a considerably lower performance evaluation than the prior outstanding reviews I received for years from other directors. Notability: even though his review could have been fairer, it still resulted in what the corporation regarded as satisfactory performance and, therefore, did not warrant any remedial action.

Despite this, he called me into his office after my performance review to convince me that I was not managerial material and should, therefore, volunteer for a downgrade to a technical position. I refused, knowing he had no legitimate case to do so. I also knew I had years of excellent reviews filed away to challenge his delusion if he ever tried. But what became crystal clear from this meeting was that he was out to get me by hook or crook. And as fate would have it, a golden opportunity would soon come his way.

The economy had substantially turned down again, along with company revenues and profits. Our top executives responded by mandating across-the-board headcount reductions. I soon became aware that my boss planned to surplus my job and lay me off as a part of this headcount reduction program.  

Then, shortly afterward, however, the company offered senior employees an Early Out incentive package. It was an exceptional offer that included health insurance, a year’s salary, and free space available airline tickets for life. To qualify, an employee must be near early retirement age and have at least twenty years of service. Unfortunately, I would not meet the age requirement until my next birthday, just a few months away. So, I explained this impediment to our personnel Department and received a management leave of absence to bridge my employment to my birthdate.

When my director discovered that I had applied and qualified for the Early Out initiative, he promptly took action to get me fired. I caught wind of what he was attempting and went to the Personnel Department to object, stating that I would file an age discrimination lawsuit if they permitted him to do so. Fortunately, they were very concerned about being prosecuted and promptly advised him to alter his course of action. He unbelievably responded that he had surplused my job and had no work for me. He demanded they fire me before I qualified for the Early Out package. Afterward, I discovered that the two organizations were shouting at each other, battling behind closed doors over the issue.

A few days later, the Personnel department called me to inform me that a director I had previously worked for agreed to move me into his organization until my retirement date, securing my severance package. That was a real blessing.

So God was there shielding me from harm again, just like all the other experiences I have written about here. In addition, He was about to move me to a place where I would see the power of God and how He worked through his people. I had pledged to do whatever God wanted, and now God was guiding me to a place where I would get spiritual enlightenment while showering me with favor and blessings along the way. This event started God’s new life, which He had held in reserve for me.

With my early retirement worries resolved, I began looking for another job. Surprisingly, a well-known entertainment company in California called me about an opportunity. Since I had not sent them a resume, I was interested in how they acquired my contact information. They responded that the hiring director found my resume on his desk, but he did not know how or who delivered it.

The hiring manager then interviewed me on the phone, and he was so impressed that he wanted to hire me on the spot. However, I needed more time to protect my retirement package. So, I responded that I needed to learn more about the job, the work environment, and the culture before deciding, as I knew arranging these things would push my potential start date back a few weeks.

Consequently, they flew me to California, where I met with many of the people I would be working with, and everything went remarkably well. The only issue now was that the hiring director wanted me to begin working immediately, even without giving my employer a customary two-week notice. After some negotiation, I persuaded him to wait until I became available.

So, we relocated into a lovely Santa Monica residence with beautiful mountains, ocean, and beach views just three blocks away. We also arrived with a 30% improvement in salary, a year’s wages in cash, health insurance, and flight privileges for life with the airline. Quite a change in circumstances for me and my family! Particularly for someone still clueless about God being at the center of all these blessings. God was setting everything into place, and I walked through the open doors He had placed before me.

MY VOCAL PROCLAMATION FOR A TOUCH FROM GOD INITIATES GOD’S INVITATION

Soon after we had relocated to our new home, our daughter, who had just graduated from college and had the summer off, came to visit. After arriving home from work one day, I found her and my wife in the living room laughing and having a great time while talking about God. Sadly, I could not relate to what they were saying, and for some reason, I spontaneously blurted out: Whatever it is that the two of you have, I want it! That was my vocal proclamation.

GOD RESPONDS BY LEADING US TO A CHURCH WHERE I WOULD GET A TOUCH FROM GOD

Then, one evening, not long after, I was up in the loft flipping through TV channels, looking for something to watch, when I flipped by a man in a white suit who was talking about God. Something he said at that moment caught my attention and led me to swing back to hear more about what he was communicating. The longer I listened, the more I liked what he had to say. I invited my wife to watch with me, and she also loved his message. We then discovered that this preacher would be speaking at a church in Anaheim, and we decided to see him in person.

I had never been to a charismatic church service before and was unsure what to expect. When we arrived at the church, a long line of people surrounded the sizeable round building, and we walked a significant distance before finding the end of the line. As the line gradually moved forward, we overheard the people in front of us discussing what a big deal it was to have this preacher here.

After quite some time, we entered the church and promptly took some seats. We sat before a 360-degree circulator stage with about ten musicians occupying the stage’s right side and a choir of about forty stood in five rows of bleacher seats on the left.  

The service began with the loudest praise and worship music I have ever experienced. I was unfamiliar with most songs they played, but I did my best to keep up with the congregation singing along. People raised their hands while praising God, and I joined them. Throughout all of this experience, I felt a strong desire for a real relationship with God.

After the praise and worship ended, the pastor came to center stage and led the church in prayer. I remember hearing the people sitting next to me praying in a language I believed was Latin, and I wondered what this might mean. I speculated that they were foreigners, but they spoke perfect English before the service. All of this was entirely foreign to me.

Afterward, the pastor introduced the visiting evangelist, who began his preaching by reading several Bible verses and then sermonizing on them. Once he had completed this teaching, he led the people in praising God and invoking the Holy Spirit in song. The entire assembly was reverently engaging in this effort. Then, without any warning, he pushed his right arm around to the far-left side of his body, then quickly pivoted it back past the audience and backward toward the now standing choir while shouting choir, receive your anointing. Amazingly, the entire quire fell in unison into their bleacher seats. I could not believe what I saw as they dropped as if they were all a part of a single unit. They fell so perfectly that it appeared as if a trap door had dropped open under them. I immediately knew that this could not have been a stunt. Even if they practiced for years, they could not achieve this perfect level of synchronization.

God’s anointing hit me as the evangelist’s arm swung past us. I did not fall to my seat with the choir, but I felt something like a bolt of electricity hitting my heart. This powerful charge ignited a burning sensation in my chest that persisted throughout the service. I turned and looked at my wife and said; is this a touch from God? I told her of my experience, and she admitted that she had received this blessing, also. I then looked around the congregation and saw people lying in their seats all over the building as others attended to them. They were down all around us. I knew God was touching people here, and I had received the touch from God I was looking for.  

God had once again taken me to where He wanted us to go. He took the initiative by providing a message on TV, and we answered by following His lead to this church.

COMING TO CHRIST

We began attending this ministry regularly immediately after this first visit. The pastor would generally provide an altar call every Sunday, and several people would come to the altar to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour each week. For me, it only took a few weeks before I was one of many who stepped forward and gave my life to Christ. I remember the pastor flowing in the spirit that day, having raised one hand high above his head while shouting praises to God as he approached me, his eyes blazing directly at me. I remember thinking there were twenty people up here. Why was he focused on me? He later told me he had discerned a significant shift in the heavenly’s during this alter call. I then acknowledged that the Lord attained a spiritual victory, snatching me out of Satan’s hands.

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

A VISION OF A JESUS-FILLED WORLD COMING TO PASS