I am going to copy and paste here the entire blog found at this link:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ellenpainterdollar/2013/12/what-angels-d/
I have had such encounters though I have not made up my mind as to their exact nature. I will share a few of these after a conversation is started.

Here is the piece:
Many of my favorite Gospel verses come from the stories of Jesus’s birth and early years, including the words that Mary utters after the angel Gabriel informs her that she will give birth to a son conceived by the Holy Spirit: “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”

Let it be to me according to your word. Such simple words, indicating Mary’s assent to God’s call. Simple, but not easy.

This verse had a special poignancy for me in the Advent of 1998, when Daniel and I were preparing to move from Washington, D.C., to West Hartford. Leaving D.C., even though we were moving for a good job and to be closer to family, was wrenching. We had a full and happy life in a wonderful city. Despite the good life we’ve built here in Connecticut, we still feel homesick for D.C. Our longing for the vibrant and beautiful city is compounded by our longing for the energy and freedom of being twenty-somethings finding our place in the world.

As we prepared to leave in that Advent of 1998, I understood that we were giving up something precious, that the city where we grew into adulthood and met each other would leave a mark, and our move away would leave a scar. So I focused on Mary’s words: Let it be to me according to your word. We sensed that in making this move, we were following God’s lead, even though it was scary and hard.

How did we know we were following God’s lead? Well, we didn’t get visited by an angel, as Mary did. Our D.C. church focused a great deal on how to discern God’s call. While a few outliers shared stories of vivid dreams or other signs that made God’s call clear, most of us figured out where God was leading us using more ambiguous criteria—our deepest desires and talents; gut feelings, sometimes clarified in prayer; our own and others’ observations and intuitions. I have generally viewed angel visitations as poetic literary devices symbolizing divine-human communication, but not as something that really happens.

But I recently read a book, The Angel Effect by John Geiger, that has changed how I think about angels.* Geiger tells story after story of people’s encounters with a “sensed presence.” The stories have some common threads: In a moment of extreme stress (a car accident or plane crash, a near drowning, a moment of despair experienced by a binge-drinking alcoholic), a person suddenly feels the palpable presence of another being that exudes calm, benevolence, and love. Sometimes the presence gives instructions, such as by telling a drowning person in which direction to swim, or telling an accident victim to breathe slowly to conserve oxygen until emergency personnel arrive. Sometimes the presence is simply there, bringing a powerful sense of calm and well-being. Sometimes people feel the presence holding their hand, either to provide comfort or to physically lead the person. Sometimes the presence’s identity remains ambiguous, but sometimes it takes on very specific characteristics. One man, driving at night on a winding mountain road in a snowstorm, received detailed navigation directions from a middle-aged Mexican cleaning lady, of all people, who appeared in his car. Geiger himself, grieving after the death of his infant son, experienced a calming, healing presence in his home office one night. He was sure that the presence was, in fact, his dead son James, though the presence never said a word.

The people who tell these stories are from diverse backgrounds, and most are not particularly religious. Some of them refer to the sensed presence as an angel, while others aren’t sure what to call it. All of them are certain that the presence was both real and life-changing.

The “sensed presence” phenomenon is well-documented in scientific literature, and Geiger explores multiple theories that attempt to explain it in neurological or psychological terms. Perhaps in times of extreme stress, our subconscious overrides our conscious brain, quelling panic and helping us to perceive and use important environmental details to, in effect, save ourselves. Many people report that the presence is located over their right shoulder; perhaps the left brain, which controls the right side of our body and helps us interpret stimuli, among other things, creates the sensed presence to help us interpret and respond to extraordinary events.

Geiger presents numerous scientific theories, all of which seem reasonable, some of which have been replicated in laboratory experiments, and none of which explain the aura of benevolence and love that people report as key to their experience.

So, what is the answer? Are there really angels? Or are experiences of a sensed presence that provides comfort and guidance merely a trick of the brain?

