To Heaven And Back
In 1992, I went to Heaven and back. I was scheduled for a day surgery to extract my impacted wisdom teeth. Instead, I went to heaven and back. In a prep room, I was sedated and told to count backwards from 100. I didn’t get very far before I became unconscious. Abruptly, I was outside my body and standing beside the operating table, watching the surgeon and his two assistants work.
I had no idea I was going to heaven and back, but when I realized that I had passed on, I wanted to inform the doctor, but to no avail: I could no longer communicate with the earthly realm. As I waited in the operating room, I witnessed my body on the table begin to glow with a glistening white light. Suddenly, my body was transformed into what was perfection to me. I looked like an angel. My face looked like me but was so bright and perfect. I thought, I look beautiful. Then I heard a man’s voice from behind me, “That’s what you look like to Me all the time!” I turned around and that was when I saw Him.
Jesus is the most handsome King upon whom I have ever laid my eyes. He wore a beautiful, full-length robe and was about 5’ 10” tall. He had long hair resembling a lion’s mane. His eyes were so deep and full of destiny. His presence demanded my attention as I stood in adoration.
Then, He began to teach me how the supernatural realm works. He said words are of utmost importance to the operation of the realm of the supernatural. He explained how the supernatural realm responds to me when I speak by the Holy Spirit with an authority and faith born from the Spirit’s revelation and not from my own understanding, producing what is called a faith rest.
Jesus taught me that the single most important thing I could do to participate in the supernatural realm was to pray in tongues. He told me that praying in tongues would lead me into my destiny and into situations where I would increase financially instead of decreasing; that I would have appointments and not disappointments because there are no disappointments in Heaven. Jesus said, “The Holy Spirit doesn’t know ‘defeat’,” and I should yield to Him continually.
Jesus asked me to turn and again look at my body as it lay on the operating table, still in its glorified state. What I saw astounded me. A black vest covered the area from my chest to my stomach. I immediately understood that the black area was my soul. The soul is the center of the will and emotions and connects directly to the mind. Jesus pointed out that my darkened soul was obscuring my beauty, covering my beautiful, glorified body.
In a flash, Jesus took me to the table to see the black vest up close. It was made up of untrue words that had been spoken over me. He explained, “This is a lifetime of words spoken against you, and they continue to affect you.” With a wave of His hand, a panoramic view like a large screen appeared, and He began to show me the occasions when those words were spoken. The pain created by those incidents welled up as I relived them in fast succession. It wasn’t long before I began to cry as each incident increased my grief.
At this point, Jesus stopped the review. He said, “I did not show you this to upset you, but only to reveal to you that the hurt is still there.” He added, “We need to deal with the hurt caused by these words. They are affecting you.” Jesus wanted to show me the contrast between the beauty of my spirit man and my damaged soul. Hurtful words of the past were obscuring who I really was. Many of the people who spoke those damaging things did not understand they were not speaking the truth and were hindering my God-ordained destiny. In a sense, without intending to, they were speaking the enemy’s intentions over me. I believe everyone has similar hurts that need healing.
We live by our words
Jesus focused on the effects that words have on our lives, both good and bad. He then revealed to me the four ways that He heals our souls:
1. Jesus can wave His hand over a person’s chest (soul) and heal them immediately.
2. We can listen to the truth, continually renewing our minds until the lies we have believed about ourselves are replaced with the truth.
3. We can pray in the Holy Spirit until our inner (spirit) man becomes so powerful that he overthrows the soul with its mind, will, and emotions and becomes the dominant influence.
4. We can also receive healing through the process of godly counseling.
Each of these methods has been used successfully in my life and has brought me healing in my soul. Let Jesus have all your hurts. He cares so much about you that Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote, “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). You don’t need experience going to heaven and back in order to experience Heaven on Earth.
On my visit to Heaven, Jesus began teaching me about how words bind people. He said, “Don’t speak against people. Your words can bind them and hinder My work in their lives.” He continued, “Do not even speak against unsaved people, because I am working to bring them to a point of repentance and salvation, and your words can slow down the process.” Then He showed me how He was working through angels and humans to bring people into His Kingdom and how words help or hinder that activity.
During my visit to Heaven and back, Jesus took me to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico where He demonstrated how powerful my prayers were. As I prayed in the Spirit at His command, what looked like an atomic blast in the desert erupted, sending a billowing fire upwards. Jesus pointed to the mushroom cloud, explaining it was not the spectacular cloud that made prayer effective when people pray. Rather, the power of prayer is in the ensuing shock wave that moves along the ground shifting, displacing and moving everything out of its path. He told me the shock waves were the effects of my supernatural prayers. He encouraged me to always believe that my prayers were effective and never to give up.
Jesus also showed me that He wants permanent habitation with each of us. He wants to dwell with you. When Jesus lives with you and in you, your environment is impacted and transformed for the Kingdom. You will have so much in common in your heart with Him that you won’t get in the way. When you spend time with Jesus, He gently teaches you, until you are transformed and habitable. Your habitation is no longer contaminated by unholy activities and thoughts. As you grow in Him, the Holy Spirit will begin to purge you of the practices that don’t benefit or edify. When we yield to the Holy Spirit, He will operate in us through words of knowledge, wisdom and prophecy, as well as in discerning of spirits. God’s ultimate goal in habitation is to include you in what He is doing on earth in the lives of others. Jesus can take you to a place where you’re way beyond your years. You’re way beyond what people have planned for you. You’re way beyond any and all of what can be imagined by the natural mind. You have the capacity to do the impossible, and the only reason why is because you have allowed Jesus to talk to you and influence you as a person. Let your next step be the one that places you in your days of Heaven on Earth! Jesus wants me to help as many people as possible to fulfill their destinies. I’ll never be the same after going to Heaven and back.
