The Light
When I committed my life to God and accepted salvation through the messiah, I began receiving powerful messages from God through visions, dreams, and miraculous events. The most amazing vision I had was of Heaven, which I received only a few months after turning away from my former pathetic life. The experience remains with me to this day and changed my life forever.
During the vision, I felt as though I was in a spiritual state and floating above a cluster of clouds. Below, I caught sight of a stunning location nestled between the clouds, with a landscape where a meandering river flowed through. I gradually descended to the ground and found myself standing in what looked like a park. Drawn to a bridge over the river, I crossed over to the other side and became aware of an extraordinary sensation. It was an overwhelming love, so profound that it filled every part of me, including my mind and body, though I couldn’t discern whether I was actually physically present or purely in spirit. For the first time, I felt truly content and satisfied. I was struck by the realization that this love was not at all strange or overwhelming, but rather felt entirely natural and the way life should be. In retrospect, it was the life I had known on Earth that felt strange by comparison and that I was experiencing the answer to life.
Before encountering this vision, my life felt empty and lacking to what I was now experiencing. It was clear to me that nothing could match the profound experience of God’s love. I understood that I could live forever enveloped in this love without ever feeling bored, tired, or disinterested. It was an endless cascade of love that elicited a pure sense of joy within me. It felt as though I had been plugged in and was shown the key to life. I knew that this love could sustain me for eternity without waning.
The love I experienced during the vision was paramount, but I also became aware of an incredible life coursing through me. I felt an intense sense of awareness and vitality that made my earthly existence, which I wasn’t thinking of at the time, seem lifeless in comparison. It was as though I was receiving a complete and full dose of life, while on Earth I was only receiving crumbs. This abundant life made me feel whole and complete, and I understood what it meant to be full. While everything around me radiated with God’s glory and was breathtakingly beautiful, it was my experience of God’s love and his life that held greater significance.
As I continued to walk a straight path, I encountered the river again as it zigzagged through the landscape, and once again, there was a bridge that I crossed. This repeated several times, with each crossing leading me to a place where I could sense God’s love with ever-increasing intensity. It felt like I was ascending higher and higher in God, as his love grew stronger and the beauty around me intensified. In hindsight, I realized that I must have been moving closer to the source of the River of Life (The throne), and this love was becoming more concentrated and stronger as I approached the source.
I eventually arrived at a place with people, and their presence was awe-inspiring. Their interactions with one another created an atmosphere of acceptance and unity beyond words. While we seemed to merge together as one, I still retained my individuality, but the Glory of God was magnified. Being in the company of these Holy Ones was an immensely rich experience of communication that was conveyed through thought rather than speech. It was a truly indescribable experience, with wave upon wave of pure joy, love, and truth, accompanied by breathtaking beauty. I didn’t participate in the conversation, but rather absorbed it all, and was lifted up to new heights in God by this experience. I cannot accurately convey the depth of the communication in human language, and even if I could, I don’t think I could comprehend it fully now with my decaying body. However, in the moment, it all made perfect sense to me without effort. I remember that the communication was saturated with love, life, and color, with multi-dimensional ways of expressing the concepts that were being discussed. At that point, I made a conscious decision to not go any further, as I felt that this was my level of maturity. Perhaps I knew that I couldn’t handle more of the glory that lay ahead. Nonetheless, I was content knowing that I was in Heaven and had reached a level of fulfillment that left me overflowing with satisfaction to the point that I instinctively knew I was not mature enough to go any further.
After that, I was shown another vision within the vision, where the members of my family were shown to me. God spoke to me directly, but not with words. He expressed his desire to see them all in this place. Eventually, the visions came to an end, and as soon as I opened my eyes and found myself back in this world, I felt a huge sense of regret, because it marked the end of the vision. I spent the next half hour or so staring at the wall, and concentrating on going back , but after some time, I realized that it was futile and I had to come to terms with the fact that I was back in this world.
I felt a deep sense of sorrow and disappointment that I had to leave that beautiful place and return to my earthly existence. Everything around me felt cold and empty, in stark contrast to the warmth and richness of the love I had experienced. However, amidst my sadness, I also felt a sense of joy and gratitude, knowing that I had been blessed with the incredible opportunity to witness and feel God’s love in a way that exceeded my wildest expectations.
As a new believer, I was not well-versed in the Bible, so I struggled to understand where I had been during my vision. At first, I thought it must be Heaven, but my ignorance led me to believe that Heaven would not have the earthly elements I saw like green fields, a river, and beautiful landscapes. I reasoned that Heaven would be more spiritual and misty in appearance or would be in a dimension with no resemblance to earth. Another possibility that crossed my mind was that I had been in the Garden of Eden, as the scenery likely resembled it, but it was obvious that the Garden of Eden was no longer existent. I spent many days contemplating where I had been and wondering if it was heaven or not. Although during the experience, I was certain it was heaven, my intellect later caused me to doubt it due to my own lack of understanding of what heaven should look like.
Not long after this experience I went to see a preacher who was holding a meeting in a school near where I lived. The Preacher started talking about PARADISE, and he explained how many believers in God had seen Paradise because they were either shown in a vision or they had a near death experience of some kind. The preacher continued by saying that in paradise, (located in heaven), there is a river that flows from the throne of God, and on each side of the river is the tree of life. He also said that chapter 22 of the Book of Revelations (The last book in the Bible) explains this. So I quickly read that chapter. Within that chapter I read this:
“The Angel showed me a river filled with the water of Life, as clear as crystal. It was flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. Between the street of the city and the river there was a Tree of Life visible from both sides………
When I read this, I knew immediately that the river was the river of life, thus I must have been in heaven. It was a relief to finally have confirmation and to know that I had indeed experienced heaven. From that moment on, my faith became stronger and my understanding of God’s love and grace deepened immensely.
In Revelation 2:7 it says:
“Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches. I will give the privilege of eating from the tree of life , which stands in the Paradise of God, to everyone who wins the victory.
Through my continued study of the Bible and listening to others’ experiences, I’ve come to understand that there is a city called ‘Heavenly Jerusalem’. It’s the place where the throne room of God is located, and where Jesus Christ reigns over all of creation as the one that God has made Lord. He’s seated with the Father on His throne, and the River of Life flows from here. This is why Jesus said that ‘He is the life’. The river flows from the throne, down the streets of the city, and out into paradise, which is the natural looking part of heaven that’s located outside the great city. Here there are stunning landscapes and mansions. I am convinced that it was paradise that I had seen.
According to my understanding, it is possible for humans to live in perfect harmony with nature, as mentioned in John 14:2 and Isaiah 11:6-8 and Isaiah 65:25. Additionally, my experience and the experiences of others have shown me that the closer you are to the source of the River of Life, the greater the life and the glory of God. In fact, in Revelation 4:8, it mention creatures that worship at the throne day and night forever and ever. I understand what a privilege that must be because they are at the very source of all life. This is because the closer you are to God, the greater the glory and life.
I believe that the earth before the fall of man was designed to reflect heaven. It was made in the image of heaven. I also think that the Garden of Eden was created in the likeness of paradise, which is why it was also referred to as paradise. Water is the fountain of all life on Earth, and rivers are a significant source of it. This is also a reflection of the spiritual ‘River of Life’ in heaven.
My personal experience of Paradise only reveals a small portion of its vastness, as others have had more extensive visions. Various books have been written on this topic, and even the Book of Revelation, written by the Apostle John around 2000 years ago, contains descriptions of paradise and the city.
In Luke 23:39-43, we can read about an invitation to paradise extended by Jesus Christ himself.
One of the criminals hanging there insulted Jesus by saying So you are really the Messiah, are you ? Well save yourself and us. But the other criminal scolded him, Don’t you fear God at all ? Can’t you see that you are condemned in the same way that he is ? Our punishment is fair. We’re getting what we deserve. But this man hasn’t done anything wrong. Then he said, Jesus remember me when you enter your Kingdom. Jesus said to him, I can guarantee this truth today, you will be with me in Paradise”.
Into The Darkness
This is a vision that took place some weeks or months after the vision of the River of Life. During this vision, I saw a bright light shining above me, and as I looked to the side, I noticed darkness creeping in to block the light. I exclaimed to myself, “the darkness is overshadowing the light,” and I expected the light to disappear entirely. However, the darkness stopped when it had covered only half of the light, leaving a clear distinction between darkness and light. I understood that God was showing me that I had a choice between the two. I pondered which one to choose. In Revelation 2:11 it says:
“Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Everyone who wins the victory will never be hurt by the second death.
I had already seen Heaven, so I was curious about the darkness and what it entails, I found myself suddenly transported to a place devoid of any light. I was taken aback by this unexpected occurrence and thought that I had only been contemplating it, and had not made a full decision about it. Yet here I was inside the darkness. So I decided to stick around and learn about it. The first thing to note was the lack of any light whatsoever.
