encounters with angels extract 3
Chapter 22 – Josh’s Temporary Triumph
Rachel was not very careful with the way she handled her sword on the day she invited Josh to her house. She left it under her pillow, and once she went to the toilet, Josh rummaged through her room for anything that seemed valuable. At first, he found a little bag full of marbles. He wondered if they might possess any special powers, but he soon realised they were ordinary. They did not respond to any of his rubbing and mumbling prayers. He continued to look around; opening drawers searching inside cupboards, but nothing struck him as relevant.
Rachel did not feel at all suspicious because she left Josh in the computer room playing a computer game. But she knew she should not leave him alone for too long. What she was worried about was her money, laid in neat one pound coins in her unlocked money box.
Josh continued to search throughout Rachel’s stay in the toilet. General rummaging completed, he stopped, looked around then felt her pillow beckoning him. “Ah, ah,” he thought, “valuable things are often stuffed under pillows or a mattress.” He carefully lifted up her pillow and to his utter amazement he saw a sword. Of all objects he did not expect it to be a sword. He simply could not associate a sword with a girl like Rachel who always seemed to be such goodie, goodie. He lifted it up carefully and whispered to it. “Come on sword; show me what you can do.” No sooner these words tumbled out of his mouth, the sword glowed so brightly that it nearly blinded him. He then heard a voice say, “This sword can only be used by those who love and obey me.” Josh was awe struck by the voice which was both firm and tender. This loving tender voice reminded him of his dad’s voice speaking to him when he was a little boy. How he loved that tone reminding him of happier times! That’s when his dad was nicer to his mum and gentle with him. And now a similar sort of voice was talking to him again. Wow!!!
He was touched and wanted to say that he would follow and obey, but something checked him. What if he could not stick to his promise and felt drawn again to the devil? His embattled emotions caused him confusion and indecision, but the drawing to the evident power of this voice was so strong that he said, “O.K, I will follow you and obey if you give me power to use this sword.” At that very moment as if in answer to his comment, the sword started to glow again, and Josh could feel its power in his hand, and all through his body. He felt uneasy now about keeping the sword, because in effect, if he kept it, it would constitute theft, and may be then he would not be able to use it. He debated with himself. Should he return it? Should he keep it? What if it did not work and Rachel would be so upset? She was sure to guess it was him who took it. He was about to go to her pillow to put it back when he heard Rachel call,
“Josh, are you alright? At that very moment, as if Rachel’s voice reminded him she was his adversary, he stuffed the sword under his jumper despite himself. “He could easily return it at a later date when she invited him again,” he reasoned, “and any way may be God could give her another sword as she seemed to be such a great favourite of His, and then they could both have one.” These thoughts were running through his mind as he was trying to convince himself he was not really stealing. And any way, he had already promised to follow the voice. Surely there was no harm in having a bit of fun with the sword before he gave it back. And then he would even admit he had taken it. In his heart he fully intended to follow God so that he could secure the full use of a sword. With these appeasing thoughts, he felt the sword under his jumper and answered. “I am fine. Are you coming? I have nearly finished the game. If you don’t hurry up I’ll finish it on my own, and then you are dead, because I am winning.”
“Don’t worry, answered Rachel. “I am coming right back in a second. I’m just washing my hands.”
When Rachel emerged from the toilet, she was amazed to see Josh in her bedroom. She felt suspicious. “What are you doing in my bedroom? Can’t you see it says on the door ‘Out of Bounds’?
Josh looked at her a little embarrassed but full of smiles to appease her. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t doing any harm. I just wanted to see what your bedroom looked like. It looks cool. It’s big too. I wish I had such a big bedroom. No toys for boys, though, and far too many Barbies. I’ll soon put an end to them.” he said mischievously, and touched the sword tucked under his jumper, thinking up a prayer. To his great surprise, every single Barbie in the room disappeared right before their eyes. Rachel was flabbergasted. “What have you done now Josh? This is my room and these are my Barbies and you are a guest in my house. Will you please stop using your stupid magic in my house and on my things? You have absolutely no right to do this here,” she said peevishly. Josh looked at her quite amazed himself and laughed heartily. “Don’t worry, you’ll have your Barbies right back if you say one of your clever prayers. Once again, he thought up a prayer in his mind and sure enough the Barbies were right back there exactly where they were before. He looked at Rachel and said, “Well? Did you pray?”
