Has anyone here actually met Jesus?

[Gideon]

On 2/26/2020 at 2:45 AM, Ineedhugs said:

I've heard stories of people who met Jesus or seen heaven/hell on the internet. Most of them could well be fake but i bet there's some real ones there.

Has anyone on this forum met Jesus? What happened?

Have you seen heaven or hell? What was it like?

Yes, long story. Are you sitting doen? LOL.

I have been a porn addict since I was 12. I got saved at 21 and thought it would end. It did not. Thirty-eight years as a Christian and I had tried everything. I had water fasted for 21 days. was a home pastor. Jail ministry. Memorized tons of the new testament. Accountability partner. Prayed constantly. Three services a week. Bot matter how I tried to get the victory, eventually I would return to the sin I hated. I was the poster boy for Romans 7 and of all men most miserable. 

 

Eventually, I simply ran out of things to try. One night, I cried out to God, telling Him that His way was too high, too hard and I could not do it. Then it happened.

 

My room was filled with a blinding golden light. Did I see His face? No, for His presence put me on my face and tears blinded my eyes. Amazement, terror, joy, take your pick. And then He spoke to me. It was not what I expected.

"For this, my son, I am well pleased with you."

Confused? Yeah, me too. LOL. It made no sense. I had just confessed to Him my total inability to obey Him. I had longed to hear or feel like God was pleased with me for decades, and I never did. If I read ten chapters before bed, I should have read twenty. That part about there being no condemnation?  Yeah, right. It was my daily bread because of my addictive sin.

My confusion was overwhelming, until Jesus spoke again. and what He said explained everything.

"I knew all along you could not walk the walk I had for you, but you did not yet know it."

Ah, that little word YET. I finally knew it. I wanted to obey Him in all things. I could not, no matter how hard I tried. I had come to the terrible, wonderful place where I had no strength. No confidence in the flesh. Totally empty. Totally looking away from MY strength. It is a hard place to get to, especially for a proud legalist like I was.

But Jesus was not finished talking. 

"In all your tryings to walk pleasing to me, did you ever do what I instructed you to do through my apostle Paul?"

He did not wait for an answer. He simply opened my eyes to my error. It was, not surprisingly, found in Romans 6.  I knew instinctively that Romans 6-8 were key chapters to truly "getting" the gospel that sets us free indeed, but I had totally missed one key verse, and boy, had I missed it.

 

I will let you digest this and will write more in a bit. 

 

blessings,

Gideon

 

[Buddy D. Mouse]

I met a Minor League outfielder named Jesus Rodriguez.

 

[Neighbor]

On 2/26/2020 at 2:45 AM, Ineedhugs said:

I've heard stories of people who met Jesus or seen heaven/hell on the internet. Most of them could well be fake but i bet there's some real ones there.

Has anyone on this forum met Jesus? What happened?

Have you seen heaven or hell? What was it like?

I have not met Jesus My footprints have not disappeared on a beach of sand when I was carried by Jesus. None of that.

I was challenged by  an angel having with the appearance of a man,  leading to my collapsing from all argument against God, his sovereignty, and His Son's Lordship over me.  I was right then and there indwelled by the Holy Spirit and am still today born again. The Holy Spirit as I know Him is my comforter left for my sake  so that I may withstand Satan, His minons, and the little antichrists.  Jesus came manifested as fully man as well as fully God lived preached was sacrificed willingly giving his life for meHe died descended arose ascended and will return again to meet me in the air.  He will return for me when His Father says Go and get your bride your church.

The Holy Spirit intercedes with Jesus for my benefit. He prays for me too in groaning when words fail me, or perhaps even Him ( that I do not know). What I do know is I have the Holy Spirit because He first sought me because of Jesus. My  being given to Jesus by His Father.  The Holy Spirit is my comforter here now in this flesh I am still within, though I am born again.

[Ineedhugs]

7 hours ago, Gideon said:

Yes, long story. Are you sitting doen? LOL.

