Welcome!
Yes Perian, thank you! LOL
Benjigirl...not sure this is anything important but I came across this:
Matthew 8:28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes,
two demon-possessed
men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
I don't really understand this whole passage. Why did the demons want to go into the pigs? Was it the demons or the pigs that caused the pigs to drown? And why did the people beg Him to leave?
Anyway, was trying to find a biblical reference to pigs that may be relevant. Do you remember what it looked like around the pig pen? Like tropical trees? No trees? Just dirt or grass? I also did find that Japan is one of the largest importers of American pork and Japan is the closest land mass to this new volcano.
Let us know if anything comes to you, I'm interesting in knowing more since you had this dream the night before they announced this volcano. And considering all those who keep having visions of earthquakes in the Pacific and tsunami's hitting CA. I would say that if this volcano erupted, the world would feel it (Rev 6--6th seal?) but it wouldn't have the devastating effects of ash in the air to kill off vegetation, etc (so this volcano fits in with Rev).
Oh, I just remembered...I read a story a week or so ago about pigs attacking a woman in Arizona, I think. Here, I found it
http://www.kvoa.com/news/wildlife-services-kill-7-javelinas-behind-eastside-home-attacks/
For Sparkles:
My Pastor gave a sermon Sunday from Mark 5:21-43 "Why Have You Come To Jesus?" We're doing a sermon series on Rediscovering the Jesus of Scripture. This is the section of Mark dealing with those pigs. (More than just the pigs here but there's a theme you may find interesting.)
The basis of the sermon was on coming to terms with the darkness of the world when we see no room for change. Looking for life after periods of nothingness. We first discussed this man he called "Tino" whose father was a philanderer untroubled by moral questions and whose mother led a religious life of faith. His life was full of nothingness and he was in despair when he heard a child's voice tell him to pick up this Bible and read it. This was immediately after weeping and wailing on how wretched he was.
He opened the Bible to Romans 13:13-14 "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ--make no provision for flesh to gratify it's desires." The gloom of doubt fled; vanished. It turns out "Tino" is St. Augustine. Tino converted to Christianity and became one of the greatest theologians of Church history.
The question then asked , why have you come to Jesus? What brings you here today? From childhood we know, examine, search and are transformed. People come to Jesus in different ways. They find hope in Jesus when they are exhausted from searching. Like the demoniac when healed. He was so infested with demons he couldn't function around other human beings. This was his moment when he encountered Jesus for hope. He was told to go tell his friends how much the Lord has done for you. There's lesson to learn in the exorcism and in this man's proclamation. This story then leads into another story when Jesus is expelled from the west side of the lake after sending those demons into the pigs.
My impression: Demons want to inhabit bodies. Rather the pigs then other humans! I'm guessing they weren't happy with their new abode and stampeded. The cliff got in their way.
There were 2,000 pigs per my Pastor. He calculated the worth of those pigs by today's standards to be about $216,000 to $230.000. The pig farmer wouldn't be happy with that kind of loss. Others probably were frightened by this demonstration. In any case, Jesus was asked to leave.
But the story gets more interesting at this point. Jesus goes to the east side of the lake where he encounters a leader of the Synagogue, Jairus. He fell at Jesus' feet claiming his daughter was very ill. Would Jesus go to his house with him to heal his daughter? Jesus agrees and a large crowd goes with them. The daughter is 12 years old. On his way a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touches the hem of his robe believing just touching His clothes would heal her. She was desperate enough to try anything. (Not sure why this mention of 12 years repeated itself--any ideas?)
Immediately the bleeding stopped. Jesus knew power had gone out of him. He inquired asking who touched him. Those in the crowd couldn't believe he'd stop to ask this question as a crowd was bumping into each other on the way. But Jesus knew it was more than this. The woman admitted she was the one. He replied. "Woman, your faith has made you well. Go in peace."
But a delay had occurred on the way to the young girl. How would you feel if you were Jairus and Jesus allowed Himself to be delayed and interrupted while on the way to heal your daughter, who is at the point of death? What do we learn from this? To have faith. Jairus was an important man, a leader in the Church; the woman was not. Rank played no role in this story. There was no special privilege given due to one's importance. Jesus sees us equally. Jesus wasn't worried about rushing to beat death. He was in no hurry. He took the time to speak to this woman. We must be patient as we wait for Him to arrive. He is in no hurry. He is in charge. His is the authority we all hope to witness soon in person. We can leave our concerns with him to be handled in His timing.
Jesus has broken rules at this point. He dealt with demons and then was touched by the woman bleeding which was unheard of for a Rabbi to do. He was considered "unclean" at that point per Jewish standards. And He'd touched a dead body before the day was over as Jairus's daughter died while they were en route. He later orders her to rise.
This is an example of the atoning sacrifice . Why have you come to Jesus? Do you have a period of desperation in your life of nothingness? Curiosity is used to bring us closer. It doesn't matter "why" as long as you come to Jesus and stick with Him. What can He do with us, if we come and bow humbly at his feet? Put our hope in Him? Let's take a chance and find out!
Grant us grace that we may follow , to do what You ask of us Jesus, as we come to You and simply believe.
Gracious God, we come before You ...so desperate for You. There are places in our lives or in those we love who are ill, in body, emotion and mind needing Your touch. We long so for very much for Your loving touch to heal us. Many are desperately longing to know You and don't know what it is they seek. Empty lives and hearts are yearning for only what You can provide. Have mercy on these souls Lord and reveal yourself to them in these last days as we await Your soon-coming. In the atoning love of our Savior touch them and us in Your great love and mercy. Our hearts are longing with a hope only You can fulfill. Amen
And Tino--his story is of a young philander who never married, hurt many people, and yet was used of God in a powerful way as one of the great teachers of the faith. what does this mean for those who think their lives are beyond redemption?
And all this comes out of a story of exorcism where those demons asked to be placed in those pigs and then stampeded off the cliff only to drown. Amazing!
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Email: victorychanter@raptureintheairnow.com
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thank you Jesus! I'm very encouraged
How kind the Lord is, to grant me a secret wish in these last moments of earth-time.
