Grace's Angel
From February, 2016
Grace's Angel is painted with Acrylic on Canvas. Silver, Gold and Blue Metallics were used so that when one walks by the painting, it appears to light up and glow as a result of the reflections from the light source in the room.
SEEING ANGELS
If you have followed me here or on social media for any length of time at all you know that the Lord has allowed me to start seeing angels over the last year or so. (Click here for some angel sighting testimonies!) For so long I kind of avoided the subject of angels because there is so much misleading New Age fascination and wrongful worship of them that I just did not want to go down that path. But the more I get to know my Jesus and His word, the more I recognize His gift of ministering angels that He gives to us who call Him Savior. Since they are in His word, I want to understand them as much as possible.
There are many stories of angels throughout scripture, but only two outwardly named that I know of, Gabriel who appears to be a messenger angel, and Michael who seems to be a warring angel. Although maybe their duties can change depending on the Lord's orders? I'm not sure. As you can see, both of these angels have what we would consider men's names. So interesting...
THE GENDER QUESTION
When I see angels I do not ever see them as male or female per se, and I do not think scripturally they have genders in the human sense of the word, but with the gender confusion that is so prevalent a weapon of the enemy in society these days I've been hesitant to go down this path. I felt the Lord prompt me to start painting the angels I see for people a few months ago and just didn't know how to even go there without this subject coming up. How do I paint something genderless without promoting gender confusion among humans? Prayerfully. WHAT I SEE Interestingly, I do not see faces. I see light, clothing, their objects of ministry, colors & form, but they are faceless to me. I suspect their faces will start to come into focus as I grow in this area. That said, as a mere human artist, what I have decided to do is to paint a representation of their beauty, emotion and function, rather than a perfect reproduction of what I saw. Within that, I will be depicting them as male or female in a sense. In my humanness I think I also naturally assign females to females most of the time and with men it seems to be depending on what the angel is there for, that will show in my paintings although I must state again that is not a true depiction of my biblical theology, only a tangible way for me to express the beauty that I am seeing. GRACE'S ANGELS
The first of my angel paintings is Grace's Angel. Grace is an eleven year old girl from California and the eldest daughter of a close friend of mine. Soon after reconnecting after a twenty year lull in the friendship, I was blessed to fly out for a visit and some ministry in their home last Summer. We talked a lot about Jesus, His word and the gifts of the Holy Spirit! (My favorite thing to do!) Grace and her little sister were so inquisitive and excited about the whole new supernatural world that the Lord was opening up to them!
One afternoon while their mom was getting ready, I sat with the two girls while they fired away questions about the bible. All the sudden, Grace said, "Do people have angels watching them? Do I? Can you see mine?" Before she completed the sentence, there it was. Standing behind her donning a pink & blue floral head wreath and very seriously dropping the same flowers it was wearing, from an abundant armful onto Grace. This was the first time I saw one in this way. This was when I realized that seeing angels was something that I could do by FAITH rather than waiting for the Lord to show me one here and there. I realized that He had already opened my eyes and now I just needed to look by faith to see what has always been all around us.
THE PINK FLOWERS
As I sought the Lord for what her angel was doing and what the flowers were, I came across pictures of Almond Blossoms, these best represent the flowers that I saw at the time of the angel, although they are not necessarily perfectly depicted in the painting. Biblically, Almond trees signify wakeful and hastening because almond trees bloom so early on leafless winter branches. Sometimes even in January! This symbolism is so exciting to me! As I sat with young Grace and tried to keep up with her questions, the Lord showed me that He had sent an angel to hasten her wakening and perform His word! Read Jeremiah 1:11-12-The word of the LORD came to me saying, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" And I said, "I see a rod of an almond tree." Then the LORD said to me, "You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to perform it."…This is ASTOUNDING! God was watching over us to perform His word that He had sent me to their home to speak! Life with Jesus is AMAZING! Can you see how much He loves us? Even more, the almond tree also signifies old age because its blooms turn silvery white before they fall. I believe that Grace will have wisdom beyond her years as a result of the gift of the angel that the Lord sent to her that day. Now maybe this angel is still with her, or maybe we have many throughout our lives? I am not sure, but I know that the gifts the Lord sent through this angel to Grace will have eternal effects on her little heart and that makes me want to praise our Jesus all the more. What a beautiful God we serve. P.S. At the time of this writing Grace is struggling. Please lift her up to the Lord in prayer if you get a moment! THANK YOU!