Rachel shook her head, very baffled at what she’d just witnessed and for once quite weak at Josh’s display of power.
“You might not have but I have,” Josh said before she had a chance to ask another question. “You see, I can pray too”
“Good for you,” Rachel said annoyed, “if you can call this prayer. You must have been using your magic and you must promise to stop it right now. Cause if you don’t, you can’t come here again.”
“No really, I just prayed, and that was to your God, and he obviously answered me,” He smiled saying that, and looked her straight in the eye to show he was not lying. But Rachel was still suspicious. She knew something was not quite right, but she didn’t want to fall out with him at that point. “Ok, Ok,” she said impatiently. You can call it prayer if you like but don’t do it again. Now, let’s finish our game. Josh was glad to leave her room and with it the danger of the possible discovery of his theft. He shrugged his shoulder and followed her to the computer room, where they stayed another half hour. Josh felt sorry for Rachel since he knew that sooner or later she would find out about the loss of her sword. So he let her win the next game. Inside him, however, he was full of glee, for in all truth he beat her at her own game. For a long while he sat there smirking and feeling smug, planning in his mind all the things he could now do with the sword at home, at school and even possibly in the streets. He felt strong and full of anticipation. And now he couldn’t wait for his mum to come and collect him.
****
Rachel’s invitation had cost her dearly. She found out about the sword only later on that night, and though she felt so very upset she remembered what the Lord said to her the day she decided to show kindness to Josh and invite him to her house. “Treat him with love and you will see glorious things happen. For this boy is mine and I will have him changed. He will show you no gratitude in the beginning, but the overall result will be most wonderful and beyond your wildest expectation. Befriend him and be kind to him and one day he will become a friend for life.”
She wept that night and said to God, “I didn’t expect to be robbed for this friendship. Will you please get me back my sword?”
She lay there under the yellow light of her bedside lamp and listened. She felt so bereft and defeated, unable to accept her loss and wishing so much that she could move events back in time and be more vigilant. But then as her heart was rested in stillness, she could hear her friend’s voice speak to her.
“In your loss you shall find the greatest treasure. For Josh shall be mine.”
With the uttering of this sentence, she felt more comforted, though she didn’t exactly know why. She felt again under her pillow in case somehow the sword decided to appear of its own accord, but sure enough, it wasn’t there. She loved to feel it at night, but now all she felt was emptiness. She was sad, but more peaceful. She looked at Johnny, her little beanie Teddy and smiled. For a while he was replaced with a sword, but now he was going to take first place again and be her comfort, though when things got really bad she would turn to her biggest friend for help and of course to her darling, darling Mum who was always there for her.
That night Rachel had dream after dream about her sword. At one time she could see her sword up in the dark sky, brightly lit with intricate patterns engraved all along its edges. Right in the middle, where the handle crossed the actual sword, was engraved the word Lion of Judah. The strangest thing was that it constantly flashed at her, as if to say something, but Rachel could understand nothing until above it, mid sky, surrounded by great darkness, there appeared a shining star larger than any ordinary star. It twinkled and sparkled then quite suddenly, turned into a beautiful white stallion with wings. On the stallion there sat a man, a golden gown draped over his shoulders. He had golden locks and seemed strong and fit. Just as he appeared, the sword which was a good few miles away from him speeded up in his direction and slotted into his hand. He then wielded the sword up and down, and all around, as if waging a great war. At first Rachel couldn’t see what it was he was fighting. But then as she looked downwards into the depth of the sky, she saw a hail of heads dropping down at great speed and in great number, face up. Their faces were hideous. They had long snake like tongues which hang out, red jeering eyes, and long black locks drooping, like shrivelled up worms. They each screamed one long blood curdling scream as they fell down and formed a heap of tangled balls, at what seemed in the dream to be the bottom of the sky. Rachel could not quite figure out distances, but she was aware that there was a great distance between the golden locked man on a horse and the heap of heads deep, deep down at the bottom.
