That next day I laid in my hospital bed knowing I’d had a visitation from God! The words He spoke kept resonating in my mind. All who came to visit me that day heard about it. I remember Pastor Al saying, “Jack, you’ve had a visitation from God and you need to write down all you said and heard.” I mentioned to him that when Bev came in earlier that day, we had done just that in detail.
Later that evening the visitation, to my surprise, continued. It was like a dream or maybe a vision. I don’t know, except it was as real for me as anything! God and I were on a hospital ward, walking side by side. At first it was dark and looked empty. I remember wondering why it was so empty, so I asked the Lord. He replied, “Jack, My people no longer fight for their faith. Not many get wounded or carry crosses for My kingdom. My people have put their swords & shields down for the things of the world.” I looked to the far right and could see a couple of gurneys with wounded people on them. I could barely see them as it was so dark in the hallway. I asked the Lord, “Lord, who are they?” He said, “Jack, those two fought the battle in the flesh; in their own strength.” We continued walking down the hospital corridor. I was stunned by what the Lord said about these two on gurneys. I remember I almost started to think about whether I fight the battle in the spirit or in the flesh, but there wasn’t time as my attention went to what I saw about 25 feet in front of me. I saw a man in diapers. He was a large man. He looked about my size. He was in a fetal position. I didn’t dare ask the Lord what that was because he was about my size! The Lord knew what I was not going to ask and we walked past this big “baby” in diapers laying in a fetal position on the floor. I was happy to pass by it.
A few feet further along, we were standing in front of a beautiful body of water; emerald in color. A glory shone from it. It was magnificently inviting. We stood there looking at it and I asked the Lord, “What is this Lord?” He told me, “This is My gospel; My finished work.” Before I could take it in, the big person in a diaper dove into the water, making a huge splash. I watched him swim under the water for some time. What caught my attention was that this big man in diapers was changing as he swam in this water. I could see a true transformation taking place. His hands, feet, and body were all transforming before my very eyes. He kept swimming in this pool till he got to the far right end of the pool. It was there that he came out as a great warrior, ready to fight; ready for battle. Fearless and ready!
The Lord looked at me and said, “Jack, as long as you swim in the finished work of My gospel you will come out a great warrior for Me.” I knew in my heart that God was showing me what it takes to be a soldier in His army and not a self-absorbed baby.
I thought of that verse, “Don’t let the world pour you into its mold” And then another verse came into my mind, “Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven where neither moth nor rust corrupt.” Then another came blowing into my mind, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Then the last one I thought of was Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes.”
It was a life changing day. A day I think about a lot. Swimming in His finished work of the Gospel equals transformation! I couldn’t get my mind off of what I had seen for the rest of that day. It was so beautiful and so inviting at the same time.