Heaven Is Beyond Your Wildest Expectations (12 page)

The next moment, I was catapulted back into my body. Because I was dead for twenty minutes and without oxygen for that long, I was brain dead—yet I knew I still had all my faculties. I heard a doctor say, “He will never speak or sing again.” I needed a miracle.

A few days later, I heard a song I had never heard before: “He touched me and made me whole.” In my mind I prayed, “Lord, what that song says, You can do.” Suddenly Jesus appeared in my hospital room just as He looked in Heaven. I was filled with awe at His beautiful presence. He put His gentle hand on my throat. I felt warmth spread through my body. He smiled at me and left the room. A nurse came in and said, “How are you this morning?” I threw my hands up and said, “Praise God, I’ve been healed!” She dropped the tray and ran and got the doctors. They said, “It’s impossible. You can’t speak.”

But when Jesus comes, everything changes! I got a second opinion. Dr. Jesus said I could. I have a Word that supersedes what the doctors have to say,
“by His wounds I am healed!”
(see 1 Pet. 2:24).

Commentary

Gary’s encounters with Jesus make us long to see Him, long to be near Him, to hear Him speak to us personally. Jesus commissioned Gary to return to earth with a personal message for you! God created you to do what only you can do. Each person has been created for a specific purpose and that includes you. As Jesus spoke to Gary, an additional message comes to us from Him: Do not believe the lies of the devil who brings condemnation and tells us we’re not worthy. When we believe the lie that we’re not worthy, we are disbelieving God who says He has made us worthy of all He wants to give to us, by the blood of Jesus. God says we’re worthy and equipped, and He says we each have a part to play. We can share the love and the truth of the Lord with others in some way that is unique to us.

Gary confirms that every thought or intention we have ever had from the time we were born is recorded in Heaven by angels. We are comforted by the assurance that all of our sins, from the least unkind thought we have ever had to the worst of our transgressions, is wiped away and God has no more remembrance of them. Our sins are as if they never existed. For all eternity, next to our names in the Lamb’s Book of Life is written in red, PAID IN FULL BY THE PRECIOUS BLOOD OF JESUS.

Never again can there be a charge against God’s chosen ones. If Jesus has forgiven us, how can we not forgive anyone who has hurt us or someone we love if we call ourselves followers of Jesus? No wonder there is such joy in Heaven. Imagine, every aspect of fallen humanity is no longer ascribed to you or part of your life in any way. Because of the atoning blood of Jesus, this is our legal status with God—a new life in Spirit and in truth.

…anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start,
[and]
is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other…
(2 Corinthians 5:17,19 The Message).

About Dr. Gary Wood

Sensing the call of God on his life from a young age, Gary was preparing to preach and sing the gospel when a fatal automobile accident took his life, sending him to Heaven to the feet of Jesus. After allowing Gary profound experiences in Heaven, Jesus commissioned Gary to make Him real to people wherever he went. Gary has been traveling the world as an evangelist with this message ever since. He is the author of
A Place Called Heaven
.

C
HAPTER
7

BEFORE THE THRONE OF GOD

Robert Misst

In September 2010, Bob attended a weekend prayer retreat in Christchurch, New Zealand. As they began to worship, the Lord interrupted their worship, and He let them know that they were worshiping in the “old way”—and you can’t enter into the new things of God with “old baggage.” Bob was about to find out what that meant.

We had just started singing our first song of worship when I noticed that the sounds in the room were suddenly shut off. I could not hear the music or the people singing. I was being escorted from a place of darkness, a tunnel, toward a bright light. I felt the presence of an angel with me, escorting me toward that light. I felt the angel’s hand on my right shoulder, which means the angel was on my left side. In the dark tunnel, I could not see the face of the angel.

We moved toward the light; and as we came closer, I began to see what was happening there in the light. I first noticed huge angels flying around a massive area, the ends of which I could not really discern. The size and countenance of the angels brought the fear of God in me; there was something so holy about them. I suddenly realized that I was so sinful, my garments were dirty, and I could not be in this place. I tried to move backward, hoping that these huge flying angels did not notice me in this holy place. The angel who escorted me to this place held my shoulder, preventing me from taking a backward step. I heard his assurance.

Then I heard God’s heavenly beings speaking to me, I heard it not with my ears, but in the center of my head, like a spiritual download straight to my brain! I now knew that I had been brought to the courts of the heavenly temple of God.

While I was perceiving many things happening all together, I can only write about them one experience at a time. This whole place was exuberant with the holiness of God, as they sang “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, who was and is and is to come.” The escorting angel said to me, “These are the cherubim. They are the guardians of the Mercy Seat of God.” The cherubim were very large angelic beings that flew around this vast heavenly temple where the worship was going on. (I am calling it a temple—no one ever told me that in Heaven.) I was afraid of the cherubim because of their sheer size and the awesome features of their faces. It was as if I these beings were so filled with the mind of God and the intent to do the will of God, that just staring into those eyes could disintegrate my entire sinful being into nothingness.

