A Few Ways Jesus has Shown Himself in Immanuel Sessions

As a canopy of light.

As a star-filled night sky.

As a sweet aroma.

A soft fluffy cloud all around.

As a very tall man in a white robe and smiling.

As the Jesus in a Bible Storybook.

As a warrior with a sword.

As an owl with very wise eyes.

As a felt presence.

As a friend with his arm around me.

As a dancer.

As a king.

Only from his waist down and in a white robe and with a very large pregnant belly.

As a teacher.

As a window.

Jesus Says, "Trust Me"

At the beginning of this Immanuel session, Jesus reminded me of the time I left my purse hanging on the back of a chair in Tim Horton's. I got home before I realized I didn't have my purse with me. It took me a few minutes to figure out where I might have left the purse and that just about everyone who walked into that Tim Horton's would have to walk past the back of that chair to place an order. Yikes. I prayed it would still be there. Then I headed straight back to the coffee shop. A good half hour had passed by the time I dashed in hoping and praying some kind soul had turned the purse in.

To my surprise the brown leather purse was right where I left it, hanging on the back of the chair. No body noticed as I snatched it back. I thanked the Lord all the way home. Then He impressed on me that He was taking care of my daughter, the same way as He had taken care of that purse. (My daughter hadn't been home for some time and I didn't trust the people she was with.)


At this point in the session I thanked Jesus for being trustworthy and for doing what He says He will do. I thanked Him for loving me and for taking care of my family.

Then the coach in the session asked me if I could see Jesus in the room we were in.

I saw him, but he was turned away from me, sitting talking with his hand on someone else's shoulder. I asked him what he wanted me to know.

Jesus said, "You've removed yourself from me."

I asked him to forgive me and told him I wanted to be back in his presence.

He came over and put his hand on my shoulder.

I feel warm and forgiven in his presence.

He assured me that his way was the best way.

He asked me if I trusted him.

Even though a few minutes earlier, when he reminded me of the purse incident and I thanked him for being trustworthy, now I said it was a scary thing to simply trust.

Jesus said, "I'm right here. I'll take you through the things you are going through. My way is the best way."

His hand is still around me and I know he will take through everything I am gong through right now. I can definitely trust him..

Minnie Goes to Heaven (51)

(a novel continued)

“John, we must tell everyone about heaven. It's easy to get there and just as easy not to get there. Jesus wants us all with Him in heaven and there are so many that don’t know they have to believe in Him—that he's the only ticket.

“And John a lot of the things we think are so important, aren’t important at all.”

John went home and pondered. He wondered if Minnie really had been in heaven. It could have been a vivid dream. He did know she had a passion for heavenly things that she had never had before. 

He took out the family Bible—the one they read at every meal. 
He prayed, “Lord, show me the truth of these words.” During the next week the Lord took him through several Psalms, and chapters in Isaiah, as well as the books of Matthew, Luke and John. He read Romans, Thessalonians and Hebrews and Revelations.  He couldn’t find a contradiction to anything Minnie told him and some readings verified her descriptions. 
He wondered why anyone would need to be baptised in heaven. With the help of a concordance he found a strange verse in First Corinthians about people on earth being baptised for dead people. Not quite the same, but as Minnie explained the Bible wasn't written for people in heaven.

In two weeks time the doctors discharged Minnie. As John guided her up the front step of their two-storey house on Third Avenue West, she felt some trepidation about the conditions she might find. Her husband wasn’t known for his housekeeping skills.

Much to her delight, she found everything spotlessly clean and tidy. “John, you are wonderful.”

“Actually, Nan and Corrie and a few others came and gave the place a once over. They wanted to see you in the hospital, but since that was against visiting rules, they did this instead.”

Minnie spent most of her first week at home laying down. Her children each paid a visit. They were very considerate of her condition and didn’t stay long. Their thoughtfulness and evident joy in seeing her alive surprised her. 

Bill had taken a leave from his air force work and flown down from the base in Nova Scotia. 

Mary had defied her cult master to be here. She didn’t tell her mother as much, but alluded to the fact that she might be in trouble. John hugged his only daughter and assured her that she was welcome to stay with them if she needed a place. The conversation itself was a miracle. Over the years Mary had only twice come home to retrieve a belonging. She never talked about herself, and never stayed for a meal. 

George, the most considerate of the three, came to visit without his partner Henry. He knew where his parents stood on his life choice, in fact, he hadn’t invited them to the wedding. Why cause them the difficulty of deciding whether or not to attend? 

