This is a personal account I have considered for many years as to whether it is public or private. I am presenting this now in the hope it may benefit if applicable, and to consider more than we usually think about.

An Encounter with Jesus

A friend of mine had a two hour conversation with me before she passed away in 2007. She said she almost died two times, and traveled very, very fast. She hung on and came back.

She wanted to meet her father. The Lord let her know that he was fine, but too far away elsewhere doing other things to greet her, so a sense of peace and happiness about that.

There was a sense of not knowing originally where we came from, or who we will be in the far future. There was an awareness that who we are now has a carry on effect into the next life, so what happens here is not a loss and is important and meaningful in a good way.

During this time she was given awareness of what family members were doing behind the scenes – not too good I am afraid, so I won't relate this content. It does re-affirm the Lord knows what is going on.

There was a reaffirmation of the importance of love, and Truth, searching for that, and listening to the voice, (of the Holy Spirit) that we could ask this voice, (the Holy Spirit) anything we wanted to.

Afterwards

My own life has had many struggles, with different focus searching for answers in different time-frames. There was commonality between different periods, but different focus as certain things were struggled with, or which came into more understanding.

I don't know this is what others are meant to experience, but mention my own journey.

In this journey I have had various dreams of great re-assurance and comfort. In one dream there were family members and others who I did not know, in Heaven as my family.

In life, giving to others is one thing, but for others to take responsibility and give to us is a necessary construct, which we seem to find too little of. As we face extreme difficulties, we have to reach those points regardless of where we are at, to move on, so that we are not continually in that prior space.

As an example of past and present – we may have been searching for answers around "identity" decades ago but do not recall we were doing that because it seemed it was more of a recent search. When in fact, the thread had started a long time ago, and amazingly there are some answers finally in the present. The inner tightness of frustration over such searching cannot remain today as it was yesterday. We learn to see what we can, to make progress, but to let go of the weights that refuse to go away, as they are of no benefit in maintaining. Time and time again, issues come down to family, home, safety, support, all those kinds of things. There are many who do not align with these same things that Jesus loves, rather, placing upset into people's lives. We will always return to the things we know we want, such as progress, a partner, love, a house and so on. Placing a stake into the ground, only focusing on this our whole lives is not best for us. We always know we want such things, so acknowledging this, we can move on to the life Christ teaches us, what God provides, seeing increase of inner strengths and qualities. Jesus said God knows what we need. Again it is about letting go of what ties our hands, but not throwing away our awareness of what we know we would always like to have. It is where our energy focuses that is important. Let us look to what is new.

When my friend did pass away, I knew she had that morning. I perceived a visit from her with an urgency in a spiritual realm that evening. There was a sense of a battleground in the realm we do not see after this present life. She had to leave very quickly due to this battleground, but wanted to encourage me to keep seeking the things we had talked about in our friendly conversations for so many years. Things around seeking what is actually true and the firmness of holding onto truth, which was in line with our priorities. Then she was gone. I was called the next day to say she had passed away.

The following evening I felt sad I had not seen her immediately before she had passed away. I prayed about it and immediately got the words conveying, "Oh no, it is fine. It does not matter. We will all be together very shortly anyway."

Leaving this life and going to Heaven is our next major event. In retrospect, it will be very important to ensure we do not live lives with hatred to others, or lack of love, even though it is okay to be aware of what people are doing or have done. The first letter of John focuses on this message in terms of love as well.

Much of who we are has a consistency over the decades of our life, so who we are today is in fact genuine and purposeful according to those past struggles. We may forget the issues and details of our past, but they are not gone. We grow. The sin is of course covered by the blood of the Lamb and forgiven. We cannot live puritanical lives, but we can see Truth and value it more than anything in the world. There are things of the past we do not like, but this is universal.

I believe there is a "time span" outside of death of the body before being in Heaven, where angels are needed in accordance with the spiritual battleground around the earth that exists but which we do not see. When that is ultimately removed, righteousness will surround the earth. Some people reject such thoughts or considerations and use it as an excuse to say a person is unbalanced for pondering on spiritual matters. What to us with the Spirit of Christ is normal, is not only rejected but hated by those who do not truly love Christ and his people. If I am said to be unhinged, then so too is every person mentioned in the Bible. Consider this.

Resurrection

The Apostle John said Jesus is life. This is expansive. Christ's overcoming of death vindicates everything against him, and shows death belongs to sin, and has been conquered. God subjected creation to hope.

We believe the Bible's scriptures were written in revelation and inspiration by the Holy Spirit, that they serve important purposes. But they are not exhaustive on all topics and the extent of details we want. They are sound but readily taken out of context, original meaning, or misused to serve anyone's own intentions.

The bible describes several aspects of Heaven, resurrection, and eternal life. Countless books are written on this. Countless videos on the Internet. Events will take place that show detail as they occur. We experience the Lord's preparation for the Church, Christian fellowship groups, and individuals in moving into details as they unfold, as we have a Spirit of Truth. The Lord emphasises that we keep watch as there will be increasing deception in the days ahead as these events occur.

The Bible encourages us to know there will be a change in our bodies from the corruptible, to the immortal and incorruptible. We will have great rejoicing in never again being in pain and suffering. The life and light of Christ will be permanent as we experience God's revealing of us as His family, as intended before creation began – a family that is not a concept but a living experience, as only partly reflected in our life now. We know the pain of dysfunction in family.

If the spiritual was able to go from existence to non-existence, it would not make sense if creation were made to have permanent existence. The very substance and state of creation would be under question. It is therefore a warning to those who turn against God, who would contemplate permanent existence without God's life, as only God's life is life.

