Supernatural Encounter While Striving to Draw Closer to God

This past weekend I was exchanging emails with Catherine, one of the first-year students in our Doulos Training School (DTS), regarding my article called Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, which I wrote several years ago. She was expressing her appreciation for the article, which was a new teaching for her, since she had never heard it taught in any of the churches in the UK where she lives. She initially said, "I have always believed and lived a relationship with our Lord, but not by striving before."

However, a couple days later, she remembered a supernatural experience she once had while striving to be closer to the Lord, when she was just a teen. It's such a remarkable experience, and such a great example of biblical striving, that I felt I should post it here, so that everyone could benefit from it. Here is the testimony in her words:

Catherine's Testimony

The Lord brought back to remembrance, the true short story of what happened when I was fourteen, I hope you don't mind me sharing this with you.

I was at a Butlins holiday camp in Minehead, UK, with my foster parents and they went to their son's wedding, they didn't want me with them so after breakfast she gave me a green, 1-pound (£1) British banknote for lunch, I felt more rejection.

There is a big hill nearby so I made my way to this hill and walked up to the top, determined to strive and seek and find God. I had nothing to eat or drink all day (after only a light breakfast), as I was determined to meet with God. I spent all day at the top of this hill and found God and His love and peace. I felt so loved and happy, and no more pain of rejection. But as I came down to the bottom of the hill, I realised that I was lost, and I couldn't remember the Chalet number at the holiday camp either.

I asked Jesus for His help, then I met a man called Paul (he had a beard, and he looked Jewish, like I had seen in books at school). He Said, "You are lost aren't you?" 

I said, "Yes," 

He had a green jeep, so I accepted a lift from him. He told me about my foster parents and about my vision that I had received from the Lord a month earlier, which I thought I had only told my school friend Sandra about. I wondered, "How does Paul know so much about me?" He took me to the right chalet, and I turned to say thank you and wave goodbye, but Paul and his jeep had just disappeared.

My foster mother said, "Where have you been, it's 7:00 pm?" 

I said, "I got lost, and your friend Paul found me and brought me home." 

She said, "We don't have a friend called Paul, You must have been with a stranger, and what have  I told you about not talking with strangers."

I went to bed and read in the Bible, the Scripture that says, "You will entertain angels and not know it." (paraphrase from Hebrews 13:2). So I knew God had sent His angel to save me.

So our Lord told me, "This is what I am teaching you to do every day to diligently seek Me and strive to come closer all the time and I will bless you."

So thank you so much for your amazing article, it has been such a revelation and a blessing to me, and I feel closer to the Lord already.

I only wish I could teach others, I will pray about other people joining the (DTS) studies as it is so important for the church.

Praying for you all.

Bless you all.

Sister Catherine

[END OF TESTIMONY]

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Closing Words

What an amazing testimony! Let me just comment regarding the Jewish man named Paul, who met Catherine at the bottom of the hill, told her all about her life, and then disappeared after he dropped her off at the chalet where her parents were staying--even though she didn't know which chalet it was. She told me that the picture to the left most closely resembles him. While it could have been an angel, since the Bible clearly tells us we may encounter angels without being aware of it, it is my belief that this was the apostle Paul. It is just as easy for God to have one of the living saints in glory appear and help us in some way, as it is for Him to send an angel or another earth-dwelling human being. 

When I told Catherine that I and my family all believe it was the apostle Paul, she replied, "Yes I agree with you, I do believe it was St Paul that was sent to me. He had so much love and compassion just as he does in his letters to the churches in the New Testament, and his love and passion for Jesus our Lord is awesome. When I read his letters in the New Testament, it's like I know him in Spirit and I remember my encounter with him."

She continued, "As our Lord has shown me, this is such an important teaching. I have had so much joy being closer to our Lord since I learned this teaching and remembering my encounter with St Paul. Striving to be closer to our Lord brings a stronger faith and blessings."

Why should any of you consider it incredible that God could do this? He is the Sovereign Lord and nothing is too difficult for Him. Just as Moses and Elijah appeared talking with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1–8, Mark 9:2–8, Luke 9:28–36), so the Lord can permit anyone He so wishes to have this sort of experience. 

This is all part of the communion of the saints that is spoken of in Scripture and in the Apostles' Creed. We believe in the communion of the saints. According to the apostle John, "...if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." (1Jn 1:7). Those who walk in the light in this way not only have fellowship with the Lord, but with the saints here on earth. And if God chooses to allow it, they also have fellowship with the saints in glory. 