He brought his mother white roses and cooked up a steak dinner with appetizers and pumpkin pie for dessert. John especially appreciated the three-course meal.  (Not that he didn’t appreciate the casseroles the women from the church had been bringing on a scheduled basis ever since Minnie’s accident.)

God Can Do Anything

I was being bothered by plantar fasciitis which is a sore heel caused by inflammation of the ligament in the foot. I came to the Immanuel session looking for healing for my left heel. 

At the beginning of the session the Lord took me to a memory that affirmed me and gave me an awareness of his omnipresence. In this memory He assured me that there was purpose for my life.

Coach: "Do you see Jesus here in the room?"

I saw a piece of wood with bark on one side. When I looked closer I could see the piece of wood was actually the trunk of a tree that had been hit by lightning so that there was only half a tree left.

"Jesus, what do you want me to know?"

"I Am in charge of lightning."

"What else do you want me to know."

The picture changed so that new growth was coming up out of the trunk.

"What do you want me to know about that?"

"I can make a good thing out of the damaged tree."

"So why the damage in the first place?"

"You know that. There is sin in the world."

Then I saw a young tree in place of the damage.

I get it. He's got it. He can do it. There is a time factor involved, but He has it covered. He is the healer.

Thank you Lord for making yourself known.

Purification is Messy

I went to this Immanuel session with a problem. I was bothered by my "unchristian" attitude toward a fellow Christian. I was annoyed by just about everything this person said or did. I hated this about myself.

During the session Jesus showed me that He wasn't on the cross any more. He was everywhere. I was under a white canopy of his presence. He said it was all good under the canopy.

He said He was working on the situation and that my part was insignificant.

 Jesus said, "I'm in charge. Watch me work. Be patient. Pray. I've got this."

"But, I get so annoyed!"

Then I saw a beet, a deep red beet turned upside down. (This was a riddle. A beet is a root vegetable. It was turned upside down. Jesus was taking me to the root of my problem and turning my point-of-view up-side-down.)

Then Jesus took me to a memory of the time my Christian Reformed father, at the invitation of a neighbour, took the family to a Pentecostal meeting. I was about seven. I remember feeling very uncomfortable there. It was weird and scary and dark. I felt alone and didn't like it.

With the prompting of my coach, I asked Jesus where He was in the memory. Jesus showed me a canopy over the whole meeting. He had the place covered. His light was piercing the darkness. All sorts of bad stuff was being stirred up. That is why I was so bothered.

His light overcomes the darkness.

There is darkness even under God's canopy, but He is there and He is dealing with it.

"What do you want me to know Jesus?"

"Stay under my canopy, be part of what I am doing."

"How?"

"Pray. Rejoice. Be patient."

During this session, my perspective changed dramatically.

In the Middle of the Mess

At the beginning of each Immanuel session in the opening prayer the coach prays that the recipient be reminded of a time or times she has experienced the Lord's presence in special way.

At this particular session I was reminded of being in the back room of the store where I work part-time. The room was quite a mess that day with boxes everywhere and papers spilled out over the floor. In the middle of this mess I could smell a most wonderful sweet smell which I have come to recognize as the smell of the presence of Jesus.

I thanked the Lord for who he was in that memory. "Thank you Lord for your sweet presence even in the middle of a mess."

The rest of the session was spent realizing that Jesus really is right there with me in the middle of any and all of my messes.

He's Got It Covered

At one of the Immanuel sessions I have participated in, I saw myself standing in front of a scarred, blackened landscape. There was a fire burning off to one side. I knew this was a picture of a situation I had been praying about.

The coach asked, "Where is Jesus?"

I saw Jesus very big and all dressed in white. At first he was standing beside me. Then he stepped in front of me so that all I could see was white, the white of Jesus's back. I could no longer see the blackened landscape.

Coach: "Ask Jesus what he wants you to know."

Me: "Jesus what do you want me to know?"

Jesus: "I've got this covered."

What Happens At An Immanuel Session?

With the Immanuel Approach you meet with Jesus and he tells you what he wants you to know. There are parameters. Dr. Karl Lehman and his team developed a safe way to participate. Each session is bracketed with prescribed opening and closing prayers.

Dr. Lehman's website is the best place to get a grounding in the ins and outs of the Immanuel Approach.

Here is a video with a short overview.