After standing in the darkness for some seconds, I felt a sense of fear creeping in and wondered if there was any point in hanging around. Just then, something caught my eye, despite being in darkness. I focussed and realised I was near a person. I wondered if this was a real person in hell. As I gazed into the person’s eyes, I was suddenly hit by an intense and horrifying sensation. It was as if I was experiencing the horror of hell itself or experiencing what this poor soul was going through. Overwhelmed by fear, I exclaimed “I am leaving”, and in an instant, I was back in the presence of light on my left and darkness on my right.
After this frightening encounter, I remained still, trying to process what had just happened. As I struggled to find the words to describe the horror I had experienced, I made a decision to confront this fear head-on and overcome it. Once again, I decided on entering the darkness and found myself face to face with the person again. I looked into their eyes once more and was consumed by the same unimaginable horror as before. It was as though I had experienced pure evil, which was the result of the lack of goodness, love, peace, and joy. In this place of complete darkness, there was no trace of anything good that comes from God. Rather, it was the opposite of these attributes. After this, the vision came to an end. I will say at this point that there are no words to describe the horror that I experienced. It was beyond anything I could have comprehended from my own mind. I really cannot convey to you the horror of hell.
Upon reflection, I came to the realization that what I had witnessed was complete detachment from God. In essence, the term “death” refers to separation, and physical death is the separation of one’s soul from their body. The second death, on the other hand, is when the soul is separated from God and all his divine attributes of goodness.
My friend, let me share with you what I have learned from my experience. The path of sin leads to a dreadful destination, as described in the Bible, where one is destined for hell and ultimately the ‘Second Death’. Such a path brings about suffering, judgment, permanent separation from God, and to never experience life again.
Although my curiosity about the nature of evil and darkness was fully quenched, I am convinced that this path is only for fools. However, I observe people every day who live in sin, showing no regard for the eternal. It grieves me to think how much remorse they will have if they do not turn away from their wicked ways.
Looking back, I do regret not choosing the light when I had the chance. If I had chosen the light, I may have witnessed even more of the incredible wonders of heaven that I experienced in the earlier vision. Unfortunately, that opportunity never presented itself again. Despite this, I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have experienced both sides which has given me an incredible balance in my understanding about eternal things. I believe God showed me heaven and hell / light and darkness, because of my deep desire to know the truth.
We read in Matthew 7:7:
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Conclusion
The day following my vision of hell, I began to realize that despite the challenges and difficulties in this world, there is still hope and goodness to be found. Love, sustenance, and other good things can still be enjoyed here. However, the greatest thing we really have in this life is the opportunity to seek forgiveness from God for our sins. This is not a difficult process, as God has made it as simple as accepting a gift. It is not too late for any of us to turn to God and seek His forgiveness. Once we pass away and our lives come to an end, our actions will be permanently recorded in the heavenly books. Those who are in hell, awaiting judgment, would likely do anything to be in our position. To have the opportunity to choose God is an incredible thing. We are blessed to be in this position now, and it is important that we do not waste this opportunity.
At the end of our journey in life, there will be a clear division between good and evil, light and darkness, love and wrath, righteousness and wickedness. It’s up to each of us to choose which side we will end up on. It’s important to face this truth and take action for our soul while we still have the chance. We are all slowly dying, so it’s wise to prioritize our spiritual well-being. Life itself is the most precious thing we have, even more than material possessions or our careers. Without life, we cannot even enjoy any of these lesser things.
The Bible says in Matthew 16:26:
“What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul. Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul.”
The Bible also says:
“Today if you hear his voice do not harden your heart”.
The depths of hell are filled with individuals who postponed committing their lives to God, thinking they could do it at a later time and not really caring much for eternal things. Tragically, they met their end suddenly, unprepared for what lay ahead. However, you have the opportunity to make things right with God at this very moment. The choice is yours to make between life and death. Keep in mind that as the creator of all good, God cannot associate sin as he is perfect. Your transgressions must be addressed, and the penalty for them must be paid. God showed his love by sending his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die in your place thereby freeing you from the fate of perishing. You don’t have to face this alone. God is extending his hand to you today and awaiting your acceptance. He is saving people out of this world.
Communicate with God in your own words and ask for forgiveness of all your sins. Request that he guides you towards the path of truth. Above all, never cease your search. God rewards those who seek him with all their heart, and we are never too old to learn from him and about him. Communicate with him every day and share your life with him.
Proclaimer.
