ANGEL ENCOUNTERS

                                                           ANGEL ENCOUNTERS

There are many angel encounters in the Bible.

An angel helped Abraham’s servant choose a wife for Isaac—he will send his angel before you so that you can get a wife for my son from there.  Genesis 24:7 NIV

Jacob saw angels ascending and descending on a ladder from heaven to earth---He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  Genesis 28:12 NIV

Angels announced Jesus’ birth and resurrection—Luke 1-2; Matthew 28:5-7 and they will come back with Jesus at His Second coming—Matthew 24:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16.

An angel visited Paul giving him reassurance that saved souls after a ship wreck-- But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.  Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’  Acts 27:22-24 NIV

An angel gave Philip directions in his ministry--- Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.  So he started out, Acts 8:26 NIV (Angels By My Side Betty Malz)

Angels can take human form and there are those that would say that they can also take other forms. “An angel is pure spirit and, as such, has no shape. A body is a material thing; while material things change and die, pure spiritual beings do not. But for the purpose of interacting with us, an angel may at times assume a shape in order to fulfill the purpose God intends for the angel to accomplish.  God the Holy Spirit was willing to appear as a dove (cf. Mt 3:16, Mk 1:10, Lk 3:22, Jn 1:32). There is no reason in principle that an angel could not appear in animal form.” (Can angels appear in the shape of animals such as a dog or cat? “Catholic Answers)

 TRUE STORIES OF ANGELIC ENCOUNTERS

In The Hands of An Angel

“He was just seven years old when his 5-year-old cousin, Chetty was sick with cancer and later passed away. At the time, his family didn’t want to talk about the death. They told him to keep quiet, despite the situation devastating him. Whenever his family went to Chetty’s home for visits, he’d always ask to play on the swing with him.

After Chetty died, he went to his house for a visit. In his loneliness, he decided to go outside and sit on the swing they had always played on. As he sat there thinking about how things used to be, Chetty walked up to him and an angel was holding his hand. The angel had beautiful blonde hair and was dressed in a long white gown, never saying a word, just smiling. Chetty looked at him and said, “I’m not in pain no more.” He and the angel turned and walked until they simply faded away.”

Girl Meets Angel After Falling 30 Feet

“Annabel Beam was only nine years old when she miraculously survived a 30-foot fall. While she was playing with her sisters outside their Texas home, she plummeted inside a hollowed out cottonwood tree. An emergency helicopter rushed her to a hospital in Forth Word, where brain and spinal injury teams prepped for Annabel’s arrival but astonishingly, Annabel was unscathed.

After the accident, Annabel began describing religious visions she had while she was unconscious. She says that she met a guardian angel during the incident.

“I started to wake up in the tree and I could hear the fireman’s voices. And I saw an angel that looked very small, like a fairy.”

The angel then winked and he told her, “I’m going to leave you now and everything is going to be okay.”

The angel stayed with her the entire time, shining a light so she could see until she was rescued.”   (5 True Stories of Heavenly Visitors by Lesli White Beliefnet)  A movie about this story, Miracles From Heaven was released in 2016.

PERSONAL ANGEL ENCOUNTERS

Dogs of Protection

When my husband, Marty, was a young boy, he decided to walk home from school on his own because he had gotten a tear in his pants.  He had always taken a city bus and did not know how to get back home or how far it was (later learned it was 4 miles as the crow flies).

As he started walking, he noticed a big beige, white dog who came up to him and walked beside him and Marty followed him.  He went through the downtown area, the outskirts of the city and along the way, other dogs came up and surrounded him.  They went through highway traffic, construction zones and eventually back to the Air Force base where he lived.  The dogs stayed with him all the way through and he was never stopped by anyone even at the gate at the base.  He followed the dogs all the way up to his house with the big beige dog leading.  He got home and his mom answered the door surprised to see him home and all the dogs with him. 

The beige dog went into the house before him as the other dogs disappeared.  When his mom went to look for the beige dog that had come in with him, she couldn’t find it and there was only one entrance to the house!! 

His mom always believed that the dog that accompanied St. Martin de Porres was sent to protect and guard her son Martin.

 

The Angel at The Altar

My husband was the choir director for many years and one Sunday we, as well as other people in the choir, noticed a tall woman with strong features and long black hair wearing a long yellow dress suddenly appear standing near the altar staying there when the other Eucharistic ministers arrived just before Communion.  No one had ever seen her before and we never saw her again but the next day when my husband Marty and I were coming back from a car dealership there was a car that made a left turn in front of us and I was driving and I saw the car turning and all of a sudden everything was in slow motion and we never crashed into the car. 

