Dear Victoria:
I have an unnatural fear of death and pray all the time for guidance. Your memoir, Just a Little Girl describes your near death encounter—are you sure what you experienced was real? – KLW
Dear KLW:
As sure as I am writing this letter, my experience was real. Many people who have near death (or death) encounters have similar accounts to detail, i.e. hovering above their body, overhearing conversations, seeing a light, etc. However, despite the similarities, they often have uniquely different experiences of supernatural impact.
Some come back fearful and immediately cry out for God to save them from the realm that almost had them captive and others are motivated to describe the utter beauty and wonder of the world to come.
One thing is for certain—a true encounter changes someone forever.
In my case, I didn’t have a fear of evil or even see heaven—although I was keenly aware of being outside my body. An awesome and powerful spiritual entity was hovering with me (or rather with my spirit) and I was attached by a cord to my body (the Bible calls it a silver cord). Together we were watching the physical events going on below from a spiritual place—a place not seen in the natural—somewhere between this world and heaven.
The words this angel spoke to me are written in Just a Little Girl, words that greatly impacted my life. But much more revelation came to me by the Spirit in the days after I returned to my body.
K, when you belong to God, you don’t have to fear what is to come after your earthly body ceases to function. God’s Messiah, Yeshua, will never leave you nor forsake you (in life or in death) and because you are in covenant with Him, the blood of the covenant Lamb covers your sins and shortcomings as the love of God surrounds you. You will see Messiah on the other side and He will stand with you before the Creator and Judge of the Universe. Realize and rest in this: if we judge ourselves now there is no need for God to judge us when we stand before him (1 Corinthians 11:31). To judge ourselves is to determine who is our God—that is, who is in control of our soul. That said, the most important question is, who is in control of your soul—you, or God?
Let me explain what I understood after my encounter; God made us different than any of His creations – even the angels!
This is what Satan, the fallen cherub that was perfect in beauty and full of wisdom, was so jealous of (see Ezekial 28:11-15). The design of man was not only that those who chose Him (to be their God) would live forever in God but that God could enter into him or her while the physical body was alive as the human declared Him as the Lord or Master of his life.
You see, we are created as a physical being that houses a soul.
This soul is the power train of our physical existence and can manifest our will through emotions, words and actions. The invisible soul is not tangible but is discernable by others when what is in and on our mind is revealed. These manifestations of thoughts, aspirations and values (or sometimes the lack of) determine our behaviors. An example of this soul power is that we can build up or destroy relationships and lives by our words or actions.
The soul of man is powerful. It can bring joy, encouragement and goodness into reality—sadly, it can deceive and be deceived as well. God created us to affect the world around us. He calls us to affect it for good, but unfortunately we can also affect it—consciously or unconsciously—for evil.
Now here’s the cool part… He made us in His image, which means we are also a spirit.
Like the soul of man, the spirit is not seen in the physical realm. This is the “God space,” the place where His spirit enters into us when we relinquish our soul (or will) to Him. He then takes residence in our spirit vessel meshing His Spirit with ours in a covenant union. When that happens, He functions through us. Our soul begins to hear His thoughts and desires to learn His ways. It is then we affect the world in love by kind deeds, encouragement and Godly behavior.
Satan, knowing this, took advantage of man’s awesome and powerful ability to “create and affect like God” and thereby manifested in the Garden of Eden to deceive Eve and subsequently Adam by telling them they didn’t need God as they could be like Him creating good and evil by the power of their soul.
How does Satan influence the power of man’s souls?
When man omits God from his or her spirit vessel then the spirit of man is open to the evil spirit realm. This is an absolute because man is also of spirit. He becomes self- oriented, self-absorbed, self-serving, self-aggrandizing, self-ambitious, self-consumed and eventually becomes blatantly anti-God which leads to death, that is, eternal separation from God. A Godless mankind prefers only himself over others and allows his (or her) heart to wax cold. The spirit of man opens itself to the evil spiritual realm sowing seeds of impatience, distrust, neglect and hate. This is corruption from the original intent of God. It is evil in spirit and the plan of the evil one.
The Spiritual Difference
Man is a wonderful creation and if you know God, His peace will reign supreme in your very core. You don’t necessarily depend on the five physical senses or on your own carnal knowledge to operate in life. Instead, the believer in God (through His Messiah, Yeshua) is changed into a new creation in Christ. God deposits His wisdom into your spirit vessel and you begin to operate from His power instead of your own. When you are born again your soul yields to God’s ways, your will now desires to advance His Kingdom in the earth by the means of your body (living and functioning for Him) in and by the power that resides in your spirit that is God’s actual Presence. The powertrain of the soul is over-ridden by the Power of God’s Spirit in you.
When I was out of my body I still had my mind, my memories and my personality. My soul and my spirit were intact. I was in the spirit realm but had nothing to fear because the Angel of the Lord was with me. I didn’t fear death, K, and neither should you.
You are more than just the body you see in the mirror. Much, much more! Ask God to show you His Glory in you. Please allow me to pray for you today.
Father I ask You to show Yourself in my friend today. May the comfort and peace of Your Holy Spirit reign supreme. Silence the voice of the evil one and lead us, Your children, in the ways you want us to go. – Amen
