13
Portals & Planets
A s I continue stepping through this doorway, the sensation of being submerged in warm liquid has spread to my entire body. I wonder if God is reminding me of my experience with the anointing of His Holy Spirit, or was this normal for travel after entering this portal to God knows where.
We suddenly are moving at what seems like light speed. After only a couple seconds, I turn and look back, thinking I’ll get a good look at God’s mountain as we are leaving Earth, and to my surprise the planet I lived on for so many years was now just a speck.
A bit of sadness came over me as I thought of leaving my family and friends behind. I knew I would probably never return, and that the next time I would see any of them would be if they accept Jesus as Lord and make it to Heaven. I wish I could go back and warn a few of my buddies that are straddling the fence, or as it says in God’s Word, in Revelation 3:15-16, “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth .” I believe Jesus was talking about being sold out to Him and not holding on to the worldly side of life.
I guess by this time, a bunch of my friends are probably standing around the funeral home, cracking jokes or telling ‘remember when stories’ about my foolish days.
Nipper tells me “Hey Chado, stop thinking about the past. Your mortal days are gone. You need to take in all the sights, just look around at this blanket of stars and God’s creation of the Heavens.”
I look back one last time, maybe to just catch one last glimpse of Earth, but no, it’s gone, and even our sun looks like a distant star.
Allayer tells me, “We are now on the edge of what you call your galaxy, and about to enter another.”
At our speed, each planet and star we pass by is just a blur. I try to focus ahead to see if I can make out what direction we are headed in. I see a cluster of several stars in the distance that looked like they were in our path. I ask Allayer, “Is that where we are going, that cluster of stars up ahead?”
“Nope, we have one more galaxy to pass through.”
“Well guys, now that we’re on the road again…”
Nipper butts in and starts laughing. “I guess he thinks he’s a country and western singer.”
Allayer mumbles under his breath; “I hear that.”
“Nipper, what I meant to ask is if we aren’t headed for Heaven, where in the world, I mean where in the universe, are we going?”
“We’re bringing you to a planet that God designed strictly for a special purpose.”
“Okay, what purpose would that be?”
“Can’t tell you, you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“You guys are killing me with suspense.” We enter a third and final galaxy, and we seem to be slowing down.
“Nipper, you want to show Chado which planet we are headed to?”
“Sure. Chado, you want to guess or do you want me to tell you?”
“Nipper, you are a card, just tell me already. ”
“Okay, can you see that bluish green one over there between those two moons?”
“Yes. Wow, it looks a lot like Earth.”
“Yep. You can tell God really loves the Earth because it’s almost exactly the same.”
“So is it full of people like on Earth?”
“No, not exactly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just wait, you’ll see.”
As we continue to slow down and get a bit closer, I start seeing flashes of light coming to the planet and leaving the planet.
“Hey guys, what’s with the flashes of light going and coming?”
“That would be souls of people.”
“What? Souls of people, is it like a second Heaven?”
“Nope.”
“Well, can you guys please let me in on what I’m seeing? No guessing games, just tell me.”
“Nipper, go ahead and explain what this place is used for.”
Nipper looks over at me with his funny little grin. “Okay Chado, this planet is called Tabula Rasa. Do you know what that means?”
“No I don’t, I had a limited education; as a matter of fact I got most of my education at the school of hard knocks.”
“Well Tabula Rasa means fresh start, clean slate or an opportunity to start over without prejudice.”
“So does God send people here from Earth and give them another shot at Heaven?”
“Well it’s sort of like that. Why don’t you wait until we get there? Then you can look around and get a handle on God’s handiwork.”
“Okay, but I am totally confused at this point.”
We drop down over a secluded forest, now hovering just a few feet above the trees. I could see a river that leads directly into a small town. Allayer tells me, “That’s where we’re going.” He points in the direction of a large crowd standing near the shore of this crystal clear river. As we get within a few hundred yards from the crowd, I can see a line of people leading out into the water. I’m wondering what they are up to.
We settle down to the ground near a well-manicured park with a walkway leading in the direction of the crowd. I look around at Nipper and Allayer and realize their appearance has changed. Suddenly they are dressed in street clothes similar to what I am wearing, their wings are gone and they now look to be over six feet tall.
“What the heck guys?”
They both burst out laughing and continue for what seemed like a whole minute, and then I can’t help myself. Their joy and happiness were so contagious I joined in, even after realizing the prank was on me. They weren’t childlike Angels anymore; their age now looked to be around their early thirties.
Nipper, in between each burst of laughter, was letting me know that the look on my face was priceless.
“Okay guys, y’all have some explaining to do!”
“Well Chado, we could have come clean earlier in this special venture we’re on. But Nipper wanted to have a little fun so I went along with it. We felt like you wouldn’t mind if we gave you a small surprise.”
“A small surprise? I wouldn’t call that a small surprise, and where are your wings? You guys are almost as tall as my Guardian Angel. This is awesome.”
Nipper asks: “Do you remember when you spoke the words ‘God I guess you’ve got me?’ Then you shut your eyes as you slowly sank to the bottom; you had completely let go of life and surrendered to God’s mercy. Do you also remember briefly opening your eyes and you saw the millions of glowing phosphorus particles all around you and the peace that came over you?”
“Yes, I remember everything. I went from being so scared, gasping for air, helpless, until that very second when I opened my eyes and saw the glowing particles. That’s when the peace came over me and I slowly closed my eyes for what I thought was my last few seconds of life. Then I felt what I thought were two rescue divers grabbing me, one on each arm, but when I opened my eyes I saw you guys. It was so pleasant seeing two childlike Angels with warm smiles, and then as you were helping me stand up, I felt safe and at peace. I was so confused at this point, thinking I was in a deep dream.”
“Well Chado, God wants the transition from death to the afterlife, or should I say from mortal to immortality, to be as pleasant as possible.
As Angels with the duty of comforting and transporting souls at the time of their passing, we are commanded to first appear as a gentle child. When this takes place, no one realizes what’s happening. When they see us they immediately have trust and the peace continues to grow with each passing moment. If we had presented ourselves like we are now, you may have gotten the wrong idea, been more confused, or possibly even feared us. Trust me; God knows what He’s doing. He’s only been at it since the beginning. Oh, by the way, your question about our wings and our whole new appearance: Do you remember the term ‘shape shifters’ used by some of the earlier Indian tribes?”
“Yeah, I have seen several movies that had the voodoo thing going. I never believed any of it.”
“Well, you were wise not to believe such foolishness. Mortals don’t have the power to pull that one off. But in the Spiritual Realm, angels and demons can, you need to remember this. Lucifer can disguise himself as anything that has blood running through it. You do recall, the Garden of Eden, right?”
“Yes, he appeared to Eve as a snake.”
“Just keep that in mind; the Spiritual Realm can sometimes be a bit tricky. As Angels we don’t usually take the form of anything other than what God gave us. And of course what you’ve known us as until now; it was just us as youngsters. Pretty cool don’t you think?”
“Yes, absolutely cool.”
“Oh, by the way, we hope the friendly little prank we pulled on you didn’t hurt your feelings too bad.”
“No, of course not. I’ve picked on y’all for some time now, so I guess I can take it as well as I can dish it out.”
Nipper smiles, “You’ll find out that God allows His Angels to have a bit of fun… as long as we don’t really hurt someone’s feelings too bad, and follow His commandments and do His will.”
I follow Allayer and Nipper as we head off in the direction of the crowd that’s gathered by the river’s edge. Allayer whispers, “We can’t tell anyone what we are doing, where we’ve been, or where we are headed. Remember, we need to blend in.”