We believe that the “angel” that we saw the day before at church was sent as a sign for our protection the following day.  “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.  Exodus 23:20 NIV

An Angel Named Chaz

In April of 2009 my husband and I decided to get away for a little while and we went up to Hannigan’s Meadow which is over 9,000 feet elevation here in Arizona.  We decided to go to the lodge to have dinner that same day and there was a man playing his guitar and singing.  We enjoyed the music and then he started to play “out of the blue”  “The Wedding Song” which was sung at our wedding.  We were really surprised. 

Talking to him later, he gave us a CD of his music and then wrote these words, “Be well, safe travels Marty and Marcella and thanks for being.”  Before he wrote this he looked up to the sky as if listening to someone and then he wrote the message.  Why is this so unusual?  It is because 6 days prior after Communion at church the Lord told me, “It is more important to be, than to do.”  After I came home, not having told my husband Marty what the Lord had told me, he confirmed this message when he said, “we need to be.”

Was Chaz an angel?  We are not sure to this day but that day he confirmed a message sent from God to lighten our load and rest in God and be who we are created to be and seek after Him and enjoy each other and not get bogged down by every day troubles or worries or concerns.  I am not 100% sure Chaz was an angel but if he was a mortal, God uses all of us when He needs to convey a message.  We still like to think that Chaz was our “angel.”

 

The Soldier at The Gate

Many years ago when Marty and I were going through a tremendous family trial, we decided to go to the Air Force Base and do some shopping at the commissary.  Prior to entering the base, you have to go through a gate and you are met by the military who check your I.D. and pass you through. 

This particular day a soldier dressed in camouflauge came up to my husband and said, “I have been waiting for you.”  As he permitted us to go on, he saluted and said, “God bless you.”  I can tell you right now that in the hundreds of times I have entered the base, no soldier has ever said that he was waiting for us or “God bless you.”  Not only that but his face looked almost like porcelain and his cheeks were rosy.  Both my husband and I concurred that his face looked almost identical to one of the angel statues at our church!!

The Car Accident

I had to abruptly stop in front of a school bus and the person behind me re-ended me.  As I was hit, I felt like I was being suspended in mid-air.  I never received a whip lash or other injuries.  I believe that an angel protected me.  There have been other times when I have felt a strong presence of protection. 

I am sure that all of us have experienced an incident where we were protected knowingly or unknowingly by angels.  I am also pretty sure that we have even spoken to them in human form.  God loves each one of us so much that He will do whatever it takes to protect us and speak to us.  Yes, God does use angels and they are fellow servants of the Most High God.  So next time you see someone who encourages you or speaks to you in a kind and loving way, you may have encountered an angelic being, or your guardian angel, who is helping you to carry out your God-given destiny.   Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.  Hebrews 13:2 NIV

Please post a comment with stories of your own angel encounters.

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Darkness cannot exist in the light.  When we walk into a dark room and switch on the light, darkness has to disappear.  Light is essential for life.  In a world where there is no light, life cannot exist. 

Plants cannot grow without the light from the sun.  Light is essential for our own body.  Sunlight can improve our mental health.  There are studies that show that, “Sunlight actually increase levels of a natural antidepressant in the brain.  On sunny days, the brain produces more of the mood-lifting chemical serotonin than on darker days.” Dr. Michael Murray (www.care2.com/greenliving/7-little-known-benefits-of-sunlight.html)

Natural light can also give us stronger bones because of vitamin D that we get from the sun.  This vitamin helps in the absorption of calcium.  It can help with faster healing.  There is research that shows that it can play a role in faster healing after injury or illness.  “People recovering from spinal surgery experienced less pain and stress and took fewer pain medications when they were exposed to natural light.  An older study showed that the view out the window (trees vs. a brick wall) helped recovery in the hospital,” reports the Harvard Health Letter (http://www.health.harvardedu/newsletters/Harvard_Health_Letter/2010/July/a-prescripton-for-better-health-go-alfresco?utm_source=mental&utm-medium=pressrelease&utm-campaign=health0710). These are a few of the benefits to our body and mind and emotions.  Ultra-violet light purifies by either killing or inactivating microorganisms.

Where did light originate?  God, the Creator of all is the light.  In Genesis 1:3, “And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.”   Let there be light is a translation of the Hebrew phrase “yehi ‘or”, which was translated in Latin as “flat lux”.  A literal translation would actually mean, “Light, exist.”   It is more of a command spoken by God.  (www.gotquestions.org/let-there-be-light.html)

There are many, many scriptures that speak about light. 

John 1:4 “In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.”

John 1:5, “And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it (put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it.)”