I have been a porn addict since I was 12. I got saved at 21 and thought it would end. It did not. Thirty-eight years as a Christian and I had tried everything. I had water fasted for 21 days. was a home pastor. Jail ministry. Memorized tons of the new testament. Accountability partner. Prayed constantly. Three services a week. Bot matter how I tried to get the victory, eventually I would return to the sin I hated. I was the poster boy for Romans 7 and of all men most miserable. 

 

Eventually, I simply ran out of things to try. One night, I cried out to God, telling Him that His way was too high, too hard and I could not do it. Then it happened.

 

My room was filled with a blinding golden light. Did I see His face? No, for His presence put me on my face and tears blinded my eyes. Amazement, terror, joy, take your pick. And then He spoke to me. It was not what I expected.

"For this, my son, I am well pleased with you."

Confused? Yeah, me too. LOL. It made no sense. I had just confessed to Him my total inability to obey Him. I had longed to hear or feel like God was pleased with me for decades, and I never did. If I read ten chapters before bed, I should have read twenty. That part about there being no condemnation?  Yeah, right. It was my daily bread because of my addictive sin.

My confusion was overwhelming, until Jesus spoke again. and what He said explained everything.

"I knew all along you could not walk the walk I had for you, but you did not yet know it."

Ah, that little word YET. I finally knew it. I wanted to obey Him in all things. I could not, no matter how hard I tried. I had come to the terrible, wonderful place where I had no strength. No confidence in the flesh. Totally empty. Totally looking away from MY strength. It is a hard place to get to, especially for a proud legalist like I was.

But Jesus was not finished talking. 

"In all your tryings to walk pleasing to me, did you ever do what I instructed you to do through my apostle Paul?"

He did not wait for an answer. He simply opened my eyes to my error. It was, not surprisingly, found in Romans 6.  I knew instinctively that Romans 6-8 were key chapters to truly "getting" the gospel that sets us free indeed, but I had totally missed one key verse, and boy, had I missed it.

 

I will let you digest this and will write more in a bit. 

 

blessings,

Gideon

 

Hey i'm the original poster.

Me and you are much alike. I've been born again for 10 months now and i have been obsessed with god. I read the bible and pray everyday and think about god and research him and read Christian books all the time....i'm seriously obsessed. I also decided that i'm going to do everything right as a Christian. EVERYTHING. Tithing, spreading the gospel, repenting of everything i think is a sin, keeping a pure mind, everything.

However, there was a problem. See the logical evidence for god was sorta lacking in my mind and i would get these strong doubts about gods existence and also about hells existence. Also i gave into porn a few times cos i was to weak. I would last 7 days at first before the doubts/temptation would change me. Then the next day i would come crawling back to god asking for help and apologizing and thinking of was ways to commit once and for all. I was getting better though. At first it was 7 days and it grew to about 23 days before i fell. I also got my dad to block porn on my computer lol. Even though i'm 28.

Then yesterday at church my pastor was speaking and he was blessing people then he turned and looked at me and said 'andrew, i don't know why but there's something about you, something calling me to you. I don't know what your doing but keep doing it, your on the right path and god has a great plan for your life'. As i told you, i have been crazy about god and asking for his help everyday.

Me and the pastor believe this was the holy spirit giving me the evidence i need to stay firm. I believe it was god intervening. Cool huh. 

We are similar. I don't know the future but hopefully i can stay firm now cos i think i witnessed the holy spirit at work. 

Edited March 2, 2020 by Ineedhugs

[Not me]

@Gideon

Such a blessing every time I read this testimony, my heart leaps for joy...Be blessed in the telling of it....And may the gravity of it be increased in you and in the hearts of all those that would be all His..

A fellow servant of His, Not me 

[Gideon]

I am sure I am sharing more than you bargained for, but I could not live with myself if I did not share what God shared with me. It has been thirteen years ago since that amazing night,  and in that time, sin's power was broken... crushed... my hard legalistic exterior has softened to the point I can hardly recognize myself, and spiritual fruits.... love, joy, peace, etc., have actually begun to grow in me! Amazing God!

 

So what was it He shared? What had I missed in my understanding of Romans 6?

Romans 6... Here Paul begins telling us that there are two critical truths we were to KNOW as truth.

