Near-Death Experiences and Spiritual Reflections
I’m not scientifically or technically minded. I’m not wired right to understand even some of the most basic concepts men and women readily grasp in those areas so please, be patient with my trying to explain something that came to me the other day while watching the report from a surfer who drowned and his afterlife experience. His name is Ryan Johnson and after drowning he experienced an NDE – a near death experience. Quite frankly much of what he described fits hand in glove with John the Revelator's description of the afterlife in Revelation 22 and Paul’s description of the afterlife bodies people possess found in 1st Corinthians 15.
Ryan described going to a series of gardens where people were at peace. There were lots of them – people. They resembled people but were less exact, more diffused. He reiterated that what he was seeing was without eyes and what he heard was without ears. He repeated the environment being light and love like he had never felt before. He described his initial experience as being placed him like a drop in an ocean of water, without him knowing if he was the ocean or if he was the drop. The experience seemed, according to him to sort of occur in phases – with him going from one beautiful location to the next. At one point he came face to face with a being he thought was himself but with longer hair and that this being judged him gently. He said it was not a judgement about his actions or beliefs but was an invasive judgement of his… heart. Finally, he says he received what he could only describe as a ticket and that he came to a large white staircase that was part of a large white building and that the ticket allowed him entrance. Which he was going to take, but he reentered into some element of his mortal life and ran furiously away from the gate – and woke up in the ICU.
Reflections on Spiritual Realms
Now, near-death experiences are very unique and they tend to reflect different events depending on the person. I say that because I am not sure if NDEs are what a person experiences as they begin to transfer from this life of flesh to the realms of the Spirit PRIOR to any real entrance into their permanent home above or if they actually go into heaven and see what they see then come back out of it. We really don’t know and we really can’t definitively say. But what interested me about Ryan’s report was him describing the several different gardens or locations that were apparently OUTSIDE that great stairway of white and the people walking about in them. His description was that they were at peace and rest and enjoying their surroundings. And then he has what he described as the assessment of his heart, and then receiving a pass to enter what John describes as the New Jerusalem via a staircase through a gate.
The Pursuit of Spiritual Understanding
And I started thinking of how and why there are people after this life, according to John’s description and now Ryan's, are happy and at peace outside of the great white Kingdom and that others pursue past those garden stops and choose to enter into the white stairway into the Kingdom? And that took me to wondering about this life too – and why there are people interested in spiritual heavenly things and why there are so many who are not? And I remembered where Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 2:9-14:
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things…
Spiritual Discernment
of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. And I wondered if there in the heavenly realm, just like it is here on earth, there are those who are equipped to receive spiritual information because they have the right receptors, and can therefore tap into God’s bandwidth and can hear and receive the call to enter into the presence of God and the Lamb, and the rest, unable to discern or receive or enter into His bandwidth, just stay outside of His presence . . . happy? Content? Satiated?
I mean look around yourself here today? There are places we go and events we attend where if we opened up our mouths and spoke the things of the Kingdom most people would respond like squirrels seeing arithmetic. They just don’t have the capacity to hear and receive what is only spiritually discerned. It’s not that the information is not being sent out, its just that it is in frequencies that they can’t hear or understand if they did hear it. Because the majority of this world operates on fleshly frequencies those who have the capacity to hear feel like aliens, or even schizophrenics- feelings that are only heightened when we speak and live.
Relationship Between God and Man
After hearing Ryan’s account, and comparing it with scripture, I started wondering if everything relative to the relationship between God and Man is all based on our capacity to receive what God freely transmits out to all. I mean all of us have the ears and eyes, but few can hear and see! We all see the sunsets, the stars and planets, babies born and nature at work. We all consume food from the earth, and understand love toward ourselves and others, but only some are able (perhaps willing) to assign these things to God.
Capacity to Receive God’s Messages
One final thought on this since our primary audience are sons and daughters of God by faith. It appears that the capacities to receive and comprehend God’s messages increase as people allow or open themselves up to what he wants us to know. Many years ago ships used what were called, “signal lamps” to communicate across the water to each other. By opening and closing this shutter kind of deal, flashes of light could communicate information over the water to other vessels. The maximum amount of these flashes of light that could be sent translated to a maximum of about 14 words per minute – that was the capacity or bandwidth of messages in that day by a really skilled operator. But compare that to bandwidth today, with speeds like 1 million or more 'flashes,' or bits, per second.
Perhaps this is what is happening with all of us in some sense relative to God. At first, we are like the crew of a ship that is blind which would make any and all flashes of light from another vessel meaningless. Then by faith we get eyes to see, and ears to hear, and hearts that begin to comprehend the light sent. And over time, God sends more and more, until the day when at death we are fully equipped to enter His kingdom of light all the while loving and having compassion and interest in those who have yet to be similarly equipped. Something to consider.
Now remember, we are soliciting you, our fans followers and fellow believers, to send an email to shawn@alatheamedia.com and provide us your name and city or country of residence. This is in preparation of a huge change in the ministry come early next year. So if you enjoy our ministry approach and content write us so you can be part of what is coming. And understand, we will reveal what is coming and if at that time you don’t want to remain apart you will always be loved and allowed to back out. Shawn@alatheamedia.com
