Ministering Spirits

The world is caught up in Halloween celebrations, which can range from children playing dress-up and asking neighbors for candy; to adults finding an excuse to indulge in mysterious libations and provocative, satirical or even violent costumes and fantasies; to even more sinister acts paying homage to or worshipping Satan and the evil spirits he dominates. 

 

The Bible warns us against consulting evil spirits, as King Saul did directly when he asked the witch of Endor to communicate with the departed soul of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28:7-21)), or indirectly through astrology, witchcraft, wizardry and soothsaying (2 Chronicles 33:6; Leviticus 19:31;20:6; 2 Kings 21:6; Acts 16:16-18). Today this would include such activities as consulting a horoscope, fortune teller, Ouija board, or Tarot deck, or attending a seance. Many Halloween festivities feature practitioners of these dark arts.

Scripture also warns of the power of evil spirits to inhabit the soul, spirit and body of those who leave themselves open to demonic possession, and shows the miraculous power of Jesus Christ to cast these out even when His disciples could not (Mark 5:2-19; Luke 4:41; 7:21; 8:2; Matthew 4:24; 8:16, 28-33; etc). 

Thankfully, once we are saved by placing our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), we are immediately indwelled by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). We therefore cannot be demon possessed, for He Who is in us is greater than He Who is in the world (1 John 4:4). 

At Halloween and year-round, born-again Christians (John 3:3-8) should not be preoccupied with evil spirits, but we should instead thank God for ministering spirits. God sends these to minister to those who will inherit salvation, implying that they protect those who will be saved one day as well as those who already are saved (Hebrews 1:14). 

Angels in Scripture communicate divine messages, such as telling the Virgin Mary that God had chosen her to give birth to His Son (Luke 1:26-38); Abraham that his wife Sarah would conceive in her old age and he would father a great nation (Genesis 18); and Zacharias that his barren, aged wife Elizabeth would give birth to John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25). 

But in addition, God has sent angels to protect, guard and minister to His children going through trials and danger. At least at times, these angels may appear in human form. The author of Hebrews tells us to practice hospitality to strangers, for in so doing, we may be entertaining angels while unaware of their true identity (Hebrews 13:2). 

God sent His angel to shut the mouths of the ravenous lions about to devour His faithful servant Daniel (Daniel 6:22), and to prevent Abraham from sacrificing Isaac as God had commanded (Genesis 22). He sent angels to comfort Jesus after He was tempted by the devil for forty days (Matthew 4:1-11), and again in the garden of Gethsemane as His emotional distress was so great on the eve of His passion that He sweated blood (Luke 22:42-44). 

In my own life, I believe there were at least two instances when God sent invisible angels to protect my loved ones even before they or I were saved. When my husband Richard was renovating an old building where we would soon open our Rhapsody Ballroom, I drove there one evening with our two-year old son to see how it was coming along, 

“Brendan drive!” our son exclaimed excitedly as we got in the car, trying to grab my keys. Once we arrived, I brought in my purse and keys and placed them out of Brendan’s reach on the very top shelf of a bookcase against the wall. Richard called me over to the other end of the ballroom-to-be, where he was working on the music center. 

From there, we suddenly realized in horror that Brendan was climbing up the bookshelf to get the keys, about 70 feet away from the music center, and that the bookshelf was not yet fastened to the wall. Powerless to intervene in time, we watched the shelf teeter and fall to the ground with a sickening thud, with Brendan on the top shelf. 

I felt his very short life flash before my eyes as we ran over, for from our vantage point it appeared that the shelf had struck him across the forehead and pinned him beneath, crushing his head. But when we reached him he was laughing and shouting “Shelf go boom!” Miraculously, my purse had slipped between the top shelf and the floor, suspending it about 1 inch from Brendan’s forehead! Surely an unseen angel had positioned my purse to protect Brendan’s head and even guided him gently to the floor! 

Even though we were then unsaved and unaware of Bible teaching regarding angels, we knew enough to thank God for saving our child’s life, after we shed tears of relief and shared many group hugs! 

Several years later, when we were still unsaved, Richard was renovating the separate room at the back of the ballroom, where he had exposed the ceilings to give us more height to practice overhead lifts. As he stood on the top step of a 15-foot ladder, the metal suddenly collapsed beneath him and he fell from that height onto a hard floor consisting of wood-grain flooring applied directly to cement. 