Geiger concludes—and I would agree—that we don’t really need to answer those questions to believe in the power of such encounters. There is no doubt that the experiences people report are real experiences, with real consequences. People who were near death did not die. The comfort and peace that people felt during their encounter remained and were life-changing. Alcoholics stopped drinking, depressed people got better, drowning people made it to shore, accident victims survived, and Geiger began to heal from the devastating loss of his baby boy. Whether their encounters were with a real angel or were a function of their brains giving them just what they most needed at the hardest moments of their lives seems irrelevant in the face of how these encounters change lives.

Geiger concludes, “The fact is we don’t know what’s behind these episodes. The sheer number of explanations proves this.” He goes on, “I have been visited by an angel, if you’d like to call it that, in the form of the presence of my dead son. He did what angels do: he offered me hope, he comforted me, and he guided me…”

“He did what angels do…”

That brings us back to Mary, visited by Gabriel with his startling news. The people in Geiger’s book say that their angel, or presence, overflowed with a sense of calm that quelled their fear. In the Gospel accounts, the first thing that Gabriel says to both Elizabeth and Mary, and to the shepherds, is, “Do not be afraid.” The people in Geiger’s book gained a sense of resolve, certainty, and peace that remained for years. What strong resolve and peace must young Mary have possessed to do what God was asking her to do—to tell her betrothed husband that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, give birth in a stable far from home, raise a boy who was different than anyone else’s boy, see that boy perform miracles, and then be tortured to death on a cross.

I am intrigued by the ways that modern people’s encounters with angels, or some kind of benevolent presence, echo Mary’s and others’ encounters with angels in the Bible. I have often dismissed fellow Christians who speak of our “guardian angels” as being somewhat charmingly deluded. But now I wonder if I have been wrong to dismiss the possibility that angels are more than a lovely poetic device.

The Bible narrative tells the truest story there is, of God’s redeeming work in the world that God created and the people whom God loves. The t***h of that story is not contingent on every jot and tittle of the Bible being factually true. What, exactly, inspired Mary to do what she did is less important than that Mary did what she did.

Thus far in my life, I have sensed God’s call through a murky mixture of intuition, prayer, desire, and circumstance. Perhaps that will be the case for the rest of my life, or perhaps some day I will experience a “sensed presence” or angel visitation. I pray that when God calls, I will be willing to step into the unknown despite fear and sadness and uncertainty, as I did when we moved from D.C. to Connecticut 15 years ago. I pray that I will always be willing and able to respond to God’s call, whether it comes to me via shaky intuition or a life-changing encounter with something like an angel, as Mary did: Let it be to me according to your word.

Neither of the Biblical Characters worried about Angels in their daily routines. The Virgin Mary, and her Husband Joseph do not speak of them again once God's message was delivered to them by his Angel.
Angels, or the Heavenly Hosts of God, were created before this planet and mankind. Our main concern is to be our lives here that we can barely get through as it is, rather than dwelling on Heavenly things that God 'does not give understanding to.'
We are given understanding in Jesus Christ, the son of God, and our Savior, he is our Heavenly Focus and our spiritual dwelling point.
After the 6th century and the entrance of Islam, we have both the good and the bad Angels. None of us everyday citizens are the CIA, FBI, NSA, to know to differenciate between them, or what ever tidings they bring. Our Focus is Jesus Christ, worthy of "all attention, and All Praise."

Hi Rhomin,

The fallen angels, often referred to as evil spirits or demons, were present throughout the Old Testament, beginning in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden when Satan, their head honcho successfully tempted Eve.

One third of the angels of heaven had rebelled with him, and subsequently been thrown out of heaven with him. All of them have been here on earth ever since. Jesus called Satan, formerly Lucifer, "the God of this world," and "the prince of the power of the air."

They were so active during the three and one/half years of Jesus' ministry, they consumed at least one/third of his activity.

The New Testament has specifically admonished us to test the spirits, to practice spiritual discernment, and to rely on the indwelling Holy Spirit for wisdom, when needed.

The Bereans were complimented for always checking the Scriptures they had already received, each time an apostle brought them a new message or sermon, to be sure it did not contradict anything they had received before.

The demonic spirits were certainly active, whispering in Muhammad's ear during his lifetime, from 570 A.D. to 632 A.D.

Jesus said, "He had always taught openly in the synagogue, and that "in secret, had he said nothing," so there are no secret codes in the Bible, as He inspired the writing of it all.

That would be Gnosticism, exalting secret knowledge among the elitist few, instead of all the members/believers being one body, baptized into One Spirit, One Lord, One Gospel, each receiving spiritual gifts as the Holy Spirit determined.

It's good to share God's Word with those who honor it, and who serve Him.

I agree with you, there is no reason to pursue spiritual knowledge of God contrary to what the bible teaches, as it is God's plumbline, literally, His rule of measure.

In reading your and other digressions on the fact of Angels, and of times when it could be considered just human imagination, I noticed, that in all the stories related to Angels, there were saving elements in the encounter, and directions to help someone overcome adversity, Yet, we also know of Demon encounters that have had just the opposite thrust and effect. Do we sometimes, instead of believing in Demon influence ascribe all bad human behavior to humans alone?
Christ in His release of demons, declared that a belief in God was necessary to prevent the return and abiding of multiple entities that would make lives worse.
The question is, if Angels and Demons both are capable of influencing us, how do we keep the demons out and let the Angels in. ?

The Bible gives some examples of people possessed or influenced by demons. From these examples we can find some symptoms of demonic influence and gain insight as to how a demon possesses someone. Here are some of the biblical passages: Matthew 9:32-33; 12:22; 17:18; Mark 5:1-20; 7:26-30; Luke 4:33-36; Luke 22:3; Acts 16:16-18. In some of these passages, the demon possession causes physical ailments such as inability to speak, epileptic symptoms, blindness, etc. In other cases, it causes the individual to do evil, Judas being the main example. In Acts 16:16-18, the spirit apparently gives a s***e girl some ability to know things beyond her own learning. The demon-possessed man of the Gadarenes, who was possessed by a multitude of demons (Legion), had superhuman strength and lived naked among the tombstones. King Saul, after rebelling against the LORD, was troubled by an evil spirit (1 Samuel 16:14-15; 18:10-11; 19:9-10) with the apparent effect of a depressed mood and an increased desire to k**l David.

Thus, there is a wide variety of possible symptoms of demon possession, such as a physical impairment that cannot be attributed to an actual physiological problem, a personality change such as depression or aggression, supernatural strength, immodesty, antisocial behavior, and perhaps the ability to share information that one has no natural way of knowing. It is important to note that nearly all, if not all, of these characteristics may have other explanations, so it is important not to label every depressed person or epileptic individual as demon-possessed. On the other hand, Western cultures probably do not take satanic involvement in people’s lives seriously enough.

In addition to these physical or emotional distinctions, one can also look at spiritual attributes showing demonic influence. These may include a refusal to forgive (2 Corinthians 2:10-11) and the belief in and spread of false doctrine, especially concerning Jesus Christ and His atoning work (2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-15; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 1 John 4:1-3).

Concerning the involvement of demons in the lives of Christians, the apostle Peter is an illustration of the fact that a believer can be influenced by the devil (Matthew 16:23). Some refer to Christians who are under a strong demonic influence as being “demonized,” but never is there an example in Scripture of a believer in Christ being possessed by a demon. Most theologians believe that a Christian cannot be possessed because he has the Holy Spirit abiding within (2 Corinthians 1:22; 5:5; 1 Corinthians 6:19), and the Spirit of God would not share residence with a demon.

We are not told exactly how one opens himself up for possession. If Judas’ case is representative, he opened his heart to evil—in his case by his greed (John 12:6). So it may be possible that if one allows his heart to be ruled by some habitual sin, it becomes an invitation for a demon to enter. From missionaries’ experiences, demon possession also seems to be related to the worship of heathen idols and the possession of occult materials. Scripture repeatedly relates idol worship to the actual worship of demons (Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 32:17; Psalm 106:37; 1 Corinthians 10:20), so it should not be surprising that involvement with idolatry could lead to demon possession.

Based on the above scriptural passages and some of the experiences of missionaries, we can conclude that many people open their lives up to demon involvement through the embracing of some sin or through cultic involvement (either knowingly or unknowingly). Examples may include immorality, drug/alcohol abuse that alters one’s state of consciousness, r*******n, bitterness, and transcendental meditation.

There is an additional consideration. Satan and his evil host can do nothing the Lord does not allow them to do (Job 1-2). This being the case, Satan, thinking he is accomplishing his own purposes, is actually accomplishing God’s good purposes, as in the case of Judas’ betrayal. Some people develop an unhealthy fascination with the occult and demonic activity. This is unwise and unbiblical. If we pursue God, if we are clothing ourselves with His armor and relying upon His strength (Ephesians 6:10-18), we have nothing to fear from the evil ones, for God rules over all!

I am going to copy and paste here the entire blog found at this link:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ellenpainterdollar/2013/12/what-angels-d/
I have had such encounters though I have not made up my mind as to their exact nature. I will share a few of these after a conversation is started.

Here is the piece:
Many of my favorite Gospel verses come from the stories of Jesus’s birth and early years, including the words that Mary utters after the angel Gabriel informs her that she will give birth to a son conceived by the Holy Spirit: “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”

Let it be to me according to your word. Such simple words, indicating Mary’s assent to God’s call. Simple, but not easy.

This verse had a special poignancy for me in the Advent of 1998, when Daniel and I were preparing to move from Washington, D.C., to West Hartford. Leaving D.C., even though we were moving for a good job and to be closer to family, was wrenching. We had a full and happy life in a wonderful city. Despite the good life we’ve built here in Connecticut, we still feel homesick for D.C. Our longing for the vibrant and beautiful city is compounded by our longing for the energy and freedom of being twenty-somethings finding our place in the world.

As we prepared to leave in that Advent of 1998, I understood that we were giving up something precious, that the city where we grew into adulthood and met each other would leave a mark, and our move away would leave a scar. So I focused on Mary’s words: Let it be to me according to your word. We sensed that in making this move, we were following God’s lead, even though it was scary and hard.

How did we know we were following God’s lead? Well, we didn’t get visited by an angel, as Mary did. Our D.C. church focused a great deal on how to discern God’s call. While a few outliers shared stories of vivid dreams or other signs that made God’s call clear, most of us figured out where God was leading us using more ambiguous criteria—our deepest desires and talents; gut feelings, sometimes clarified in prayer; our own and others’ observations and intuitions. I have generally viewed angel visitations as poetic literary devices symbolizing divine-human communication, but not as something that really happens.

But I recently read a book, The Angel Effect by John Geiger, that has changed how I think about angels.* Geiger tells story after story of people’s encounters with a “sensed presence.” The stories have some common threads: In a moment of extreme stress (a car accident or plane crash, a near drowning, a moment of despair experienced by a binge-drinking alcoholic), a person suddenly feels the palpable presence of another being that exudes calm, benevolence, and love. Sometimes the presence gives instructions, such as by telling a drowning person in which direction to swim, or telling an accident victim to breathe slowly to conserve oxygen until emergency personnel arrive. Sometimes the presence is simply there, bringing a powerful sense of calm and well-being. Sometimes people feel the presence holding their hand, either to provide comfort or to physically lead the person. Sometimes the presence’s identity remains ambiguous, but sometimes it takes on very specific characteristics. One man, driving at night on a winding mountain road in a snowstorm, received detailed navigation directions from a middle-aged Mexican cleaning lady, of all people, who appeared in his car. Geiger himself, grieving after the death of his infant son, experienced a calming, healing presence in his home office one night. He was sure that the presence was, in fact, his dead son James, though the presence never said a word.

The people who tell these stories are from diverse backgrounds, and most are not particularly religious. Some of them refer to the sensed presence as an angel, while others aren’t sure what to call it. All of them are certain that the presence was both real and life-changing.

The “sensed presence” phenomenon is well-documented in scientific literature, and Geiger explores multiple theories that attempt to explain it in neurological or psychological terms. Perhaps in times of extreme stress, our subconscious overrides our conscious brain, quelling panic and helping us to perceive and use important environmental details to, in effect, save ourselves. Many people report that the presence is located over their right shoulder; perhaps the left brain, which controls the right side of our body and helps us interpret stimuli, among other things, creates the sensed presence to help us interpret and respond to extraordinary events.

Geiger presents numerous scientific theories, all of which seem reasonable, some of which have been replicated in laboratory experiments, and none of which explain the aura of benevolence and love that people report as key to their experience.

So, what is the answer? Are there really angels? Or are experiences of a sensed presence that provides comfort and guidance merely a trick of the brain?

Geiger concludes—and I would agree—that we don’t really need to answer those questions to believe in the power of such encounters. There is no doubt that the experiences people report are real experiences, with real consequences. People who were near death did not die. The comfort and peace that people felt during their encounter remained and were life-changing. Alcoholics stopped drinking, depressed people got better, drowning people made it to shore, accident victims survived, and Geiger began to heal from the devastating loss of his baby boy. Whether their encounters were with a real angel or were a function of their brains giving them just what they most needed at the hardest moments of their lives seems irrelevant in the face of how these encounters change lives.

Geiger concludes, “The fact is we don’t know what’s behind these episodes. The sheer number of explanations proves this.” He goes on, “I have been visited by an angel, if you’d like to call it that, in the form of the presence of my dead son. He did what angels do: he offered me hope, he comforted me, and he guided me…”

“He did what angels do…”

That brings us back to Mary, visited by Gabriel with his startling news. The people in Geiger’s book say that their angel, or presence, overflowed with a sense of calm that quelled their fear. In the Gospel accounts, the first thing that Gabriel says to both Elizabeth and Mary, and to the shepherds, is, “Do not be afraid.” The people in Geiger’s book gained a sense of resolve, certainty, and peace that remained for years. What strong resolve and peace must young Mary have possessed to do what God was asking her to do—to tell her betrothed husband that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, give birth in a stable far from home, raise a boy who was different than anyone else’s boy, see that boy perform miracles, and then be tortured to death on a cross.

I am intrigued by the ways that modern people’s encounters with angels, or some kind of benevolent presence, echo Mary’s and others’ encounters with angels in the Bible. I have often dismissed fellow Christians who speak of our “guardian angels” as being somewhat charmingly deluded. But now I wonder if I have been wrong to dismiss the possibility that angels are more than a lovely poetic device.

The Bible narrative tells the truest story there is, of God’s redeeming work in the world that God created and the people whom God loves. The t***h of that story is not contingent on every jot and tittle of the Bible being factually true. What, exactly, inspired Mary to do what she did is less important than that Mary did what she did.

Thus far in my life, I have sensed God’s call through a murky mixture of intuition, prayer, desire, and circumstance. Perhaps that will be the case for the rest of my life, or perhaps some day I will experience a “sensed presence” or angel visitation. I pray that when God calls, I will be willing to step into the unknown despite fear and sadness and uncertainty, as I did when we moved from D.C. to Connecticut 15 years ago. I pray that I will always be willing and able to respond to God’s call, whether it comes to me via shaky intuition or a life-changing encounter with something like an angel, as Mary did: Let it be to me according to your word.

I THINK i have. I have felt the presence of god. every time I look at life I feel so much love and power and joy that I feel like I will combust. I feel love, power, peace, whenever I contemplate life and meaning. I feel infinite emotion and power when I write in my document, I have worked on it on and off for about a month, I have about 21 pages of philosophy and observation of life. I do not know what to do with the document when I get to my goal of 30 pages. I may turn it into a small book if I decide to go to 100 pages.

larry wrote:
In reading your and other digressions on the fact of Angels, and of times when it could be considered just human imagination, I noticed, that in all the stories related to Angels, there were saving elements in the encounter, and directions to help someone overcome adversity, Yet, we also know of Demon encounters that have had just the opposite thrust and effect. Do we sometimes, instead of believing in Demon influence ascribe all bad human behavior to humans alone?
Christ in His release of demons, declared that a belief in God was necessary to prevent the return and abiding of multiple entities that would make lives worse.
The question is, if Angels and Demons both are capable of influencing us, how do we keep the demons out and let the Angels in. ?

The idea of "sensing a presence," and having it be an invisible angel of God does not seem scriptural to me, unless there is a way it would glorify God.

In Billy Graham's book, "Angels," they often appear when needed, and just as quickly are gone, but their appearance is usually as a human being.

I also do not believe in the popular image of female angels. Never, in scripture is there a female angel, and God changes not.