OLIVIA’S vision of JESUS and of HEAVEN 

IVAN AND RUTH (HER MUM) INTRODUCING THE VISION EXPERIENCE 

Olivia-Grace is a lovely 8-year-old Australian girl who had a vision three years ago (at 5 years prior to attending ‘big school’) in which Jesus showed her much about heaven. Her parents or other care-givers did not teach her much about heaven; just vague mentions, e.g. the Lord’s prayer, “Our Father who is in Heaven… ” (referring to a God who is OUR heavenly Father).  She was told her grandfather (Ruth’s father) died and went to heaven. It is a real place that Christians believe in by faith.  

“Olivia,” Ruth asked her, “if you say you went to heaven with Jesus, people are going to say… we want to go to heaven too…did Jesus say how you get there?” 

“Oh yes mummy, Jesus said you have to believe in ME, obey ME & be good! That’s it!”  

Reflecting on this simple interchange, Ruth believes it to be true according to the Christian worldview at a basic level. As Olivia was only 5, Sunday School, church and Kindergarten would not have taught her details such as she was sharing about heaven. Ruth also warned Olivia not to tell fibs (i.e. lies) about God and heaven. “You must always say ONLY what you did see and experience and NEVER make ANY of it up lest anyone does not believe ANY of it.”  Olivia promised what she told was the truth. As the years have passed, Ruth is now certain that Olivia has described her vision as accurately as she can.  It is a very humbling experience as a mother to be told by her daughter about heaven, since they have been a very conservative Christian family with a Biblical worldview, who didn’t know about any such spiritual encounters like this before their daughter made this announcement.   

 In her vision, Jesus identified her experience. Ruth asked her “Olivia, did Jesus say if your experience was a dream or a vision?” 

“He said it was a vision”.   

In regards to mysteries on earth, He told Olivia, “You don’t ask them” i.e. people in heaven to give explanations for why things are like they are now on earth, or were historically. Instead, “YOU ASK ME!”  (Jesus speaking)

So, people on earth ARE to “fix their eyes on Jesus” – and Jesus has allowed some people to see into heaven. This is a wonder. It is wonderful! 

The bible book of Revelation was primarily a vision given to the apostle John, and contained information John could not have known about excepting by revelation – and also included pictures of the inhabitants of heaven and of the future. Olivia’s vision contained similar elements. For it to fit into the blog, I have been very selective and, because Olivia is young and could not write when the vision occurred, I am writing it in the third person. Her mother Ruth recorded details sensitively at the time of the vision and since, but only when her daughter wanted to tell her something – she sensibly did not try to extract information.

Final point—visions can convey deep spiritual messages from God. 

OLIVIA’S VISION

“Mummy, I had a vision, I went to heaven WITH Jesus ..  I went to heaven and saw Mary, Martha and Abel,” Olivia told Ruth, her mother. She described things she saw as Jesus showed her around. At the time she was sleeping at a farm house in the same room as her two younger brothers, while the adults were in another part of the house. 

Olivia aged 5 simply accepted whatever she was shown and told by Jesus without querying things. 

Olivia recalls: “I saw Enoch walking with Jesus in heaven. Peter, Simon and John the Baptist. John was hairy with a big beard…. Abraham’s wife Sarah gave me (a little girl) a hug”.

Her childlike descriptions were written down (mum only wrote what she said) with her simple illustrations of heaven over a period of time, recorded in a scrapbook, and are charming.

 “I saw a big garden with a crystal-clear river. There were lots of trees with fruit on, plants and grass. I got to pat a lamb and saw a lion next to it.”

Looking at the picture Olivia drew of the animals and herself, Ruth asked her “did you get that close to the lion (she drew herself soo close to it), were you afraid of the lion?” To that Olivia replied, “Oh no Mummy, in heaven they don’t eat people; they don’t eat meat. They eat grass. All the animals ate grass, even the dinosaurs, tigers and bears…. 

 Jesus showed Olivia many things about heaven itself, which shone in beautiful colours – the throne room, the gates of heaven (& buildings with jewels & streets of gold), a house with children in it playing with toys, even animals never seen before on earth, including unicorns. Some angels had wings and some did not.

 “I saw God my heavenly Father on the throne. Abel, Stephen and other people were close to this throne. Some disciples and angels were also there. It was a big crowd of people. They were saying “Holy is the Lord God Almighty”. Ruth then asked her “Did you know the bible also says these things about the throne room?”

Olivia did not know that, but added that she got to hug her heavenly Father, who was “soo big” she fit inside His hand”.

One day when she was playing at home in the sandpit with a toy horse and was sprinkling sand over it, she announced, “There are horses in heaven and it snows in heaven but it is not cold; It looks white and tasted like honey. I got to eat some.” (was this “snow” perhaps the same manna that God fed to the Israelites in the desert, which had also tasted like honey?)