Although he was severely shaken and sore, he did not hit his head, nor was a single bone broken, nor did he even suffer any sprains! We didn’t know it at the time, but this room was where our dance ministry would much later take shape, as we would choreograph to Christian music and themes under Holy Spirit guidance. I believe Satan was trying to thwart this future ministry by injuring Richard, but that God sent an unseen angel to cushion his fall. Otherwise, damage from such a fall might not only have ended our dance career, but even his life! 

But sometimes God sends angels that appear in human form, ministering spirits to comfort, guide or rescue His children. Shortly after we were saved and baptized, I sang in a Christmas cantata at our church, and afterwards our family of three went for brunch at a small restaurant consisting of only several tables in a single room. 

I began to chew a bite of roast beef when it suddenly slid down my windpipe and I could not speak or even breathe. I grabbed Richard’s hand and gestured my predicament. He began patting me assertively on the back, and then so forcefully that we later found indentations on my skin from the beaded jacket I was wearing. When that didn’t work, he slipped his finger into my throat to try to dislodge the meat, all to no avail. 

“Oh, my God, she’s choking!” someone said. I began to realize that minutes had gone by and I still could not breathe, and that at any moment I could asphyxiate and be brain dead. Help me, Jesus! I prayed silently. 

Suddenly a man I had not noticed before, of average height but muscular, with dark hair, wearing a black turtleneck and slacks, walked over to us, gently placed a hand on Richard’s arm to move him aside, and calmly said, “Excuse me.” 

He reached toward me as if he were about to do a Heimlich maneuver, but the instant I felt his touch, I also felt the piece of meat slide down my esophagus, freeing my airway. 

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” I cried loudly.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” Richard asked. 

 

I hugged Richard and repeated, “Yes, I’m fine, praise God!” We immediately turned back to the man to thank him, but he was gone! We raced through the small restaurant looking for him at every table, but he was nowhere to be found inside or in the parking lot. We asked the diners if they had seen him, but no one could explain where he went or how he seemed to vanish into thin air! 

 

As Halloween calls attention to evil spirits, let us praise God for ministering spirits, and may we be continually aware of and thankful for their presence!   

© 2017 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

 

Ministering Spirits

The world is caught up in Halloween celebrations, which can range from children playing dress-up and asking neighbors for candy; to adults finding an excuse to indulge in mysterious libations and provocative, satirical or even violent costumes and fantasies; to even more sinister acts paying homage to or worshipping Satan and the evil spirits he dominates. 

 

The Bible warns us against consulting evil spirits, as King Saul did directly when he asked the witch of Endor to communicate with the departed soul of the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 28:7-21)), or indirectly through astrology, witchcraft, wizardry and soothsaying (2 Chronicles 33:6; Leviticus 19:31;20:6; 2 Kings 21:6; Acts 16:16-18). Today this would include such activities as consulting a horoscope, fortune teller, Ouija board, or Tarot deck, or attending a seance. Many Halloween festivities feature practitioners of these dark arts.

Scripture also warns of the power of evil spirits to inhabit the soul, spirit and body of those who leave themselves open to demonic possession, and shows the miraculous power of Jesus Christ to cast these out even when His disciples could not (Mark 5:2-19; Luke 4:41; 7:21; 8:2; Matthew 4:24; 8:16, 28-33; etc). 

Thankfully, once we are saved by placing our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), we are immediately indwelled by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16). We therefore cannot be demon possessed, for He Who is in us is greater than He Who is in the world (1 John 4:4). 

At Halloween and year-round, born-again Christians (John 3:3-8) should not be preoccupied with evil spirits, but we should instead thank God for ministering spirits. God sends these to minister to those who will inherit salvation, implying that they protect those who will be saved one day as well as those who already are saved (Hebrews 1:14). 

Angels in Scripture communicate divine messages, such as telling the Virgin Mary that God had chosen her to give birth to His Son (Luke 1:26-38); and Abraham that his wife Sarah would conceive in her old age and he would father a great nation (Genesis 18); and Zacharias that his barren, aged wife Elizabeth would give birth to John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25). 

