Scars of My Guardian Angel

by Russell L Martin

  I immediately tell them, “Let me guess. We are standing on Holy ground.” With kind smiles they shook their heads yes.

  As I am sitting on a small rock taking off my shoes, I realize this is the first time I’ve stood on mother Earth since I was standing on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. I’m thinking what an awesome journey so far.

  Allayer smiles, “This journey has only just begun. Come and walk with us. We have something very special to show you.”

  The top of this mountain looks to be a couple square miles wide, covered in wild flowers and ferns of all different colors, the beauty unending. We walk past several mountain goats feeding on the darkest green grass I’ve ever seen. There are soft trails leading in several different directions through the low hanging branches of white bark pine, spruce and foxtail pines. “Wow. How did I know the names of all these trees way up here in the mountains? I’m from Louisiana, with no recollection of any such trees.”

  Nipper laughs, “God is giving you a little touch of knowledge, just take it in, it’s going to get better.”

  We walk out into a small opening with rocks sitting like benches circling the entire area. There are three different rock formations near the center of the circle, each shaped like a door.

  Nipper and Allayer go and sit down on the stone bench, and ask me, “So, what do you make of this?”

  “Well, I don’t know. I can see it looks like three doors, but I can see right through each one. So they couldn’t be doors. Is it the ruins of God’s summer home?”

  They both laugh, still keeping their secret, making me guess .

  “Okay guys; is this another Stonehenge way up here on God’s mountain?”

  Allayer tells Nipper, “We need to get a move on, go ahead and fill him in.”

  “ Chado, there are three portals, we know where two lead and the third remains a mystery.”

  “Portals… wow, is it a gateway to Heaven?”

  “Yes, one of them leads straight to Heaven.”

  “Well, let’s get in the wind. I can’t wait to see Jesus, God, the rest of the Angels, my family that’s passed on and especially my daughter Summer. Yeah, let’s get going.”

  I start running toward the portals and Allayer stops me. “ Hold up Chado! If you go through the wrong portal we may never find you!”

  “Well, which one leads to Heaven?”

  “That one over to your left, we don’t know where it leads. It’s forbidden to enter. The one in the center leads to Heaven.”

  I start walking toward the center portal and Nipper grabs my hand. “Chado Cole, you need to slow down. We have to explain something.”

  “What? All this way and I’m not allowed in Heaven?”

  Allayer puts his hand on my back and tells me “Yes you’re going to Heaven, just not right now.”

  “What do you mean, not right now?”

  “We have another place God wants to show you, as part of your mission.”

  “You mean another place here on Earth?”

  “No, it’s through that portal to your right.”

  “Okay, where does it lead?”

  Nipper tells Allayer, “Let’s just go and we can explain on the way.”

  “Okay Chado, are you ready for a ride on God’s highway?”

  “You bet, let’s do it.”

  “Hold our hands and let’s all step through together.”

  12

  The Vision

  W hen I slowly walk through the doorway, it feels like my entire body was being submerged in warm wax, with the heat starting from my feet very slowly moving up over my entire body.

  With this sensation, I am reminded of a time several years ago when I was at a Friday Night Bible Study. I had gone through a sad time in my life experiencing a terrible divorce and losing my family. I was a fool in those years. The most important people on Earth to me were my three kids and my wife, and they were suddenly stripped away in what seem like overnight.

  I turned to God more in that time than ever before. I was a lump of clay in God’s hands, poured out with nothing left in me.

  One particular Bible study stands out in my memory. At the end of our meeting, Dr. Forester wanted to prepare us for spiritual warfare, because there were several people that needed special prayer, and we were about to go into battle for God. Before we stepped to the front line, he asked that we would pray for God to totally cleanse our hearts of any hidden sin.

  As I was praying, I leaned over slumped with my elbows resting on my knees with my face buried in my hands. As I prayed, God, please forgive me and cleanse my heart. Take away the pain of my failed life. Please Lord purify my soul, make me as white as snow. Suddenly I started weeping heavily with tears pouring between my fingers and running down my arms. My heart moaned with a great depth of humility and sorrow. I felt like all my strength was poured out, totally gone; and out of nowhere, a vision appears.

  I see a huge wooden cross standing in the darkness that suddenly catches fire. The bright white flame started at the bottom and moved up the cross very slowly, finally covering the entire cross. The bright white blaze didn’t seem to harm the cross at all, and at times it even looked like the tips of the blaze were a light blue color. This vision lasted only a minute or two, and when Dr. Forester finished praying and started talking to the group, my vision had disappeared.

  With this strange vision still fresh on my mind, I actually shook my head and asked myself, What was that? Where did that come from? I tried to dry my eyes without anyone noticing my moment of weakness.

  Doc stated, “At this part of our Friday Night Bible Study, we are going to have special prayer for anyone who needs it.”

  With me being a full blown Baptist, I wasn’t use to the laying on of hands, anointing with oil or praying over anyone. With my shyness, I stand in the background and watch how this will all unfold.