Rachel was not very careful with the way she handled her sword on the day she invited Josh to her house. She left it under her pillow, and once she went to the toilet, Josh rummaged through her room for anything that seemed valuable. At first, he found a little bag full of marbles. He wondered if they might possess any special powers, but he soon realised they were ordinary. They did not respond to any of his rubbing and mumbling prayers. He continued to look around; opening drawers searching inside cupboards, but nothing struck him as relevant.
Rachel did not feel at all suspicious because she left Josh in the computer room playing a computer game. But she knew she should not leave him alone for too long. What she was worried about was her money, laid in neat one pound coins in her unlocked money box.
Josh continued to search throughout Rachel’s stay in the toilet. General rummaging completed, he stopped, looked around then felt her pillow beckoning him. “Ah, ah,” he thought, “valuable things are often stuffed under pillows or a mattress.” He carefully lifted up her pillow and to his utter amazement he saw a sword. Of all objects he did not expect it to be a sword. He simply could not associate a sword with a girl like Rachel who always seemed to be such goodie, goodie. He lifted it up carefully and whispered to it. “Come on sword; show me what you can do.” No sooner these words tumbled out of his mouth, the sword glowed so brightly that it nearly blinded him. He then heard a voice say, “This sword can only be used by those who love and obey me.” Josh was awe struck by the voice which was both firm and tender. This loving tender voice reminded him of his dad’s voice speaking to him when he was a little boy. How he loved that tone reminding him of happier times! That’s when his dad was nicer to his mum and gentle with him. And now a similar sort of voice was talking to him again. Wow!!!
He was touched and wanted to say that he would follow and obey, but something checked him. What if he could not stick to his promise and felt drawn again to the devil? His embattled emotions caused him confusion and indecision, but the drawing to the evident power of this voice was so strong that he said, “O.K, I will follow you and obey if you give me power to use this sword.” At that very moment as if in answer to his comment, the sword started to glow again, and Josh could feel its power in his hand, and all through his body. He felt uneasy now about keeping the sword, because in effect, if he kept it, it would constitute theft, and may be then he would not be able to use it. He debated with himself. Should he return it? Should he keep it? What if it did not work and Rachel would be so upset? She was sure to guess it was him who took it. He was about to go to her pillow to put it back when he heard Rachel call,
“Josh, are you alright? At that very moment, as if Rachel’s voice reminded him she was his adversary, he stuffed the sword under his jumper despite himself. “He could easily return it at a later date when she invited him again,” he reasoned, “and any way may be God could give her another sword as she seemed to be such a great favourite of His, and then they could both have one.” These thoughts were running through his mind as he was trying to convince himself he was not really stealing. And any way, he had already promised to follow the voice. Surely there was no harm in having a bit of fun with the sword before he gave it back. And then he would even admit he had taken it. In his heart he fully intended to follow God so that he could secure the full use of a sword. With these appeasing thoughts, he felt the sword under his jumper and answered. “I am fine. Are you coming? I have nearly finished the game. If you don’t hurry up I’ll finish it on my own, and then you are dead, because I am winning.”
“Don’t worry, answered Rachel. “I am coming right back in a second. I’m just washing my hands.”
When Rachel emerged from the toilet, she was amazed to see Josh in her bedroom. She felt suspicious. “What are you doing in my bedroom? Can’t you see it says on the door ‘Out of Bounds’?
Josh looked at her a little embarrassed but full of smiles to appease her. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t doing any harm. I just wanted to see what your bedroom looked like. It looks cool. It’s big too. I wish I had such a big bedroom. No toys for boys, though, and far too many Barbies. I’ll soon put an end to them.” he said mischievously, and touched the sword tucked under his jumper, thinking up a prayer. To his great surprise, every single Barbie in the room disappeared right before their eyes. Rachel was flabbergasted. “What have you done now Josh? This is my room and these are my Barbies and you are a guest in my house. Will you please stop using your stupid magic in my house and on my things? You have absolutely no right to do this here,” she said peevishly. Josh looked at her quite amazed himself and laughed heartily. “Don’t worry, you’ll have your Barbies right back if you say one of your clever prayers. Once again, he thought up a prayer in his mind and sure enough the Barbies were right back there exactly where they were before. He looked at Rachel and said, “Well? Did you pray?”
