I am going to share with you my imagined encounter with Jesus from my novella A Walk Through Heaven. I suggest you get before the Lord in prayer and ask Him to give you a vision of your encounter with Jesus. Perhaps you haven’t made as many mistakes as I have or maybe you have made more like Crystal McVea tells in her book Waking Up in Heaven and summarized in chapter 19 of Heaven Is Beyond Imagination.
I encourage you to write out what the Lord gives you and keep it handy. It is not for publication, it is for you personally. It will help you experience the love, grace, acceptance, forgiveness, joy, and peace that Jesus gives in a deeper way. That is what I have found as I look back over what God gave me to write about my own imagined encounter with Jesus in heaven. I hope and pray that it will do the same for you.
In A walk Through Heaven I imagine waking up out of my body one morning. My guardian angel Jacob takes me to heaven and he and another angel take me on a walk through heaven in which they show me many of the things eyewitnesses report. At the end, Jacob takes me to a special building that has a big window that overlooks Earth. As I am there looking out on Earth…
Jesus appeared before us. He smiled at me with the warmest smile I have ever received and his eyes pierced me with love and complete acceptance. I knew in an instant in that gaze that I was loved more than I could possibly know and all the wrong I had done or good I had not done were completely forgiven and forgotten. I had his total loving acceptance in a way that made me whole and complete like I had never previously experienced. I was totally the way he created me to be without any reservation. I cannot describe the joy that flooded my soul to be in his presence like this.
We talked about many things. I brought up times I knew I had done wrong and he said, “I know, Jacques, there were many times you disappointed me and times you didn’t do what I wanted you to. But all those were forgiven when you accepted me into your heart, even the ones that came after that. That never changed my love for you and my desire to bless you and allow you to serve me. I was always with you no matter what you did. I always replaced my disappointment with bringing new ways for you to have joy and to serve me. When you didn’t allow me to bless you and use you the way I wanted, I just found other ways to bless and use you after that.”
He told me funny things he caused to happen in my life, like the time the spaghetti noodle went out my nose when I sneezed. He said he made that happen because he wanted me to enjoy the life he gave me. Seeing Jesus’ joy with me made our time together not only an inspiration but also a very joyful humorous time together. His sense of humor exceeds that of anyone on Earth.
Then we talked about the times I did do what he wanted and he told me more people than I knew were blessed because I gave them a glimpse of him in what I did and shared. He reminded me that along with the vision of how my first wife was full of joy, beauty, healing, and confidence, he had told her to tell me that he was pleased with me. I remembered that and how it blessed me, but now to hear it again from Jesus himself I am humbled to know that God not only loves me, forgives me, and gives me joy, but he is also proud of me. The Lord of all is proud of me! That is more than I have ever expected from God; it is an honor I have trouble believing I deserve. That along with his love and acceptance and joy in my presence continues to be a treasure to my soul.
Even now since I have returned to Earth and am writing this book, the memory of His love and acceptance affects everything I do and is my chief motivation. I really want to please Him since He loves and trusts me so much. I now have an eternal view and my priorities are now based on the remembrance of this time in Jesus’ presence. I now know for real that He will take care of me, more than He takes care of sparrows, no matter what the world or Satan throws at me. I know no one can kill me; they can only free my spirit from my body enabling me to come here forever.
“Jacques, do you see the world out there?” he asked.
“Yes”
“I want you to go back there and tell everyone you can about this visit. I am coming back very soon to take all my own to be with me and to sit down at the celebration supper of the Lamb. I want them to know how wonderful my preparations for them are so no one that I love and died to save will miss this. My Father does not allow any anger, hate, greed, jealousy, envy, covetousness, or anything unloving here to spoil the beauty of this place. I will be with you as you write this story and I will be with you and open doors for you to tell it. I love you my dear Jacques. You are a good servant and you bless me.”
“I don’t know what to say. I am floored at how much you love me and accept me, even flawed old me. I will tell this story and look for the doors you will open to tell this story. I can’t thank you enough for all you have given me.”
With that He hugged me. Jacob took my hand and we beamed out the window toward the Earth I saw.