  The first lady we all prayed for, you could tell by her countenance she was in a bad way. She looked very sad, so several of the folks there gathered around her to pray. Since I wanted to be involved, I placed my hand on a shoulder of one of the ladies that was standing on the outside ring of people. We all prayed with Doc leading and anointing her with oil.

  To my surprise, after praying over this young lady, I could see an amazing difference in her countenance. She was smiling and looked totally healed of her problems, whatever they were. I’m thinking, Okay, they must be about finished and ready to close . But then, I hear someone in the group say; “A lady has come forward and asked for prayer and her friend says that she has a demon of adultery.”

  This catches me totally off guard. Okay, with my Baptist up-bringing, I’m thinking this it a bit much, but I guess I’ll hang in there….

  As we gather around this lady, I’m still standing on the outside of this circled-up band of prayer warriors. I have a clear view of the lady’s face.

  Doc and everyone else start praying and everything is going pretty good. With my eyes closed, I’m trying to pray for this lady when I hear her starting to slur with a type of hissing and then she was talking in another language that sounded just like an Arab dialect.

  I couldn’t help myself; I opened my eyes to see what the heck was going on. What I saw was an awful and scary site. This very nice looking lady’s face had transformed right in front of me. Her facial features had changed into a horrible, distorted mask of what looked like something dead, fresh out of the grave. She continued to get louder and her face looked worse than ever, as everyone continued to pray.

  I felt God telling me to grab her left hand and lift it as far up as I could. I actually was so scared; I started to argue in my mind with God. I told Him, “I’m not touching her, that thing will get into me! ” Again and what I believe was the Holy Spirit, telling me, “Grab her hand and lift it up .” This time it was more of a command. I suddenly step closer in and grabbed her by her left wrist, closed my eyes, and at this point I wasn’t even praying, just doing what I was told.

  Suddenly, just li
ke earlier during our special prayer time when God gave me a vision of the cross burning from the ground up; this same thing was now happening to me. It felt like my feet had caught on fire. No, it was more like being lowered in warm wax or some kind of thick, soothing hot liquid. This sensation beginning at my feet and very slowly moving up through my whole body, continuing up my arms and finally out through the tips of my fingers. All the while, I continued to hold on to this lady’s wrist. I felt like I had super human strength and at that very moment I could have lifted her and the whole group off the floor!

  Immediately after what I felt was an anointing of the Holy Spirit passing through my body, the lady stopped slurring and speaking in a demonic tongue. Her face was now normal and peaceful, with tears streaming down both cheeks.

  In all my years of being a Christian, I had never experienced anything that even came close to that night when God allowed me to experience His touch of the Holy Spirit.

  I was at one of the lowest points in my life…I had lost everything dear to me, I was sleeping in the bed of my truck, working away from home, trying to get back on my feet. In that moment, at that meeting, I was humbled before a Father that had reached down and delivered me out of the mire of my life. I truly believe God chose that moment to draw me even nearer to Him, to bless me with this supernatural experience.

  I’ve only shared what happened that night with a few people, and these friends I felt were at a place in their walk with God that they would believe me, and would understand how real the ongoing war with the principalities of darkness is… and that it continues even now.

  13

  Portals & Planets

  A s I continue stepping through this doorway, the sensation of being submerged in warm liquid has spread to my entire body. I wonder if God is reminding me of my experience with the anointing of His Holy Spirit, or was this normal for travel after entering this portal to God knows where.

  We suddenly are moving at what seems like light speed. After only a couple seconds, I turn and look back, thinking I’ll get a good look at God’s mountain as we are leaving Earth, and to my surprise the planet I lived on for so many years was now just a speck.

  A bit of sadness came over me as I thought of leaving my family and friends behind. I knew I would probably never return, and that the next time I would see any of them would be if they accept Jesus as Lord and make it to Heaven. I wish I could go back and warn a few of my buddies that are straddling the fence, or as it says in God’s Word, in Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth .” I believe Jesus was talking about being sold out to Him and not holding on to the worldly side of life.

  I guess by this time, a bunch of my friends are probably standing around the funeral home, cracking jokes or telling ‘remember when stories’ about my foolish days.

  Nipper tells me “Hey Chado, stop thinking about the past. Your mortal days are gone. You need to take in all the sights, just look around at this blanket of stars and God’s creation of the Heavens.”

  I look back one last time, maybe to just catch one last glimpse of Earth, but no, it’s gone, and even our sun looks like a distant star.

  Allayer tells me, “We are now on the edge of what you call your galaxy, and about to enter another.”

  At our speed, each planet and star we pass by is just a blur. I try to focus ahead to see if I can make out what direction we are headed in. I see a cluster of several stars in the distance that looked like they were in our path. I ask Allayer, “Is that where we are going, that cluster of stars up ahead?”

  “Nope, we have one more galaxy to pass through.”

  “Well guys, now that we’re on the road again…”

  Nipper butts in and starts laughing. “I guess he thinks he’s a country and western singer.”

  Allayer mumbles under his breath; “I hear that.”

