Understanding the Bible: definition of "judge"

A quick point, related to what I've been blogging about (understanding context of the times).

Whenever you read the word "judge" in the Bible, remember there are two totally different meanings, do not assume the first meaning, while is a legal judging, such as a magistrate might do. Yes, it is sometimes used in that context, but just as often it is used to mean:

a hero or military leader who is called by God.

That is why the Book of Judges is called, um, the Book of Judges, as it's about military leaders and heroes who led Israel when Israel did not yet have kings. These were not legal folks who rendered magistrate justice.

So while St Paul is indeed writing about legal matters and the need for justice and righteousness in 1 Cor 6, you have to remember that he, a zealous Jew (so zealous he turned Christians over for death before his conversion) would always have the two definitions of "judge" in this mind, somewhat intertwined. When he mentions "judging angels" he is speaking of the other definition, embedded within his discussion of more legal matters and definition.

He's not wrong to do this, but it is, as all epistles are, a bit of unsupported statement since producing long written documents was tough enough and Paul like others assumed the recipient of their letters understood many of the extenuating meanings and nuances that others would not outside of a previously Jewish context. In other words he was not writing in a way to explain to people who would later (like moderns) think "judge" always and only means magisterial.

Remember that Israel was an entity completely under and of God, not an organized government nor a kingship in its early days. Instead God chose people to lead, starting with Moses. When Josue (Joshua) died the people asked God who they should select as their next military leader. This is because the Israelites were still, through military force, claiming their promised land, so their leader's first and foremost job was to be a military leader, one that God approved and supported. It had nothing to do with being a judge of legal matters, so there were twelve, for lack of a better word, heroes of Israel whose job was to lead the Israelites in times of danger and/or in military matters. They were given the title of "judges," using, obviously, the second definition.

Thus it is very easy for Paul in both his thinking and his writing to slip from one definition of judge into the other. He is building an argument, in 1 Cor 6, that people need to be just in all matters and not be hypocrites, and he uses public litigation as the example that he gives, where he questions and chastises how people can be just if they are so unjust and be litigation crazy (yes they were already suing each other right and left to get money and settle scores in those times). In 1 Cor 6:7 he implies that people should not sue each other and just suffer even obvious wrongs in silence and without counter suit and legal remedies (turn the other cheek, as Jesus taught). He then, having raised the problem of legal fights and injustice, and the related problem of being unworthy to judge even small matters of life, say nothing of the large ones, in 1 Cor 6:1-8 onward, then shifts in 1 Cor 6:9 onward to discussing the unjust, unsanctified and unjustified sinners and their impending judgment from God in general.

So you see what I mean? He is writing about a problem he sees 1) being too litigious and also being unforgiving and unjust, 2) points out the flaws in that mindset, 3) introduces a higher more Christian mindset and 4) concludes with warnings what to avoid and 5) the sacredness of the body in service to Christ. Paul is starting with a specific problem in order to raise the level of thinking, action and sanctity of those he is writing to and 1 Cor 6 progresses accordingly.

So, how to understand 1 Cor 6:3 "Do you not know that we shall judge angels?" Even though that is smack dab in the middle of him speaking of earthly legal matters, he does not mean that humans will judge (as in adjudicate or assess) the actions of angels or the angels themselves. He is hearkening back to the second definition of judges, the heroism and God given leadership, that humans who are truly within Jesus Christ will receive from God. In an effort to get people's heads out of the petty earthly legalities Paul drags angels into his writing in order to uplift people to their correct perspective which is to be genuine leaders authorized by God through Christ, and it is then that yes, people have the right to "judge" as in to "lead into spiritual battle" angels.

That is not so far fetched. Do you not all each have a guardian angel that God gave you to accompany you always while you live? Most times do you even remember that your guardian angels exists? Do you lead your guardian angel in times of danger such as witnessing for Christ? Or do you forget you have a guardian angel?

Your actions on earth in your individual sanctified service to Christ is your training wheels, your practice, in leading ("judging") an angel.

When you are a saint (as in dead and gone to heaven), then you will, God willing, have a role in leading (as in "judging") angels on their home turf, heaven, regarding earthly matters.

It's not too tough to understand that those who did not partner with their guardian angel, with humility, while alive on earth aren't exactly leading the charge of the angel brigade in heaven when it is that time.

1 Cor 6:2 Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters?

So you see, Paul is basically scolding most severely the people who look forward to being saints and angel partners as being incapable of even keeping themselves out of greedy and vengeful legal lawsuits, and he is warning that they are not even on the first rung of "judging angels."

o Current situation, constant litigation about earthly matters such as money, power and revenge.
o The current situation must be improved by bringing the matters before the saints, which means in other words having a Christian response (such as turning the other cheek). Paul means the saints are (second definition) providing the example, the leadership of behavior. He means that just as the saints did not seek money, power and revenge through the courts, likewise people must turn to the saints for their example to shun that response likewise.
o In the future the saints (most of whom were martyrs) will judge the world because they, in heaven, will bring their petitions of injustice received before God.

Revelation 8:4-5
And with the prayers of the saints there went up before God from the angel's hand the smoke of the incense. And the angel took the censer and filled it with the fire of the altar and threw it down upon the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

See, Paul wrote Corinthians well before John saw the revelation of the Apocalypse and in fact Paul was martyred decades before John died a natural death (the only one of the Apostles not to be martyred). Paul was dead for decades before John witnessed to Revelation, to the Apocalypse. Yet Paul correctly understood within the spirit of Jesus Christ that the sufferings of the martyrs and saints will accumulate before God's throne, and will in turn be justification for the End of Times. This is why the angel throws the censer with fire from the altar and the prayers of the saints onto earth to smite it.

And so now you can see that through the Holy Spirit the genuine Apostles and disciples of Christ are all reading from the same page, to use an old saying. Paul knew in his heart what John would later see in person, which is the role of the saints in judging (both meanings) the people of the earth. All who learned first hand from Christ understand the inevitability if not the timing of God's judgment of those alive on earth with the saints as witness and examples.

Now, the angels have never been and never will be part of earthly life, since angels abide within God in heaven and are not of time, matter or energy. Thus they of course are not "judged" by humans in a legal or a behavior sense. They are, however, available to be led by genuinely God appointed humans, but only after death. How do we know this? Because Jesus Christ himself never called upon an angel (though one was sent to him in the Garden of Gethsemane and others after the temptation). Jesus pointed out he could have called angels to protect him and destroy the city at any time, but he did not because that was not his purpose. Likewise the Apostles understood that the only angels on earth are the guardian angels, and that the combat will occur only at the End of Times.

So in a few sentences Paul is cramming together the mundane but very dire state of the litigious supposed Christians who are suing each other and pagans for money, power and revenge, the need for a higher thinking, and then, of course, the highest calling which will mostly occur in heaven, when the righteous and justified people are indeed among the angels.

This is a complicated but essential part of my point that one cannot understand the Bible if one does not understand the mental, spiritual and linguistic context of the various authors, all of whom write under the guidance of the Holy Spirit but in the language and meaning of that contemporary time.

I hope that this was helpful!

Bible reading for previous post

Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

Notice that earlier in the scriptures when animals are created (Genesis 20-25) God created them, as all things in the universe, through the Holy Spirit but he did not bring them through life through his breath, but through his Word.

Then, in Genesis 26 God discusses with the angels how he will make mankind in their image and likeness (as the angels were already created in God's image, which is why God says "our" image and likeness...)

In order to be in the likeness of God and the angels, one must not only physically "look" like them, but also have a component that is the spirit, which is the soul.

Now you can understand more clearly that Genesis 2:7, cited above, is the point when God breathed into the clay he had risen the first soul, given to Adam, making him the first man, the first human being.

A human being is not an animal because a human being has a soul and an animal, no matter how good, loved, useful, or intelligent, does not have a soul. Far from diminishing the importance of animals, the lack of a soul means humans have a greater obligation to be honorable in their treatment of animals, to be good stewards.

But back to the main point, you can trust the responsible evidence of your own eyes, which is accurate and not manipulative interpretation of geology, fossil records and other evidence of evolution in all animals, including the apes and so forth, and evolution to proto, as in "before" human beings. But remember that God is always truthful and accurate in all things and the scriptures record this accordingly. God raised the first human out of the clay and dust when he breathed into Adam a soul. Adam is then able to give a soul to his spiritual descendant, Eve, who then is his spouse, and then they bear children who have souls the normal way that God put into motion, which is a soul and a guardian angel given to each human at conception. This is what is meant when God created Eve from the rib of Adam. They really kind of shared the first soul, and they shared the first guardian angel. From that point onward, though, the process of bearing children who receive from God their own soul and their own guardian angel commenced.

