Heaven & Hell Series, Part 3A: The Unfathomable Beauty of Heaven

Heaven & Hell Series, Part 3: The Unfathomable Beauty of Heaven

In part 2A I began with Jim Woodford's story of dying and nearly being dragged to hell before he called out for God to save him.  I will now continue with what happened next.  Again, my short retelling is taken both from an interview I watched and from his book, "Heaven, an Unexpected Journey." 

Jim Woodford was clinically dead for 11 hours. In the account of his near-death experience, he says it was 6 words that saved him from hell.  Fist, right before he died, he said, "Jesus, forgive me."  After he had died and was about to be taken to hell by either a demon or Satan himself, he cried out, "Jesus, save me!" It was after his plea for help that three angels came and sent the demon away and Mr. Woodford experienced the unfathomable beauty of heaven. 

I know we all wonder what angels look like.  My husband has seen them while awake, and we have both seen them in numerous dreams.  In all of my experiences, except for one, the angels appear just as humans, but because Mr. Woodford was actually in some kind of heavenly realm, he saw the angels as they would be there.  They ranged from 10-15 feet tall, had violet-colored eyes, and in place of feathered wings as we would expect to see, they had wings made of light (if I am interpreting his description of the wings correctly).  

Mr. Woodford describes heaven as pretty much everyone who has either died or had a vision of heaven has, but it makes his story no less remarkable.  He saw every blade of grass and details much clearer than we see here.  He saw the most beautiful and vivid colors that do not even exist on earth and could not be accurately described. There was no sun, but everything was glowing with the light of Jesus.  He could see both far and near at the same time.  He felt no pain and only felt pure joy and peace.   

If I were to mention all Mr. Woodford saw, this blog would be much too long, so I am going to continue to keep this as brief as possible.  Again, I read his above-mentioned book on my Kindle with a digital loan from my library, so I recommend seeing if your library has a copy or you can look him up on Youtube (just type in Jim Woodford and you will receive multiple results). He mentioned seeing numerous buildings such as for music, a place for spiritual healing, and a nursery for babies/children.  Mr. Woodford said aborted and miscarried babies and children arrive in heaven at the age they were when they died and are cared for by others and are taught the ways of Jesus as they grow up.  Others have reported the same. Everyone else in heaven appeared to be no older than 33, except for the prophets.  While others have seen mansions, Mr. Woodford saw only small houses that did not seem to be used much. And yes, Mr. Woodford saw animals in heaven.  He interacted with horses and saw a lot of dogs and cats there that had once been pets.  Others have reported seeing and hearing many birds.  

Although I am leaving a lot out, I do not want to omit the most important aspect of his experience in heaven, the second part of the Holy Trinity, Jesus. He did indeed see Jesus face to face!  While Jesus remained at a distance from him, Mr. Woodford clearly saw and felt the life altering love, peace and joy of Jesus.  He described Jesus as radiating light that was like flowing water. Jesus had brown hair curling just above the collar of a white gown.  Mr. Woodford described the eyes in more than one way, which could mean they reflected a variety of colors, but he also said they were eyes filled with intense love and forgiveness.

Quite understandably, no one who has been to or had a vision of heaven wants to come back to earth, and Mr. Woodford was no exception to that rule.  Since we have his book to read, we know he was sent back into his earthly body, and he said it was a very difficult adjustment.  One we could never relate to but can surely imagine why.  Everything here seemed so gray, heavy, and one dimensional that he suffered depression for a time. He was, however, miraculously healed.  His bloodwork still confirms he has Guillain-Barré syndrome, yet he has been freed from all the debilitating symptoms.  By surrendering his life to Jesus and sharing his testimony, he has been able to better tolerate being back.  

Through his unique experience, Mr. Woodford desires that all we know and understand is that both heaven and hell are very real places, but that Jesus is gracious, kind, and full of love that will quickly forgive us when we ask.     

I will share Rebecca Springer's story in part 3B.

(1 Corinthians 2:9) But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.