Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You

by John Burke

Could people make up stories or fabricate detail to sell more books? Yes. For this reason, I’ve tried to choose stories from people with little to no profit motive: orthopedic surgeons, commercial airline pilots, professors, neurosurgeons—people who probably don’t need the money but have credibility to lose by making up wild tales. I’ve also included children; people from predominately Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist countries; and people who did not write books. Amazingly, they all add color to a similar, grand picture of the afterlife. And that’s my main motive in writing this book—to help you Imagine Heaven so you’ll see how wise it is to live for it, plan for it, and make sure you’re prepared for a safe arrival someday. Two days after reading this book to my mom and sister in the hospital,

my mom breathed her last. My sister and I were in the room, hugging, blessing my mother, and celebrating with her—because we knew in that moment, she had come alive. Alive like she hadn’t been in years; alive like she’d never been before! Alive like you’ve never imagined. So join me on this journey, and let’s . . . Imagine Heaven.

“From that loneliest moment of my existence I had leaped into the most perfect belonging I had ever known.

The Light of Jesus had entered my life and filled it completely, and the idea of being separated from Him was more than I could bear.”

One, that our consciousness does not cease with physical death—that it becomes in fact keener and more aware than ever. And two, that how we spend our time on earth, the kind of relationships we build, is vastly, infinitely more important than we can know.”

I’ve become convinced that God loves each of us like no other, and that most people are just like I was—they just don’t realize how great life with God can be: starting in this life, but even more so in the Life to come.

How you think about Heaven affects everything in life—how you

prioritize love, how willing you are to sacrifice for the long term, how you view suffering, what you fear or don’t fear.

As the Scripture says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT).

I’ve concluded that the core common elements of near-death experiences (NDEs) are a gift from God to color in the picture revealed by the prophets and Jesus.

I’m convinced your Creator loves you more than you can imagine—and

wishful thinking, one would expect children to say they met living family members, such as their father or mother. Instead, they were more likely to encounter their favorite childhood pets who had died.

So every individual near-death story is actually an interpretation of an experience that’s beyond our finite, earthly language.

So whether we are here in this body or away from this body, our goal is to please him. (2 Corinthians 5:1–4, 8–9 NLT)

Maybe the reason we never feel fully satisfied in this life is because we were created for the life to come.

Unlike on earth, where I was plagued by doubts and fears, in heaven there was nothing but absolute certainty about who I was.

Crystal felt infused with a complete and total self-understanding and self-knowledge. All the baggage and abuses that had muddied her identity on earth instantly evaporated, revealing, for the first time, her true, essential self.

What you believe about yourself is what shapes all your decisions and actions.

Most of us end up believing things about our identity that are not grounded in God’s reality—who God created us to be, what God created us to do. We believe lies about our identity that the evils of this world inflict on us. We constantly worry about the opinions or approval of others.

When we base our worth or identity on what we do or what was

done to us, we will struggle with fear of failure, feel the need to prove ourselves, or manipulate others who get in the way of our success. We will become self-consumed. That’s because God never created us to get our identity from what we do or what others did to us, but from who we are to God.

What did you do with your life?

Hadn’t I ever gone beyond my own immediate interests, done anything other people would recognize as valuable?

the proudest moment of my life: “I became an Eagle Scout!” Again, words seemed to emanate from the Presence

no trace of judgment.

error and tragedy, joy was more lasting still. And in the ecstasy of that laughter I realized that it was I who was judging the events around us so harshly. It was I who saw them as trivial, self-centered, unimportant. No such condemnation came from the glory shining round me. He was not blaming or reproaching. He was simply loving me. Filling the world with Himself and yet somehow attending to me personally.

He was not asking about accomplishments and awards. The question, like everything else proceeding from Him, had to do with love. How much have you loved with your life? Have you loved others as I am loving you? Totally? Unconditionally?

God made you for himself—not to prove your glory, but to be his glory.

His pride and joy. His beloved son or daughter.

What he wants you to do is learn to be secure in his love, in who he made you to be, and from that place of security, you can do what he created you to do. And first and foremo...

Heaven will be that place where you realize how uniquely loved you are. He doesn’t want you to wait until Heaven to realize this.

Richard miraculously revived, but he never forgot how personally he is known and loved.

God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

We want a name that will last, because God made us for himself for eternity.

Jesus taught that God the Father wants us to live in the security of knowing how...

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very...

“Everything about Him is love. Yes, love for you; and it seemed as if the love is only for you,”

“Yet you know in yourself that he loves all, but the love for you is so personal it seems as if it is only for you. You know He has cared for you forever and will [continue to]

care for you f...

The promise of Heaven is that one day, you will truly know who you were created to be.

No one else can have the unique relationship with God that he created you to have. Imagine in Heaven when you finally realize how special you are to the most important Being in the universe!

God made every one of His children to have a divine purpose, which only they can accomplish in the earth.’”

believe the reason people having NDEs say “I feel like I’d been here before,” or “I feel like I had always existed,” is because you did exist in the mind of God eternally!

Knowing how God sees you sets you free to accomplish things God created you to accomplish. It sets you free to use your unique gifts, time, and resources to make an impact

that lasts for eternity—not to prove you’re worth something, but because you’re ...

You are his masterpiece. His one-of-a-kind work of art.

But what is my purpose? How am I supposed to know what God has me uniquely here to do? I think often we make it complicated because we want our purpose to give us identity, but God means it to work the other way around.

to love God is the first and greatest command (our purpose).

To love our neighbors (those he puts in our lives) as much as we love ou...

Do those two, Jesus taught, and you fulfill the intent of all the other...