Sid: My guest, Rich Vera, and I have to tell you I am in awe of the experiences that Rich has had. But guess what? By the time this week is over there’ll be a great impartation in your life as a result of them. That’s why he had these experiences; he was raised Catholic, and through a series of circumstances God really brought him into Benny Hinn’s church; he saw miracles for the first time; he experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit; he got born again; he heard the audible voice of God; he literally had a visitation and his life was never the same, and the prophetic started. When he went to Latin America, Argentina, that’s where the miraculous started. Tell me about the vision of Jesus, you actually were taken in vision form to Jerusalem. Tell me about that Rich.
Rich: Yes, up to that time I was so hungry for the presence of God. I grew up in a church where the presence of God was the emphasis; of course by then Benny Hinn wrote the book “Good Morning Holy Spirit,” which I devoured that book and I made it part of my life. So in the middle of this, you know praying and spending time with God, in His presence and in worship, it was just a moment for us. The Lord sent me to Argentina in May 1997, I was supposed to go for a week; once again with a group of young people as a missionary. In the meeting I was not expecting what the Lord had in store, the last weekend of the meeting the pastor asked me if I would go up there and share a testimony. I said “Yes and I will.” I go up there and open my mouth and suddenly I felt a rumbling come in the room and the power of God hit. There was about 250 people and all of them fell under the power of God at the same time. There was such a move of God that the meeting turned into week suddenly into a month, 6 months; 2½ years later I’m still in Argentina having revival meetings, and people are getting blessed. I went to the north of Argentina and one of the services the pastor after lunch, there’s custom in Argentina you take a nap. Everybody naps from 12 – 4pm, they close just about every business and you go and nap and rest, and then resume work about 4pm. The pastor says “I have a feeling that something very unusual is going to happen tonight.” I said “Great I’m ready for it.” I went to the little girls room, I’m laying on top of a princess bed and trying to nap, and finally I was almost between sleep and being awake and I go into this vision. In this vision I see the Lord Jesus walking the streets of Jerusalem the dirt roads and healing the sick. There was sick people on the left and on the right blind and deaf and cripples, and all kinds of suffering people. He’s touching them and speaking to them and laying hands on them, and they were getting healed. I was following Him from behind like a cheerleader going “Yes! Go do it!” Suddenly He stops, turns around and says “Now you do it” and points His finger towards me. Honestly my reaction was like “I cannot” I said “I am not Benny Hinn.” He got close to me and He got His body into my body; the closest of what I describe this is Casper the Friendly Ghost, you know the old cartoons. When His body got into my body His body shape, which was different than mine it conformed to the shape and size of my body. The moment He got in I felt this incredible force on the inside of me, and then I walked and I continue exactly where He left doing exactly what I saw, touching some people, helping some, praying over some…
Sid: Okay, when you did this what happened?
Rich: Well about a minute after this I come out this vision, and when I come out of this vision the Lord speaks to me in an audible voice and says “Your healing ministry begins today. Pray for the sick.” I keep quiet, I didn’t tell the pastor. That night I went to the service, I didn’t want to tell the pastor I was really afraid, I was concerned, and that night I’m trying to flow in the anointing of revival and nothing was happening. I tried to pray for people, pump the music up nothing was happening. I begin to go “God did I do anything wrong? Did I sin? Maybe I didn’t pray enough.” The Holy Spirit speaks to me and says “Pray for the sick” and I said to Him “God know what if no one gets healed, nothing happens?” Suddenly I say “Well how many sick people in this place, stand up?” I’m thinking it’s gonna be maybe 5 people, there was about 150 people that stood up that night with sickness. I look in the crowd for somebody who looks the easiest case. I went to child on the front row, and I thought maybe this child has a problem with the lungs. So I just pray for him and if nothing happens then I will just send him home, you know play it off. I didn’t realize that this child was crippled had a metal brace on his left leg, a shoe that was many many inches with a heel for him to walk with a leg that was crippled and short.
Sid: Now why couldn’t you just get someone with a headache? [Laughing]
Rich: Cause the Lord blinded me from that.
