Angels

"Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!" - Hebrews 13:2

Think about that statement for a moment. There are angels here on earth? Are you kidding me?Are they just walking around wherever they want? And they look like you and me?

Whoa . . .

If there are angels on earth, right now, umm . . . well, what are they doing here? And how can we tell them apart . . . from . . . us? Are they spying on us? Are they looking for bad people to waste? Or are they looking for situations where they can help someone? Are they walking among us, just to see how they are treated by us humans? Interesting questions.

So, have you met "a stranger" recently who you have interacted with? What did you do? What did THEY do? Did you say "Hi." Were you nice to them? Or did you ignore them, not even bothering to give them the time of day?

As a basis for my writing today I refer again to the 1828 dictionary . . .

AN'GEL, n. Usually pronounced angel, but most anomalously. [L. angelus; Gr. a messenger, to tell or announce.]
1. Literally, a messenger; one employed to communicate news or information from one person to another at a distance. But appropriately,
2. A spirit, or a spiritual intelligent being employed by God to communicate his will to man. Hence angels are ministers of God, and ministring spirits.

Based on that definition, I think I saw an angel or two this week . . . at work!

I had kind of a bad week. I received some bad news on Sunday and was struggling quite a bit. Monday was actually pretty good, but Tuesday got worse and by the time Wednesday rolled around I was feeling pretty miserable. That's when God sent two "angels" to deliver a message of hope. A message of His love.

Wednesday morning, one of my friends came into my office and, leaning in close, prayed over me in a whisper as I sat in my chair. Then later, another friend brought me some chocolate-covered strawberries as a gift to help make me feel better. That's when I lost it.

The tears began to well up in my eyes, never running down my cheeks but to the point where it was difficult to see. What did I do that God would send these two "angels," these two "ministering spirits" into my life? Well, quite simply, it was nothing I had done. I was simply the love of God, raining down on me from heaven. What a blessing friends are!

Is there someone in YOUR life who God has used to deliver a message? Or how about someone else, a total stranger perhaps, who has done or said something "heavenly" at just the right moment?

I am writing this blog today because someone came into my life seven years ago and delivered a message of hope to me - the hope of Jesus. I have seen signs of God's angels here on earth as something miraculous happened in my life. I have seen stories on the news, like this one, indicating that something WAY beyond "normal" happened.

Perhaps you have heard of guardian angels? When you see news stories like the one we just watched, it kind of makes us wonder, "Do they really exist?"

You know, one of the most popular reasons that non-believers give for their disbelief is, "I can't believe in a God who lets bad things happen to good people." They never stop to think about the good things that God does to undeserving, unworthy people, like us, seemingly every day.

It is my belief that God uses people to deliver messages, to miraculously pull people from raging rivers, to save poor undeserving souls, like mine, from an eternity in hell.

This morning, I am grateful for a loving God who loves us SO much that he provided a way for us to be rescued from the sinful raging river that is this world. We as a species are deserving of death, yet we are given life, through our simple belief (and repentence), in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

"6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." - Romans 5:6-11