A glimpse of Eternity! (Final installment coming next!)

My parents picked me up from the airport.

Back home...... my mum had left my bedroom with its surf posters exactly as it had been two years ago.
It was like walking into a time warp.
I’d come home to a refuge.
I went to sleep that night......but was woken in the middle of the night by something shaking me.

By now I knew how to get rid of the demons using the name of Jesus and the Lord’s Prayer.
They had to go.....but what were they doing in my bedroom......in my house?
I was furious!
I got up and decided to give them a verbal lashing!

So I went for it!

I woke my parents up......but I went for it!

I sat down on my bed and said, “God – I’m sick of these things harassing me in the middle of the night. What must I do to get rid of them?”

He replied, “Read the bible.”

I said, “Next you’ll be asking me to go to church! I haven’t got a bible!”

“Your father has a bible – go and ask him for it.” So I did.

I started reading from the beginning......from the book of Genesis:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness.”

I wept when I read this.

I’d been to university and studied all sorts of books but I’ve never even looked at the one book that could tell me the truth. For the next six weeks I read from Genesis to Revelation.

Everything that I had seen in heaven was described in that book!

In Revelation chapter one I read about Jesus, clothed in garments of white, his face shining like the sun, with seven stars in his hand, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

I read in John 8:12, Jesus said that he was the light of the world and those who come to him would no longer walk in darkness but have the light of life.

I read about being born again by the Spirit of God in John chapter three.

I read that by confessing my sins to God, he had forgiven me and cleansed me from my unrighteousness.

I read about the new heaven and earth where there will be no more pain or crying.

I learnt that when a demon is cast out of someone it tries to come back to its dwelling place.

I learnt that Jesus had given me authority over the demons I had encountered and that demons could inhabit idols. The bible inspired awe in me, as I had never realised the truth that was written in its pages was so vital for life.


Since this experience in 1982 I’ve been following Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour.
Initially I spent some time on my sister’s dairy farm in New Zealand getting my life sorted out.

Midway through 1983 I joined YWAM (Youth With a Mission) and sailed with them around the Pacific Islands telling the people there about God’s love.
Then I went back into South East Asia and ministered among the unreached tribal people of Malaysia. For three years I worked in the jungles of Sarawak and the mainland peninsular.
During this time I met my wife Jane.Since then, I have worked both in the church (I am now an ordained minister), and as an itinerant speaker, travelling to many nations around the world sharing this testimony.
My wife Jane and I have three beautiful children, Lisa, Michael and Sarah.
Our desire is to continue sharing the amazing good news of God’s unconditional love and mercy, and his provision through Jesus’ death on the cross for forgiveness of our sins, to everyone we meet.
to be cont'd
Bless you...
Yaddy

A glimpse of Eternity.....

There were two more nights to go before I was to fly out of Mauritius to New Zealand.

The next night I was woken by a tapping on my window.
It was a girl saying, “Ian, I want to talk to you, let me in.” As I knew the girl, I thought nothing of it.
Half asleep I walked to the door and unlocked it. The moment I opened the door...... she grabbed it...... and I saw her eyes. I could see the same red tinge in her eyes, that I had seen in the eyes that had haunted me for the last two nights.

She began to speak in word perfect English.......She was Creole and had never spoken perfect English.

She said, “You are coming with us tonight Ian. We are going to take you somewhere.”

Then I heard other footsteps coming.

I tried to pull the door closed but it was as if this girl had gained a supernatural strength and I couldn’t move it.
Then out of my heart came the words, “In Jesus’ name – go!”

She reeled backwards as if she had been punched in the chest.

As I watched her recoil back up.... I slammed the door in her face and locked it.
I was shaken but safe for the time being.

Finally it was my last night and I was all packed and ready to go.
A taxi was coming for me at 5am.
I went to sleep, but was woken in the night, this time by stones hitting the window.

It was the girl again.

I was prepared and had locked the doors, but I had left a small window open.

I thought, “Whatever these creatures are, they are out to kill me and they are using humans to do it!”

I was about to jump up and shut the window when a big black arm came through it and flicked the latch.

I heard the girl softly saying,”Ian, we want to talk to you.....Come out.”
I was pretending to be asleep and the stones came on the windows again.

This time she was louder, “Ian, come out.”

Then heavier stones began coming right through the window and she was angry now, “Ian, come out!”

I turned suddenly and saw a spear coming through the open window towards me.

I grabbed my flashlight. “The best form of defence is attack” I thought and I shone the flashlight into the spear wielder’s eyes.

There was that red tint again!

I leapt up screaming for all I was worth, grabbed his spear and thrust it back at him so he loosed its hold.

I threw it out the window and slammed the window shut.

Quickly I shone the flashlight outside on three men and a woman.

They cowered away like dogs about to be stoned.

What amazed me was how afraid of the light they were.
to be cont'd
blessings
Yaddy

A glimpse of eternity......

