The Light at the End of the Tunnel

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continued prayer, dying to self, entering his rest, experience, faith, Flesh vs. Spirit, God's love, hope, Jesus Christ, light, near death experience, resurrection, spiritual power, spiritual transformation, T.A. Sparks, the new self, the old self, unconditional love

In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (Jn 1:4-5 ESV) – Photo by Susanne Schuberth

Many of you might have heard or read about some people’s near-death experiences (NDEs) which they described as having been pulled through a dark tunnel toward the light. Having had a NDE myself (see My Testimony to be headlined ‘1995 – 2008: Years of the Wilderness’), I would say today that the ‘tunnel’ stands for our old self nature that is closely related to our body and soul. When people have experienced a NDE and come back into their ‘old’ life, something inside them has changed completely. Although their old nature is still there, a certain amount of God’s light has been poured into their own spirit so that their purpose in life could be changed. From then on they ‘know’ that love and gaining (spiritual) knowledge about God is most important. All other goals in life they once had have become less and less interesting. Basically, they long to be and live eternally in this light that they have come to know for a short time only. They might also realize that it is all about spiritual growth now, about being fully transformed into the image of God’s Son (cf. Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 3:18). Just recently I read a definition about this kind of spiritual growth.  If we ask, “What does it mean to grow spiritually?” T.A. Sparks offers us an answer which is truly surprising. He said,

“Spiritual growth means that the spiritual strain goes out of our eyes, and our faces, and out of our voices, and that awful intensity, tenseness, goes. It is not a mark of spiritual growth at all. So let us get rid of false ideas about what it means to be a grown Christian. It means to be entering into His rest; we all need that.”

Would you love to die for Jesus?

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Bernini, ecstasy, heaven, Jesus Christ, love, martyrdom, near death experience, out-of-body experience, Saint Teresa of Jesus, spiritual power, Teresa of Ávila

Gian Lorenzo Bernini (The Ecstasy of Teresa of Ávila)

Whenever I find myself alone regarding my experiences with God and I am tempted to let myself go, there is only one thing I can do, and that is, to look at Him who knows how it feels to stand alone. Even though tears might fall down still, there is sooo much comfort in knowing that He endured the same. And surprisingly, God doesn’t want us to remain in our suffering as if there were no hope. Quite the contrary.

More and more I have been realizing that suffering is not the ultimate purpose but only the means to receive His joy at its fullest. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

MY TESTIMONY

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Baptism in the Holy Spirit, bipolar disorder, childhood, ecstasy, healing, Jesus Christ, near death experience, school, wilderness

On Vacation in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands/Spain)
Photo by Paul Schuberth

The 1970’s: My childhood with God
The first ecstatic experience with God – at school

If there was something I really hated in my school days, then it was doing pieces of needlework. Ugh!
On a hot summer day in July I sat sweating and squirming next to my more talented classmates in the attic of our old schoolhouse which was heated up like a sauna. The needle between my fingers slipped more than once over the fabric and the cross stitches I produced were anything but decent. Looking to my friends, I saw that they were almost ready and that their works looked terrific.

Since I have always been a perfectionist, I felt stressed. “Hurry up!” the teacher said, “there are only ten minutes left.”
Silently Susanne prayed, “Please, dear God, help me!”
Alas, nothing extraordinary happened.
I tried everything I could, but I was too slow. Sweating and almost weeping, I startled up as the teacher urged, “Just two minutes to go!”
My second prayer was not as polite as the first one. “Dear God, You MUST help me!!!”
What happened then?
A miracle.