As God provides true revelation, (and no one will stop that from occurring) Christians may react with testing and caution to be sure, while others may reject revelation insisting only their interpretations of the scriptures are valid. If one man lies, and another tells the truth, how do we tell the difference – hence only use the scripture. This is contrary to the faculty of discernment and instruction to test, let alone the experience in God's family of His Spirit and agreement between the saints. The bible says in End Times, Israel will have wise men who are key in helping Israel through tribulations. The early Church in Jerusalem had definite instructions from the Holy Spirit.

Today, there are many quick to judge and throw away the unexpected as given by the Lord. While we wish to protect against false prophets and that which leads people astray from Christ, as inherent in such error not glorifying Christ, (and hence glorifying God) or that which maligns or is in outrage to the Holy Spirit, we are asked not to be unawares and beguiled ourselves. Anyone who threatens and refuses to allow us to behave in proper manner and right judgement is not our friend.

Resurrection will happen.

It is reasonable to say from many people's experiences, and from my own distinct blessings from the Holy Spirit, that our new bodies will have heightened senses of such clarity not understood or experienced before.

I have experienced it – when the Holy Spirit came upon me and showed me pure colours, dynamic interaction of colours together producing third colours, glowing whites and luminosity, the sky's vault as the most amazing canvass ever created, more breathtaking than any artist's work, of detailed sound encompassing broad distances, vibrations in the ground from mechanics, from city buildings, the human voice and singing in or out of tune, all working together in a richness rather than an annoyance. This blessing was extensive, with some aspects of it being permanent across the previous twenty years. I heard the far left and far right of a train simultaneously, of school students' words as they talked at the far end of a carriage, the hairs of my neck standing up as people spoke behind me, of higher frequency sounds traveling and bouncing off glass.

Some of the senses above were because the Holy Spirit was with me in them, as I would not have been able to permanently sustain these experience in my mortal body. It would be too hard. Perfect vision did remain. I learnt that we have a capacity to desire sin. Our mortal bodies do not want sustained perfection and sinlessness. There is understanding, compassion and love from God towards us in these matters. We will one day live in the absence of sin and know the difference. We will have the capacity to be in this light.

When people comment on heightened senses, I agree.

Resurrection in Christ is our next birth into full life, waiting for us like the fruits of a tree coming into harvest. Creation will no longer groan in anticipation as God makes all things new. Please be part of this. It is a great glory. Our beings will have stunning capacity and extensive senses.

Even children know we all face death one day. I have seen children rejoice and jump together when receiving the Lord's truth without taint, that we will have resurrection bodies and live forever. This is a great joy. Why is it when adults do not believe.

Kingship of the Nations

Less frequently mentioned is that the Lord's resurrection is an affirmation that all Nations belong to him, having defeated the powers and principalities that have subverted all nations. Jacob's nation was previously set aside by God, while the other tribes elected to have their own nations apart from God. The Jewish people were and are to be who God intended by His word, not by the sins the Jews had also committed.

Jesus showed the aspect of Nations by His authority when he sent the 70 pairs of disciples throughout the Gentile regions.

In the book of Acts Pentecost was attended by all nations, with the 120 disciples speaking by the Holy Spirit in their languages, glorying God. This is a parallel to the event in Chronicles where the glory of God filled the temple as a cloud while 120 Levites sang and played music together as one, to God.

Why all this?

I believe much of the mystery that the Apostle Paul mentions will make sense in time, but at a time that works properly.

It is always important for me to see what insights people have into the details of the Crucifixion and post-Crucifixion. There are aspects we take on faith as that is the intentional way and best way to do so, as the Cross stands outside of man's boasting. Man cannot assert that he knows God, is God, or is above God. It will be a privilege one day to know more about God in our resurrected state.

The crucifixion could have no effect if it were carried out prior to man's physical existence, as we know that existence now, or after the finality of his current existence in this age. It therefore had to occur while humanity existed and be linked to Christ's humanity in sinless form. This fits in with how the work of the Cross must occur at the individual level while a person is alive, not after death when at that point, the existence in life has ceased and the work of the Cross is then of no effect upon the one who had rejected Christ's work. Christ's work is done in such a way that those who believe are justified in the transfer from Satan's ownership (which is evidenced by sin and death) to the Kingdom of God and eternal life. The work of the Cross is in the age of humanity as it pertains to Adam and Eve, and how that inheritance is passed on, while that time frame exists, and at the individual level while the person exists, i.e. while they are alive.

People who say that these things are not real, come up with imagined scenarios for those in death being saved at some future point. This does not fit, but of course if there were such an amazing way, we would agree. The fundamental premise is that God will not allow sin in Heaven and eternity. Why would God allow people to worship Baal in the larger scheme of things? This indicates that the gulf between those under a permanent state of sin as indicated by scripture, must be in some way be impossible to cross over, otherwise there would be no true separation. Perhaps another dimension – we do not know.

We do not know what happens to other forms of past human species, or other species in the universes, but "human" as we define strictly through Adam and Eve has a defined purpose that is inherited and re-asserted through Christ.

We also believe that there is an age at which people choose between right and wrong. Prior to this we say the unborn and children who are unable to be held accountable, are in Heaven. One may say how is this fair? The commitment of sin, as some of us know, is sometimes seen in recognisable acts that place the soul and spirit into a sudden state of alteration, like a switch that has been turned on with blackness instead of light, which is an undeniable change within the man. We also know that once saved, there is what we call an unregenerated part of a man that is permanently removed and which no longer has any detailed memory of the same left within the man, at which time the Holy Spirit has been grafted into the spirit of the man. These are points of interest one may come across over the years. The point is that much is going on, some questions have partial answers, but this is not an excuse to tell God he is therefore wrong.