With God as my witness, every word of this is true.
Sunday, September 29, 2013 started as any typical Sunday morning at church. I had no idea I would witness something that would change my life before that service ended. I knew I was very upset about something, but did not realize how personal, and direct, Jesus Christ would respond. Two extraordinary events took place that morning but the second was an authentic miracle. The most important one for you to read is “the second event.”
The first event happened early in the service during one of my routine prayers in which I simply ask Jesus to cleanse me of my sins. While saying this prayer I intentionally imagine an invisible wave that washes right through me from a stained glass window of Jesus Christ, thereby cleansing me of sin.
I intentionally imagined that invisible wave, as compared to the second event detailed later in this same post where I had no idea what I would see next – it was just happening.
Never before have I noticed any change what-so-ever in how I actually feel, except for the satisfying feeling that comes from reading this prayer.
However, on that particular morning when I said this prayer, something tangible happened; something I could actually feel inside of me. As I said the prayer, all of the worry bottled up inside of me simply disappeared, and was replaced with a comforting feeling of relief. The change was extreme! Similar to the change from worry to relief we all feel when we think something bad may have happened to a loved one and then find out they are perfectly fine. That is how intense this feeling of relief was. I had never experienced anything like it simply from saying a prayer of forgiveness. I remember thinking, “That was different!”
Surprised and thankful, I savored the feeling and soon our church service continued as normal. Little did I know, the best, by far, was yet to come!
The second event happened near the end of the service, after the sermon, some prayers, songs, and announcements, we give our offering, and take Holy Communion. After Communion when everyone has received Eucharist, returned to their seat, and the organist finishes playing, the church becomes quiet. Our Priest, Father J , likes to have several moments of complete silence following Holy Communion to give everyone a chance to pray and connect with God. It is a wonderful time for prayer.
It is during these moments that I find myself saying some of my deepest, most heart-felt prayers of the week. Normally praying for others and giving thanks for the blessings I have but out of despair on this particular morning, I was praying for myself and my future.
Earlier in the week, I had experienced something that brought my life to a new low and threatened the very core of who I am, placing my future in serious jeopardy. It was truly one of the worst times in my life. I was scared, hurting, and praying from my heart. This prayer was different from any other I have ever said. In this prayer, I was telling Jesus about a very serious situation I found myself in and I was asking for his help. Furthermore, I was offering myself to Jesus, the rest of my life and any skills I may have that can be of use to him and I meant it. In retrospect, what I was doing is “asking to be saved” from the situation I found myself in.
It is what happened while I was saying this intense prayer that gave birth to this website and radically changed my life’s plans. This single event impacted me so deeply that by the following Friday I had purchased a website domain named after the words I said when I witnessed Jesus respond to me.
Here is what happened. As the church fell silent following Holy Communion, I was sitting with my eyes closed saying this intense prayer when out of nowhere, a black line drew across my field of vision from left to right causing me to stop praying and focus on what I was now seeing while my eyes were closed.
This black line was visible because (a) it was blacker than the typical darkness most of us see when we close our eyes while inside of a sunlit room, and (b) the movement of the line’s formation, from left to right, is what caught my attention. It was located in the lower half, near the bottom, of my field of vision. The line became much more visible as it changed color from black to blue, again horizontally and from left to right. This blue line then widened to about two or three times the thickness of the original black line. This wider blue line then opened-up and changed my vision from a one dimensional line into a three dimensional real-life-like view. It was as if I was in an airplane at night, flying at about 20,000 feet up, looking out of the plane’s window into the vastness below. Only there was no window and no plane. I was sitting in church on a Sunday morning with my eyes closed, praying, when this motion picture type of vision appeared before my closed eyes. I remember thinking, “My Gosh! I hope this continues!” And it did.
In what was now three-dimensional darkness like a night time sky, a second line formed as if drawn from left to right and was shorter than the previous black line that had turned blue. This new line was white and located in the center of my field of view (eyes still closed).
As I looked at this white line, it changed into the shape of an ellipse or rhombus, which are both somewhat similar to the shape of a football. This indicated to me that because of the angle, height, and distance of my vantage point, the white line had changed into either a circle or square that was laying horizontal and far away from me.