1) When Christ died, so DID we.

2) When Christ rose from the dead, so DID we.

Ok....so what? Most of us believe that, right? Where have we missed anything?  When I look back on my own personal search for the truth that sets free indeed, where we are brought to a place we are not just  forgiven but also no longer commit sins,  I have to laugh.

I was like an old miner panning for gold.  Everyday, I would go down to the creek to see if I could find a little nugget, and every day, I would have to crawl over the boulders that prevented my access. What do you think my response was when I finally had my eyes opened to the truth that the boulders were actually pure gold? ?

 

Ok, ready for the eye opener? Immediately after acknowledging these two truths listed above, Paul then tells us we must DO something! Whoa.  And it was something I had read over and over... had memorized..... but never understood until God opened my understanding so I could DO it... the missing piece to our puzzle.

And what was it He told us to do through Paul? He told us that therefore, based upon the sureness of the above truths, to reckon our old man to be dead. Not dying, slowly, over four decades, but dead. DEAD. 

Oh, I pray those who read this get it. We are asked to appropriate His death as ours. We are told to appropriate His new life as ours. This reckoning is our depositing these truths into our spiritual bank account. How? By faith! 

Do we not see? We have believed the truths with our heads as nice wonderful truths, but there they profit us nothing, not until we, by faith, PUT OFF our old nature, consider it out of the equation, and PUT ON our new natures, believing we really are new inside. 

Why do you think we are told we must be born again? Golden boulders. LOL.

Are we instantaneously perfect, brimming with spiritual fruits? Ha, I wish! BUT, when we finally come into agreement with God,  that we... the old carnal us.... is dead, and that our life is hid with Christ in God, our sanctification process begins!  

We do not get sanctified by slowly dying to our carnality and slowly growing into saints. NO. Here it is in scripture forcyou who are confused. In Revelation, in the last days, the saints will turn into overcomers by combining a) the blood of the Lamb (check) with ....are you ready?..... b) the word of OUR testimony! Glory! 

Guys, this is the shield of faith God has given us. These are the robes of righteousness we are told to put on.  We may possess shields. But shields not wielded do not to stop the incessant blows of the enemy, as our lives fully display.  We may have nice new robes of righteousness, but until we put them on, casting off our fleshly nature as a dirty cloth, we cannot walk pleasing to God no matter how hard we try. 

We as His people are about to be awakened to this truth. The tares will mock at the simplicity of this amazing truth. But I am witness to the fact what God shared with me works. Have I arrived? Ha! But I would also be negligent if I did not testify that what God has done these past years since my miraculous visitation is beyond my wildest hopes and dreams. 

Putting on our new nature by faith is the beginning. KEEPING it on is imperative. Satan will come and try to pry those words out of our mouths, getting us to accept that we are.... sigh... just sinners saved by grace... but that is not who we are, nor who we have been since the day we were saved. We ARE new creatures, but up til now, satan has blinded us to the truth and unbelief has gripped our hearts.

That time is over. Ready for an adventure that your mind could not even have dreamed up? Abiding IN Christ 24/7? Impossible? Not according to our God. Who we believe in the end will determine everything. Let us cast off our unbelief that has limited the Holy One working in us from the inside out. I promise any and all who read these words, no matter how weak you may be, no matter how addicted you are to your  besetting sins, God will roll up His  sleeves and prove His strength to you, IN YOU,  if you will but finally agree with Him. 

The old you is dead. The new you, still wrapped in grave clothes like Lazarus, is ready to be revealed like a butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Believe it and prepare to be amazed. 

 

blessings,

 

Gideon

[P Jay]

Yes.  Many times.  I have NOT seen him in the flesh but only in the Spirit.  What good is it to have a relationship with someone if you can't see him, or if you can't talk to him, and most importantly listen to Him.  In my opinion, being born again is all about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  AND like any relationship, the more time we spend with him the deeper our relationship will be.  Good luck.  

[Mantis]

@DustyRoad Wow what an awesome, awesome read. 

[Gideon]

20 hours ago, DustyRoad said:

Brother, the Lord bless you for sharing! I'm edified and encouraged by what you've written here.

