God has paused eternity to grant us time to make choices that will determine our immortal fate.
During this time, God will judge whether we choose good over evil, love over hate, and save a life over killing. His judgment will determine whether we become members of the bride of Christ and, thus, one with Jesus, living forever in the New Jerusalem on the New Earth or whether we will suffer in the Pit of Fire and Brimstone with the devil and his minions, enduring unbearable heat and pressure, desperately seeking an escape that never occurs (SWIMMING IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE.)
The power to determine our fate lies in our hands. On Judgment Day, you may be asked, “Why should you live?” as the Lord once asked me (STANDING ON THE SEAT OF JUDGMENT BEFORE GOD.) So be prepared, live a life of love as Jesus commanded, and have a treasure trove of good works done in love. Doing so requires a relationship with Him that can be developed by conforming ourselves to Jesus, and one way to achieve such a transformation is through the scriptures. We can read and meditate on the words and actions of Jesus found in the Bible while examining our souls to see if we would do as Jesus did in similar circumstances. If we discover discrepancies, we can deploy prayer and fasting as necessary to get a breakthrough.
The scripture below emphasizes the importance of emulating Jesus, including deploying the gifts of the Spirit, such as healing, prophecy, and leading others to the Kingdom of God.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12
Our choice to become more like Jesus is a challenging and less-traveled path. It demonstrates our desire and commitment to follow the pathway leading to His door, do His will, and achieve an intimate, loving relationship with Him.
If you’re interested in embarking on this journey, I intend to share future posts that will act as a guide. Each post will concentrate on a specific scripture for prayer, meditation, and reflection on whether action is needed to become more like Jesus. When combined, these posts will present a model of Christian living that will challenge and help shape your life choices to align with those of Jesus.
I hope you’ll join me in wholeheartedly seeking Jesus with all your heart, mind, and strength. Remember, you’re not alone on this journey. Support and guidance will soon be available to you right here on possess-the-vision.com.
Although I lived through the night, my troubles were far from over. My life would continue, but now the devil had me on the ropes, and although I did not know it, he was coming in to finish me off. He continued to attack me in the hospital and even afterward. Many of his attacks afflicted my body with additional damage. In contrast, my doctors and others tried to persuade me to have a very dangerous operation that I did not need. The devil beset my job and my personal relationships, and when all else failed, he tried to physically kill me with his bare hands. He invoked havoc in my life with a continuous surge of events devised to abort my future and, therein, eradicate the purpose of my life.
Consequently, as much as possible, I blocked these memories from entering my consciousness, as I did not want to dwell upon them or their consequences. I rationalized them away, pretending they were simply one dreadful dream. I then pictured them as small and far away. I put them behind me, and as a result of ignoring what God had shown me that night, I opened myself to the spiritual attacks that would beset me from that moment on. Because of my poor decisions, I was about to experience the reality of living a life without the protection of God and, therefore, have nothing to thwart the attacks of the devil.
I was ashamed of what I encountered and did not share what happened with anyone. I did not realize what God had done for me until years afterward when I recognized that what happened to me was God’s response to my doubting the devil’s existence. Yes, God responded by showing me the truth, not only of the devil’s existence but also the existence of Hell, the Lake of Fire, Spiritual Golgotha, and the Judgment Seat of the Lord. I had not comprehended the blessings that He gave me by revealing the truth of these things. It was not as if I had been punished as I had previously believed, but instead, God removed me from harm in each of these places. Therefore, God gave me the honor of knowing the truth of the reality of these spiritual truths. Unfortunately for me, this belief would only come many years later.
So, from this point forward, I will present how I became an innocent victim of a constant stream of spiritual attacks, not knowing that I had become a target of the devil’s spiritual warfare. These experiences will be chronicled in future postings.
I had stopped believing in the existence of the devil. As a consequence, I quickly suffered a life-threatening condition that sent me to the hospital, fighting for my life. I passed over into the spiritual realm, where I experienced the realities of the devil, hell, the Lake of Fire, and the Judgement Seat, where I stood before God with stains on my garments.
Although I returned to life, the devil had me on the ropes, and although I did not know it, he was coming in to finish me off. He continued attacking me in the hospital as I fought for my life. In my previous two postings, he attempted to suffocate me (MY ABILITY TO BREATH IS ATTACKED) and starve me to death (UNABLE TO GET ENOUGH NUTRITION TO SURVIVE .) In this posting, he persuaded my doctors to get me to consent to a risky and unneeded operation. He repeatedly brought mayhem into my life with a relentless wave of events designed to abort my destiny and life purpose.
Led to Read the Bible
Somewhere along the way, I picked up a Bible, conceding that it may be an appropriate time to reach out to God. I began by reading the book of Matthew and finished the book by reading just a few chapters each day. However, the words I read didn’t resonate with me then. The book delivered a series of beautiful accounts of Jesus’ life, but I could not grasp their spiritual implications. I subsequently resumed my reading program by reading Mark, but after a while, I gave up. Little did I know, however, that God would reward my meager attempt to move closer to Him.
BAD NEWS COMES
After being in the hospital for two months, a staff surgeon came to discuss the results of my recent CAT scan. He said the test confirmed my pseudocysts were not reabsorbing into my pancreas as hoped. He also stated that leaving them in this condition would be risky. He then delivered a long list of the perils of avoiding this operation and strongly advised me to have it done.
I inquired about the risks of surgery and found that the operation required a fifteen-inch cut in my abdomen and the removal of my stomach, kidneys, and some intestines. These steps are necessary to access the pancreas, which is positioned near the spine and is otherwise unreachable. The pseudocysts would then be lanced and sewn onto the inside wall of the intestines, giving them a safe place to drain. Once completed, they would reinstate the removed organs and stitch me up. The physicians justified the risk associated with the operation because of the significant, possibly fatal, episodes that would occur without it.