Next, this white-colored ellipse/rhombus shape moved as if it were elevated one side at a time. The best analogy I can think of to describe the way it moved is that it moved similar to the way we pull our pants up when they are sagging. One side at a time, first the left, then the right – that’s just how it moved. Which left the ellipse/rhombus shape positioned higher than it was originally.
Watching this happen gave me a feeling of excitement, like “the show was about to begin” and something big was about to happen. It seemed to have a certain attitude about it. As if it was making a statement of some kind, that I did not yet understand. Until a couple of months later when a Postulant for Holy Orders at our church, Nathan Beall, told me that my vision reminds him of what is written about the “City of God”.
Let me pause the story here to interject a few things:
I researched City of God on the internet after Nathan told me about it. I had no knowledge of it before this vision.
The quotes I am about to give you are from Biblical scripture that I found while researching City of God. The reason I am citing these quotes is because they parallel the vision I watched. “Not” because they contain the same name as mine, John. That, is purely coincidental.
While researching, I found a lot of websites about City of God that fit into two different topics. One topic is about a movie called City of God which has nothing to do with me. The other is about the Book of Revelations, “The City of God (Revelation 21:9-27)”, which does indeed match the vision I watched with my eyes closed.
For example, in the section titled “The Bride (21:9-10)”, it says in part – and I quote:
“ The angel carries John away in the Spirit to show him the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. Being carried in the Spirit reminds us that John continues a visionary sequence (Revelation 1:10; 4:2). John has not been literally carried anywhere. He is seeing a vision from God.”
Another example is in the section titled “New Jerusalem’s Walls and Gates (21:11-14)”, which says:
“John sees the new Jerusalem having the glory of God, full of radiance like a rare jewel, clear as crystal. The picture is likely the gleam and shimmer of a beautiful diamond. The people of God are symbolized as a great city coming down from heaven, shining with the glory of God.”
“Verses 12-14 describes the walls and the gates of the city. The great, high wall represents how the unclean and wicked cannot enter into fellowship with God. Notice this point is clearly made in verse 27. “But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” The walls show that no one can enter unless they are in fellowship with the Lord.”
Those are direct quotes from “The City of God (Revelation 21:9-27)” and they match the observations and feelings I experienced while watching that part of the vision. For example when I described how, “watching the white rhombus/ellipse shape being elevated one side at a time gave me a feeling that this event had a certain attitude about it, as if it was making a statement of some kind” – now that I’ve read the scripture in City of God, I realize the statement it was making is that “no one can enter the City of God unless they are in fellowship with the lord.”
This scripture also explains my observation that “watching the white rhombus/ellipse shape being elevated one side at a time” parallels what I now find to be written in scripture about the formation of the “great, high wall” around the entrance to the City of God.
The similarities between what I watched while my eyes were closed during that desperately-intense prayer in church, and what I am now finding is written in scripture, are simply amazing to me.
Now, getting back to finish describing the visionary sequence – After the white ellipse/rhombus shape was elevated, a dome appeared, completely covering the shape with a perfect fit. Within seconds of appearing, the dome disintegrated by what appeared to be a powerful blast of white light beaming upwards from within the white ellipse/rhombus shape. The disintegration of the dome by the blast of light changed the horizontal white shape into a horizontal ” Portal ” that now had powerful white light beaming upward in all directions. Similar to the light rays from our sun when they beam down through the clouds.
However unlike the sun’s rays, this portal’s rays only went out so far from the portal before quickly fading in a very even and organized fashion.
This white light beamed out of the opening in the shape of a V and did not reach all the way to the top of my field of vision. But considering the distant vantage point from which I was viewing, it reached high enough to indicate a very powerful source of light coming from within the portal. This white light was smooth and consistent, almost like a thick mist, and faded as it extended out in a V shape.
Seeing this vision progress was like watching a movie, because I had no idea what I would see next. It was simply happening, right before my eyes, with my eyelids closed. And it continued.
From out of this horizontal portal with its radiant glow of white light beaming upwards in somewhat of a V shape ” _/ “ … “colors“… began rising. Multiple streams of stunningly beautiful colors were propelling upwards, in alternating fashion, from within the portal.
