Heaven Is For Real

May 07, 2014LaBreeska Ingles

Heaven is For Real is a autobiography about a young boy seeing heaven during a near death experience. We went to see the movie and really appreciated the overall message of the movie. We have read stories about people dying and going to heaven, then coming back to tell others about it, but this little boy did not die, so his parents were confused about how he saw heaven. My husband and I were not confused, because we have seen this happen many times.

Our 1st-5th grade kid's church class has a ministry time at the end of the kid's sermon each week. One week, we decided to do what we call "heaven trips." Heaven trips are simply a time to close your eyes and look for Jesus with your imagination. Jesus told us that when we pray, we are supposed to ask for things to be "on earth as it is in heaven." Basically, we are inviting heaven to invade earth, invade our lives, and invade our minds. We asked our kids class to look for Jesus in their mind and imagine Him there. Then, we said, "ask Jesus to show you something about heaven." Neither my husband nor I could have imagined the things that these kids were seeing.

One of our students (a 3rd grader), decided to lay face down on the floor. While he was laying there, his body started to shake and jerk around. He stayed like this for 10-15 minutes.  He stayed there until we asked him to get up. I said, "What was going on with you?  What did you see?" The boy began to describe a beautiful picture that sounded like a movie. He said...

  • "I asked Jesus to take me to heaven and then I saw a rollercoaster. There were really large angels. I rode the rollercoaster and it was fun. It stopped in a jungle and I got off the rollercoaster and stepped into the jungle. I saw a large lion with wings, so I got on the lion and rode him up to the top of a mountain. Then, at the top of the moutain, I jumped off of the mountain into water."

After hearing this story, another kid chimed in and said that this story was similar to what he saw. He said...

  • "I saw two paths, so I decided to pick the more dangerous one. I climbed the mountain to the gates of heaven, even though I knew I was already in heaven, I had to enter through the gates. I rode a zipline back down the mountain."

Another boy in the group said his story was similar to this story. When he closed his eyes and asked Jesus to show him a picture of heaven, he described seeing the following...

  • "I saw two paths. When I stepped into heaven, the colors were better. (like the scene went from dull to a brighter more vivid color). I got on an angel's back and rode the angel to a softer land where the ground was so soft, it was indescribable, like a place so soft, you wouldn't need to wear shoes."

Now, what's happening here? Are the kids trying to make their stories sound similar? I don't think so. First of all, I know these kids. They aren't liers. Second, their imaginations were seeing pictures similar to Scriptures that we can find about heaven, yet I don't think the kids remember these Scriptures. They may have never heard some of these specific Scriptures  

Brian told them that the stories sounded like the following Scriptures..

1. Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

2. Isaiah 2:3 "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in His paths."

Heaven is for real. It is not death that takes us there, but Jesus who's blood is the sidewalk of faith. Do you want to see heaven now? Close your eyes and ask Jesus to show it to you. Your imagination is the vehicle to the sights and sounds you dream of seeing. Revelation 4:1 "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here."