Expand your thinking!
I’m currently reading the book “Imagine the God of Heaven” by John Burke. I haven’t finished it yet, but it’s keeping me thinking. John Burke has investigated 1000 near-death experiences of people from all over the world, from every culture and every faith. He looked for commonalities in the accounts of people who were clinically dead, revived and claimed to have experienced life after death. What I didn’t realize was that there are millions of people with near-death experiences in the world!
The author was an engineer and scientist and very skeptical and analytical. What he heard from these people led him to believe that there is a God and that this God is good. (He is now a pastor) He has countless examples in his book, two of which touched me a lot, because they show how great God’s love is.
A woman named Erica tells us:
Once there, the most all-encompassing feeling of love overwhelmed me. My human words cannot accurately describe the enormity of the feeling that filled each cell in my body with more love than imaginable. This love was so tangible I could touch it.
A man named Dean tells how he experienced the love of Jesus in heaven:
Then I started looking up and every portion of him was loving me. His entire being loved me. What got me was he only loved me. I knew he loved the others, but it seemed like he only loved me. When I finally looked at him, his eyes met my eyes. I remember looking into his eyes, thinking, He loves me so much, by the time I’m thinking of him loving me, it’s old news because he even loves me more! I used to think he just loves you, and that was it, but it’s a growing love every moment, uniquely for you.
Many people who have had such an experience talk about God’s love. Is it also true for you and me? Yes, definitely! Can I imagine that? Not really, I have the feeling that I have to stretch my mind because I can’t grasp this tremendous love from God. My thinking is too small! Just as I cannot grasp the size of the universe, it is just as difficult to grasp the size, width, length, height and depth of God’s love.
And I pray that Christ will make his home in your hearts through faith. I pray that you may have your roots and foundation in love, so that you, together with all God’s people, may have the power to understand how broad and long, how high and deep, is Christ’s love. Yes, may you come to know his love—although it can never be fully known—and so be completely filled with the very nature of God.
Epheser 3,17-19
In this verse, the apostle Paul promises us that by understanding God’s love, that the nature of God, his riches, will fill us. In other words, I should reach out for it – with the promise that I will receive something in return! Do I need the riches of God? I’m doing fine, aren’t I?
Whenever I think bigger with God, I realize that I am getting something in return! The more I recognize the immeasurable greatness and love of God, the better I feel. It has a direct impact on my life. Because the greater I see God’s love, the more I understand how loved and secure I am with him. It fills me with peace and joy. This has a massive impact on my everyday life, because it also improves my relationships with the people around me, everything becomes easier and simpler! This joy that comes from recognizing God’s love carries me through everyday life! And this enthusiasm brings me closer to God again, which expands my thinking even more…
Open yourself up like a scientist trying to understand the size of the universe, stretch and expand your thinking! How big can you imagine God’s love for you personally? Try it out – and you can be sure: it is much, much bigger!
Quote from: Burke, John. Imagine the God of Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God’s Revelation, and the Love You’ve Always Wanted (S.66-67, S.74). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle-Version.
