A NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE.
People often ask me when they learn of my near death experience in heaven; “What do Angels look like?” I usually take a deep breath, sigh and smile for two reasons; first, I cannot adequately answer that question no matter how hard I try, it’s just too beautiful to describe with the words I have in my language and secondly, I smile because it is a pleasant understanding I long for everyone to experience.
How do I answer such a question in a few sentences without feeling that I have totally missed the mark regarding their majestic appearance? It is a task which I have deemed impossible but one that everyone desires to hear. In fact, I do not, have not, nor desire to read other’s accounts about heaven because what I hear and read grossly misses the mark regarding the beauty, majestic indescribable attributes of heaven and the angels and even of Jesus Himself. For this reason, my passion has been to focus on the things that I came away “knowing” about the past, the “here and now” and the future and to use that knowledge to better operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the “here and now”.
I want to share what I learned for the purpose of helping us more effectively attain our individual and corporate purpose in this life and the work we are called to do in preparation for the coming Kingdom. To me, focusing on what God has done, is doing and will do in bringing about His Kingdom is of utmost importance. When we gain knowledge and understanding, we then can all get to the point where we can experience completely those things which I experienced in those few moments on earth but were an eternal moment without the passage of time in Heaven!
I have recorded much of this information in my books and talked about them when preaching the Word of God to His people. My books, CD’s and DVD’s only capture a fraction of the understanding that was deposited or as I prefer to say “was downloaded” within me.
MADE ANEW
So what about those angels, the topic of this little discussion of my experiences which are too phenomenal and majestic to describe? Did I see them? Do I know what they look like?
The answer is, Yes! I did.
In fact, from the moment I left my body and saw it upon the operating table, I not only was present with the LORD Jesus Christ but there also was an angel there. No, Jesus did not “come to get me”, He was already there! You see, from the moment, I asked Him to come into my heart at the age of 10 and be my LORD, He has continued to make good on His promise to “never leave me or forsake me”. (Hebrews 13:5) Therefore from that moment on, His Holy Spirit was enjoined or mixed with mine and when my spirit left my body, His Spirit went with my spirit for it had become One spirit, one with Him and One with me!
He was not beside me, behind me, in front of me, but was within and all around me at the same time! We were one and the same, yet separate and distinct! An angel was present in that operating room, but he also was not there to “get me” either, but he was there as a warring angel to stop the powers of darkness from undermining my purpose. The angel, as big as the operating room itself stood, wings unfurled as if to hold back a crowd. He, in the spiritual realm was standing guard against the attempt of the enemy to steal my purpose by stealing my earthly life.
Jesus cried out, “Devil, you shall not have him!”
Jesus responded by seizing the opportunity to take my purpose to a new level, one He knew I could not handle alone but only with the increase of His presence in my life…giving me more and more of His Spirit of understanding and knowledge and the wisdom to apply it to the “here and now” as the present moves into the future of His people. Jesus cried out, “Devil, you shall not have him”!
Jesus then in descriptive terms that humans could understand said; “Instead, I will take what you intended for evil and make him better than he was before, for I will take this opportunity to give him knowledge and understanding that he did not have before to equip my people to bring about my Kingdom and to destroy yours!” The flesh died that day, albeit for a moment physically but the spirit that re-entered that body was different or shall we say enhanced more than when it left; the same lump of clay but with enhanced contents so to speak!
GUARDIAN ANGELS
So what about that angel who held back the forces of evil from stealing my purpose or shall I say God’s purpose for this solitary imperfect full of failure life? What did I see? I can best describe it in one sentence which then when I read it becomes woefully inadequate but from a human vantage point does the best possible job I can.
That warring angel with wings unfurled against the forces of darkness was a being “more beautiful than the most beautiful woman you can imagine, full of charm and gentle grace but at the same time more powerful than the most powerful man you could imagine and more handsome than any man who ever walked the face of the earth.”
Yes, this being possessed both masculine and feminine characteristics at the same time and carried with it a presence and authority of God Himself. The presence of God illuminated from within him but yet at the same time was all around him. Their wings when not unfurled wrap with precision around their body like a robe and when the robe is unfurled it reveals yet another robe which at times appears to be a robe of armor. All is with incredible precision and perfect pure gold detailing. God’s presence within the angel illuminated him from within with a powerful light which was gentle and warm in its glow…but you could feel its power! Tears come to my eyes as I write these words.
Yes, all the angels I have seen are like that, both masculine and feminine at the same time yet each one possessing defining characteristics of their own just as people do. They project the love, grace and power or authority of God in their warm gaze that becomes flames of laser fire when their gaze turns toward the powers of darkness.
What we see as warmth and love becomes fire and judgment when the gaze is cast upon that which is evil. When their eyes fall upon a Child of God, you can feel the Father’s love projecting from them. The love of God sustains us as the Word says, but that same love is what brings judgment and destruction to the forces of evil. Yes, they are doomed by the love of God! The angels appear fearsome but brought no fear or concern to me. They are totally equipped for each and every situation. They just need our love and obedience to our common LORD for their attributes to be effective towards us.
The presence of God illuminated from within him, yet at the same time was all around him.
Now are you ready for this? Here is another revelation, a special gift from the LORD through me to you as it were; There is an angel in heaven which possesses attributes or shall I say resembles each of God’s children… call it our “angel version!” They are specifically as we have heard it said; “our angel”.
Yes the very angel who is given responsibility for each of us who name the name of Christ here on earth and “who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28) has a spiritual resemblance to us. I remember saying out loud in my experience; “men and woman upon the earth have resemblance and are patterned after an angel in heaven”.
The LORD corrected me however and said; “No, I have patterned an angel in heaven out of each of my children and assigned them to watch over them throughout eternity”. Hebrews 1:14 tells us “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (NIV) Yes, our guardian angel so to speak is assigned to “minister” to us and they are empowered by our love and obedience to the LORD God whom they serve in ministry to us.
“Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2, NIV)
EDITOR’S NOTE: You can get Buck Stephens book, Secrets of a Supernatural World: Revelations from a Near Death Experience at bookstores everywhere or direct from the publisher here: Secrets of a Supernatural World
About Buck Stephens
