Media personality Kathie Lee Gifford spoke about the spiritual moments that have marked her faith journey, including her encounter with Jesus as a child and an encounter with what she believed to be a manifestation of the devil.
The 72-year-old singer, songwriter, actress and author appeared on the Blurry Creatures Podcast to promote her book Nero and Paul: How the Gospel of Grace Defeated the Roman Rulers (Ancient Evil, Living Hope) and shared her experiences in the spiritual realm.
Gifford, who came to believe in Jesus through the late pastor Billy Graham, said she first encountered Jesus in a dream when she was six years old.
“I was raking leaves with my dad, and I looked up and saw Jesus sitting on a cloud,” she said. “He had his legs crossed and…(he) was building a fire with wood….And I looked up and said…’Oh, yes,’ and he looked down at me. He said, ‘Kathy.'” He smiled at me. ”
The former “Today” show co-host accepted Jesus Christ at age 13 after watching Graham’s evangelistic film “The Restless Ones.”
“If you saw this movie now, you’d say, ‘That’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen in my life,’ right? But it was about this young girl, like me, who was becoming a woman,” Gifford said. “And was she meant to walk in the ways of the world, or in the ways of God?”
Gifford said that during her final altar call, in which she exhorted the audience to accept Christ, Jesus personally reached out to her and urged her to dedicate her life to Him.
“Kathy, I love you, and if you believe in me, I want to make something great out of your life,” she remembers hearing at the time.
The author also shared some dark encounters with the spiritual realm.
The media personality said that when she was a teenager on vacation in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a group of surfers offered her and her friends marijuana.
The group suddenly became hostile after Gifford declined the offer and chanted the name of Jesus. Gifford described how their demeanor changed after they said the name of Jesus. She said she left with friends and the group followed her for several blocks before disappearing.
Gifford said it happened when she was 17 and traveling through Israel and the Middle East. During one of his visits to Bethlehem, he and his mother entered a church where other people were lighting candles.
During his visit, Gifford said he encountered his mother and a cloaked monk who growled at them and explained that he had left his mother and wallet on the tour bus and could not leave an offering.
“Suddenly, his cloak came back on, his teeth turned orange and his eyes turned blood red,” Gifford said. “You know it when you see it. It’s not subtle.”
Gifford said she has “felt a lot of demonic oppression” in her life, but that it usually “doesn’t show up that way.”
Regarding the impact these experiences had on her understanding of the paranormal, Gifford said they “confirmed everything Jesus had ever said.”
Despite the intense experience, Gifford said she also witnessed signs of God’s miraculous power. Gifford believes she experienced divine healing after suffering a pelvic fracture.
“God is still working miracles,” Gifford said. “He’s just waiting for us to ask.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. Contact her at samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
