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The testimony that follows tells of a gentleman,
Jim Sepulveda, who had no need for God until He was handed a death sentence.
Let's move quickly into this powerful story. |
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"Jim,
if you own anything of value, you'd better make out a will," my doctor
told me after severe chest pains sent me to the hospital. Tests revealed an
enlarged heart, a damaged main valve, and two main arteries blocked by cholesterol.
I would need double bypass surgery and valve replacement. "We give you
only a 10 percent chance of making it," the doctor warned. I was
terrified. At age 35 I was too young to die. |
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Six
weeks before surgery God intervened in my life. Much against my own personal
wishes, God arranged for me to attend a healing meeting. Once there, I was
greatly agitated by what was going on, and was going to leave during the
service when suddenly the speaker announced: "The Holy Spirit is telling
me there's a man here who is scheduled for open heart surgery. If you will
come down now, I believe the Lord's going to heal you." I glanced around
as he waited. Surely he didn't mean me. No one came forward, "God has a
work for this man," the speaker continued. "Let us pray and see if
the Holy Spirit might reveal the man's name to me." |
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Incredibly,
God did reveal my name, and reluctantly, I went forward. After answering a
few of his questions, here's what happened: Suddenly my knees buckled and I
fell to the platform, wrapped in a warm blanket of peace and love. A red
light appeared toward the ceiling, which came down and touched my head. A
pure warm heat ran up my left side and stopped in the area of my chest. Then
it felt like two little fingers moved things around inside my heart
"Jesus, I love You." The words slipped from my mouth without
conscious thought. "I know that I know that You've healed me. I love
You." Up to this moment, I hadn't been to church in 13 years, sad to
say. |
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Upon
returning to my doctor, I told him about my experience in the auditorium. He
wasn't impressed. "Jim, if you don't have open heart surgery, you won't
last over 6 months." We discussed the situation at length, then a clear thought came to mind: Catheterization. Do
it for the glory of God. I knew that was a procedure when doctors make an
incision in one main artery, then feed a catheter into the heart to take
pictures and ascertain the exact state of the heart. |
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"Doc,
listen. I don't want that open-heart surgery. I want a Catheterization."
He argued, but I convinced him. Several days later I was on the operating
table. I was awake during the whole Catheterization process. Everything
seemed to go very well. Then during the last maneuver I suddenly felt like a white-hot
poker was stabbing my heart. Agonizing pain ran across my shoulders and down
my side. I began to lose consciousness and felt the doctors pounding on my
chest. As dark shadows closed around me, I could hear voices from far away,
echoing like sound in a tunnel: "We're losing him ... losing him ...
losing him... |
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I
opened my eyes. I was standing in a field, surrounded by acres of green
grass. Every blade of it glowed, as if a tiny spotlight lighted them. To my
right stretched a dazzling expanse of flowers, with vibrant colors I'd never
seen before. I walked over a nearby hill, stopping as a light began to appear
near me. The blinding aura was too bright to look at directly. I squinted
down toward the ground, then saw a pair of sandals
begin to appear at the bottom of the light. |
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As
my eyes moved upward, I glimpsed the hem of a seamless white gown. Higher, I
could make out the form of a man's body. Around his head shone an even
brighter brilliance, obscuring a direct view of his face. Even though I couldn't
see clearly because of the dazzling splendor, I knew immediately the identity
of this Man. I was standing in the presence of Jesus Christ. |
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"Jim,
I love you." His voice washed over
me . . . indescribably gentle, tender, peaceful. "But
it's not your time yet. You must go back, for you have many works for Me to
do." |
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The
brilliance surrounding Him reached out and engulfed me, immersing me in love
and peace. I don't know how long I stood transfixed, but finally I turned away
and began walking back over the hill. Then a blue mist of light began to come
around me like a fog. It turned into a dark shadow, and everything turned
black. Opening my eyes, I realized I was back on the operating table, covered
with a sheet. I didn't know that until later my heart had stopped beating for
8 minutes. They had given me up for dead! |
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Everyone
had left the operating room except for the main surgeon and one of his
assistants. They were at the back of the room, filling out a report on my
death. As I sat up, the sheet slid down my lap. They turned and looked at me,
with their faces ghost white. "Get the rest of them in here quick!"
the surgeon urged his assistant. The doctors performed numerous tests. Early
the next morning the surgeon came to my room and announced he was releasing
me from the hospital. "Come back this evening at |
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That
evening I told my doctor what I'd experienced during the 8 minutes I was
clinically dead on the operating table. "Jim," he said, "let
me show you something you won't believe." He showed me the new pictures
of my heart. Rather than being enlarged, it was now normal size. There had
previously been 85 percent blockage in two arteries; now there was none. The
main valve was functioning normally. My doctor looked at me, tears in his
eyes. "Jim, this Jesus you've been talking about has either replaced or
repaired your heart." |
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Shortly
afterward God called me into ministry. Since then I've had the opportunity to
share my testimony to thousands - both here in |
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Thank
you for taking the time to read my testimony and it's my prayer that it helps
you come to believe on Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If there's any
doubt that Jesus Christ is the one to put one's trust in for eternal salvation
... there certainly wouldn't be doubt any longer if you had seen what I had
seen during those 8 minutes I was dead. |
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Let
us never forget Christ's promise to humanity as recorded in the Bible in John
20:29. Thomas was one of the Lord's disciples at the time of Christ's
crucifixion. After-Christ's resurrection from the tomb, He returned in bodily
form and revealed Himself to His disciples, but NOT Thomas. |
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The
disciples who had seen Jesus was later telling Thomas what they had seen and heard
Jesus say, but Thomas was as doubting as you and I might have been. |
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"Unless I shall see in His hands the imprint
of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand
into His side, I will not believe."
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Eight
days later, Jesus then revealed Himself to Thomas also. The words Jesus
Christ spoke to Thomas still echo across the universe, and through the soul
of every person who longs to be right with God, and grow in relationship with
Him: |
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"Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet
believed." |
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What
does scripture then say is the benefit? "That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:31). There's
a great difference between mere religious activity . . . and LIFE in Jesus
Christ isn't there? |
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Jim Sepulveda |
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