Have you ever had a supernatural experience?

I have. Through the years I have had several, but one in particular changed the trajectory, and the future, of my life. It might also change yours…but first, let me tell you a little about my “before” I grew up in a home without religion or faith, of any kind. My father was an avowed communist and warned us that “…religion was the opiate of the masses…”

For the majority of my life, I perceived all religious people that way,but Christians in particular.

Throughout my childhood and as a young adult I scoffed at “believers” and had zero curiosity in the Christian faith. I went away to college, ironically attending a university where most of the students were Christians whose faith appeared to guide every facet of their lives.

Seeing this “faith” in action didn’t conflict with my belief system at all. I believed in social programs, community strength, and change through political protest…communist precepts that seemingly meshed with Christian values.

There was one difference, I believed I was accountable to only myself, while they believed they were accountable to God. This gave me great latitude for many actions. I mean I had morals and values, but only because I’d been taught by my parents to behave well. Nothing else guided my conscience, or so I pretended. This mindset served me well for a while, but eventually it became increasingly unfulfilling, and I began to notice an emptiness inside that seemed unquenchable.

What was the purpose of life?

I experimented with many beliefs and practices, but nothing satisfied me.

After college I got a good job working with good people, many who were also practicing Christians. They had a peace and joy in their lives I was curious about. I decided to examine Christianity with openness instead of judgement. I slowly began reading the Bible and periodically attended a church with a friend.

Then something happened that would change the course of my life forever. I was at work one day when my older sister called, first telling me to sit down. You can imagine I was holding my breath. My sister and I did not speak a lot but only because we lived a continent apart and had busy lives. I sat down and she told me, “….mum has died”…

You can imagine my shock. I couldn’t breathe, my mum was relatively young, only 53 years old! “What happened?” I asked. “A pulmonary embolism”, my sister said.

She explained to me that my mum had been taking a rest in a hospital and this thing, this embolism, had taken her life quickly in the middle of the night. We hung up and I sat there stunned.

I had honestly never contemplated her human limitations; I’d planned for her to be around for the foreseeable future. I eventually left work that day unable to do anything, and the next 9 days were a whirlwind of travel, plans for my mother’s funeral, and conversations about her final days.

Most significantly, her funeral ceremony was held at a Christian church. My stepfather, a lovely man who she’d married only 3 years earlier, told us that in those last few years she had begun attending church and committed her life to Jesus Christ. This was a shock to my system?!!

My mother, the intellectual, the agnostic, had decided to become a Christian?!

She was a brilliant woman and for her to have this change of view was significant to me. I returned home from her funeral with a new release to thoroughly examine Christianity and continue my exploration.

Around the same time that I had begun looking at Christianity I’d begun dating a young man who lived on the other side of the United States. We were communicating when my mother passed, but as things progressed, I became more discouraged about dating someone long distance. Ultimately one night as we talked, until the wee hours of the morning, we decided that it was best to end our friendship. As I hung up the phone and laid in bed, the loneliness of my situation began to overwhelm me.

My mother was gone…she had been my anchor, and now he, someone I’d become close with, was gone also. Though I still had siblings, a father, friends…losing a mother in such a shocking way is different. As I lay on my stomach I began to cry into my pillow. I was thousands of miles away from my immediate family, in a foreign country - I had no one. I continued crying and then filled with genuine grief said out loud, “I’m so alone.”

And then the miracle happened...

As I laid there in grief, through the giant window by my bed a golden light poured in like liquid gold, forming the shape of a man made of shimmering light! With a voice like a thousand voices He said, “You are not alone!” Instantly a tremendous peace descended upon my soul, all the tension went out of my body, and I fell into a deep sleep!

The next morning, I woke up and sat up!!! Was it a dream? Did it really happen?! I couldn’t erase the voice from my mind!! I called my close friend, a Christian, and I asked her to meet me for breakfast. I told her about my vision, and she agreed with me that it must have been Jesus! To this day telling that story makes me very emotional. I’m not unique, I’m sure you’ve heard that many today are having their own dreams and visions of Jesus.

Now, you may find that curious, ridiculous, or even miraculous, and that’s ok.

I was raised to be a very critical thinker so while it was amazing and it impressed me profoundly; it didn’t suddenly catapult me into wholeheartedly following Christianity. That experience started my journey of faith, but devotion and dedication to studying the Bible strengthened and grew my understanding of faith, Christianity, and its central sustaining person, Jesus Christ.

I now KNOW the profound love of Jesus for us; His beloved creation.

I wrote this book not to trumpet my experience and knowledge of God,
but to show the truly curious how much God loves each and every single person. If He could find and call me into relationship with Him, someone who scoffed at Christians, an individual who was selfishly motivated and inconsiderate to a fault, He can find anyone.

So why do I now share my testimony?

Because it says a lot about the journey. Testimonies, not degrees or accolades, are what change hearts. My life has been incredible! I could never have imagined it, but my security in being known and seen by the God who created the universe speaks to my true purpose in writing this book.

He is a personal God and He knows every single hair on every single head.

For the record, Jude Jehiel is not my name. I’ve chosen to use a pseudonym for a very specific purpose, I assure you it’s not noble; it’s simple. I prefer not to be the focus of this writing. I’m not afraid of being known, I’m just not important.

Jude is a Hebrew name which is derived from Yehudah, it means “praised” or“thankful”.

Jehiel, also Hebrew, means “God Lives” or “May God live”.

So, I am “Thankful that my God lives”, and I hope you will come to know Him as personally as I do through this wonderful story of …

One Extreme Love