SEEING IN A NEW LIGHT

"Be on guard.
Stand true to what you believe.
Be courageous.
Be strong."
1 Corinthians 16:13 (NLT)


The next morning I got up and prepared myself breakfast.

My friends came in from their morning surf and began talking to me.
I began seeing that what they were saying wasn’t what they were actually meaning. It confused me, as if I was hearing two different messages.

I began to see through their masks.

For the first time in my life I was beginning to see things in a new light.

I could see that the intents of their hearts were totally contrary to what was coming out of their mouths.

It was frightening for me because I didn’t know how to react to that kind of understanding.
So I retreated to my bedroom, and stayed there.

That night I woke again in a cold sweat.......Something nearby was scaring me.......
I turned my head to look and to my horror......the demons I had seen last night...... were now in my bedroom looking at me through my mosquito net.

Yet for some reason they couldn’t get to me.

They were intimidating me.... but they couldn’t actually get to me.

In my heart I had a deep peace.

I knew I had seen the light of God and that light was now in me.

No matter how small the flame was, it was in me and they couldn’t come in.
But they were certainly trying to terrify me and get me back.

I grabbed my flashlight again.

This time I was afraid to get out of bed to turn on the light, because they were in my room.
I didn’t know what power they had.
I flashed the light madly around the room, leaped out of bed and dashed to the light-switch.

With the light safely on I fell to the floor on my knees.

I battled with my mind all over again, just trying to keep my sanity.

Again I prayed the Lord’s Prayer and then I went back to sleep.
To be cont'd
Blessings
Yaddy

A glimpse of Eternity......

THE RETURN

"You have rescued me from death;
you have kept my feet from slipping.
So now I can walk in your presence, O God,
in your life-giving light."
Psalm 56:13 (NLT)



Immediately I was back in my body.......My head was tilted to the right and I had one eye open.

I was looking at a young Indian doctor who had my right foot elevated in his hand and was prodding a sharp instrument into the base of my foot.

He was looking for any signs of life.

Little did he realize that I was now alive and looking at him.

I wondered what on earth he was doing but then the penny dropped; “He thinks I’m dead!”

At the same time the doctor stopped what he was doing and turned his head in the direction of my face.......

As our eyes made contact......terror swept over his face......as though he had just seen a ghost.

Blood drained from his face and he went as white as a sheet........

His feet nearly left the ground........

I was shaken, I asked God to give me the strength to tilt my head to the left and look out the other side.

As I slowly turned my head to the left..... I saw nurses and orderlies in the doorway..... staring at me in amazement and terror.......No one said a word.

I apparently had been dead for some 15 to 20 minutes..... and was being prepared for the morgue.

I felt weak and I closed my eyes,but I quickly opened them again to check that I was still in my body.

I wasn’t sure whether or not I would disappear again.

I was still paralysed and I asked God to help me. As I prayed I felt a tingling sensation in my legs, accompanied by a comforting warmth.

I continued to pray, and the doctor just stood there shaking his head.

The warmth spread up into my body and arms.......

God was healing me!

I was so tired.......I closed my eyes again and fell soundly asleep.


I didn’t wake again until the next afternoon.
When I woke I saw my friend Simon standing outside my room looking in through the window.
He looked pale and was shaking his head......He couldn’t believe I was alive.

He had followed my trail to the hospital and had brought a New Zealand friend of mine with him.

“So you had a pretty rough night aye?” this friend asked.

“Yeah mate” I replied, “I don’t really know what happened.” I didn’t want to say, “Actually – I died!”

I was still coming to terms with all that had happened and didn’t want them to say, “Off to the rubber room for you – you’ve taken too much dope and it’s coming out your ear-holes!”

“This place smells like a latrine.” They said. “We’re getting you out of here. We’ll look after you.”

I resisted them......I wanted to stay in the hospital, but they climbed in the window, picked me up, put me over their shoulders and walked me out.

The doctor came and tried to physically restrain them but they pushed him out of their way.

A taxi was waiting.

Simon wouldn’t come in the taxi with me as he was still afraid that I was a ghost.
They took me home to my bungalow on the beach and put me to bed. Then they went straight out to the living room and had a party!

I was exhausted and hungry.
I went to sleep again and woke up in the middle of the night shivering and perspiring.

My heart was filled with terror.

I was lying facing the wall.
I rolled over to see what was scaring me.......Through my mosquito netting and through the steel bars on the windows I could see seven or eight pairs of eyes looking at me.

There was a light red glow to them. Instead of a round pupil they had slits like a cat.

They seemed half human, half animal.

I thought, “What on earth are they?” They looked into my eyes and I looked into theirs and I heard a whisper, “You’re ours and we’re coming back.”

“No you’re not!” I cried. I grabbed my flashlight and shone it at them. There was nothing there - but I knew I’d seen them!


I wondered if I was going crazy.

I began feeling like I might mentally snap.

I had to settle myself down and convince myself I wasn’t going insane. I’d been through so much in the last 24 hours.