Rachel shook her head, very baffled at what she’d just witnessed and for once quite weak at Josh’s display of power.
“You might not have but I have,” Josh said before she had a chance to ask another question. “You see, I can pray too”
“Good for you,” Rachel said annoyed, “if you can call this prayer. You must have been using your magic and you must promise to stop it right now. Cause if you don’t, you can’t come here again.”
“No really, I just prayed, and that was to your God, and he obviously answered me,” He smiled saying that, and looked her straight in the eye to show he was not lying. But Rachel was still suspicious. She knew something was not quite right, but she didn’t want to fall out with him at that point. “Ok, Ok,” she said impatiently. You can call it prayer if you like but don’t do it again. Now, let’s finish our game. Josh was glad to leave her room and with it the danger of the possible discovery of his theft. He shrugged his shoulder and followed her to the computer room, where they stayed another half hour. Josh felt sorry for Rachel since he knew that sooner or later she would find out about the loss of her sword. So he let her win the next game. Inside him, however, he was full of glee, for in all truth he beat her at her own game. For a long while he sat there smirking and feeling smug, planning in his mind all the things he could now do with the sword at home, at school and even possibly in the streets. He felt strong and full of anticipation. And now he couldn’t wait for his mum to come and collect him.
****
Rachel’s invitation had cost her dearly. She found out about the sword only later on that night, and though she felt so very upset she remembered what the Lord said to her the day she decided to show kindness to Josh and invite him to her house. “Treat him with love and you will see glorious things happen. For this boy is mine and I will have him changed. He will show you no gratitude in the beginning, but the overall result will be most wonderful and beyond your wildest expectation. Befriend him and be kind to him and one day he will become a friend for life.”
She wept that night and said to God, “I didn’t expect to be robbed for this friendship. Will you please get me back my sword?”
She lay there under the yellow light of her bedside lamp and listened. She felt so bereft and defeated, unable to accept her loss and wishing so much that she could move events back in time and be more vigilant. But then as her heart was rested in stillness, she could hear her friend’s voice speak to her.
“In your loss you shall find the greatest treasure. For Josh shall be mine.”
With the uttering of this sentence, she felt more comforted, though she didn’t exactly know why. She felt again under her pillow in case somehow the sword decided to appear of its own accord, but sure enough, it wasn’t there. She loved to feel it at night, but now all she felt was emptiness. She was sad, but more peaceful. She looked at Johnny, her little beanie Teddy and smiled. For a while he was replaced with a sword, but now he was going to take first place again and be her comfort, though when things got really bad she would turn to her biggest friend for help and of course to her darling, darling Mum who was always there for her.
That night Rachel had dream after dream about her sword. At one time she could see her sword up in the dark sky, brightly lit with intricate patterns engraved all along its edges. Right in the middle, where the handle crossed the actual sword, was engraved the word Lion of Judah. The strangest thing was that it constantly flashed at her, as if to say something, but Rachel could understand nothing until above it, mid sky, surrounded by great darkness, there appeared a shining star larger than any ordinary star. It twinkled and sparkled then quite suddenly, turned into a beautiful white stallion with wings. On the stallion there sat a man, a golden gown draped over his shoulders. He had golden locks and seemed strong and fit. Just as he appeared, the sword which was a good few miles away from him speeded up in his direction and slotted into his hand. He then wielded the sword up and down, and all around, as if waging a great war. At first Rachel couldn’t see what it was he was fighting. But then as she looked downwards into the depth of the sky, she saw a hail of heads dropping down at great speed and in great number, face up. Their faces were hideous. They had long snake like tongues which hang out, red jeering eyes, and long black locks drooping, like shrivelled up worms. They each screamed one long blood curdling scream as they fell down and formed a heap of tangled balls, at what seemed in the dream to be the bottom of the sky. Rachel could not quite figure out distances, but she was aware that there was a great distance between the golden locked man on a horse and the heap of heads deep, deep down at the bottom.