About evolution and Adam

I see some very good and intelligent discussion is taking place about evolution among believers of various faiths.

I just want to put forward a quick reflection, just so that in the sweep to accept accurate science that those of faith do not in then inaccurate cascading thoughts and conclusions marginalize what God has said he did.

I am concerned that those believers of good hearts who accept evolution in regard to human beings will then assume that God did not make Adam out of the clay, as he said he did. That is the beginning of eroding the scriptures, which is incorrect.

What you need to remember is that animals do not have souls. Only human beings have souls. God made Adam out of the clay when he rose him up and gave him a soul. Adam is the first spiritual human being in addition to being biologically human. This is how to understand the accuracy of the scriptures together with the accuracy of genuine fossil evidence. It is also at that time that humans, through Adam, even become really noticeable and the object of honor by God's angels. Angels aren't really involved with other forms of life, since while precious and good and God created, they lack souls. When Adam received a soul, and thus was raised from the clay, created by God, he also then received the first guardian angel. The Qur'an mentions God ordering the angels to honor Adam. That's when this happened. All subsequent humans receive souls at conception and a guardian angel.

I hope you find this helpful.

(Hi young people, by the way.... hope you are hanging in there and working on what you need and want to do....thinking of you....).

To anyone who has had an infant perish

Nothing replaces that loss: I know, absolutely nothing does. However, trust in God and know two things. One is that your infant, no matter the circumstances, did not die alone, for that is what his or her guardian angel does, accompany the baby's soul and providing spiritual comfort in the soul's return to God. Second, again, no matter the circumstances, the infant has no experience of pain or loss in heaven and only boundless joy in God's company. Infants are totally wrapped up in God's presence, and the angels, which is so overpowering that any pain or suffering is simply not in existence in heaven.

All I can say to comfort you-and it is a great comfort, the solace of believers throughout the centuries-is that if you heed God you will follow their path and be united again with your infants, when your own life on earth is complete.

When Jesus explained that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as them (the infants and little children) he did not mean only the obvious point, that heaven is for those who are innocent and pure like children. Jesus is also saying that the only thing one can be assured of is that innocent children have the first claim on heaven. Thus, understand, that Jesus is implying that young children who go to heaven show the way to the adults left behind. It is all the more reason to not despair or to be angry (besides righteous anger at crime or neglect, which of course is reasonable) to such a degree that one, as an adult, is tempted to lose the path that the infant has already flown with no effort to achieving, which is heaven. The tragedy is how many adults are not able, with time and healing, to feel more, not less, motivation to put one's faith and trust in the Lord God, so that they can aspire with hope to heaven and reunification.

I hope that this helps.

Do not pray intentions to angels except the 3

This is very urgent and important. When you are doing "intentional" prayer (asking for intercession or for strength or inspiration) never pray "open ended" to angels. The only exceptions are the Biblical archangels (Michael, Raphael, Gabriel) and it is also OK to ask one's guardian angel for protection, as Jesus mentioned them explicitly. Do NOT pray to "angels" in general except to honor them as a community in the liturgy, where the intentions cannot be mistaken and are properly directed.

Why is that? First of all it is obvious that one should not pay homage through intercessory prayer to non-Biblical figures. Yes, angels are mentioned in the Bible: but both the angels that chose heaven, and those who chose to follow Lucifer into not serving. When you "open end" prayer to "angels" you are addressing both groups, dummies. God only knows who is responding to you. Many of you who invoke the power and protection of angels in general are receiving responses from "the other place."

In fact, the Qur'an also makes this clear because God brings the obedient angels with him and tells them to pay homage to Adam. By this God is doing two things. He is demonstrating that angels love and honor humans only because God loves humans; they do not do so "naturally." Angels are not the fluffy little cuddly spirits with pretty Renaissance gowns that only want to tiptoe around and give you stock tips and help you out of jams you have gotten yourself into that modern New Agers have made them. Angels are fully devoted to God and are quite fierce (read Apocalypse again if you need a reminder).

Thus it is fine and appropriate to honor the angels as a group within the liturgy of the Mass, for example, as in that consecrated time and space it is obvious who is being mentioned. We know that because the Lord instructed Israel to ornament the Ark with angels. Thus it is fine and appropriate to honor and respect angels in the organized place of Christian worship.

It is also scripturally sound to, within reason, appeal to the three Biblical archangels as they have been clearly identified as being messengers of benevolence from God to humans. Thus it is fine to ask Michael, Raphael and Gabriel for assistance and spiritual strength and purity.

Also, one's individual guardian angel is a gift from God, so obviously one can turn to one's guardian angel, such as in the traditional prayers of the evening. One's guardian angel is of the Holy Spirit, and obviously one is in totally pure handling when one commits one's self to the Holy Spirit. Most importantly, as I mentioned, Jesus, when chastising the disciples who sought to block children from approaching him, mentioned that their guardian angels constantly face God and therefore one has total confidence in knowing that it is scripturally sound to be respectful of one's own guardian angel and to know of their totality of connection through the Holy Spirit to God.

However, when you address prayer intentions to "angels" in general, you have an inaccurate image in your mind of what angels are and what they "do." Thus, if you think you are getting "a response" you should be quite alarmed. The demonic powers jump at every opportunity to mimic what one thinks one is evoking. This, by the way, is one of the dire and deadly errors of paganism. Paganism assumes knowledge of qualities of spirits that both don't exist and are also inaccurate representations of natural forces. Thus when one appeals in what one thinks is a good frame of mind and intention to spiritual forces that one is inaccurate about in the first place, Satan, the demons and also human's own unconscious hubris tends to accept that invitation to "put on the mask" and "respond," and thus starts messing with your mind and your soul. That never ends up in a good place.

I cannot believe the foolishness by which several generations of New Age and other inclined people have called down upon themselves a "spirituality" that is, to put it kindly, imaginary angel imitating. I have commented before that the genuine angels have quite a disgust for humans who do that and if you don't believe me, reread the Apocalypse, for there it all comes to a head. Notice those are not named angels (except for Michael) who wield the destruction and tribulations upon earth.

So stick with praying to God, to asking for the intervention of Mary, Joseph, and the saints, who you know are with God and pure in his eyes and respond only to his will. Honor angels as the servants of God in the liturgy, and of course one can safely address the Biblical three archangels who are designated messengers to humans, and also one's own guardian angel (but understanding they are gifts themselves, not gift and favor dispensers to you). Only God dispenses favors, gifts and grace.

Innocence of intention is absolutely no protection. If you "innocently" pray to angels in general, Satan deludes the innocent even more eagerly and quickly than the cynical. When so called "intuitives" and "psychics" bring you descriptions of angels and "messages" from them, the demons ("jin" if you are Muslim) are laughing their asses off, because you sure are not receiving messages from God's angels. They do one of two things. They either watch your own mind fool yourself and laugh, laugh, laugh, or they take on the appearance of what you think you are invoking and laugh, laugh, laugh as they mislead you to a very bad place, under some very sweet outer coating and coverage.

Whenever you are tempted to "channel" an "angel" or "the angels," reread the Apocalypse and then decide not, repeat, not to pray to "angels" in general.

Remember, even atheists have guardian angels

Can you imagine the crap that they have to listen to? It must seem like an eternity in purgatory to them, LOL. They don't mind the genuinely clueless, but the "professional" atheists and comedians etc, who make money and notoriety off of their ungrateful disbelief, well, let's just say the guardian angels ought to get battle pay for putting up with all that.

Since God doesn't go around smiting people just for being atheists, some of them force their guardian angel to listen to many decades of their crap. It's something to think about, no? Let's just say that I can relate...

Understanding God: tragedies like Australia

There is a debate because a Pentecostal minister says that he dreamed some time ago that the liberality of abortion in Victoria would bring about a disaster like fire, as God withdraws his support from the people there. Others are upset and angry at such theories and remind people of the continual mercy and consolation that God provides. Both sides accurately cite scripture. So what should people think?