These color streams pierced right through the white light, eventually reaching their peak trajectory that was higher than the white light but lower than the top of my field of vision.
The motion of these color streams was somewhat similar to watching a fireworks show because: (1) they were propelling upwards at a high rate of speed; (2) they were followed by more color streams as the previous ones disappeared; and (3) they invoked a definite feeling of celebration.
However the color streams were also different from fireworks because: (1) the colors in these streams were perfectly visible from bottom to top as they propelled upwards, and (2) rather than exploding at the top, they simply disappeared.
This motion of colors continued from this point forward throughout the rest of this silent motion picture type of vision.
Comparing the quality of the colors to what we know as HDTV (high definition television), if the typical definition of HDTV is 1080 pixels, then the definition of the color streams in this vision from God was at about 5080 pixels. About five times as beautiful, to the extent that I can not adequately describe them. They were truly the most beautiful colors I have ever seen. And, they had a certain quality of “nature” about them, like they were “alive.” Not in the form of any nature we have on earth but since what we have on earth is all I have to reference as an example, let me show you these two beauties: (1) the Rainbow Lorikeet and (2) the Bird-of-Paradise.
Click on the links to see what I mean and a new tab will open for each.
Not because birds were “in the vision” that interrupted my prayer. But because the colors on these two species of birds are pretty incredible and are a good base from which to start. To bring you even closer to the vision, imagine these colors having about 5 times more definition and brilliance. If you can do this, then you have a real good sense of how absolutely-stunning the color streams were in this vision from God.
Also, I want to show you a short video of a “Swimming Feather Star” found in nature. Because its motion while swimming reminds me of the repetitive motions of the colors streams ascending from the white portal of the visual miracle.
This video of a Swimming Feather Star is not an exact recreation of the color stream movements, and it does not even have colors. But the swimming Feather Star does have “repetitive movements” that are similar to the repetitive motion of colors in the visual miracle. It also has that certain “quality of nature like they are alive” that I described about the vision’s color streams.
I did not know what I was looking at, and wondered if it could be from heaven? Then I thought, why is everything coming from below? I thought heaven is above. Don’t tell me this is Satan! But then I thought, this is so beautiful and had such a feeling of celebration, surely this must be something good.
Next, the whole top-part of my field of view → from where the V-shaped white light was fading out, to the very top of what I could see with closed eyes → changed from darkness to a light-blue color, like the sky, and a “little black dot” appeared in front of the light blue sky color and above the white portal.
That little black dot got bigger and bigger as it moved closer and closer to me until I could see it was the silhouette of a person’s upper body; the head, shoulders and torso of someone with long hair. Recognizing the profile, I realized “this is Jesus Christ!” As soon as I could recognize him, he stopped moving closer and stayed in that exact position.
Captivated and amazed by who, and what, I was now looking at – I said in my inner-thoughts, “THERE you are!” My tone was like “Where have you been?” As soon as this thought and tone ran through my mind, I remember thinking “What am I doing?” But reality settled-in, as I looked at this vision with my eyes-closed, I was truly looking at Jesus Christ, hovering above a horizontal-portal of white light, with multiple color-streams ascending from within the portal, through the white light and above, in alternating fashion. Simply saying “It was beautiful” is one way to describe it but it was “far-better than beautiful.” I just don’t have the ability with words or graphics to fully describe exactly how much better than beautiful it was.
Please note, I was not seeing Jesus in the “flesh.” I was seeing Jesus as a black “silhouette” which, I am guessing, was his Holy Spirit. It was the upper half of his body, from his waist up and it was completely blacked-out (silhouette).
I kept my eyes closed, staring at this amazing scene for as long as I could. As I studied his silhouette, I could see that the hair on his right side (left side as I looked at him) was gently moving as if blowing in the wind. I could see that much detail with crystal clarity but I could not see any of his facial features or clothes. Only the solid-black-silhouette of his upper body, in front of a light-blue color, hovering above all of the streaming-colors and white-light below him.
I find it worth noting that this whole visionary-sequence began with the very same colors; a black line that turned blue.
