Penrith, in the western suburbs of Sydney, was not a place I normally associated with the words “Anointing of God”. Yet here we were, outside a basketball sporting centre, to see David and Kathy Walters. The Walters had a very anointed ministry, particularly with children. We had brought our kids with us to see what was going on.
As soon as I got to the front door I could barely stand, the presence of God was so strong. What is going on here? I looked into the auditorium. Nothing flash, just some musical instruments, microphones and a sound desk. But the feeling grew. We walked in and took our seats. The band began to play. This music was not your average worship music – not because it was technically better but it directed solely at God.
I lifted my hands up toward heaven and began to pray. As I prayed people I knew appeared in my mind and as they did I prayed for them. People from work, people from the protestant Church, people from the Catholic Church, people from work and relatives. I lifted them all up in prayer before the Lord.. And as I looked around the basketball stadium, I witnessed people all around me doing the same thing. The guy on the soundboard had an asthma puffer beside him and during the course of the day I watched him inhale deeply on it. There were other people who were obviously physically ill in some ways there as well, judging by the way they walked or stood – people from every background.
As the music really started to go there, I had an intense and strange feeling that we were being watched – from above the metal barriers around the stadium. There were steel poles, suspended from wires on the roof and were the framework for wire mesh which separated each basketball court.
I couldn’t help but keep looking along the railing. I felt a small still voice say “Would you like to see what it is?”
“Yes Lord” I replied.
Suddenly a between a dozen and sixteen angels appeared along the railing. Some were holding onto the wire supports. Others were talking to each other.. The rest were watching us intently.
My jaw dropped. I stood in awe watching. They were dressed in a type of armour, white gold, shining, with hair like the sun and faces that were beautiful. On their backs was a scabbard with a sword in it. Some had what looked like pouches tied to their waists.
I couldn’t believe it. This can’t be happening I thought. Suddenly a rumbling sound came from outside the court – a sound like a stampede with the gnashing of teeth and grumblings. It was a sound in the spiritual realm.. The angels turned to face it and drew their swords. The sound stopped. When they felt it was safe enough, they turned back to us. As we worshipped they lifted their arms to heaven. As they did this, in the twinkling of an eye, their armour turned into robes. They all did this in unison, praising God. When they dropped their arms they were instantly back in their armour.
Some of them reached into the pouches and threw what looked like glitter onto the crowd. I saw it hit the drum kit, the drummer and the musicians. Some of it drifted onto the crowd.
“How strange!!” I said to myself. I had never read of anything like that. What was this strange substance.
I noticed one of the angels was looking directly at me, on my right hand side. I looked at him, then giggled and looked away. Then I looked back. I nodded and spoke to him, not with my voice but with my mind, which was very odd. I said the first thing that came into my mind.
“Hi. What is your name?”
“Araniel” The angel replied.
Whoa. The angel spoke back.
“What are you doing here?” I spoke, grinning from ear to ear, barely able to contain what was going on.
“We are here to protect you”.
“Thank you” I said, not really knowing what else to say. The amazing thing was that the angels were just going about their duty, not seeking anything but to do the will of God. The worship leader asked us all to sit after the last song. As we sat, the angels flopped onto their backsides rather elegantly along the railing, some continuing to throw the glitter.
As the service started the angels just simply faded out, although their presence could still be felt. As soon as David Walters started talking, I forgot about the amazing thing I had just seen because all the glory in the sermon was being given to God and to Christ. In the break I mumbled what I had seen to the people who were with me – and they were amazed. Then I heard someone in the background mention something extraordinary.
“Did you see the gold dust on Kathy Walters, it’s all over her?”
No way. This was incredible. I had thought the angels were throwing glitter but now other people can see it on the guest speaker!!!
That day I saw the most incredible things. I saw children (including my own) come under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, lay hands on the sick, pray for them and the sick were healed. The experience of seeing the hand of the Lord at work far outweighed anything I had seen earlier. The man with the asthma puffer disappeared after the kids layed hands on him. He came back pouring with sweat and took the microphone.
“I have had chronic asthma for 15 years. I have not been able to run 100 metres during that time it has been so bad. Tonight the Lord has healed me.. I just ran 50 laps around the basketball court outside”
The crowd broke into thunderous applause. “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord” they shouted. That healing was one of around twenty that night equally as tangible.
And the angels? They had been sent to protect us and to worship their Lord just as we had.
No comments:
Post a Comment