First of all, there is no new revelation, so those who dream that God is directly telling them something (especially of a prophetic nature) must use a great deal of discernment in understanding their dreams and intuitions. Remember that Jesus Christ himself did not know when the Second Coming would occur, for example, so God certainly will not give advance warning to anyone of anything apocalyptic or revelatory in nature: all that is going to be said on those subjects is already said in the scriptures.

Having said that the Holy Spirit works tirelessly among all people-believers and unbelievers-to attract them toward God and at the very least to do the best of moral and good things. Thus it is possible for people to have accurate premonitions. ESP is a fact and I recently wrote about it. So yes, both believers and unbelievers can have premonitions and accurate dreams of foreboding. The trouble is that people tend to dream using authority figures that they believe in, so a religious person will tend to dream of a premonition coming from a religious "authority figure," such as God, that the person believes in. A nonbeliever might have an equally valid premonition, but his or her dream may feature a person from the family, or someone from TV, or a historic figure... the assignment of revelatory seeming roles in dreams tends to be very individual and cultural. For example, Americans, obviously, rarely dream of the Queen of England, however she is a regular figure in dreams of British males, at least she was when I read of a study conducted about twenty years ago. So the Holy Spirit pushes all people to be good neighbors and to do the best that they can, and hopefully to become faithful believers in God, while at the same time, humans possess extra sensory perception, which gives various people remarkable insight in certain occasions.

Now, to the salient point. I've written before about God's wrath, sometimes called smiting, and warned that it is real and God will and does smite, but there are two things you must realize to put this in context. One is that God rarely smites directly and the scriptures indicate this quite clearly. It is only at times of egregious sin and corruption that God smites. One does have to have a little bit of pause and guilty conscience if one is honest, as these are times of great corruption, sin, immorality and turning away from and even mocking of God and desecration. So I would not, if I were you, sit back and think, "Why would God smite us? After all, we are so kind and wonderful." These are not kind and wonderful times, far from it. But no, God does not run around setting fires and doing "tit for tat" smiting.

However, the point the Pentecostal is making, that many deliberately or unconsciously miss, is that God is perfectly capable and frequently does withdraw support and blessing. So God does not smite, but he allows people to stew in their own juices of the consequences of their sin, evil, wickedness, or sins of neglect and omission. This is what is called in the Bible the "hardening of the heart." God can and does harden his heart when people have gone too far, and he also allows the hardening of human hearts to take place, particularly when they have tried and presumed repeatedly on his mercy without genuine reform and repentance.

When God withdraws support and allows the hardening of the heart to take place, very bad things can and do happen. This is because the Holy Spirit will not push as hard for goodness in the spirits of all men and women, and instead God will allow their true natures (which without God is not very nice) to have free rein. You have to understand that God, through the Holy Spirit, and through the guardian angels, does a great deal to make life bearable by constantly appealing to people to withstand the temptation of evil and neglect and to opt for the good whenever a choice is before them. Many people think that God is silent and aloof, but this is not true. Jesus reminded the disciples who would bar the children from coming to him that the guardian angels of all children constantly face God, and thus God is particularly protective of how children are treated. All children and their souls are born good, and are only pulled away from goodness through the actions of adults, their environment, and in some cases mental conditions. So God is very aware and through the Holy Spirit and the guardian angels strives to not only keep people on the righteous path of goodness, but also to help them with the difficulties of life. If God withdrew the support of the guardian angels, for example, life would be unimaginably unbearable, as it would be like a type of oxygen that you don't even know about but you need is suddenly sucked out of the atmosphere. Guardian angels and the Holy Spirit provide a very real constant "oxygen" of spiritual and bodily goodness, and they are individually attentive, whether the person believes or not.

So when God hardens his heart, and then allows others to harden their hearts, what happens? Well, look at the tsunami. God did not send the tsunami, but why is it that people did not install a simple warning system in that part of the world until after a quarter of a million people were washed away and died? People are greedy and selfish and did not care about implementing a warning system in that part of world, even though they knew full well the risk.

Why do I read that Victoria has liberal abortion laws, but for five years have not implemented an emergency fire warning system? Again, God does not send the fire, but he gets very tired of selfish and wicked human priorities, so he says, well, go ahead, set your priorities. And then there comes the fires and the warning system is sitting gathering dust on the shelf for five years, because of quarrels about who will pay for it. Money, money, money.

And people are shocked that many of the fires are suspected arson, and not lightning strikes (which can be monitored and I read that they are). Well, how long has a nihilistic and despairing, violent and yobbish mindset been a problem among humans? For decades now. No one has decency and mercy among each other, if one is to watch the "entertainment" that is offered, filled with violent nihilism, and how long will God protect humans from the consequences of each other's inhumanity? As I commented before, when I was in that region of the world, Melbourne and Healesville, where the fires are, Princess Diana was being raked over the coals as "average people" gleefully trumpeted her sexual and intimate matters in "Squidgygate." People were well on their way to being vulgar, coarse and cruel in the middle 1980's, and youth was being lost to nihilism, violence, addiction and thrill seeking.

God does not have to "smite," God simply needs to withdraw his protection and let you all do to each other the lowest inclination that humans will come up with, which is, as we see, pretty low. Are the arsonists horrified at what they did? Apparently not since some have raced out there and started even more fires.

That is what God meant in the Bible when he says he will "raise up an enemy" to smite the disobedient Israelites, for example. He withdraws his special blessing and protection and leaves a group exposed to the very evil that they have either promoted or neglected to address since they are busy being material idolaters and selfish depressives. God is like the parent of the addicted teenager who after repeated attempts to get them to obtain help, finally stands back and lets them fall, as they are so determined to do.

It is the same if one looks at Hurricane Katrina. No, God did not "send" the hurricane to punish people for their sinfulness. However, God withdrew his protection, and so people who worried about the levees breaking, evacuations not being sufficient, and so forth are ignored, and then the trouble comes, big time. To use a modern phrase, at some point God stands back and watches the human caused or exacerbated "train wreck." The cyclone in Burma is another example. There you have a secretive bunch of reincarnation believing Buddhists in charge of the country and they won't even allow aid to help the devestated impoverished victims. Natural disasters are a part of life, but without human intelligence and goodness to anticipate, plan, finance and be good neighbors, it does not matter what one's "faith" is or not: God will stop, at some point, the continual presumptions on his mercy and the lack of mercy that humans show toward each other.

That is what I see over and over. It is like humans are insisting on doing a dry run of the Apocalypse, through their own arrogance and neglect. Thus people are correct to feel that something is very wrong, and to think about the End of Days. Yet they are incorrect that these are those times because, believe me, there will be no mistaking it when it does happen. It's not something that the human puppeteers behind the scenes will manage or mitigate; when it happens it will be full out and unmistakable. Instead you have a time when humans should be so far advanced in decency, compassion, wisdom, stewardship and faith but are actually losing ground and going backwards, not forwards, in all of these areas. Thus humans are bringing on through their own actions and their own selfishness and neglect mini-tribulations and a dry run of the Apocalypse. Like the parent of the addicted teenager God wants nothing more than to be the consoler, yet what response does he get when he tries?

I hope that you have found this helpful.

Miracle on the Hudson

Like everyone else I am fascinated by and thrilled at the near miraculous safe landing of the US Airways plane via water ditching, impeccably done and the very classy contributions of all the passengers in their mutual survival. I'm proud of everyone, especially the hero pilot and his co-pilot, and thank God for his mercy.

If the guardian angels were to comment on this I think they would say of the pilot that "He was very easy to work with."

An event like this is time to remember that as there were one hundred and fifty people on board, there were one hundred and fifty guardian angels too (who would have accompanied each person however it turned out) and of course, the Holy Spirit is everywhere...

Through that they would mean that his great talent and years of experience allowed the best possible grace of assistance to flow. Miracles work with natural law and physics, not against it, so angels appreciate someone who is in command. The only one who regularly worked miraculous wonders to change the operation of natural law was, of course, Jesus Christ.

Well, I enjoyed listening to the interviews today and look forward to much more on this thankfully happy subject!

Words of comfort for those who lost children

Hardly a day goes by where we do not see in the news yet another tragic loss of children, in automobile accidents, often due to drunk driving, incredible murders (all four children in one family in Oklahoma, along with their mother), tragic illnesses or mishaps (such as drowning in pools), and other ailments that result in the loss of a young life.

I've written before about his to console those who are bearing the unbearable. Nothing can really ease the loss of a child. However, I realize that it helps if I can assure those who mourn of several things.