  “Nipper, what I meant to ask is if we aren’t headed for Heaven, where in the world, I mean where in the universe, are we going?”

  “We’re bringing you to a planet that God designed strictly for a special purpose.”

  “Okay, what purpose would that be?”

  “Can’t tell you, you’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “You guys are killing me with suspense.” We enter a third and final galaxy, and we seem to be slowing down.

  “Nipper, you want to show Chado which planet we are headed to?”

  “Sure. Chado, you want to guess or do you want me to tell you?”

  “Nipper, you are a card, just tell me already. ”

  “Okay, can you see that bluish green one over there between those two moons?”

  “Yes. Wow, it looks a lot like Earth.”

  “Yep. You can tell God really loves the Earth because it’s almost exactly the same.”

  “So is it full of people like on Earth?”

  “No, not exactly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just wait, you’ll see.”

  As we continue to slow down and get a bit closer, I start seeing flashes of light coming to the planet and leaving the planet.

  “Hey guys, what’s with the flashes of light going and coming?”

  “That would be souls of people.”

  “What? Souls of people, is it like a second Heaven?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, can you guys please let me in on what I’m seeing? No guessing games, just tell me.”

  “Nipper, go ahead and explain what this place is used for.”

  Nipper looks over at me with his funny little grin. “Okay Chado, this planet is called Tabula Rasa. Do you know what that means?”

  “No I don’t, I had a limited education; as a matter of fact I got most of my education at the school of hard knocks.”

  “Well Tabula Rasa means fresh start, clean slate or an opportunity to start over without prejudice.”

  “So does God send people here from Earth and give them another shot at Heaven?”

  “Well it’s sort of like that. Why don’t you wait until we get there? Then you can look around and get a handle on God’s handiwork.”

  “Okay, but I am totally confused at this point.”

  We drop down over a secluded forest, now hovering just a few feet above the trees. I could see a river that leads directly into a small town. Allayer tells me, “That’s where we’re going.” He points in the direction of a large crowd standing near the shore of this crystal clear river. As we get within a few hundred yards from the crowd, I can see a line of people leading out into the water. I’m wondering what they are up to.

  We settle down to the ground near a well-manicured park with a walkway leading in the direction of the crowd. I look around at Nipper and Allayer and realize their appearance has changed. Suddenly they are dressed in street clothes similar to what I am wearing, their wings are gone and they now look to be over six feet tall.

  “What the heck guys?”

  They both burst out laughing and continue for what seemed like a whole minute, and then I can’t help myself. Their joy and happiness were so contagious I joined in, even after realizing the prank was on me. They weren’t childlike Angels anymore; their age now looked to be around their early thirties.

  Nipper, in between each burst of laughter, was letting me know that the look on my face was priceless.

  “Okay guys, y’all have some explaining to do!”

  “Well Chado, we could have come clean earlier in this special venture we’re on. But Nipper wanted to have a little fun so I went along with it. We felt like you wouldn’t mind if we gave you a small surprise.”

  “A small surprise? I wouldn’t call that a small surprise, and where are your wings? You guys are almost as tall as my Guardian Angel. This is awesome.”

  Nipper asks: “Do you remember when you spoke the words ‘God I guess you’ve got me?’ Then you shut your eyes as y
ou slowly sank to the bottom; you had completely let go of life and surrendered to God’s mercy. Do you also remember briefly opening your eyes and you saw the millions of glowing phosphorus particles all around you and the peace that came over you?”

  “Yes, I remember everything. I went from being so scared, gasping for air, helpless, until that very second when I opened my eyes and saw the glowing particles. That’s when the peace came over me and I slowly closed my eyes for what I thought was my last few seconds of life. Then I felt what I thought were two rescue divers grabbing me, one on each arm, but when I opened my eyes I saw you guys. It was so pleasant seeing two childlike Angels with warm smiles, and then as you were helping me stand up, I felt safe and at peace. I was so confused at this point, thinking I was in a deep dream.”

  “Well Chado, God wants the transition from death to the afterlife, or should I say from mortal to immortality, to be as pleasant as possible.

  As Angels with the duty of comforting and transporting souls at the time of their passing, we are commanded to first appear as a gentle child. When this takes place, no one realizes what’s happening. When they see us they immediately have trust and the peace continues to grow with each passing moment. If we had presented ourselves like we are now, you may have gotten the wrong idea, been more confused, or possibly even feared us. Trust me; God knows what He’s doing. He’s only been at it since the beginning. Oh, by the way, your question about our wings and our whole new appearance: Do you remember the term ‘shape shifters’ used by some of the earlier Indian tribes?”

  “Yeah, I have seen several movies that had the voodoo thing going. I never believed any of it.”

  “Well, you were wise not to believe such foolishness. Mortals don’t have the power to pull that one off. But in the Spiritual Realm, angels and demons can, you need to remember this. Lucifer can disguise himself as anything that has blood running through it. You do recall, the Garden of Eden, right?”

  “Yes, he appeared to Eve as a snake.”