"He was My knock upon their door"
He then motioned for me to look up at Angelo. When I turned he had descended the steps to his throne and was right in front of me. Opening his arms he gave me a great hug and kissed my forehead like a father. Love poured over me and through me until I felt that it would overload my nervous system. When he finally released me I was staggering as if I were drunk, but it was a wonderful feeling. It was love like I had never felt it.
"He could have imparted that to you on earth," the Lord continued. "He had much to give to My people, but they would not come near him. Even My prophets avoided him. He grew in the faith by buying a Bible and a couple of books that he read over and over. He tried to go to churches but he could not find one that would receive him. If they would have taken him in they would have taken Me in. He was My knock upon their door."
I was learning a new definition of grief. "How did he die?" I asked, remembering that he had been martyred, half expecting that I was somehow even responsible for it.
"He froze to death trying to keep an old wino alive who had passed out in the cold."
As I looked at Angelo I just could not believe how hard my heart was. Even so, I did not understand how this made him a martyr, which I had thought was a title reserved for those who who died because they would not compromise their testimony.
"Lord, I know that he is truly an overcomer," I remarked. "And it is so just for him to be here. But are those who die that way also considered to be martyrs?"
"Angelo was a martyr everyday that he lived. He would only do enough for himself to stay alive, and he gladly sacrificed his life to save a needy friend. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, even if you give your body to be burned, but do not have love, it counts as nothing. But, when you give yourself with love, it counts for much. Angelo died everyday because he did not live for himself, but for others. While on earth he always considered himself the least of the saints, but he was one of the greatest. As you have already learned, many of those who consider themselves to be the greatest, end up being the least here.
Angelo did not die for a doctrine, or even his testimony, but he did die for Me."
"Lord, please help me to remember this. Please do not let me forget what I am seeing here when I return," I begged.
"If My people would look at others the way I do...
"Wisdom is to see with My eyes, and not to judge by appearances. I showed you Angelo in the vision so that you would recognize him when you passed by him on the street. If you had shared with him the knowledge of his past that I had shown in the vision, he would have given his life to Me then. You could have then discipled this great king, and he would have had a great impact on My church. If My people would look at others the way I do, Angelo and many others like him, would have been recognized. They would have been paraded into the greatest pulpits, and My people would have come from the ends of the earth to sit at their feet, because by doing this, they would have sat at My feet. He would have taught you to love, and how to invest the gifts that I have given you so that you could bear much more fruit."
I was so ashamed that I did not want to even look at the Lord, but finally I turned back to Him as I felt the pain driving me toward self-centeredness again. When I looked at Him I was virtually blinded by His glory. It took a while, but gradually my eyes adjusted so that I could see Him.
"Remember that you are forgiven," He said. "I am not showing you these things to condemn you, but to teach you. Always remember that compassion, will remove the veils from your soul faster than anything else."