One is that no matter how horribly the child may have been frightened or in pain, they enter heaven unafraid and with no thought of the pain or trauma of their passing. It's not that they "forget" or have memories erased or anything. Rather, heaven is so awesome that it truly washes away the attention completely from the sadness and pain and they are only focused on looking forward, at the "here and now" of heaven. You know how when you do something you truly enjoy that you are totally absorbed and content, and even for just a few moments don't think of your problems? It is like that but a million times better! The child does not need to have memories erased or to be soothed because the child's soul is refreshed instantly at being in the place that is only love and light.

Second, this is true even if your child was raised, as far too many are, without any knowledge of the genuine faith and nature of the one God. It's not like when they arrive they are confused and scared because all that they had been taught was wrong, or that they have a total blank slate about the faith due to lack of traditional faith transmission by parents and caregivers. First of all, they have an instinctive recognition of God, and they feel from the start that they always knew about him. Why is that? Well, remember that their guardian angels were always with them when alive, so having a guardian angel is like hearing God talking or humming in the background, even if one is not a believer. It's that feeling you have that you are never really alone (the comforting feeling, not the feeling that paranoids or stalking victims have, ha). No, all people have that white noise access to God even if they do not believe, due to their guardian angel and also the constant efforts of the Holy Spirit to reach everyone.

Because young children are innocent they cannot be held to blame for not receiving instruction in God and the true faith. Thus their instinctive connectivity via their guardian angel is pure, and they feel at home and "knowledgeable" right away in heaven. Jesus himself assured the disciples that the angels of children constantly face God. Adults are another matter entirely, who have their own accountability for ignoring the faith. Children, however, cannot help how they are raised, but a parent or caregiver who is suffering the loss of a child does not need to worry that their being remiss in teaching them the faith has caused them to now be scared or in pain after suddenly dying. Their guardian angel is with them right to heaven, as the angel was with them in the womb before they even "knew" they were a person. (Just think, mothers of twins, triplets and other multiple births have that many guardian angels along for the ride too :-) However, this is no excuse not to raise any living child in the faith because children need knowledge of God and faith in him in order to live properly and fully. Faith is about living and all children need the support and love of knowledge of God to live full and rational lives. So I am making these points in order to reassure those who were remiss in teaching their children, and who are in pain of loss, and not to tell parents of living children that it is "OK" to skip the faith and God part and it all sorts itself out anyway. That is because you hope your child will grow up to be adults, and then it is an entirely different matter.

However, if the worst happens, be assured that children do not need to know about God in order to find him and not be afraid when they die. After all, premature, aborted and newborn babies who die all find their way to heaven without having any knowledge about life at all, say nothing of instruction in the faith. In heaven babies are aware in a way that I can't really explain because words are inadequate. The easiest way to think of it is that they share in the knowledge of the angels. So while they do not have worldly years and experiences, like the angels they are aware in ways that living beings are not. It's not a bookish or "experience" awareness, but it's a knowing of how things "really are," and a share in the infinite goodness of eternal life outside of time, matter and energy (none of which exist in heaven, so souls in heaven are not "energy beings," since there is no "energy" in heaven, just as there is no matter or time). So even premature babies, aborted embryos, however short their life all gain a portion of the knowledge and awareness of angels, since, like angels, they receive all of their life sustenance from God's will and power. All that exists in heaven exists because it is within God. Thus, even the tiniest of infants who never got to live at all are not deprived of mature awareness, but it is a totally heavenly based maturity, not earthly based maturity of experience at living life.

Children do not become angels, by the way. I mean, sure, it's fine to call them God's littlest angels, but angels are spirits created by God who never lived in conditions of time or matter. Children lived, even if only a few weeks in the womb, with the soul in the body's temple. Thus the souls of humans go to heaven; they are not transformed into being angels since angels are of totally different spiritual substance, not having ever been of earth.

Further, children are greeted by their nearest relatives who have achieved heaven. Through their angelic and God given awareness, they know who everyone is, even if it is a grandfather or grandmother, even multi generational back in time. Like I said, the "nearest relatives who have achieved heaven." God will go back however far he has to, ahem. I like to think that every child has a lot of relatives in heaven and they do, but sometimes it's not of the current generations, to be bluntly honest. People who want to be reunited with their children need to understand that heaven is merited individually; having a child in heaven is not one's "meal ticket" to getting into heaven. God always hopes that people will be more open in their hearts, led by their children, into more love and belief, not less. I can tell you that many times it is the desire to see one's child again that has melted cold hearts of disbelief in their parents, their grieving families, and their caregivers. Sometimes that takes time, of course, but throughout human faith history that has been a powerful directional toward God, to think about the loving care that one's child is receiving there with God, and to yearn for reunion in time.

This is, by the way, what I tell adults who aborted their children, and who years later regret it. Do not ever lose focus on the fact that you can be with that child, and not in disgrace or recriminations or embarrassment, but as all are reunited in joy and the drying of tears in heaven. There are no grudges in heaven and certainly children remember only the joy of reunion. So do not ever make the error that Judas made, of total despair, believing that God cannot fix even such a sad situation as when he betrayed Christ: if only Judas had repented and believed! Likewise, even in abortion, have faith in God and his reality, and seek him during your life, and you can live in the hope of joyous reunion with the children you never knew.

In heaven there are not really "activities" per se, but one can think of it as the place where God knows the bliss that each soul most desires. Thus children who really crave the mothering find much mothering in heaven, and those who crave the fathering find only the goodness of fatherhood in heaven. Children who loved animals see their pets in heaven, and the other beings of heaven that are of that spirit. When Jesus tells the story of the poor man Lazarus who died in pain, neglect and poverty, Jesus points out that Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham in heaven. Abraham is the father of all the faiths in the one God, and thus one can see an example of what I mean. The poor man Lazarus needed a father, a provider, and thus his bliss is to be cradled by the great father of all the faiths, Abraham, in heaven. So it is with children where they are surrounded and loved by whatever relatives, saints, angels and fellow souls that they could ever desire for their bliss in God's presence. They do not "miss" anyone, no matter how much they loved on earth, because there is no passage of time in heaven with which to miss anyone. It is difficult to imagine how the heavenly abode is, totally outside of the existence of time. The best way to describe it is that whoever is going to be in heaven seems to be "already there," even though there is passage of time on earth. In other words, your child does not have time to miss you, quite literally, he or she does not have the time since there is no such thing as time itself. That does not diminish the joy of when you are reunited.

That, by the way, is why the Apostles and disciples thought so much about the resurrection of the body at the end of time. It is too mind boggling for them to comprehend heaven and their existence as souls, so they focused on trying to understand what it would be like when their bodies are resurrected, all of life passes, time ends, and there is the new heavenly "Jerusalem" for those who merit it. It's not like they didn't understand that they would individually be with Jesus in heaven when each of them died, obviously. But rather than try to imagine that, they instead asked Jesus about when they would be in their resurrected bodies and all the earth would be anew. THAT they could understand and quiz Jesus about. But as Jesus reminded them, even he himself did not know when the end of time would take place, only God knows that. So Jesus reminded them that he was going to heaven to prepare places for them in heaven, explaining to them that God has many mansions (rooms) in heaven and that he, Jesus, would go ahead and prepare their places. Again, Jesus is using terms that humans can understand. It's not like God literally has little houses custom decorated to the liking of each human (sorry New Agers). What Jesus means by mansions or rooms is what I explained, that the place of one's bliss is prepared.

So when people joke that when someone dies, "God must have needed another musician," or "God needed another baseball player," etc., that is in a joking way actually closer to the truth of heaven than imagining little marble mansions or log cabins of one's own. Spirits in heaven cluster around their love relationships from earth and also their commonality of bliss. It is not so much the type of interest but the type of love that they most desire. The gravity of heaven is the love of God and it is love of God and being in his light that ennobles through and of God the relationships that one has in heaven. So just as gravity on earth keeps one steady on the planet and able to move and breathe the atmosphere that is also kept in place by gravity, God's love and presence is the gravity of heaven and all gather within heaven feeling the mutual bonds of love and bliss. Yes, there is a lot of singing in heaven because the angels constantly sing God's praise, and it is never tiresome and it never grows old (and one does not have to worry about being out of tune or not having perfect pitch ;-)

So the only comfort that I can offer grieving parents is a powerful one, but one that is forward looking as time slowly heals sufficiently so that the grief becomes bearable and life can go on. The comfort is that no matter what the circumstances of their passing, innocent children do not carry fear or pain with them, they find heaven, they know God, and they are surrounded by relatives, angels and others who provide love and bliss.

I hope that you have found this in some way helpful.

More about guardian angels

I thought of another analogy to help you to better understand and appreciate the presence of your guardian angel, even though you cannot sense them or dialogue with them as you can with God.

Imagine if every single human birth always took place as twins. So you, each of your parents, your grandparents, your neighbors, your friends, your co-workers, the President of the USA, absolutely everyone who had ever been born had a real twin.

And then imagine if one day one twin from every pair dropped dead (so the earth's population would suddenly be halved) and your twin died, your mom's twin died, your dad's twin died, each and every person you know or saw had their twin die. If you can imagine how bereft and agonizing that would be, that is the best human oriented analogy I can think of regarding how it would feel if there were no guardian angels. The sudden feeling of "your other half" being gone and everyone feeling and experiencing the same thing would expose a silence that would be unbearably painful.

Therefore, it helps you to think of guardian angels as individually and collectively providing an unintelligible but very real background "white noise" that even though unappreciated does protect every human-even one who is not a believer and is very distant from God-from actually feeling what it would be like to have no sense of God in your life or in the world at all.

So the guardian angels provide a connectivity to the reality to God that is like a constant white noise that one is totally unaware of, but would find unbearable if it were suddenly gone. That is why I thought of that every person having a twin analogy where everyone at once would lose their twin. Notice I am careful to make the analogy so that it's not "soul mate" or other romantic twin. A guardian angel is like a constant open line to God, even if you don't believe in God and even if you do not realize you have the line. But subliminally you hear that there is an inviting open line always open, so you are never really "alone." This is why the worldwide every person twin dropping dead analogy works fairly well for this analogy, because it would be as if each person's "other half who knows me best of all and is always there for me, and has been with me from the womb" open phone line to God suddenly went dead. (That's not to say, of course, that guardian angels are necessary for you to pray to God or to dialogue with him. I'm just describing what it would feel like if there were no guardian angels using these analogies). Many twins who have lost their twin to illness or accident can tell you what that feeling is like. So you can extend that understanding to imagining if what if everyone experienced and felt that loss simultaneously, and thus imagine what a world without guardian angels would be like. Again, I'm not saying that angels are anything like humans so they are not your "twin." This is only an analogy in order to invoke in a human reader the closest human equivalent sensation of what it would feel like if guardian angels did not exist for humans at all.

So guardian angels provide a very important contribution to not only one feeling reinforcement of one's faith and of God's love for you, but they also provide what could be described as without exaggeration, an important balance and emotional stability. I cannot even describe to you how erratic and demented people would behave if they had the emptiness of NOT having a guardian angel. Without guardian angels there would be a rather nihilistic silence that it would take incredible faith and balance to fight against. So God's conception gift to each human (and thus to humanity as a whole) is a guardian angel. They provide a real connectivity of white noise openness that humans don't feel but would find unbearable if it were suddenly not there! But you don't have to worry, since God will always provide.

I do have to give one caution. As you know, humanity is grappling with some severe ethics challenges, with cloning, stem cell research, animal and human combination cells and "donor children" being recent examples. Those of you with any responsibility in these areas (and the public at large) must remember that God will not allow humanity to manipulate itself into inhumanity. Do not be complacent in your assumptions about what lines God will draw regarding souls and guardian angels to a newly formed human being. Be very careful about assuming you know what he will do if you push it too far. God can do MANY things more than you can imagine, and I guarantee that if you push the boundaries and worse, assume that "no soul or angel is present" or that there "is a soul or angel present and all mighty you is manipulating it" that humanity (to say nothing of your own soul) will be in trouble, big trouble, like you cannot even imagine. Trust me on this; you don't want to find out how right I am on this point.

Bible Reading: Psalms 90 and commentary

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

For he will rescue you from the snare of the fowler, from the destroying pestilence. With his pinions he will cover you, and under his wings you shall take refuge; his faithfulness is a buckler and a shield.

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day; not the pestilence that roams in darkness nor the devastating plague at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right side, near you it will not come. Rather with your eyes shall you behold and see the requital of the wicked, because you have the Lord for your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold.

No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to his angels he has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the asp and the viper; you shall trample down the lion and the dragon.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him; I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in distress; I will deliver him and glorify him; with length of days I will gratify him and will show him my salvation.



***
I love all the psalms, so I won't say this is another favorite, as they are all favorites! However, I will say I recommend to you the frequent reading of this one. It is one of the finest testaments of faith and God's protection to be found anywhere in the Bible. One cannot read this psalm and not be heartened and encouraged, and have one's faith strengthened, nourished and fortified.

It speaks for itself but I will point out a few things. The author (this is not one of King David's psalms) explains the security of being under God's protection in his own voice, and then the last few lines (where I changed the color of the text to dark blue) are spoken in God's voice. So God is reinforcing the promises that the psalm author describes.

Angel fans! Notice this is one of the places in the Old Testament that the well established faith in guardian angels for every person is mentioned. Here the psalm author observes that for the chosen faithful God will instruct the guardian angels to specifically protect them from any harm, expressing the analogy that you won't even stumble or bump your foot against a stone! The entire psalm is of course analogy, but as one can see it is meant to be believed and practical too. Basically the psalmist is saying that faith in God will see people through even the most dire of situations, such as war, disease and violence, even when it is all around you.

By the way, do not read anything into the use of plural "angels" as if that is implication that each person has multiple angels. Rather, that is the humility of true Bible authors who "leave the details up to God," and are not making specific statements about "how" God does things. Because angels are by their nature extensions of God's will, there is not a material separateness among angels in the way that people like to envision.

Notice that God is imaged as the refuge, connoting a place of safety. But to make the point further, this is not a physical place of safety, as if one has to be in a temple or "holy place" but it is the refuge wherever you are. This is imaged as God being a great eagle who will snatch this faithful out from amidst danger. Also, God protects the faithful even from what they cannot see, this being the image of "the terror of the night."

In the part where God's voice confirms this protection, notice that God makes very clear that this is both earthly protection and the eternal protection of salvation after one's death. Again, it must not be viewed as a numbers game, where long life means God is satisfied with the person, while those who die young failed in some way. This is not at all what God means in this place or anywhere in the Bible. After the fall in the Garden of Eden, all humans have been limited to a span of life of about one hundred and twenty years at the most. So to understand God be careful to note he says "with length of days I will gratify him." God is not saying that one is gratified by having x number of years added to their life. God is saying that God will ensure that the person is gratified with the time, the length of days, that they do receive.

To help you to understand, there are fewer greater examples of courage and grace than in those children who suffer from a disease, like cancer, at a young age, often dying, yet they set remarkable examples of what can only be described as a spiritual maturity. These children who we all read about in the paper or see on the news are often smiling and unresentful through many medical procedures, and even when all fails and they die at a young age. This is an example of how as the psalmist explains that God will "with length of days I will gratify him." God provides the grace that even a shortened life in hard conditions is one that is gratified, and that at the end of it God "will show him my salvation."

Not to disrupt the flow or to start a rant, but because it is so instructive I need to point out that humans tend to ignore the obvious and look for the made-up and complicated "reasons." Thus, when children such as I've just described, time after time show such remarkable and graceful maturity, so many who are secularists do not see the obvious of God's grace being available without blockage to every young child. Ill children are fully within God's grace and the constant presence and support of their guardian angel. This is why we see just about every child with a life threatening illness exhibit remarkable and mature grace, regardless of their religious, cultural or household background. Jesus explained that the guardian angels of children constantly face God. What some find as rationale for bizarre beliefs (the old canard "she's an old soul") is actually the opposite. No, the child is a young soul, one who is still innocent and open to full infusion of grace and spiritual protection by God and the child's guardian angel, and it is that infusion in their time of crisis that looks and feels so "mature." The "old soul" quality of one's child is your perception of his or her young (one and only) soul being infused with the eternal grace of God through their time of crisis. So this psalm is another resource for those of you who are still detoxing from occult types of beliefs, who think things like "reincarnation," when it's just your child, your one life lived, one soul given, fully loved child being infused with the grace of God and the constancy of their guardian angel's active support in their crisis and illness.

You can see why I think this is one of the most remarkably helpful psalms in terms of not only worship of God, which is the highest priority, but also strengthening, love and comfort, which is also what God fully intends.

I hope you found this helpful!

Guardian angels, one of their purposes by God

Last month I posted more about my continuing teachings about the true nature of angels. Remember, I’m not teaching anything that is not scriptural. What I’m doing is stripping away manipulative pagan concepts that have crept into many people’s minds, and also, to put it more positively, to help people fully appreciate the application of knowledge of angels and their works.

I wrote about guardian angels and today at dinner I thought of another way to explain how to benefit from the knowledge of their existence even though you cannot see or dialogue with them. I was looking out at the parking lot as people arrived at this restaurant, and I thought about how none of them were thinking about the guardian angel that was right along with them. That’s cool; I’m not saying people are supposed to spend a lot of time thinking about their guardian angels. But it occurred to be to explain what happens when even a non believer has a passing thought about having a guardian angel.

Suppose you have a TV set and you turn it on. Maybe the kids had been playing with it, so instead of a channel that you normally watch coming on the screen, you get the static of an unused channel. So you cannot watch any programming, since none is offered on that channel, but you know the TV is on.

That is what it is like when you think about having a guardian angel. You have turned on your TV, the TV that exchanges signals with God. When you have a thought, and better yet, belief in the existence and presence of your guardian angel, even though you cannot “view that program” (dialogue with, see or hear the guardian angel) you are now tuned in on the frequency where you are in conscious dialogue with God. Everyone is always in unconscious dialogue with God. But when you think about the reality and presence of his gift to each human, their guardian angel, you are consciously opening the channels in general to God.

That is one of the reasons why God gave each human a guardian angel, yet made them entirely inaccessible so they cannot be relied on for typical human manipulative purposes (God knows humans all too well!) The real reasons God gave each human a guardian angel is as a sign of God’s faith and love for each person, no matter how lowly or anonymous they are, and as a way to check on a conscious basis the open channel that everyone has to God, if only they would use it. Just thinking of one’s guardian angel is like sending a small “ping” of faith to God, and getting a “ping” in response. It’s like you sent a text message to God, “I have a guardian angel, at least that much I can believe,” and in reply you get a text message from God that says, “Yes, you do have a guardian angel.”

I hope you find this helpful.

Lesson about angels: they are all about God

I wrote a lot about angels a while back because they are always a popular topic, although they've been very wrongly depicted AND strangely forgotten at the same time. They had become these feminized "personalized" dolls, almost, and their spiritual content, say nothing of their constant amplification of God's will, ignored. So I wrote a few postings about what they are really like.

I often remind people that guardian angels accompany the soul of the new person, the new life, when it joins the embryo of the preborn baby, stay with them throughout pregnancy and life, and then return to God with the departed soul. So they are constantly with you. But there is an interesting paradox that I thought that I should introduce to you and then explain.

They are with you all the time.
Yet humans never seem to really remember they are there.
Humans try to personalize angels in general in some very un Biblical ways.
Yet a human never sees their guardian angel, except for the preborn who perish.

Yes, I thought that fourth point would get your attention.

One's guardian angel is with one all the time, from the first quickening of the embryonic cells to the moment of death. The angel is individual and unique, chosen by God for each person. (Just think, women who have twins, triplets, quads and quints, etc have that many guardian angels "in the womb" too!!!)

Guardian angels are a SIGN of God's love and presence. That is why it is OK and normal to both know that they are there all the time, but then forget about them personally most of the time, or virtually all of the time. If you could "see" your angel and "talk" to "him" or "her," they would do or say nothing at all but point back to God. That is what Jesus meant that the guardian angels of children "constantly face God" (in the context of what Jesus was explaining, he was warning those who might harm children that God knows in particular all that happens to a child "through" their guardian angel at all time and directly as events happen). Constantly facing God means there is no time delay, to put it in a modern term.

So a paradox is that everyone has a guardian angel, but you can't ever really dialogue with them. They are never "speaking" to you. They are there in order to witness to (be evidence of) God's love and continual "open channel" with every human being. Guardian angels do sometimes lend an inner voice of faith, and even secular warning of danger, but that cannot be overly dramatized as many do. They tend not to interfere because that is not their purpose, but they do provide spiritual strength and fortitude by their mere presence and that is the point. If guardian angels did not exist you would feel it, and the world would feel it, and the change would be terrible, a very depressive event that would be. Guardian angels maintain through their presence an alertness to spirituality and communication with God in everyone, even the non-believers and non-active faith participants. One way to think of it is that angels are like having a comfortable level of oxygen in the air to breathe. If they were not there, there would still be enough oxygen to exist as a human, but breathing would be constantly labored. You see what I mean? You don't think about the fact that our air is rich in oxygen, but you'd miss it if the amount was cut to just barely subsistence level. That is the primary purpose of guardian angels, to constantly attend to the Holy Spirit's presence on earth in each human.

Now, if you listen to people who have had near death experiences, they often explain about the great light that they see, and/or departed family members who come to greet them. Notice none of them say their guardian angel introduces themselves? That's because they don't. When a person dies the angel accompanies them to heaven, still unseen, and they immediately go on their way. So a human never sees their guardian angel with one exception. That exception is a preborn baby who dies. The guardian angel gives the soul the form that it is contained in because they never had a chance for the temple of the soul, the body, to fully form and for self awareness to take place. Therefore the guardian angel is visible to the preborn baby who perishes because the baby's soul becomes "self aware" by seeing and knowing the guardian angel.

I hope that this is helpful and I'm sure it is thought provoking. I do not want to make angel statue makers or angel ornament artists go out of business: I love them too, although I am not fond of the New Age wymen form of angels LOL. But it would be negligent of me if I did not do what the angels themselves do, which is constantly point back to God. Reading the Bible you will see that this is what all angels do. They don't have colorful hair and rainbow colored garments, with ornamentation and "personality." They are individual, each one of them, but not in a way humans can comprehend. But what any of them would "tell you" is that they are not to be worshipped or "beautified" in a human way. They are simply to be seen as great signs of God's continual open channel and involvement in every person's life. If you could "see" a real guardian angel, you would see the glow of the human like figure, as described in the Bible, but always pointing back toward God and expecting YOU to look in that direction too, not at them. They are very stern about that, I must tell you. They care about "their human" very much, but totally from within God's eyes and his glory, not from personal feelings of their own.

Embryo and soul

I've blogged about this before but it bears repeating. In the Bible it affirms that God states that he "knew" the person before he or she was born. That is true. Before they were born. Not before they were conceived.

Souls are not floating in heaven waiting for the next greased chute into life. Souls are created by God at precisely the same stage of life for each and every person. That is when the egg is fertilized by the sperm, becomes an embryo, attaches to the inner womb of the woman, and "quickens" (makes its first cell division of growth that it is alive). It is at that precise moment that God creates the soul to match that embryo as it makes its first pulse of life attached in the mother's womb. There is no question about this at all.

As usual you have to take my word for it, but you can really prove this through logic, if you choose to do so. We all know that every human has a guardian angel. Jesus affirms this in the Gospel, so Christians are fully aware of the guardian angel truth of their faith. Now, when would God send the guardian angel? Would he wait until the baby pops out of the womb? I mean, who needs a guardian angel during the first nine months of life, right? Of course not. God gives the guardian angel to the child at the embryo's first pulse of life. He obviously doesn't have guardian angels hanging around inside the womb or willie just waiting in case a baby comes along, LOL. So the guardian angels are not there "in advance" of the baby's existence as a embryo. Likewise, they don't drop in on the baby after the mother's been pregnant, ignoring the pre-born baby as it's mom takes crack, or decides to have an abortion, or if there is a risky pregnancy, and, obviously, through the every day miracle of a good and blessed gestation of a much loved and wanted pre-born child. Logic dictates that the guardian angel is sent to the baby at the baby's first inception as a living individual being, when it takes its first cellular growth step of life, which is the archaic term "quickening."

Anyone who has had a miscarriage or an abortion and who believes in God comforts themselves that the baby is in heaven. What exactly is in heaven if the baby did not have its soul from the first cellular growth of life? So obviously the baby receives its soul and its guardian angel from God the moment that it is viable and quickening in the mother's womb. The soul and the guardian angel are each created and unique to the embryo at that first moment. God does not have a "last in first out" or "holding pattern" "inventory" of "new or used" souls.

The Bible is very clear that the body is the temple of the soul. So it's not like any old soul can get stuffed into whatever body comes along for it. That's pagan thinking and it's wrong and destructive, and anti-God and anti-life. When a body is created, a new temple, as an embryo is in truth, a new soul that is suited for that temple is created by God and sent to that body. Period. It is that soul that returns to God for judgment and dispensation when life ends, either pre-born (when obviously no judgment is needed) or at any point in that person's body and life when it comes to an end through death. The temple then is gone but the soul returns to God, who created it for that body temple specifically and exclusively. Thus God knows the soul before the person was born, because he created that soul for the pre-born embryo.

Here's a common sense exercise. Think of a famous saint, let's say John the Baptist. Is it not obvious that God created the soul of the person who would be John the Baptist, and sent the soul to the womb that would carry John the Baptist? I mean, it's not like God just grabbed some soul out of thin air that was hanging around in the waiting room and the soul turns out to have done very well for himself and for the salvation history of the world by becoming John the Baptist. God doesn't say, "Hm, let's grab this soul that's been hanging around and send it down the greased chute to earth and see how he turns out. Wow, look at that, he turned out to be John the Baptist!" God could kind of chuckle to himself and say, "Yee ha! Good thing that soul didn't take a wrong turn and end up in some reindeer herder in Iceland!" Um, obviously not. God creates the soul that will occupy the temple of the body that was just created when an embryo is formed and implanted. Build the temple/create and send the soul. Build the temple/create and send the soul. That's what happens millions of times a year. God can handle it. He's God. He created every uncountable particle in the universe, and all the unmeasurable space in between. God can handle creating a new and individual soul that is perfect for the temple that has just been conceived through the creation of conception.

That's why I am SO SICK of New Age reincarnation idiots. Again, this is not a slam on traditional faiths who believe in reincarnation, such as Buddhists. Their error is understandable because they do not historically believe in an all powerful directive God. Their faith sought to explain a code of conduct and relied on earthly "karma" to reward/punish good people and evil doers. I have no problem with people who are born into this tradition. But I have a real problem with "modern thinkers" who decide all on their own that God is part of a sausage machine where the handle is cranked and souls are recycled. So who would John the Baptist have been in his "past life?" The guy who had the best cave? Someone who "lost his head" in a previous life and therefore needs to "lose his head again in the next life, but this time for a 'good cause'"? Yeah, have another puff on that spiritual cigarette that you smoke.

Understanding true nature of guardian angels

It is important to understand the true nature of guardian angels. Every person has a guardian angel. The angel joins the person when the person is conceived, becomes attached to the mother’s womb and “quickens” (that is, the cells begin to grow and are therefore viable and not dead). This is another reason people who argue in favor of abortion are ignorant. They argue that a baby is not a human until such and such an age. Well, those who think that and are not atheist have to ask themselves, when does the guardian angel recognize life? Duh, the same time that God does, which is as soon as an embryo is formed and starts to live through attachment in the womb. Think about it. Suppose a woman has a miscarriage. It’s not like that baby did not have a guardian angel “yet” because God waits for some sort of human based age determination. Every child from quickening embryo onward has a guardian angel, and that angel takes the baby’s soul to heaven with it should the baby perish. So be assured that there is a guardian angel present for every human, starting when the human is preborn.

Jesus told the disciples that the guardian angel always “faces God.” This was his way of explaining the nature of angels in general, although the topic was to be careful not to hurt children because their guardian angel has a “direct line” to God. Obviously that direct line is there via every guardian angel; it does not go away as the child grows to the adult. Jesus was saying this within the context of explaining why children are the heirs to heaven and how people need to not discount the importance of children, as people tended to do then and in that instance. But from that comment comes a very important teaching about the nature of angels. Angels, being pure spirit and created by God are in every respect always fully “of” God. By that I mean that their entire existence is the manifestation of God’s will. Angels have “personalities” but only within complete compatibility of having their only priority be whatever God’s will is. This is what Jesus meant when he said they always “face” God; they are always in communion with and part of God’s existence and will.

Thus, while angels are provided to each person, it is a mistake to think of “your” angel as being “on your side.” Your guardian angel loves you but only because God loves you. The love that a guardian angel feels for a person exists only as a subset of the love that God has for that person. An angel loves you because God loves you. A guardian angel is never an “advocate” or “intercessor” regarding matters of the soul. The guardian angel is the lifelong individual “valentine” from God to you.

The Qur’an provides some information about this that many people do not properly understand on first reading. In the Qur’an it is explained that God ordered the angels to worship Adam, the first man. Some people find that puzzling, because they reason that it is odd that God, who is perfect, would have angels, who are perfect spirit creatures of God worship flawed and sinful humans. But what this part of the Qur’an is teaching is what I explained above. God orders the angels to love humans as God does. God does not worship humans, but the use of the word worship is meant to indicate the valuing of humans in admiration of their having been created and loved by God. Anything that God loves angels will reflect God’s love onto in their turn.

So while everyone has a guardian angel who both loves the human person and has their best interest in mind, harmony with one’s guardian angel is enhanced if you understand that the angel is not “taking your side” or acting as your spiritual advocate. An angel is not a spiritual intercessor, nor does an angel perform a role of a prophet, martyr, saint, or divine intercessor. If you get in a spiritual jam, the angel is not advocating for you to God. Remember the angel loves you as a reflection of the love God feels for every one of his children. But if you think that your guardian angel is performing spiritual advocacy, you are jeopardizing the fruitful communion that is possible with your guardian angel, because you are expecting actions and language that the guardian angel does not in fact use. Suppose for example you engage in sinful or risky behavior. You might think that your guardian angel “understands.” Most assuredly the angel does not. Angels in general do NOT understand anything outside of love of God, obedience to God, and harmony with God’s will. They do not comprehend anything that is not based on love of God and submission to his will. Guardian angels do well understand the consequences of risky or sinful behavior, and also the dangers of every day life. Guardian angels intercede more than people realize in trying to get people to be careful, to double check safety measures, to be good and caring neighborhood “watchdogs” and to “look out for the other guy.” We all know stories like that but trust me, guardian angels try to do more than people realize. But their voices of caution, love of God, and performing God’s will are often drowned out, suppressed or missed out on by the ego orientation of people who think that angels are there to “cover one’s butt” or to look out for one’s interests even when one is acting contrary to God’s love and God’s will for the person.

Here are painful examples. When a person thinks only of themselves and their pleasure, they do not hear their guardian angel warning them to keep a close eye and tender care of their toddler child. Angels can do great intercessions of safety when a parent is oriented that way in the first place. Parents who listen to their guardian angels have an instinct for making their children safer. Just as angels are animated by God’s love for their human, they are role models for humans animating their children with love of God and love for their children. These types of parents are more likely to know what to do in an emergency, or to have what may even seem like miraculous aid if they have a dialogue with their guardian angel that is based on an understanding of God’s love and God’s will. Angels cannot get through to louts who are doing the bare minimum to care for their children, for example. And for sure the angel is not “on the side” of the person who is selfish and against God’s admonishments, who then experiences a tragedy based on carelessness but figures that the guardian angel and God should “understand” or have performed a miracle. If, for example, a parent ignores a nagging thought that they should put a particular safety feature in a house, then they are already ignoring the prodding of the guardian angel.

So how can one be more fruitful in one’s relationship with one’s own guardian angel? By understanding that the angel is on “your side” and “loves you” only because God loves you and wants you to thrive in life, and therefore you can feel uplifted by this tangible knowledge. It is a fact that every person has a guardian angel, so that is proof indeed that God loves every human, rich or poor, good or bad. This does not mean that the person will not be judged and if in a continuing state of sin that they will achieve eternal life just because God loved them in life. Knowing that you have a guardian angel that is with you until the time of one’s passing is a sign that God is open to loving all his children, all his creations, but he is in control and his will must be understood and obeyed. Understand that if a person sins egregiously, dies, and goes to hell, the angel does not grieve. I’m not being unkind here but explaining what is important to know. Angels do NOT understand anything other than love of God and obedience to God’s will. They do not understand someone who chooses otherwise. They will continue to try to guard and guide as long as the person lives, but they do not experience human love, manipulation or regrets. As Jesus said they constantly face God, so all their emotional and spiritual needs are met throughout eternity. They feel affection and love for humans strictly from God, just like if God were the waters of love, the angels sip from that spring in order to feel the love for you, the person each one is guardian angel toward. They continue to sip from the spring so long as you live but it is not dependent on them or on you. Their love comes from God and returns to God. When humans stray from God angels comprehend the dangers and consequences and they certainly do not want you to do that, but they do not “understand” it and they do not “take your side.” So the best way to commune with your guardian angel is to meditate on how they love you, flaws and all because God loves you and wants them to love you. This understanding strengthens human’s comprehension of the totality of God’s love. However, the second half to this is to understand that angels exist in bliss because they are creatures created by God and in perfect harmony with God’s will. This should be an example for people to understand that God does not love “no matter what you do” because if you deliberately reside outside of God’s will, you cannot thrive and be granted eternal life in his presence. Like the angels, to be in God’s presence is to be 100 percent of his intention and will. To do otherwise is to lock your selves out of God’s presence. This is what the guardian angel’s example can teach you.

The more that you work at loving God (and God understands it takes effort, just as it takes effort to be a good spouse, good parent, or good citizen) and the more you work at living within God’s will, the more likely you are to “hear” your guardian angel. This does not mean a guardian angel can prevent every car crash, for example, but it does mean that you are fully equipped to do the best that you can with maximum grace in life. And that is an immeasurable treasure. I hope this helps with your understanding.

By the way, I understand that the human mind strives to put human or material attributes to angels, such as their bodily appearance, colors or clothing. That is an error but understandable. Angels can take bodily form when God wills them to (as the Bible describes) but notice that most descriptions of angels other than Raphael and Gabriel refer to great light, a burnished brass like flame, and do not describe bodily attributes. Angels in their natural forms are like a cloud of light. You are most in tune with your guardian angel’s appearance and mode of communication if you think of them as a cloud of light in your general vicinity that always faces and is illuminated by God. And while this is an oversimplification of the nature of angels, it is also useful to think of your guardian angel as being reflective of the opposite gender than you. Notice I say “reflective” of because as I said, all of an angel’s being and existence comes from God; it is not self generating. So if you are a woman your guardian angel can be correctly thought of as a cloud of light that is illuminated by God using primarily God’s masculine qualities. If you are a man your guardian angel can be correctly thought of as a cloud of light that is illuminated by God using primarily God’s feminine qualities. These qualities have nothing to do with you or your gender or orientations. It is a natural outcome of how God established the order of life, so that the genders pair and guide, nurture and tend to each other. This is why wisdom and the Holy Spirit can be thought of at various times as masculine or feminine. So the form of your guardian angel is entirely generated by God and is not derivative from your human qualities whatsoever. People who tell you they can see your angel and they are wearing turquoise bloomers are pulling those cartoon images out of their own heads (often happily fueled by “you know who” who likes to deceive). Angels are exactly as they are described in the Bible and the Qur’an; they are not subject to human qualities and attributes, nor are they differentiated by visual vanities of humans. Angels are the light of God focused on a purpose and animated by his spirit and love. They are physical (though of heavenly physicality) embodiments of God’s will.

More About Angels and their Appearances

I’ve been writing tutorials about angels. Here are some facts and analogies to help with understanding them further.

Angels are each unique and individual, with their own personality. They serve God’s will and also are friends and companions to God.

You can read an example of this when three angels traveled to Abraham, to receive hospitality from him, where one is discovered to be God with two companions.

However, the fact that each angel is individual does not mean that they function in any way separate from God. Their very appearance, for example, is a reflection of their connection with God. For example, Abraham could not discern which one was God until they conversed. All three dressed consistently and modestly.

The Bible describes this as, in Jesus’ words, angels constantly face God. Angels are like God’s skin. They constantly have contact with God and are of his substance (glorified bodies in the form of energy.) So an angel never desires to do anything inconsistent with God’s will, because the angel exists as a layer on God.

Therefore angels differ in their appearance and words to humans, or their actions (see the Book of Revelations) by what part of God’s will the angel is overlaying in perfect contact, and bringing into material reality.

This is why angels are often described in terms that are like molten brass, gems, or other physical materials that emit great light and who speak like rushing waters or winds. They do not “dress” or have “hairstyles” like people fantasize depicting them like Renaissance fairies. Their true appearance is using light and elements that best correspond to their mission and God’s will for each angel.

For example, an angel sent as a messenger, like Gabriel, is like grace and spirit peeled off from God’s skin of will and formed into a way that best communicates the message. That type of angel will have a glorious yet accessible to human understanding form of body and voice.

This is why the Cherubim who appeared accompanying God to Ezekiel had very complex appearances. They had a face of man but also of beasts like the lion, ox, and eagle. They gleamed like bronze and moved in straight directions, and had wheels with them (which were images of galaxies.) The Cherubim reside in extremely close proximity with God’s “skin” concerning his will about the structure of the universe, space and time, and all life within, both human and animal. Therefore Ezekiel was privileged to see angels that bore the most complex imprint of the “skin” of God, where they constantly face God.

Because angels constantly face God and perform only his will, they are clothed in light and glory and if could be seen, have simple robes. If anyone tells you that your guardian angel is dressed in pink and tangerine, for example, that person is simply projecting their own imagination on you. Angels have personalities but not egos and their very clothing and appearance is peeled grace “skin” from God. So while each person has an individual and unique guardian angel, because they are performing the same part of the will of God (that is, accompanying, protecting, and guiding) there is no discernable difference among them even if you could see yours and converse.

Animals do not see or hear angels, but sometimes they perceive a vibration of their presence. While animals do not have human “souls” it is not true that they do not live on eternally. All life that ever lived resides in heaven, where there is eternal conservation of life spirit. Again, this is why the Cherubim have animal faces in addition to the human face. Every living creature that ever lives is in a heavenly repository that is like an eternal Garden of Eden, where the lion is with the lamb and so forth. So do not give up on the idea that you could see a “living” dinosaur someday. And the gnats in heaven don’t bite!

Angels Tutorial - Part One

Angels - Part One

I need to get some information out there about the true nature of angels. Its bothered me for quite a while some of the misperceptions. Part One I'm going to deal with the only angels that humans directly deal with, that being guardian angels.

Few things irritate me more than the caponization of angels in the media and popular perceptions. In the 1980-90's I was baffled by the squads of people who think that angels are female or feminized men, that they are everywhere ordering the affairs of humans in a new age kind of way ("Touched by an Angel" a show that stills brings vomit into my mouth when I think of it... the only episode I watched was because Muhammad Ali was on it and despite him it was still truly awful.) Every lucky break or spiritual insight is attributed to some new age EEO balanced troupe of angels tromping around the countryside. Trust me, angels are not touchy feely. And if angels were ordering the affairs of humans we'd not see a lot of the crap we see now.

Any angel that is actually perceived by a living human being is a manifestation of either one's own guardian angel or someone else's guardian angel. So if you read those "angel rescue" stories, those that are truly angelic manifestations are initiated by and instrumented by guardian angels. Guardian angels are the only class of angels that have any interaction with humans at this time. I will discuss angels such as Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael in subsequent posts. They appear and intervene only in great prophetic events, and those events have been documented in the Bible and the Qur'an.

Learn what is told by Jesus about angels:

Matthew 18:10

Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones: for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

In these two sentences Jesus instructs the true nature of angels. One is assigned to each child, and is the guardian angel. Angels by their nature constantly "face God." You can think of this as the analogy that angels, while they have personalities, their entire being is like a mirror that reflects God's will. One side of the mirror constantly faces God. It is that side of the mirror that gathers like light what God intends for them to do. This is why angels have different appearances as described in the Bible. Angels don't look like Irish ladies or racially diverse humans; they look like whatever is the will of God in an energy format (such as fire, water, nurturing presence, etc.) The other side of the angel faces whatever form of physical reality that the angel implements God's will upon. In this case, guardian angels constantly face God and constantly face a child, whom they accompany throughout life. Thus the third point that Jesus is making is that even the humblest of child has an angel of the same order as anyone else who walks the earth.

There is no human walking earth who is receiving favors or interaction from an angel other than one's own guardian angel, either singly or as the guardian angel interacts with other guardian angels. That's a lot of angels! Humans really don't need to make up in their minds for their ego the existence of other angels interacting with them, because as Jesus points out, guardian angels ARE in constant contact with God in heaven.