However, the complexity and risk of this procedure seemed unreasonable to me. After all, I felt from the first day that my body would heal and I would recover. I declined to let pessimistic sentiments from the physician change my mind regarding my outcome. It seemed to me that the operational risks were higher than the potential injury from a pancreas malfunction sometime in the future. I did not want to die on the operating table. This surgery seemed to be an intrinsically bad idea to me. It seemed wrong in my head and my gut.
A HEALING MIRACLE FOLLOWS UNWAVERING FAITH
Nevertheless, some in my family felt differently. Of course, they knew much better than I, just how fortunate I was to be alive. After a discussion with them, I searched for the right decision for quite some time, eventually choosing to get a second opinion. So, I contacted my family doctor to see if he could help. He investigated and found an experienced pancreatic specialist who worked in another hospital across town. So, I asked my family doctor to set things up for me.
Little did I know what a firestorm I started by bringing in a physician from another hospital. My view was that I wanted the best I could find and needed to comprehend why anyone would do differently. I also knew a second opinion by another doctor in the same practice would have political implications, which could sway opinion toward their colleague’s original findings. I wanted a fresh set of eyes and an open and independent mind. Fortunately, my family doctor did an extraordinary job playing the middleman in making this transpire. He pulled all the strings required to get the second opinion set up.
On the morning the second opinion exam was scheduled, I was sitting in bed, listening to the nurses and the doctors talking in the hallway about the outrage of having an outsider evaluate me. Everyone in the building was talking about this issue. They were insulted that such a thing could occur. With all the fuss they were generating, you would have thought that someone had robbed a bank, and maybe that is what it was all about.
In any case, the doctor showed up and did an excellent job. He asked me multiple questions, examined me, reviewed my records, and ordered another battery of tests, including CAT scans, X-rays, and blood tests.
A few weeks later, he reported his findings and their surprising consequences. He conveyed that by comparing the most recent CAT scan with the previous one, he discovered that my pseudocysts were being reabsorbed into my pancreas—they were shrinking! He, therefore, forecasted they would vanish within three to six months. My body was healing! What great news!
Jesus is the Light of the World
Looking back on it now, it is apparent that something transpired between my first and second series of examinations. That something was that I had desired to find God by picking up a Bible and reading it. Regardless of how feeble my effort was, God responded with a healing miracle! Yes, that is right. When I thought about it, the physicians could do nothing but offer a risky surgery, resulting in a patch job while causing much damage to my body and organs. On the other hand, God gave me a genuine healing that returned my body and organs to their original state without damage or risk.
My faith that I would be healthy without the surgery is something God put in me that first night in the hospital. God honored my attempt to find Him, and it did not matter that I found the experience lacking. It was as if God was responding to me, “Okay, son; you took one step in My direction, and you thought nothing would come of it. But you have My heart. I am going to show you that I am real. I desire that you live.”
As was communicated in all the other incidents I have reported in this blog, God was there for me again. He continued watching over and protecting me, even though I did not know it. I often wonder why the Lord would have loved me so. After all, He saved me from the lake of fire (SWIMMING IN THE LAKE OF FIRE AND BRIMSTONE) and brimstone, the pit of hell, and the devil’s savagery (MY EXPERIENCES IN HEAVEN AND HELL). He has given me life even though I stood before Him on Judgment Day with the stains of sin on my garments. Nothing could be more significant than being saved from these things. Later, He would heal me simply because I attempted to find Him by reading the Bible.
Sweet God in heaven, I praise Your holy and sacred name. I praise You for loving someone unworthy of Your love, who could not have changed the error of his ways without Your loving care.
The truth is that God was willing to develop a closer relationship with me then, but I was not ready. I still had not recognized that He was my protector and healer, so I did not give Him the praise he deserved for doing so. However, by not giving credit to God for my healing, and since I had not renounced my disbelief in the devil’s existence, my penalty would be that the spiritual warfare over me would continue.
DISAGREEMENTS ABOUT THE GOOD NEWS
When the hospital staff acquired the second opinion report, I expected they would oppose it. I expected the hospital surgeons’ warnings that I would encounter severe consequences without the surgery. I remember thinking, “After all, a surgeon only makes big money when they operate, right?” However, the surgeon was not the only one encouraging me to go ahead and have the surgery. Members of my family also tried to persuade me to have the procedure. After all, I understand that they were afraid of losing me.
I, therefore, abandoned the plan for a risky surgery and accepted the path of natural recovery because I believed in a good report before there was one to contemplate. I knew I did not need the operation, and I told my hospital doctors and everyone else of this belief. Many people tried to change my mind, but I declined them all.
The hospital physicians tried several strategies to get me to recant my decision not to have the operation. I, however, was always unwavering and to the point. Eventually, they pressed me so hard that I had to tell them this was the end of the line rudely. There would be no more discussions about an operation.
Interestingly enough, I encountered the top surgeon who recommended the operation on an airport shuttle bus several years later. I was in much better health by then, and he may not have recognized me, so I reintroduced myself. Would you believe that he started preaching to me about the operation again? He did not get the message. He refused to accept the test results that confirmed that the pseudocysts had disappeared and that there was nothing to operate on!
In my next posting, you will learn about my insurance company blocking my ability to go on home care despite my doctor’s recommendations. After being in the hospital for almost three months, and even though they would save tons of money doing so, they persistently blocked my ability to go home. You can find it here: TBD. Until then, remember to:
SEEKING JESUS 