There was a time when I would have been shocked to catch portions of the Lord's words to me reflected from others as I have in what you've written in this thread... but that was then and this is now. As different as we are, @Gideon, we nevertheless share things in common. I've hesitated to weigh in here due to the nature of my testimony --- it's a hard story, I'm afraid --- but you remind me that there's no shame in the truth. When a brother or sister speaks (or writes) and I recognize the Lord in what they're doing I cherish every word, letter, and moment. Why?

There was a time when I didn't believe the Lord existed at all. I was a self-styled atheist who believed that Christianity was a cancer which was harmful to humanity and the world at large... yes, that's the man I used to be. Last night I attempted to devote my testimony to words (in a different subforum than this one) and once again failed at the task. I wasted hours sitting in front of my laptop never making it far... but this morning when I visited this topic and read what you've written here I was inspired to try again. This time, however, I'll commit those words here because that's what happened...

Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to me following my last attempt at suicide three years ago this month. It's been three years since our God spared my life but only 9 months since the Lord lifted me up in this desolate place, sending His Spirit to dwell with me. It's impossible to write about it all (that was my problem the last time) so I'll start at the beginning when I thought everything was over. Fitting...

I was in sad shape both inside and out, having slowly starved myself over the course of two years. My mouth was full of infected dental work; I rarely slept a wink and when I did I'd wake up sick to my stomach. It was an agonizingly slow way to die and so I decided to take matters into my own hands and end my life. I couldn't bear to see another day. I chose my weapon --- a firearm I inherited from an old friend (he gave it to me when we parted) --- and planned on walking as far as I could into the national wilderness land beyond my front door to do the deed. Wild animals would be my only witnesses and I was quite alright with them taking care of my remains.

I didn't make it far on account of the grueling task walking proved to be. The bright sunshine made me swoon and so I ended up dropping to my hands and knees in exhaustion. That front door was less than 25 yards distant but it was the best I could manage. Living was so horrific and I was so desperate for it to end that I pressed the muzzle of the firearm against my head in the sight of some of these wonderful livestock guardian dogs I live with here in the mountains. I pulled the trigger but nothing happened... the bullet didn't fire.

That's when Jesus Christ changed everything. I inexplicably found myself in the presence of the Lord and I was shocked senseless because of my disbelief. How could this be? The Lord --- who is God --- is with me, a self-avowed atheist who denied His very existence? I cried out in despair even though I couldn't see Him with my eyes... I both felt and heard Him in the most direct manner possible. I couldn't speak... but to my amazement He loosened my tongue and bid me to speak. I did...

I wanted to return the life I wasted to Him. I despaired of living --- I'm such a horrible man --- and pleaded with the Lord to do that which the bullet failed to do: end my nightmare without end! I begged the Son of God to finish me... those were my last words (or so I thought anyway). 

I was shocked when the Lord answered, proclaiming my offering suitable in His sight. 

He wasn't about to destroy me. Why, when I'm the work of His hand? Instead of dying I would live and do so abundantly. The dust was no longer my portion... my portion has become the Lord who holds the keys to death and hades and so He spoke words of life and healing to me, of restoration and rebirth. As He speaks so it is done... something I learned about the Lord right away my friend.

A little over two years later the Lord called to me and when I answered, He lifted me up here in the wilderness and sent God's Spirit to abide with me always, reminding me of His promise. He is my strength and my shield, my refuge and the rock of my salvation. Here's what the Lord said back then, Gideon... I didn't believe it when He said it but I'm seeing the truth now that I've read of your testimony. The Lord said there was nothing wrong with me... it pleases Him to finish me. His grace is sufficient for me...

God bless you for blessing me, friend. 




   

 

What a testimony, my dear brother in Christ. This has blessed me immensely, and right now, at this point in my life, the Lord knew I needed that. I would love to talk sometime.

 

blessings,

 

Gideon

[Not me]

@DustyRoad

What a testimony to the goodness of our Savior!

Be blessed as He continues to finish all those that would be finished...

What a blessing indeed you are.. 

A fellow servant of His, Not me