However, we are not to seek to initiate direct contact with them. Such encounters come to those who diligently seek the Lord Himself, like John did on the Isle of Patmos. While he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, he had an amazing revelation from God that he wrote down in the book of Revelation. Not only did he see the Lord Jesus Christ and the heavenly Father, he also saw angels and saints in glory, including the twenty-four elders. In fact, he spoke with one of the twenty-four elders (Rev 7:13). And many believe that the particular angel who spoke with him and showed him things in heaven was actually the prophet Daniel. John wrote:

"At this I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, 'Don't do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus.'" (Rev 19:10)

The reason many believe this was the prophet Daniel is that he told John that he is a fellow servant with him and his brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. A fellow servant (Gr. sumdoulos) of John and other disciples of Christ signifies being one of them and coequal with them. And the reason he is believed to be the prophet Daniel is that God gave Daniel an apocalyptic revelation of the end times, too, as written in the book of the Bible that bears his name. The books of Daniel and Revelation fit together like a lock and a key. How fitting it would be for Daniel to speak with John during his heavenly encounter and show him the things he showed him.

Dear friend, I hope this brief testimony from Catherine has encouraged you to diligently seek the Lord and strive to draw closer to Him all the time. Press in to know Him more. Ask Him to draw you close to Himself. And may the Lord give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him more.

Epilogue

After I posted this article with Catherine's testimony, we exchanged more emails about it, and she explained that a month before this trip to the holiday camp with her foster parents, she had received a vision from the Lord, in which he sent Mary to her. She wrote:

Jesus gave me vision, in which He sent His mother, to say to me, "You are a child of God, " Then I heard Jesus' voice saying, "Do not fear for I am always with you." 

Mary had dark hair and brown eyes, and looked like a young Jewish girl (closely resembling woman in photo to left). The Catholic Church portrays her as English with fair hair and blue eyes. She doesn't look like they portray; they have her wrong. She spoke with great authority, and a strong voice. She spoke the same English as I do, with the South London accent, as I was brought up in South London. 

Then a month later, when I sat in Paul's Jeep with him, he said, "Jesus sent you a vision of his mother to tell you that you are a child of God and Jesus told you not to be afraid, as He is with you always." 

And I said, "Yes, you are right." It was then I thought he must be an angel, as he knew everything about me and I had only told my school friend Sandra about the vision, no one else knew about it. 

The Holy Spirit later told me that Jesus sent his mother to me, to help heal the trauma of having an abusive foster mother, and never having a loving mother. 

When I tell people about this vision, I always point out that Jesus sent his mother to me so that I would know who I belong to -- 'Jesus' -- and not to become a Catholic as some people have said. For although I didn't see Jesus that night, He was still there, because I heard his voice loud and clear, which is a witness to Catholics that Jesus is our Saviour, and they must not pray to or worship Mary. 

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Communion of the Saints, Striving to Enter the Kingdom of God, The Truth About the Roman Catholic Church, The Night the Lord Came into My Hut, The Truth Set Me Free, My Overflowing Joy in Knowing Jesus, and Lifted Out of a Slimy Pit, which are the testimonies of myself and two of my other children. Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master. 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. 

A Spirit Led Strategy for Evangelism

This is an amazing, true testimony of Spirit-led soul winning. Brother Max in Uganda, one of our First-Year students in our Doulos Training School (DTS) of discipleship, formed a Life Transformation Group (LTG), which is one of the requirements for our DTS students. Max formed the LTG with his two friends Jimmy and Pascal. Max (pictured left below) states:

"Both Jimmy and Pascal were my friends before they became my LTG group members, but brother Jimmy was first, who indeed had been an opium smoker. Before I joined the DTS, we built a team in 2013 to share the gospel, and the Holy Spirit led us to share from John 3 the story of Jesus and Nicodemus. We kept praying and reaching out to share the love of God and win souls one-on-one.

The first person by the name of Mugisha, gave his life to Jesus through a brother named Eric, who went to be with the Lord in 2017. Mugisha went to his other friends and started to share his testimony. He shared the same message, and told those friends some people met him with that message. He told them that as he prayed he felt different and he didn't want to go back to the old life. Then he asked those who would pray like him to receive Jesus, and out of those who prayed, Jimmy was among them. This was 2014, and when we were told we got a hold of Jimmy, we started training Jimmy to learn the Word and start to obey God. Graciously he did so, until he could then share the story too, and win souls. 

Now Jimmy shared the gospel with Pascal and his friends three years ago, and among them Pascal became teachable along the years. He is from a Catholic background, but now he is a born-again soul winner, serving in his local church. 