Ruth asked Olivia, “Did Jesus tell you that you aren’t supposed to talk to dead people?” She answered, “but mum, people in heaven aren’t dead, and people in heaven actually talk to each other.”  

Olivia had met her grandfather on earth when she was just a toddler. He had died when age 97 years. Her now deceased grandfather was no longer old in heaven as he was remembered on earth, but was young, glowing, looking around the gardens and very happy. He had been an inventive man and one of his inventions was working in heaven; he found fulfillment in that because everyone else on earth thought his efforts were no good. Jesus was there with him and told him it was a very special invention with reference to future use on earth. 

Olivia described various characters she saw in Heaven, including John the Baptist, who had a big bushy beard, unlike Jesus, who had “a short brown beard and hair down to his shoulders.” John was also wearing a crown, possible only in heaven because his head had been restored to his body.

She also described Jesus’ hands that carried the scars of the cross. She remembers Jesus holding her hand when taking her to heaven, and again later on when guiding her into a room with children in it.

Jesus allowed Olivia to meet a young girl named Lydia (name changed to be sensitive to the tragic circumstances faced by the actual family), who told her various things about her large family (their exact ages, names …  etc.) who are perhaps still in New Zealand. In heaven, Lydia told Olivia that she had died age five when she tripped over and fell into a fireplace, while the mother went out to get more wood from outside as there were only 2 logs left on the fireplace. The detail about this girl that once lived was astounding, how could this just be “made up”?  She told Olivia her favourite toy was a mermaid and she was still wearing the same beautiful birthday dress she had died in.  Many details remain private unless the exact family were to be found; it had been a tragic and horrific experience, yet Lydia speaks from heaven to reassure her family she enjoys heaven yet still loves her family. “Tell my brothers and sisters to enjoy their time with mum and dad.” The two girls in heaven were of the same age and liked one another, which is why they talked together. 

 “I saw God my heavenly Father on the throne. Abel, Stephen and other people who had been killed by others were close to this throne. Some disciples and angels were also there. It was a big crowd of people. They were saying “Holy is the Lord God Almighty”.

Ruth then asked her “Did you know the bible also says these things about the throne room?”

Olivia did not know that. But added that she got to hug her heavenly Father, who was “soo big”she fit inside His hand”.

Recently, Olivia was doing a simplified bible lesson from John 10: 22-42 as part of her Christian Schooling experience. The scripture reads, “My sheep hear my voice”. Part of the passage reads:

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand…”

The lesson states… “The Lord speaks to us in lots of different ways…  an audible voice, an inner voice or whisper, a spontaneous thought, a feeling or impression, through a scripture, pictures, art or nature.”  Write down a time when the Lord has spoken to you. 

Olivia-Grace wrote at age 7 (nearly 8) “When I went to heaven” in her own writing.  She didn’t quite get the spelling right, as she spelt heaven as’ hevan’ but she read it. 

Her’s is a remarkable testimony!  Praise God!

Olivia’s testimony illustrates that:

1. God can communicate with visions.
2. God’s visions can be received by children, even very young children, as well as by adults.
3. God chooses age-appropriate encounters for children – another child or a relative, kindly adults in heaven, but not unpleasant encounters such as seeing the prisoners in Hades who are waiting for Judgement day.
4. God’s revelation of the throne room in heaven is as found in the Book of Revelation.
5. God loves children and cares for them. Olivia was shown children. like Lydia, who were being cared for in heaven.
6. God loves the elderly including relatives who have passed on.  Their life is not wasted if they died “in Christ”. (Ruth had prayed her father would ‘be saved’ and believes the relationship with her father could then last for an eternity, because Jesus died and rose again, her father too, imperfect as he was, can live in heaven.)
7. God can even give glimpses in the vision of what it will be like in the future, in heaven, for relatives who are still on earth. This vision can then comfort those on earth when loved ones precede them into heaven.

Ian Feeney, Toowoomba, Australia.

Three-and-a-half years ago I was diagnosed with stomach cancer. I experienced some complications from chemotherapy before surgery such that I was admitted to hospital with intense pain.

 I cried out to God and said “God why do I have to suffer?” Immediately His reply came “to refine your faith”. I felt very satisfied with that and thought “I’m ready for this”.

That evening in hospital I had only the second vision of my life. It was so real. I saw something like a stylised head of God with Wrath pouring forth from his nostrils! He said, “Come and I’ll show you the canyons of the deep.” Within seconds He exposed the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Then the vision was over.

I asked God “what does all that mean?”

He showed me that this was an example of both His power and His wrath towards those who attack his loved ones. Specifically, in this case, I felt he was showing me the way that God came to rescue David when he was hiding in the cave after his family and the families of his men had been kidnapped by the enemy. I experienced the evidence of God’s wrath in the degree to which He will go to defend those He loves.

