Paul Backholer - Heaven: A Journey to Paradise and the Heavenly City

Heaven, a Journey to Paradise and the Heavenly City

By Paul Backholer

This book is also available as a paperback.

Heaven - A Journey to Paradise and the Heavenly City

The Glory of Beyond, our Mansions Above and the Hope, Joy and Peace of our Eternal Home

Copyright Paul Backholer 2013 - 2020, ByFaith Media. All Rights Reserved - www.ByFaith.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible:

The New King James Version (NKJV). Published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Authorised Version (AV) also known as the King James Version (first printed in 1611).

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any unauthorised retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any unauthorised means electronically, mechanically, photocopying, recording, or any other (except for brief quotations in printed or official website reviews with full accreditation) without the prior permission of the Publisher, ByFaith Media, Paul Backholer. Uploading this work to the internet (in whole or in part) is illegal, as is unauthorised translations. For requests for Translation Rights, please contact ByFaith Media.

References to deity are capitalised. As is the nature of the internet, web pages can disappear and ownership of domain names can change hands. Those stated within the book were valid at the time of first publication.

This book is also available as a paperback.

- Jesus Christ is Lord -

Introduction

Heaven is the final destination for the redeemed and yet, we still have many unanswered questions about our future. What will heaven feel like? What will we look like and what did Jesus Christ mean when He taught we will be like the angels? (Matthew 22:30). The Bible does not discourage such thoughts; instead it urges us to focus our thinking on things above. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1-2).

In the Old Testament, the prophets did not know the fullness of Gods eternal plan, therefore Paul wrote of those generations: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But after Christ Jesus was raised from the dead and the Holy Spirit was poured out, God began to reveal His eternal destiny for His people in greater detail. Paul explained it like this: But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).

The apostle Paul visited the third heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2), and others have had visions and dreams; whilst the apostle John was in the Spirit when he received his visions (Revelation 1:10).

God speaks to us in His Word and the teaching of the Lord Jesus constantly refers to the afterlife heaven and hell. His preaching insists we should weigh our actions and walk in His light as we prepare for eternity (Matthew 12:36-42, Luke 16:1-31, 21:3-37, John 10:27-28). He encouraged all to consider the next life and to live with the eternal in mind (Matthew 25:1-46). Jesus also taught that by nature we struggle to understand heaven: If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? (John 3:12).

In these last days, God is pouring out the Holy Spirit and the Bible states our sons and daughters will prophesy, young men shall see visions, and old men will dream dreams (Acts 2:17). Therefore, the day of revelation is far from over; yet God will never show us anything that contradicts or challenges the authority of Scripture (John 20:31, 2 Timothy 3:16). Consequently, this chronicle may be weighed as a prophetic journal soaked in biblical truth, Divine experiences and lessons given by the Holy Spirit.

God always speaks for important reasons and believers in Jesus are told to desire spiritual giftsespecially that you may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1). As the Bible states: The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). We also know that we know in part and see in part (1 Corinthians 13:12), and revelations must be tested in His light, by the Word (1 Corinthians 14:29).

As there are dangers of depending on personal revelations and man can add to and misunderstand what God gives (1 Corinthians 14:29-32), we must always return to Scripture. The Bible will always be our only and final source of doctrine, and all other aids to Scripture must be weighed in its balance. This is why this chronicle is filled with biblical references that can be sought-out and studied to corroborate the message within (2 Timothy 3:16). All you read can only be as faithful as the verses that underpin it. As Paul wrote to Timothy: Consider what I say and may the Lord give you understanding in all things (2 Timothy 2:7).

I conclude this introduction by considering the prayer of the apostle Paul that we may receive revelation from God.

making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints (Ephesians 1:16-18).

Chapter One

Paradise

I sometimes feel like a passenger on a high-speed train shooting through time. Where have all the years gone? I can remember school years, impatiently waiting for them to pass, so I could leave and begin my real life. But now the years go by with inconsiderate speed. In my personal battle with time, I found myself asking this question where is this sprint through life heading?

Perhaps it is the knowledge of our mortality that helped me to study the Bibles description of heaven. When we were young, we spent our time planning in vain for a future which rarely turns out as expected. Life is the events which happen to us whilst we are making far superior plans. Nevertheless, in those precious moments between the daily routines of work, duties, burdens, commitments and responsibilities, we sometimes find a minute to stop and ponder where this mortal journey will lead.

Day after day, month after month, I opened my Bible and studied the passages of Scripture that give us a glimpse of the promise of heaven. I was amazed at the many references throughout, and the promises that provoked questions and further study. I prayed in the night hours for visions of heaven and with my spirit opened, I saw a perfect world which left me with a deep witness of heaven.

I cannot explain how it all happened yet, I felt I passed into another world. There was radiant light shining around me, so intense that it penetrated into my being. I knew by faith this was heaven, yet I was unable to discern where I was geographically. I did not physically travel to get here and I lost my sense of coordination. Once I had thought of heaven as a physical dimension above the sky, and then I recalled the apostle John saw the sky receding as a scroll, when it rolled up before him. I concluded this was the spiritual world (Revelation 6:14).

Suddenly, a glorious shudder passed down my spine; it was not fear I felt, for I knew no harm could come to me. My chill came from my deficiency to comprehend who or what was near me. The light was still too glorious to behold.

Then a presence touched me on my shoulder from behind. My eyelids began to flicker and in an instant my eyes felt comfortable to focus in the glory. I wanted with all my heart to look behind me and see the presence, yet I was afraid. It was not fear of harm which stopped me; it was reverence that the presence was not human. I was a stranger in a heavenly land and if I turned to look, I feared I would faint. Theologically I did not believe this could be possible, but one experience can shake a thousand theories.