But in addition, God has sent angels to protect, guard and minister to His children going through trials and danger. At least at times, these angels may appear in human form. The author of Hebrews tells us to practice hospitality to strangers, for in so doing, we may be entertaining angels while unaware of their true identity (Hebrews 13:2). 

God sent His angel to shut the mouths of the ravenous lions about to devour His faithful servant Daniel (Daniel 6:22), and to prevent Abraham from sacrificing Isaac as God had commanded (Genesis 22). He sent angels to comfort Jesus after He was tempted by the devil for forty days (Matthew 4:1-11), and again in the garden of Gethsemane as His emotional distress was so great on the eve of His passion that He sweated blood (Luke 22:42-44). 

In my own life, I believe there were at least two instances when God sent invisible angels to protect my loved ones even before they or I were saved. When my husband Richard was renovating an old building where we would soon open our Rhapsody Ballroom, I drove there one evening with our two-year old son to see how it was coming along, 

“Brendan drive!” our son exclaimed excitedly as we got in the car, trying to grab my keys. Once we arrived, I brought in my purse and keys and placed them out of Brendan’s reach on the very top shelf of a bookcase against the wall. Richard called me over to the other end of the ballroom-to-be, where he was working on the music center. 

From there, we suddenly realized in horror that Brendan was climbing up the bookshelf to get the keys, about 70 feet away from the music center, and that the bookshelf was not yet fastened to the wall. Powerless to intervene in time, we watched the shelf teeter and fall to the ground with a sickening thud, with Brendan on the top shelf. 

I felt his very short life flash before my eyes as we ran over, for from our vantage point it appeared that the shelf had struck him across the forehead and pinned him beneath, crushing his head. But when we reached him he was laughing and shouting “Shelf go boom!” Miraculously, my purse had slipped between the top shelf and the floor, suspending it about 1 inch from Brendan’s forehead! Surely an unseen angel had positioned my purse to protect Brendan’s head and even guided him gently to the floor! 

Even though we were then unsaved and unaware of Bible teaching regarding angels, we knew enough to thank God for saving our child’s life, after we shed tears of relief and shared many group hugs! 

Several years later, when we were still unsaved, Richard was renovating the separate room at the back of the ballroom, where he had exposed the ceilings to give us more height to practice overhead lifts. As he stood on the top step of a 15-foot ladder, the metal suddenly collapsed beneath him and he fell from that height onto a hard floor consisting of wood-grain flooring applied directly to cement. 

Although he was severely shaken and sore, he did not hit his head, nor was a single bone broken, nor did he even suffer any sprains! We didn’t know it at the time, but this room was where our dance ministry would much later take shape, as we would choreograph to Christian music and themes under Holy Spirit guidance. I believe Satan was trying to thwart this future ministry by injuring Richard, but that God sent an unseen angel to cushion his fall. Otherwise, damage from such a fall might not only have ended our dance career, but even his life! 

But sometimes God sends angels that appear in human form, ministering spirits to comfort, guide or rescue His children. Shortly after we were saved and baptized, I sang in a Christmas cantata at our church, and afterwards our family of three went for brunch at a small restaurant consisting of only several tables in a single room. 

I began to chew a bite of roast beef when it suddenly slid down my windpipe and I could not speak or even breathe. I grabbed Richard’s hand and gestured my predicament. He began patting me assertively on the back, and then so forcefully that we later found indentations on my skin from the beaded jacket I was wearing. When that didn’t work, he slipped his finger into my throat to try to dislodge the meat, all to no avail. 

“Oh, my God, she’s choking!” someone said. I began to realize that minutes had gone by and I still could not breathe, and that at any moment I could asphyxiate and be brain dead. Help me, Jesus! I prayed silently. 

Suddenly a man I had not noticed before, of average height but muscular, with dark hair, wearing a black turtleneck and slacks, walked over to us, gently placed a hand on Richard’s arm to move him aside, and calmly said, “Excuse me.” 

He reached toward me as if he were about to do a Heimlich maneuver, but the instant I felt his touch, I also felt the piece of meat slide down my esophagus, freeing my airway. 

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” I cried loudly.

“Are you sure you’re OK?” Richard asked. 