Other than his hair moving, his silhouette remained perfectly still. Rock solid. Especially in contrast to all of the commotion of colors below him.
The following picture is an attempt to recreate the visual-miracle with video animation. I paid thousands of dollars for the animation and have not once posted it on TYAJesus – because it falls so-far-short of recreating the beauty of the actual vision.
However, I do use one frame of the video – a “video extract” – because at least you can have a vague idea of how it looked – with Jesus hovering as a black silhouette above a white portal with streaming colors coming out. You just have to imagine it being many times more beautiful.
When our priest resumed the service after the routine moment-of-silence that follows Holy Communion, I opened my eyes ever-so-briefly and closed them again but the vision had disappeared when I opened my eyes. Although I have prayed numerous times to see it again, I have not been so fortunate. However, the impression this vision made on me is everlasting and life-changing.
Because of its impact, within one week of seeing this vision I purchased an internet domain named after what I said in my inner-thoughts when I recognized the black silhouette to be that of Jesus Christ: ThereYouAre.com was already owned, operated, and not for sale. So, I thought “Well, I was looking at Jesus, let’s see if ThereYouAreJesus.com is available.” And it was! So I immediately purchased that domain name and have been creating this website ever since. My plans are to use this site to share the beauty of God in every way God shares with me, for the benefit of us all.
Please understand that I am not trained in religion nor had I planned on this becoming my life’s purpose. But as it turns out, my career in radio, television, and online news may prove to be a perfect fit for answering God’s call to share his incredibly good news with all people, all around the globe.
Thank you so much, John Levay, john.levay@yahoo.com
Found this quote which perfectly sums up why I feel called to do this for God:
You may be interested to know:
- The location where I experienced this vision is
- The date was Sunday, September 29, 2013.
- The Priest presiding over the service is Reverend . Father . , as he is known, was an integral part of this vision from God without knowing it. He says he was “just a vessel” for this to happen. But it was Father . who created the moment-of-silence that was perfectly timed to allow for the completion of this silent movie type of vision. God was working in concert with Father ‘s church service.
- The Postulant for Holy Orders at Church who told me the vision I saw reminded him of what’s written about the City of God, is . . later became ordained as Reverend . l, Campus Chaplain & Assistant to the Rector. As of 2017, Reverend . l relocated to the United Kingdom and continues carrying his Cross for God Almighty, Jesus Christ, and their beautiful Holy Spirit.
- The URL for the website where I found information about the City of God, is:
http://thebookofrevelationmadeclear.com/revelation-bible-study/city-of-god.html - The material I quoted in this story that paralleled my vision with scripture, came from: “The City of God (Revelation 21:9-27)”; “The Bride (21:9-10)”; and “New Jerusalem’s Walls and Gates (21:11-14).”
Continuing my research on this motion picture type of vision
If you can imagine yourself having the same type of vision interrupt one of your prayers… then I believe you can also imagine why I want to fully understand what I witnessed. To do this, I need to continue researching. Beginning here, I am going to add relevant information that helps explain the visionary sequence that I watched. My research is not limited to the Bible but certainly includes the Bible. So some of what I share in this post will be quotes from scripture. Please know, and I repeat – please know:
- I had no knowledge of what is written in scripture about visions of light and color before witnessing the vision I saw on September 29, 2013.
- The quotes I share from Biblical scripture are chosen because they describe the vision I witnessed. “Not” because they were written by someone, and about someone, with the same name as mine (John). That, is purely coincidental. It is important to me that you understand. I will include any quote that substantiates what I saw, as I find it, regardless of the names involved.
To make it easy for you to see why I am bringing each piece of information to your attention, I will identify the specific words by making them bold.
The way I found the following quote is by searching a website called biblegateway.org for the keyword “light”. Numerous results came up from scripture. Some talked about lightening and other things which have nothing to do with the visionary-sequence I witnessed. But some talked about things such as “witnessing the light of all mankind” and that is what connects with me about what I saw.
This quote is from John 1 (NIV) – The Word Became Flesh
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome[a] it.
6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
This post will continue as a work in progress. I will add relevant information as I find it. Please check back every so often for updates.
Thank you so much!
John@ThereYouAreJesus.com