When I learnt of DTS, I was hungry to know the Word and continue to raise true disciples to the Lord Jesus. I started an LTG group together with Jimmy and Pascal, as I learned to do through the DTS training. Also the Lord would add to our knowledge and make us better disciples for Him, so that we can help many. And through DTS, we are just learning new things that continue to bless us more. 

I began to observe that throughout the season that I have just described, the Holy Spirit made it simple for the hearers of our message to re-tell the message they heard from the conveyers, which are members of our team, because we engaged home-to-home, door-to-door, and market-to-market everywhere we went. I can't say why we were led to evangelize that way, but I believe that only God's Spirit could have put it in our minds for that season, for we all wondered at it, too."

Praise the Lord for the way He led brother Max and his team to evangelize this way. Now here are the testimonies of his two LTG partners, brothers Jimmy and Pascal. Let's begin with the testimony of Jimmy (pictured left below):

"I grew up in Protestant family and was a religious person, but I involved myself in the use of drugs like opium, and drank alcohol for ten years. But one day someone shared with me in the Bible book of John 3:1-21, and I prayed the prayer of confession and welcomed Jesus into my heart as my personal Lord and Savior, and my life is changed. By God's grace, I am doing the work of evangelism, and I have a ministry, of which I am the vision bearer, called the Revival Cross Network Ministry. Our purpose is mainly to make people know that religion is a barrier to salvation. Many people are getting saved, and we are establishing churches and training youths for missionary work."

Here is Pascal's testimony:

"I am from strong Catholic background. Before I got saved, l was a drug addict, smoking marijuana and cigarettes, eating Marungi, and deep into alcohol. I would go to nightclubs, but then on Sundays I was in the Church. On December 3, 2019, a brother called Jimmy came to our home, sharing the gospel of John 3:1-21. 

I realised that I was a sinner and that what I had been doing was not right before God, so I gave my life to Christ. He took me and baptized me by immersion in water. After baptism, I started going out to share my testimony with my friends. Everything about my life changed, I stopped drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, cigarettes, and other things. My life is changed, and I am running with the message that has changed my life."

Closing Words

Dear friend, I hope that this testimony has encouraged you to reach out and evangelize those who don't know Jesus. They are lost without Him and in need of the Savior. Without Him, they will perish. You have seen how the Lord guided brother Max by giving him a wonderful and effective strategy for evangelism. And he carried out that strategy well, going from door to door and market to market, reaching them one at a time. It may not seem very effective to some people, because of the slow progress. 

But just consider how the Lord multiplied disciples this way. Max got together with Eric to discuss the leading of the Holy Spirit, and they often went out to share the gospel together, covering different areas, and holding each other accountable, as they followed up with those who were serious, and they prayed for God to multiply disciples through them. Together they focused on the ones who gave themselves to hear the Lord through them, and they watched over those who did so, giving more time to them, so they could be trained. Max guided the team, focusing on those who were faithful, available, and teachable (FAT). 

Eric, before he died and went to be with the Lord, led Mugisha to Christ. Mugisha in turn shared his testimony with his friends, and some of them, one of which was Jimmy, accepted the Lord Jesus into their hearts. The Lord set Jimmy free from all the bondages to the things he was addicted to, and his life was forever changed. Then he, too, obediently shared his testimony with others, as he was taught to do. He shared from John 3 about Jesus and Nicodemus and the fact that you must be born again. And the Lord used him, too. One of the people who came into the kingdom through Jimmy was Pascal, who was also set free from bondage like Jimmy was, and Pascal's life was forever changed by the Lord. Now Pascal, too, is sharing his testimony with others, as he follows Jesus on his journey.

Most importantly Jimmy and Pascal are both in a Life Transformation Group (LTG) together with Max, growing together in Christ, as they read the Bible each week, pray for the lost, and hold each other accountable, as they seek to be a witness for Christ through their words and actions. Moreover, they are all in the Doulos Training School (DTS), where they are now learning to be disciples of Christ, so they can get closer to Him and help even more people. Lastly, since their testimony is now posted online, it is reaching even more people than ever, all over the world. All that began with the obedience of brother Max. Just think what the Lord could do through you, if you let Him. Below I will provide you with some tools to do that and also invite you to pray about applying for enrollment in our DTS.

Author's Note: If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to read The Truth Set Me Free, as well as Life Transformation Groups, How to Start an LTG, Rescue Souls!, Share Jesus Without Fear, and Doulos Training School (DTS). Also see the Home page of this blog for more testimonies. You are invited to view my collection of blogs at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?

If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.