I Thess. 5:5, “For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we do not belong either to the night or to the darkness.”

I John 1:7, “This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it (adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it) through him.”

I John 1:5-7, “And this is the message (the message of promise) which we have heard from Him and now reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all (no, not in any Way.)  (So) if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are (both) speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth (which the Gospel presents).  But if we (really) are living and walking in the Light, as He (Himself) is in the Light, we have (true, unbroken) fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt (keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations).”

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.”

God is light.  We are created in His image.  If He is light, then we are light.  We are a portion of Who He is.  Jesus is the manifestation of God on earth.  When one is lost in the darkness he reaches for a light to show the way.  Jesus shows us the way to the Father. 

Just like some insects are attracted to the light, so should we be attracted to the light of God.  We should not be ashamed to reflect His light within us.  God commanded the light to cover the earth.  He has covered the earth with His glory but the enemy works in darkness.  We need to dispel the darkness by our actions and through who we are in Christ.  When there is darkness, you cannot see, you stumble and fall, but when the light comes into a space, all that has been hiding comes into view.  Darkness cannot overcome light.  

Light existed before darkness because God existed before anything ever existed.  Light is essential to our very life and the life of the planet.  Everything is given life through light.  Let’s be the light that God has called us to be.  Let’s be a reflection of Who He is and others will be attracted to us and then we can truly bring the Kingdom of God to the earth just as Jesus did when He came to live among us and show us how to live!

GETTING BACK TO THE GARDEN

GETTING BACK TO THE GARDEN

Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the Garden of Eden.  They were created to live the way that God had ordained in complete communion with God.  They were aware of the presence of God.  It has been said that until they disobeyed God, the awareness of God’s presence was pre-eminent in their lives.  Their identity was one with God.  I guess you could say that their being and God’s presence were one and the same because they were essentially an extension of God’s glory.  They were clothed with God’s glory and were not in need of any physical clothing because there was no need in an environment where everything is perfect and there is no physical need for clothing.  When you are clothed in the glory of God, there is no need for anything else.

We need to get back to the Garden where we were truly one with the Creator God.  God created a perfect environment where one is loved and cared for and also where there is a purpose.  The purpose they had was to love and be loved by God and love and be loved by their beloved.  They also had a purpose which was to tend the garden.  They lived in a world that was perfect where love was given and received and where they lived in unity with their environment tending and taking care of it. 

How do we get back to the garden?  Can we get back to the Garden?  In Revelation 21:1 and 3 it says, “Then I saw a new sky (heaven) and a new earth, for the former sky and the former earth had passed away (vanished), and there no longer existed any sea.  Then I heard a mighty voice from the throne and I perceived its distinct words, saying, See!   The abode of God is with men, and He will live (encamp, tent) among  them; and they shall be His people, and God shall personally be with them and be their God.  In Revelation 21:4-5 it says, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more, neither shall there be anguish (sorrow and mourning) nor grief nor pain any more, for the old conditions and the former order of things have passed away.  And He Who is seated on the throne said, See!  I make all things new.”

How does that apply to us today?  God did not create us for this world, this world system.  He created us to be in constant communion with Him and His creation.  How can we strive to get there?  We can do it first by having a close relationship with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  No, we cannot physically walk with God but we can spiritually walk with Him.  We are not cloaked in His glory like Adam and Eve were but we have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us, comfort us, and fill us with God’s love and purpose.  Like Adam and Eve, we do not need to be ashamed of who we were created to be.  We were created to have fellowship with God and to reflect His image.  We need to be a reflection of God’s image here on this earth.  

God made us physical beings, man and woman and we need not be ashamed of our bodies.  God created a masterpiece.  Yes, the world is now saying you can choose your gender.  God created only two genders—male and female.  The world has perverted the human body.  God celebrated His creation.  He is not ashamed of His creation and neither should we. 

Celebrate the gift of one another in marriage which God instituted.  We need to be a light to others.  God says that the Church is His bride.  He has used the example of marriage throughout the Bible to show His love.  In Isaiah 54: 5 it says, “For your Maker is your Husband—the Lord of hosts is His name—and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.”  Don’t be afraid to let the world know that you love each other.  Celebrate the gift that God has given you. 

To the single, to the young, celebrate who you were created to be.  Be the light of Christ living within you.  Remember the song—“They’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”  Let’s not just speak the Word of God but live the Word of God by our actions!

We need to get back to the Garden---full circle.  A circle does not have a beginning point nor an ending.  It continues and is unbroken.  Let’s live in God’s world where there is no beginning nor end but full circle, encircled in His everlasting love!!