 

I hugged Richard and repeated, “Yes, I’m fine, praise God!” We immediately turned back to the man to thank him, but he was gone! We raced through the small restaurant looking for him at every table, but he was nowhere to be found inside or in the parking lot. We asked the diners if they had seen him, but no one could explain where he went or how he seemed to vanish into thin air! 

 

As Halloween calls attention to evil spirits, let us praise God for ministering spirits, and may we be continually aware of and thankful for their presence!   

© 2017 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

 

Invisible

Photo by M62 2007

After midweek evening service at church a few nights ago, I had an unforeseen encounter with an invisible obstacle. As we returned to our car in a neighboring parking lot, I tripped over a cement parking block that was, at least from my perspective, invisible as I stepped down off the curb. The street light illuminated the car from behind, casting a shadow over the parking block, which had discolored to match the color of the pavement, giving me no warning of its presence,

As my feet hit the block and propelled me forward and down, I slammed both knees against the cement and my jaw and chin against the hood of the car. My first thought was that all my teeth had been knocked out, and almost immediately thereafter I was sure I had shattered both kneecaps.

Thankfully my husband was there to lift me to my feet and go running for ice, and my pastor and church family surrounded me with love, concern, assistance and prayer. I could feel the power of those prayers, and my fear was soon transformed into relief and gratitude that I was not seriously injured and would be left with only a few minor scrapes and bruises.

Like this incident, so many threats we might face are unforeseen and invisible – a burglar lying in wait by our doorway, a giant iceberg looming beneath the ocean in the path of a speeding ship, even a cancer cell lurking in our blood stream. We may believe we are invincible because of our high tech security system, the seaworthiness of the vessel, or our usually excellent health.

We tend to forget that we are undeserving of these unearned benefits, but that they are gifts from God (James 1:17), and that He could remove them at any time in accordance with His perfect will (Job 1:21). Yet for His children, who are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way (John 14:6) to Heaven, God works all things together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28).

How many times have we complained about some minor inconvenience, like being delayed at a traffic light, while being unaware that He is actually protecting us from an accident further down the road, invisible to our eyes yet clearly perceived by His perfect radar.

We worry about what is in our sights, as it distracts us from what may be far worse. We may think we see clearly because what we are looking at is well illuminated, as was the car in this incident, yet are we vigilant (1 Peter 5:8) about what is hidden in the shadows? Only God knows all things (Job 42:3; Psalm 139:6), past present and future, while we are blissfully unaware of many dangers threatening our physical safety, our emotional wellbeing, and our spiritual wholeness. Yet His unseen hand protects us from these and more (Exodus 32:11; Deuteronomy 3:24; 4:34).

As I thought of the force of the impact and the unforgiving nature of the surfaces my body fell against, I realized how miraculous it was that I walked away with only a little swelling and a few scratches. Thank you, Lord Jesus! Injury to my jaw could have silenced my teaching and singing ministries, and fracturing my knees could have ended our dance ministry. Yet God in His grace and strength empowered me (2 Corinthians 12:9) to resume singing and dancing the morning after I fell!

As I thanked and praised God for His protection, this portion of Psalm 91 came to mind:

Psalm 91:9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Similar passages recur in the Gospels (Matthew 4:6; Luke 4:11), emphasizing the importance of the angels, or ministering spirits, God sends to protect those who are or will become His children (Hebrews 1:13-14). In the Old Testament, angels sometimes appeared in the form of strong men (Genesis 18), and sometimes they were invisible to men yet perceived by animals (Numbers 22:21-34). But often our senses may be blinded to the spiritual warfare raging around us, with Satan and his demons seeking to devour us while angels protect us from this onslaught (Ephesians 6:12).

All of Psalm 91 describes various dangers against which God is our shield and refuge. As I was so dramatically reminded, His unseen angels can even hold us as we stumble, lessening the blow that Satan would deal us. We can’t see the prayers of saints who intercede for us, but we can feel their power (James 5:16) as they ascend to His throne (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4) and radiate blessings back to us.

Dangers hidden from our limited perception may be invisible, but our God is invincible! His angels and the prayers of His saints may be invisible to us, but that does not diminish their effectiveness. Praise the Lord that He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent; that He loves us infinitely; and that no danger can threaten us unless He allows it for our ultimate good and His glory!

© 2019 Laurie Collett