I have to tell you I’ve been waiting for sincere inspiration before I added this post. There are many posts I can write just out of breakthroughs, out of wisdom, and out of just simply drawing on my experiences of how God has helped me from time to time and from miracle to miracle. But this one I wanted to be awesome -- life-impacting and profound. I was just reading from the book of Job and I see clearly that he possessed a very simplistic (erroneous) view of the afterlife.
“There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.”
I’m here to tell you Job’s ideas of the afterlife are completely wrong. You may think that because this statement he makes is in the Bible, that it has to be true. Another statement Job makes is patently wrong, as well, (The idea that God took everything from him when it was, actually, the devil.) but that's a post for another time. People make mistakes in judgment. God does not.
Do you realize there is an actual place of torment, torture, and fire for people to go for eternity? It's been made apparent to me that a large part of why people don't revere God is because they don't believe there is a real Hell to go to if you reject Jesus. Heck, I've read from different sources that there are Christians (!) who don't believe in a literal Hell. If you call yourself a Christian and don't believe there is an afterlife place for those who choose Satan, that means you don't believe in the Word of God.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
Heck, I've read from different sources that there are Christians (!) who don't believe in a literal Hell. If you call yourself a Christian and don't believe there is an afterlife place for those who choose Satan, that means you don't believe in the Word of God. That presents a massive problem as Jesus IS the Word of God (John 1:1).
Regardless of where you stand (or if you sit on the fence), I’m here to tell you that I had an open vision of Hell and it is a dramatically horrific place of mind-blowing emotional torment and physical torture beyond your wildest imagination. If I did not have a Heavenly escort (whether it was Jesus Himself or an angel, I do not know), I knew in my heart that I would have died from fear from what I was witnessing if that person was not by my side. What I saw defied description and I will save you the possible torment. If you would like to know more, reach out to me and I will describe it until you ask me to stop. (My email is listed on the contact page under 'About'.)
When I came back to myself, I experienced many emotions; one being the frustration with God because I had been praying to see even a glimpse of Heaven for two years prior. I let Him know how I felt, "Why did you have to show me that?" and He simply said, "That's where you would have been if it wasn't for Jesus." As the days passed since that moment, I have noticed that my worship of Him increased dramatically. :D
“23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
Hell is very, very real. Let's not play games with the Truth.
Prayer
Father God in Heaven, I am struggling with things in my soul that often defy description. I wish I had the words to make things plain to myself, but I know you know them full well. You have been with me throughout my life and I seek You now for help and healing. I ask that You, in Your endless mercy, would reveal to me the reasons why I struggle with powerlessness, depression, anxiety, and fear. I ask that the blood of Jesus would cleanse me and free me from the demonic oppression and afflictions I feel and face. I am afraid of Hell and want very badly to know You better. Not just as "fire insurance," but because, like Pastor Michael said, this experience gave him the perspective he needed to worship You in Spirit and in Truth. Please guide me out of this pit I feel and into Your loving arms. In Jesus' holy name I pray, amen.