4 Visions

By Paul Cummings

Why does God give visions? Why has God given me visions? When God gives a vision, who is the vision for? I will answer these three questions in context with what I have understood to be true. I will share four visions with you. I will interpret their meaning with the understanding God first gave me. I will offer further insights based on journeying with the visions.
The visions came to me by the grace of God when my Spiritual life was searching for answers and direction. I’d become a Christian in a coffee shop in London. My ‘born again’ conversion included an incredible experience of receiving the Holy Spirit. Due to lack of discipleship I spent my first few Christian years in the
wilderness of the world and the flesh. The Devil played his part too. The lack of discipleship and my choices took their toll on a sincere heart that failed often. I knew I needed God more in my life but I did not know how to make that a day by day reality. By God’s grace I discovered my weakness was an opportunity for God’s strength. God does not so much look for me to be strong and able, but rather that I seek his strength and ability. I can’t base the receiving of the visions on how Spiritual I was at the time I received them. I can only affirm that God reached out to me when I least expected it.
The visions have help me gain and maintain a Godly focus in a church and world full of distractions. The 4 Visions highlight important scriptural principles for keeping a Christian's spiritual life on track with God.
Vision One deals with distractions for the Christian both within the church and in the world. It gives guidance for what type of church a Christian should attend. It’s in encouragement to Christian fellowship and drawing closer to Jesus.
Vision Two is a vision of the Cross. Its message reveals the deep significance of the Cross of Christ for every individual Christian. It highlights the Father God’s heart for humanity. It reminds us why God will never forsake us.
Vision Three reveals what happens to a Christian immediately after they die. It’s a message for those whose fear of death is inhibiting their Christian walk. The first meeting with Jesus is wonderful and brings an unexpected response.
Vision Four brings us to a time of accountability for all people, including the Devil. It’s an encouragement to endure in all circumstances. It reveals the importance of every Christians life journey and it’s role in God’s ultimate plan.
The 4 Visions have given me understanding, focus, comfort. and hope. Most importantly, they have drawn me closer to experience the fellowship and love of my heavenly Father. They can do the same for my readers,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paul Cummings
• Release date: Apr 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9780645165784

Paul Cummings

Paul Cummings is the author of In the Twinkling of an Eye and has been a Christian journeyman of forty-five years. He has worked for Teen Challenge (Brisbane) and been a full-time pastor in the Uniting and Anglican Churches in Australia, as well as accepting leadership roles in nondenominational churches and in Christian community.

Book preview

© Paul Cummings 2021

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations from The Authorized (King James) Version. Rights in the Authorized Version in the United Kingdom are vested in the Crown. Reproduced by permission of the Crown’s patentee, Cambridge University Press

Cataloguing in Publication Data:

Title: 4 Visions

ISBN: 978-0-6451031-2-0 (pbk)

Subjects: Christian Living

Other Authors/Contributors: Cummings, Paul

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To my Heavenly Father for his

depth of grace, forgiveness, and love.

That I am called a child of God.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,

but on what is unseen,

since what is seen is temporary,

but what is unseen is eternal.

(2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV)

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Why Visions?

Chapter 2: Experiencing a Vision

Chapter 3: Vision One - The Wall of Distraction

Chapter 4: Vision Two - Standing Before The Cross

Chapter 5: Vision Three - Death’s Journey

Chapter 6: Vision Four - Before the Thrones

Chapter 7: Summary and Closing Thoughts

Foreword

Paul Cummings invites us to come into his heart and walk around with him on an enlightening journey of his discovery of the person of Jesus in his life and his companionship with him, as he unfolds the way God has spoken to him and encouraged him to walk closely beside him and to come to know and be guided by his Heavenly Father and the Holy Spirit every step of the way.

Paul Cummings is humbly aware of his human limitations and writes this book in such a way that he submits his words to us rather than impose them upon us. However, in doing that he also faithfully declares the unlimited grace and freedom of the Lord in His desire to speak to us in a personal and unique way of His choosing, our limited being surrendering to God’s unlimited Being. He makes this point when he states in his Introduction; ‘I hold scripture in the highest regard as the final answer in all things doctrinal for the Christian. But I also have to acknowledge that the Holy Spirit can work in ways to reveal light to a person outside of the Bible.’

Paul backs this statement up by making the point that each of the visions is accompanied by Scriptural references, and he also provides helpful teaching on these Scriptures to support each of the visions. So there is not just the impartation of his experience, there is the encouragement for readers to weigh up and think about the process for themselves.

There is also very helpful encouragement for having an expectation of God to guide us in this way, even if we have never had a vision from the Lord or may feel we do not have this gift or grace. This encouragement comes in the form of Paul’s rationale for why he felt ‘qualified’ to receive these visions from God.

He writes that each vision came as an answer to prayer after seeking direction from God and that that would have had a lot to do with it, and he adds that it was not that he was asking for a vision, only guidance and that it was all down to God, and depended totally upon what He wanted him to do. He then adds that it was not because of any exemplary Christian living, but that his heart must have been one that the Lord felt He could work with, and that like everything else related to the gifts God gives to us, it’s down to the grace of God.

The imagery that Paul uses to describe the mental experience of having a vision is quite easy to grasp and is based upon the metaphor of watching a movie. He says it’s like you have stepped into a movie set - In one sense it’s real but in another sense you know it’s not real. He says you take a backward step out of the screen so that even though you are standing inside the screen looking at what is happening, you are also standing outside the screen too and able to watch yourself in the screen. After further explanation of this vivid movie metaphor, he concludes the experience by saying that you are without and within. You are an outside observer and an inside participant.

The four visions can be seen as describing a sequence of stages of spiritual growth.

Paul’s first vision experience was dealing with ‘The Wall of Distraction’ which was about God showing him the narrow door that leads to life, out from the distractions of the world, and guiding him into the place of fellowship in church life, worshiping with the family of God.

The second vision called ‘Standing before the Cross’ describes how the Lord led him into a deeper life of repentance and faith, and freedom from struggles with different bondages and an experience of God’s forgiveness, and the knowledge that God truly and personally loved him.

The next two visions take us on the journey of growing in God, through overcoming the