LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
A face to face encounter with Jesus in my bedroom.
Many years ago in the mid 1980's, when I was about five, or six, I remembered it being morning still in the bedroom when Jesus held me. I was living in Maplewood, Minnesota back then. It all happened very quickly in terms of the human time frame.
It was as if I was still laying on my bed, but spiritually in His arms at the same time. It was like a vision. The thing I remembered the most was how important I was to Him. I was able to feel His thoughts about me. I was feeling His intense adoration for me. I felt so loved and so at peace. I just wanted to be His little precious child in that awesome moment. I remembered curling up like a little baby and the expression on Jesus' face was like, "Awww...". Like when parents hold their five month old babies and just stare into their eyes with unconditional love.
I believe this is how He feels about everyone. When Jesus looks at you, He is so proud of you. It's like you've never done anything special.. but for some unknown reason, Jesus intensely adores and loves you so much just because you exist. He is more excited to see you than you are about Him. You don't have to do anything great, He just loves you the way you are.
He didn't say anything. He just smiled down at me. His facial expression was like pure love. He just kept on smiling. He had dark brown, almost black hair. And He had a thick dark brown beard. The funny thing about it was that when this happened, Jesus felt more like my real father than my earthly human father. I love my earthly father, but when I was in Jesus' arms, He felt like He was my original father. The Alpha and the Omega.
Throughout the years, I had gotten sidetracked and took on the role of the prodigal son. I wanted to see what the world can offer me. I got drunk for the first time off of hard liquor in fifth grade, and took my first hit of acid when I was fifteen. In college, I mainly smoked marijuana. It wasn't until in my early to mid twenties that I ushered in weekly intakes of alcohol among the harder drugs. At this point in my life, I had done ecstasy, meth and coke. But my main thing was marijuana and alcohol. After many, many years of substance abuse, I had become addicted.
It was around 2006 when I began feeling the effects of the drugs and alcohol taking their toll on my body. I really wanted to stop taking the drugs, but I couldn't. I was getting physically sick. And I also did not want to die at such a young age. One night, out of desperation and fear, I got on my knees and prayed to the God of the Bible. I prayed, "Help me figure it out...". I wanted God to show me how to get into heaven. I had this gripping fear that if I were to die, I'd probably end up in hell.
A few weeks after the prayer, I had an amazing encounter with God... again. I felt this awesome peace overcome me and I didn't crave the drugs and binge drinking anymore. It was a miracle. I didn't have to go through rehab, or any counseling. I was able to quit my fourteen years of smoking cigarettes on top of all this. It was the hand of God at work. Had I not prayed that night, I probably wouldn't be alive today. God is mighty to save.
If you want to have a personal relationship with God, just pray something informally like this:
"God, I want to know You better. I want to know who You are. I believe Your son Jesus died for my sins on the cross. I know I'm not perfect and forgive me. Please come into my heart."
Yes, it's pretty simple to invite God into your life. You don't have to cite a perfect prayer for God to hear you. He listens to your heart and your intentions. Just put your trust in Him, and He will not let you down. If you would like to know more about God, you can email me and I'd be more than happy to help you.
How I long to be with Him again. God is love. And God is good.
Yours,
Byron
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks