DO NOT JUDGE BY APPEARANCES

I then began to remember the day when, as a young Christian, I had become frustrated with some issues in my life. I went out into the middle of a battlefield park near my apartment and determined to wait until the Lord spoke to me. As I sat reading my Bible I was caught up in a vision, one of the first that I ever had. In the vision I saw a man who was zealously serving the Lord. He was continually witnessing to people, teaching, and visiting the sick to pray for them. He was very zealous for the Lord, and had a genuine love for people. Then I saw another man who was obviously a tramp or a homeless man. A small kitten wandered into his path and he started to kick it, but restrained himself, but still shoved it rather harshly out of the way with his foot. Then the Lord asked me which of these men pleased Him the most. "The first," I said without hesitating. "No, the second," He responded, and began to tell me their stories. The first man had been raised in a wonderful family, which had always known the Lord. He grew up in a thriving Church, and then attended one of the best Bible Colleges. He had been given one hundred portions of His love, but he was using only seventy-five. The second man had been born deaf. He was abused and kept in a dark, cold attic until he was found by the authorities when he was eight years old. He had been shifted from one Institution to another where the abuse continued. Finally he was turned out on the streets. To overcome all of this the Lord had only given him three portions of His love, but he had mustered every bit of it to fight the rage in his heart to keep from hurting the kitten. I now looked at that man, a king sitting on a throne far more glorious than Solomon could have even imagined. Hosts of angels were arrayed about him, waiting to do his bidding. I turned to the Lord in awe. I still just could not believe he was real, much less one of the great kings. "Lord, please, tell me the rest of his story," I begged. "Of course, that is why we are here. Angelo was so faithful with the little I had given to him, I gave him three more portions of My love. He used all of that to quit stealing. He almost starved, but he refused to take anything that was not his. He bought his food with what he could make collecting bottles, and occasion-ally finding someone who would let him do yard work. He could not hear but he had learned to read, so I sent him a gospel tract. As he read it the Spirit opened his heart, and he gave his life to Me. I again doubled the portions of My love to him and he faithfully used all of them. He wanted to share Me with others, but he could not speak. Even though he lived in such poverty, he started spending over half of everything he made on gospel tracts to give out on street corners." "How many did he lead to you?" I asked, thinking that it must have been multitudes for him to be sitting with the kings. "One," the Lord answered. "I let him lead a dying alcoholic to Me to encourage him. It encouraged him so much that he would have stood on that corner for many more years just to bring another soul to repentance. But all of heaven was entreating Me to bring him here, and I, too, wanted him to receive his reward." "But what did he do to become a king?" I asked. "He was faithful with all that he was given, he overcame all until he became like Me, and he died a martyr." "But what did he overcome, and how was he martyred?" "He overcame the world with My love. Very few have overcome so much with so little. Many of My people dwell in homes that kings would have envied just a century ago because of their conveniences, but do not appreciate them, while Angelo would so have appreciated a cardboard box on a cold night that he would have turned it into a glorious temple of My Presence. He began to love everyone and everything. He would rejoice more over an apple than some of My people do over a great feast. He was faithful with all that I gave him, even though it was not very much compared to what I gave others, including you. I showed him to you in a vision because you passed him by many times. You even once pointed him out to one of your friends and spoke of him." "I did? What did I say?" "You said, 'There is another one of those Elijah's who must have escaped from the "bus station".' You said that he was 'a religious nut' who was sent by the enemy to turn people away from the gospel." This was the worst blow that I had yet suffered in this experience. I was more than shocked. I was appalled. I tried to remember the specific incident, but couldn't, simply because there were so many others like it. I had never had much compassion for filthy street preachers who seemed to me that they were specifically sent to turn people away from the gospel. "I'm sorry, Lord! I'm really sorry!" "And you are forgiven," He quickly responded. "And you are right. There are many who try to preach the gospel on the streets for wrong, and even perverted reasons. Even so, there are many who are sincere, even if they are untrained and unlearned. You must not judge by appearances. There are as many true servants who look like he did as there are among the polished professionals in the great cathedrals and organizations that men have built in My Name." He then motioned for me to look up at Angelo. When I turned, he had descended the steps leading 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 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 under-stand how this made him a martyr, which I had thought was a title reserved for those who died because they would not compro-mise 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 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 every day 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 the greatest, and are considered by others 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. "That is why I am with you here, and I will be with you when you return. 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 as the one you passed on the street. If you had shared with him the knowledge of his past that I had shown you 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 onto 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." [Extracts from "The Final Quest" by Rick Joyner, Whitaker House, 1996].