I immediately felt peace and wonderfully protected, having experienced both the might of God and the degree of his wrath towards any enemy trying to afflict me.

It was not till 15 months later when I was reading Psalms 18 :15 that I confirmed that this vision was real and from God!

          Ian’s testimony shows that:

1. God can fight our battles for us. The only fight we need to fight is the good fight of faith.
2. God’s power and reach are enormous and beyond our comprehension. We have very little understanding of the depth of His knowledge, power and wrath. 
3. God knows what each of us is facing in life, He may intervene while we are still unaware of the gravity of the trials ahead.
4. God can confirm a vision or dream, even months later, by our finding an obscure or previously unknown to us Bible verse. This, in turn, confirms the vital importance of scripture.
5. God uses challenges, including some to our health, to deepen and purify our faith.
6. God’s love as well as His knowledge is incredibly deep.

 

 

Rudolph family wanting to emigrate from Africa – but where to?

For reasons centred around our children’s’ education and long-term futures, we made the hard decision to leave our beloved Africa. A new racism against white people has since overtaken Africa, so in retrospect it was an excellent decision.

On making enquiries, I discovered it would not be easy to be accepted anywhere else in the English-speaking world, having been born in Africa. However, Queensland in Australia attracted us most of all because of its climate. We were told that only an advance job offer on a limited list of needed occupations might open the door for us, but even then we would need to satisfy the criterion “the only suitable applicant to apply”. Senior chemistry teachers in Queensland had appeared recently on the Wanted Professions list , so it might be worth trying.

I obtained a copy of Whittakers Almanac, and found it listed just six private schools in Queensland. “Well, Lord,” I prayed, “if we should go to Queensland, please let one of these six schools make me a job offer, And to avoid any confusion, please make it a definite offer from one school only,” and I mailed off my CV to each of them. Only later did I realise how unlikely for success this approach to Australian private schools had been.

Next thing, I got a phonecall from Brother White, the gentlemanly Headmaster of St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace, in Brisbane, saying he was interested in me and would see what he could do. It was standard procedure at the time to go to Australia for a job interview, but we certainly did not have the money to do so, as I told him.

While I was teaching in Malawi one morning, there was a knock on the door. Standing outside was a Catholic brother from a local mission school. I set my students some work and we chatted outside the classroom. That was my job interview!

During this period of uncertainty, I had a spiritual dream. It is probably the only spiritual dream I have had and I am very dubious of Christians seeking dream interpretations because most dreams are simply a natural process and nothing to do with God communicating, any more than our breathing is. The details of my dream, although still clear, are not important here, suffice to say that when I awoke I knew it was something from God and I could tell Brenda with absolute certainty that we would be going to Austalia and ultimately blessed there.

God can use a dream as one of His many means of communication.

It is astonishing how often God used spiritual dreams in scripture to communicate. Even in modern times, I was surprised how many Africans who had really effective ministries had been called initially through a dream. And Acts 2:17 reminds us that visions and dreams will be a feature of the last days of earth, so we can know that God intends to continue using them.

Finally, following further testing, our clearance to emigrate was granted. Soon afterwards, we were packed up and ready for new adventures “down under”.

Ivan’s testimony shows that:

1. God can open the most unlikely of doors to wherever He wants us to go and to guide us into whatever He wants us to do. He may use a variety of means and people to achieve those ends.
2. God can assure us in advance that, unlikely as it may seem, closed doors would be opened for us to walk through.
3. God can send us dreams, if only rarely (my experience), to lead us into whatever future He wants for us.

 

Greg Alvord in USA dream about meeting Jesus

About two months after emigrating to the United States from Zimbabwe, in 1988, I was sleeping comfortably in my bed at home and had a dream. I was walking through a field with a stranger next to me and we were dressed up like shepherds during biblical times. Up on a green hill, in the distance, was a figure dressed the same as we were dressed. He was herding twelve sheep.

The stranger walking next to me said it was Jesus Christ and I responded “no, no, no, no, that’s not Jesus Christ.”

As we got a little closer, the person on the hill turns around and said “I am Jesus Christ, see the holes in my palms.”

I said, “Whoa, it is Jesus Christ!”, and then I woke up.

Now how many of you have had a dream like that? I’ve never had a dream like that before or since and I wondered what it was all about? I don’t usually remember dreams when I wake, up but I remembered this one!

I did not immediately tell anyone about this dream and supposed that it was not significant.

The dream only became significant after I accepted Christ as my Lord and Saviour after a conversion experience two weeks later. Perhaps the dream had been preparing my mind or spirit for my conversion a fortnight later?

Thirty-four years later I still remember this dream. 

Greg’s dream illustrates this about God:

1. God’s dreams can herald future events.
2. God can use dreams to prepare us for future events.
3. God’s dreams are remembered while others slip more readily from our memories.

Topic 28 next week will be Who Is God During Tragedy?