They had more than two pairs of wings—it was hard for me to count how many pairs of wings as they flew around the throne of God. Also, I was afraid to make eye contact with them. I wanted to leave the place and did not want to be seen by them. Every time they called out, “Holy, Holy, Holy…,” it was like the entire temple reverberated with their voices and the entire place was filled with the awesome holiness of God. This is hard to explain as only our spirits can perceive a place that is filled with the awesome holiness of God that made me want to lay prostrate and bow as low as possible. I felt as if my garments were dirty, as if I should not be in this place of such holiness of God.

T
WO
G
ROUPS

I then noticed a small group of people in very stately attire some distance below the huge flying angels. I did not count the number of them, but later the escorting angel explained this to me. Something about the people made me want to cry. Their whole body language spoke to me of their holiness, love, humility, caution in approaching God, passion for the One whom they serve, and the dedication in their service to Him. They wore crowns on their heads. The escorting angel said, “These are the twenty-four elders.” They looked like humans, and definitely not angelic beings. I did not recognize any of them as characters in the Bible like Moses, or Abraham, or any of the apostles. But who can say what Moses, or Abraham or even the apostles looked like? The elders in Heaven represent Jewish people who have accepted
Yeshua HaMashiach
(Jesus the Messiah, the Anointed One), and the born-again Gentiles. This is a picture of the end-time church, the “One New Man” in Messiah, Jew and Gentile worshiping together. (See Ephesians 2:14-15.)

Beyond this circle of people in stately attire with crowns on their heads was a vast group of people, too numerous to even estimate. My attention was drawn to the way they were grouped, which displayed something so unique, so special about them. It was like a special identity that had richness about them, and it was also like a gift they brought with them to offer to God. But what awed me is that their body language expressed a deep love, holiness, and passion for the One they had come into this place to worship. The escorting angel informed me that these people were from every tribe and nation and tongue. I was awed by the myriads of angels just above them, but lower than the cherubim. Their numbers looked like billion times billion, and they created a holy anticipation of the One who was to come into their midst.

Seeing all this kept reminding me of my dirty garments as compared to the stately robes with which this holy assembly was adorned. I wanted to back off from this place, with the hope that no one had noticed me. The escorting angel pressed my shoulder to tell me he was with me, and not to be afraid. He was very assuring that I needed to be there, and that his assignment was to escort me and show me around.

In the center of this circle of people in beautiful robes, is a bright light; and I could see a throne almost in outline, as I tried to peer into this beautiful light. As I mentioned previously, there was such a bright light emitting from the throne that it was hard for me to see it in all its splendor—maybe the heavenly beings can see it that way, in all its heavenly splendor. I could barely discern the outline of the throne. Above it was a circular rainbow, like a halo around the throne. Seven different musical instruments were “painting” the seven colors of the rainbow with their sound! Flashes of lightning and peals of thunder filled the atmosphere with a tangible holiness as God and His Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus, entered the throne room.

The throne around which these mighty cherubim flew, I was told by the escorting angel, was God’s mercy seat. Moses was instructed by God to build the Ark of the Covenant that had the mercy seat of God covered with the wings of the cherubim. The mercy seat was not easily discernable by my eyes for it also emitted a glowing light. I could barely perceive the outline of God’s mercy seat.

Since I began to understand that the escorting angel had brought me into the throne room of God, the place of worship in Heaven where the heavenly bride worships God, I was not surprised to see God’s throne, but I was surprised that I could not see it clearly due to the light emitting from it. The entire environment had an awesome holiness about it—a place where no sin can reside in the heart and mind of all those heavenly beings around God’s throne worshiping Him. This is the quality of holiness where no sin is found. I can understand why Satan was cast out of God’s presence.

I was caught up by the strange shapes of exquisite beauty in the place, the likes of which I had never seen on the earth, not even in pictures or in artistic impressions. The escorting angel showed me objects that emitted sound and color and told me that the heavenly temple is filled with objects that have the ability to resonate with heavenly music based on the music harmonies that come from our voices. I hummed a short tune to try this out, and I was amazed at the sound that matched the tune of my humming and played a number of beautiful intersecting improvisations.

C
OLORFUL
S
OUNDS

Suddenly I was able to hear the worship in the holy heavenly temple. If I had been in my mortal body, I could have died just from the beauty of the sound. Then I was ushered into the throne room, and suddenly my vulnerable being was subjected to seven-layered multiple chorus choirs that have over a billion voices singing. Add to that the sound and colors being emitted by these awesome musical instruments and in the midst of this awesome worship in sound and song, I could see and hear the lightning and thunder that emitted from the throne itself. I was consumed by the beauty of the worship and the joy that flooded my soul—but also the desire to run away as I was not holy enough to stand in this place. I wanted to hide, or I thought I would die!

I could have died just from the
beauty of the sound.

The cherubim sang their song: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord.” I began to notice that each of the groups in the heavenly temple had their own song or chorus. I was hearing multiple choruses all at the same time, yet in perfect harmony. Added to these multiple choruses were the perfect music harmonies played by these beautiful instruments, which I had never seen on the earth. I was awed beyond words, basking in the most glorious worship in Heaven. There were other earthly sounds that hit my ear, depending on the choruses, the sound of distant thunder, peals of lightning, and the sound of wind and water, all at the same time, all blending together harmoniously.