So I said, “God, what’s going on?” Then he took me inch by inch through everything I’d been through. It was as if he seared it onto my mind.
At the end of this I asked him,” what are these things that seem to want to attack me?” He replied, “Ian, remember the Lord’s prayer”. I tried to remember it with my mind again but I couldn’t.
Then up from my heart came all the words through to “deliver me from the evil one”.

I prayed this earnestly from my heart.
Then God said, “Turn the lights out Ian.”
I gathered up my courage and turned off the main light.

I sat on the edge of my bed with my flashlight on. I felt like a Jedi warrior from Star Wars!

I began thinking, “If I don’t turn my flashlight out I’m going to have to spend the rest of my life sleeping with the light on.” I turned the flashlight off.

Nothing happened.
The prayer had been effective.
I lay down and went to sleep.
blessings....
Yaddy

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

A glimpse of Eternity....

As I stood there, the waves of light stopped..... and I stood encased in pure light, filled with love.

There was such stillness. I thought to myself, “I’m so close, I wonder if I could just step into the light that surrounds God and see him face to face. If I could see him face to face I will know the truth.”

I was sick of hearing lies and deceptions.....

I wanted to know the truth......

I had been everywhere to find the truth....and no one seemed to be able to tell me.

I would talk to anybody who could tell me the meaning to life.....the truth.....something had to be the truth.

I thought..... "if I could step through and meet God face-to-face I'll know the truth and I'll know the meaning to life.

I will never have to ask another man, woman or child ever again.....I'll know."

Could I step in?......

There was no voice saying I couldn’t.......

So, I stepped through......I put my best foot forward and stepped through the light.

As I stepped into the light..... it was, as if I’d come inside veils of suspended shimmering lights, like suspended stars or diamonds giving off the most amazing radiance.

And as I walked through the light, it continued to heal the deepest part of me, it was healing my broken inner man, wonderfully healing my broken heart.

I aimed for the brightest part of the light.

Standing in the centre of the light.... stood a man with dazzling white robes reaching down to his ankles.

I could see his bare feet. The garments were not man-made fabrics, but were like garments of light.

As I lifted my eyes up.... I could see the chest of a man with his arms outstretched, as if to welcome me.

I looked towards his face. It was so bright......it seemed to be about ten times brighter than the light I’d already seen.

It made the sun look yellow and pale in comparison.

It was so bright that I couldn’t make out the features of his face, and as I stood there I began to sense that the light was emitting purity and holiness.

I knew that I was standing in the presence of Almighty God – no one but God could look like this.

The purity and holiness continued to come forth from his face and I began to feel that purity and holiness enter into me.

I wanted to get closer to see his face.

I felt no fear, but rather, total freedom.... as I moved towards him.

Standing now only a few feet from him, I tried to look into the light surrounding his face, but as I did he moved to one side, and as he moved all the light moved with him.
to be cont'd
Blessings
Yaddy

A glimpse of Eternity.....

THE WAVES OF LOVE

"May you experience the love of Christ,
though it is so great.... you will never fully understand it.
Then you will be filled with the fullness
of the life and power that comes from God"
Ephesians 3:19 (NLT)



So this was God!

He is light.

He knew my name and He knew the secret thoughts of my heart and mind.

I thought, “If this is God then he must also be able to see everything I’ve ever done in my life.”

I felt totally exposed and transparent before God.

You can wear masks before other people, but you can’t wear a mask before God.

I felt ashamed and undone and I thought, “They’ve made a mistake and brought the wrong person up. I shouldn’t be here. I’m not a very good person. I should crawl under some rock or go back into the darkness where I belong.”

As I began to slowly move back towards the tunnel a wave of light emanated forth from God and moved towards me.

My first thought was that this light was going to cast me back into the pit..........but to my amazement a wave of pure unconditional love flowed over me.........It was the last thing I expected.

Instead of judgement I was being washed with pure love.

Pure, unadulterated......clean......uninhibited.... undeserved......love.

It began to fill me up from the inside out, making my hands and body tingle until I staggered.

I thought, “Perhaps God doesn’t know all the things I’ve done wrong,” so I proceeded to tell him about all the disgusting things I’d done..... under the cover of darkness.

But it was as though he’d already forgiven me and the intensity of his love only increased.

(In fact, later God showed me that when I’d asked for forgiveness in the ambulance, it was "then" that he forgave me and washed my spirit clean from evil.)

I found myself beginning to weep uncontrollably as the love became stronger and stronger.

It was so clean and pure, no strings attached.

I hadn't felt loved for years.

The last time I remember being loved, was by my mum and dad when I was at home, but I'd gone out into the big wide world and found out there's not too much love out there.

I'd seen things that I thought were love, but sex wasn't love, it just burnt you up.

Lust was like a raging fire inside you, an uncontrollable desire that burnt you up from the inside out.

Yet.....this love, was healing my heart, and I began to understand that there is incredible hope for mankind in this love. God’s mercy is always extended before his judgement.
To be cont'd.....
Bless you
Yaddy