A glimpse of Eternity......

THE DOOR AND THE DECISION

I (Jesus) am the Door.
Anyone who enters in through me will be saved;
he will come in, he will go out, and will find pasture.
The thief comes only in order that he may
steal and may kill and may destroy.
I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance.
I am the Good Shepherd.
The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:9-11 (NASB)


Directly behind Jesus was a circular shaped opening like the tunnel I had just traveled down.
Gazing out through it, I could see a whole new world opening up before me.

I felt like I was standing on the edge of paradise.......having a glimpse into eternity.

It was completely untouched. In front of me were green fields and meadows.

The grass itself was giving off the same light and life that I had seen in the presence of God.

There was no disease on the plants. It seemed as though the grass would just spring back to life if you stepped on it. Through the center of the meadows I could see a crystal clear stream winding its way across the landscape with trees on either bank.

To my right were mountains in the distance..... and the sky above was blue and clear.

To my left were rolling green hills and flowers, which were radiating beautiful colours.

Paradise!

I knew I belonged here. I had traveled the world looking for paradise.......and here it was.

I felt as though I had just been born for the first time. Every part of me knew I was home.

Before me stood eternity - just one step away.

As I tried to step forward into this new world Jesus stepped back into the doorway.

The Bible says that "Jesus is the door and that if you come in through him, you will go in and out and find green pastures. He is the door to life. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by him. He is the only way. There is only one narrow passageway that leads into his kingdom."

Few find it......Most find the highway down to hell.

Jesus asked me this question “Ian, now that you have seen do you wish to return?”

I thought, "Return, of course not. Why would I want to go back? Why would I want to return to the misery and hatred? No, I have nothing to return for. I have no wife or kids, no one who really loves me. You are the first person who has ever truly loved me as I am.I want to stay in your presence forever.

I wish to go on in to paradise.”

But he didn’t move so I looked back one last time to say, “Goodbye cruel world I’m out of here!”

As I did..........in a clear vision right in front of the tunnel..........stood my mother.

As I saw her..... I knew I had just lied;
there was one person who loved me – my dear Mum.

Not only had she loved me, but also I knew she had prayed for me every day of my life, and she had tried to show me God.

In my pride and arrogance I had mocked her beliefs.

But she had been right,

there was a God...... and a heaven........... and a hell.

I realised how selfish it would be to go through to paradise and leave my mother believing that I had gone to hell.

She would have no idea that I'd made a deathbed prayer and repented of my sins and received Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. She would have just received a dead body in a box from Mauritius.


So I said, "God, there's only one person really I want to go back for and that is my mum. I want to tell her that what she believes in is true, that there is a living God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a door and Jesus Christ is that door and that we can only come through him".

Then as I looked back again......I saw behind her my father............my brother and sister..........my friends, and a multitude of people behind them. God was showing me that there were a lot of other people who also didn't know, and would never know, unless I was able to share with them.

I asked, “Who are all those other people?” And God said, “If you don’t return, many of these people will not get an opportunity to hear about me because many will not put their foot inside a church”.

I responded, “I don’t love those people” but he replied, “Son, I love them and I desire all of them to come to know me.”

Then the Lord said, "If you return you must see things in a new light.”

I understood that I must now see through his eyes, his eyes of love and forgiveness.

I needed to see the world as he saw it – through the eyes of eternity.

“God, how do I return?” I asked, “Do I have to go back through the tunnel of darkness, back into my body? How can I go back? I don't even know how I got here.”

He said, "Ian tilt your head… now feel liquid drain from your eyes… now open your eyes and see.”
to be cont'd
blessings
Yaddy