Sid I’m just teasing you, go ahead. [Laughing]
Rich: [Laughing] You know I didn’t see the child with the braces when I approached him and the Lord set me up. So I kneel down and I say “How many of you believe the Lord can heel this child of whatever problem it is,” and the whole crowd is going “Amen.” While I’m talking, and I have my hands on his knees, the child’s legs stretches past passes the other leg and comes back to the size of the leg that was good. When I saw this I fell real quick on my back and I run behind the keyboard player. The mom took the braces out and the child took off running, and the power of God hit and many miracles happened. That’s how my miracles ministry begun.
Sid: You know I asked you a question when we were off the air, and that was when you began know things about people, and people didn’t want to hear it. People began persecuting you for these amazing gifts that you had. You kind of pretty much backslid; you went to Hawaii; you became a business man; you were fairly successful, but you were backslidden, and I said to you “How does someone that has had an experience like you’ve had, how can they backslide I don’t get it?” You said “Sid you have to know there is physical sickness, but then there is wickedness of the heart, it’s called iniquities.” That explains how people could have great experiences, greats miracles, but still in a weak moment fall back to their old nature.
Rich: Exactly. You know an iniquity it is not an action, an iniquity is a character of an action. You know, so most people focus in on the action “This person did this, or did wrong, committed adultery, went with a prostitute, did something.” For every action there is a character behind that action, there is something causes that person to do that action. Well we have focus on “Don’t do this” many times they wouldn’t realize that the reason they’re doing this because there’s a deep issue of the heart that needs to be dealt by the presence of the Lord, needs to be dealt by that renewing of the mind; it needs to be dealt by the power of God. So that’s what the Bible calls iniquity. So iniquity is the character of an action, and God… iniquity is the heart. You see the sin is the exterior thing; you do something you transgress the law of God…
Sid: But it’s not cause it’s the transgression is what you do because of that iniquity in the heart, in other words.
Rich: That’s exactly right. So we have focus on the action, so we have a group of people that they’re living lives, that are good people, says “Well I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I don’t have sex outside of marriage.” That’s great that you keep a good life, but if there’s iniquity in your life, if there’s a heart that has harbored something you inherit, or maybe a character flaw from the family like people come from families that are drinkers, or that are womanizers. Suddenly you don’t realize that spirit, that thing got into you and you don’t know why it’s operating the same spirit that operated on your father, and operated on your grandfather. You know this is something Jesus wants to deal with.
Sid: And you know… the thing that happened is you got set free. Tell me about it, you actually thought you were dying on November 2005, you thought you were having a heart attack, what happened?
Rich: I was grilling fish at a friend’s house, and I had what felt like a heart attack and suddenly I fainted on the ground and pass out. I was instantly taken out of my body and taken to the gate of what it seemed to be heaven at that time, and I saw the Lord and all I could do was fall at His feet. I always had the idea that when I see Jesus I am gonna jump all over Him and kiss Him and hug Him. This time there was a terrified fear, and I fell at His feet and all I could do was just beg the Lord for His mercy. To give me the opportunity to go back and make it right, and that I’ll go back and preach the gospel, and I’ll live for You. I will not compromise, if you just give me one opportunity I’ll do everything you want me to do. It felt like hours; finally I begin to hear in the distance way down there the noise of the ambulance coming to the house. When I begin to look down, and I saw the ambulance the people on the back taking the little bed going in the house, in that moment I woke up on my friend’s backyard, and all I could say was “Don’t let them take me, this is not a sickness” I said “I’m alive,” I say “This is an experience from God.” They had no idea what I was talking about. They dismissed the paramedics, they drag me in the house, threw me on their couch and the moment I hit the couch I was out of my body back in heaven, but this time I was talking with Lord and walking with Him.
Sid: How many hours were you in heaven?
Rich: You know my experience physically it was about 6 hours, a little over 6 hours, but I know for a fact that me being there, and might sound very unusual, it felt like I was there for weeks, and months…
Sid: Wait no it doesn’t sound unusual to me, and the reason it doesn’t sound unusual is there is no time in heaven. So therefore, I have so many friends that were there just a short while and these things were downloaded that they’re just coming up with today that they didn’t realize it was downloaded while they were in heaven. Well our time has slipped away…
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth