Angel Without A Face

I got a word from the Lord for a friend of mine recently and gave it to him with excitement. It was directions actually regarding a situation he was in. When I saw him a few days later I asked if he did what the Lord asked and he said no. I was really shocked! I couldn't believe he didn't listen to God's word. As soon as I said it the Holy Spirit reminded me that the entire Bible is His word and I don't listen to it all the time either. UGH!

That's the thing about God He isn't interested in talking to you about one of His other kids. His response to me questioning someone else's decision is, it's none ya.

He wants us to concentrate on our own stuff. I find it's easier and less painful to focus on others don't you?

He reminded me I need to remember what my face reflects when I'm in sin. That if I want to be blessed I need to listen to what the word tells me.

James 1:23-25 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

We need to remember what we look like.

I think one of the reasons for this is when we focus on ourselves it opens us up to be used for others. If I really see my true reflection with it all it's flaws it makes me more sensitive to others and less judgmental. It also makes me more grateful to God that He loves me in spite of myself.

In a way these times of being used by God could be considered Angel times. A time when we go beyond our earthly feelings and allow the Lord to connect our Spirit with someone else's and minister to them.

For example last week I was walking into a church and there's a stair case leading to the entrance with stairs on both sides and they meet in the middle. I was walking up one side and there was a young man walking up the other side. I felt a quickening in my Spirit as soon as I saw him and said good morning.

He was about 23 maybe 6'1 wearing baggy jeans, tank top and a white hat. Kinda that bad boy don't mess with me look. He didn't make eye contact with me or respond to my cheerie hello.

I continued inside and found a place to sit. It was pretty crowded so there were people standing in random spots. Who do you think ended up standing next to my chair? You guessed it my no eye contact friend. I felt this immediate connection to him even though he still did not acknowledge my existence. I watched him for a while as he was praising our sweet Jesus and could feel a heaviness in his heart. I knew the Lord wanted me to hug him but I didn't want to disturb his time with the God, so I waited. A few minutes later I knew it was time. I got up and tapped his shoulder, he opened his eyes and I told him the Lord wanted me to hug him and asked if it would be OK. He said yes and proceeded to lay his head on my shoulder. I held his head like I would a small boy and asked his name. I then began praying for him what the Holy Spirit gave me to say and this young man just sobbed right there in my arms. I could cry as I write this it was such a tender moment.

I had a similar experience a few other times. Once I was at a party sitting on a bar stool minding my own business and this young girl, funny she was about 23 also, walked over to me, laid her head on my chest and just hugged me.

If It weren't a spirit moment it would have been an uncomfortable amount of time but again the Lord was allowing me to be one of His ministering angels.

The thing about being an angel is you have to be faceless. What I mean is at that moment it has nothing to do with you. It's not Gena they are drawn to it's Jesus in Gena. It is at these times I feel the closest to Jesus. It just pure, raw love.

Gems I want to encourage you to give others a break and focus on your stuff. Be courageous! Allow God to use you as an angel to someone in your world. Forget what you look like, be faceless and fearless and be a ministering angel to a hurting person.

I want to share a poem a dear friend of mine wrote.

Cry my little Angel, but don't be blue

The Lord God has a place for you

Life doesn't make sense, you can try and try

sometimes it just feels good to cry

look over your shoulder, an angel is waiting

just reach out for her, she's there for the taking

love is all around, it's in the air

take a deep breath, don't just stare

By F. Kalemeris

Random Thoughts

I was cleaning up my kitchen this morning and was about to throw away some old bread when the thought popped in my head to throw it outside to the birds. I walked out to my patio and threw it into the grass and proceeded to water my plants. As I was standing there the following verse popped into my head:
Luke 12:22-24 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!
 I started thinking about the bread I had thrown on the grass and the Lord said to me “I have chosen to use you today to feed my birds.” Right after that I heard a noise and turned my head to see what it was and there looking me straight in the eye was the bird in the above picture. Honestly when he was standing straight up we were almost eye to eye. You can't really see it but in his beak is a piece of the bread I had thrown. I grabbed my phone took his picture and said to my breakfast guest “your welcome.”
I began to meditate on the verse and how God takes care of all His creation and on this day He allowed me to feed one of His own. It got me thinking about how much more important we are to Him than the beautiful wild life He has created.
I started thinking about the times the Lord has allowed me to feed His children. On Tuesday nights I help with the Soup Kitchen, in the past I helped bring food to the Women and Men's shelters in Leesburg. I remember one time I had so much food that was given to me and my family the Lord told me to drive into a neighborhood of lower income houses and He would tell me which house to stop at. It was a small white house with black shutters and lawn ornaments in the front yard, I remember that because my daughter hates lart (lawn art.) The Lord said stop here and give this family food. I pulled into the drive way walked up and knocked on the door not really knowing what I would say. An elderly gentlemen opened the door and I said “Hi I'm Gena and the Lord told me to bring you some food.” He was a Christian too and he just smiled the biggest smile and acted as if he had been waiting for me to show up. True story!
I don't tell you these stories for you to think I'm so great but to remind you of how Great Our God is! When He said He would feed us, He meant it. Just a random thought.
What is it about the ocean? We can sit on the shore for hours gazing into the ocean, even at night with no activity going on. No whales spewing water or dolphins doing acrobats, just the crashing of the waves and the mighty sounds of uncontrollable water. What draws up to water? Perhaps it's our souls understanding of baptism.
Luke 3:21-22 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
I have only had the honor of baptizing one person so far, my beautiful spiritual daughter Debbie. It was such a numbing feeling, that's how my feet felt in the freezing water.  Seriously, I was so honored that Debbie would allow me to baptize her.
Baptism is an important decision we make to follow in Christ footsteps to die to self and be raised to eternal life with Jesus. I remember it vividly and will treasure that experience forever. Maybe the ocean beckons us to ask the same thing the eunuch in the Bible asked “why shouldn't I be baptized? Acts 8:36,38 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
Again, perhaps it's the things that are stirred in our Spirit, a feeling of peace and wholeness that our soul knows very well. The commitment of baptism that conjoins us with Jesus himself.
Just a random thought.
The same could be said of fire. I was at a fund raiser recently and when it got dark the guys decided to have a bonfire. How do I know it was the guys decision? Well they made a mound of pallets about 10 feet high which caused the flames to shoot up about 20 feet, you had to sit about a block away to enjoy it. OK that's an exaggeration but it was a pretty big fire. As the fire burned more and more people gathered around it to watch it's dancing flames myself included. Have you ever noticed how mesmerizing it is to watch a fire? I asked the Lord what is it about fire we find so intriguing? The answer I got was, "maybe it's because that was the way I first chose to show myself to you.
" Exodus 3:1-5 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”And Moses said, “Here I am.” “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Exodus 13:21 By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Maybe subconsciously our Spirit is communing with God when we gaze upon a fire. When we behold the beauty of it's dancing flames and the more the air hits it the more it spreads and consumes everything it touches. The way it burns debris yet brings new life to what's underneath the earth. Maybe we yearn for that kind of consuming fire.  
Hebrews 12:29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
 Maybe these are all just random thoughts or maybe they are a way of the Holy Spirit sending us thoughts. I'm going with the latter, you can choose for yourself.