What possessed these pigs to jump into the water?

Demons are the reason they jumped off a cliff. The gospel reading for July 1st was from Matthew 8:28-34. Jesus heals two demoniacs. The demons knew who Jesus was and tormented by the sight of him, they asked to be sent into a herd of pigs nearby.

30 Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. 31 The demons begged him, ‘If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.’ 32 And he said to them, ‘Go!’ So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and perished in the water.

As soon as Jesus commanded them to "Go!" the pigs rushed down the hill into the water and drowned. What bold proclamation they made though! Jesus is the Beloved Son of God, and he had the power to cast out demons! Praise God! It must have been horrible for that town and for those two Gadarenes living in the cave to be possessed by a Legion of demons. UGH! I can't imagine. Anyway, the pigs were another thing. Better the pigs dying then the humans I guess. IDK. I don't think the Jews should have been keeping pigs anyway. They are unclean and for them to be keeping a herd of pigs is a no-no. Idk that is what I gather from doing a little research.

I drew my pigs cute, but picture them dirtier and scarier lol. What plagues me is Jesus and his disciples got back into their boat and crossed the same waters that just swallowed up not only a herd of pigs but a legion of demons! What? I wonder if their journey was a more harrowing experience. Anyway...

Free Bible Journaling Bookmarks

I received these free bible bookmark printables from Sarah Koontz today on Day 13 in the study of Ephesians. Jana from Sweet to the Soul created them. So good.



Since my printer ink is running low I tried painting them with Microsoft paint. I did manage to print them in colour on cardstock and made real bookmarks out of them. Beautiful.

The Gift of Finest Wheat - Parable

A Parable – The Crows And The Harvest -

from the messages of TLIG

see Matthew 13
 “There once was a sower who prepared an enormous field; he chose the finest grain to sow and produce the best wheat! now, when the harvest was ready to be reaped, and what a rich harvest it was, his enemy sent out a bunch of crows to fly over his field; this field, toiled and prepared with so much love and sacrifice, a ready and rich harvest, able to feed the entire country, leaving no one hungry; but, these crows which were sent by his enemy, started to pick up here and there from the harvest, devouring and ravaging as much as possible; if it was not for the sower seeing all this and sending out his servants to chase away those crows they would have devastated the entire harvest;”

Jesus Explains it: the sower is I, the Lord, the harvest is My Word, (The Holy Bible) the enemy is Satan; the crows are those souls influenced by Satan, through many years, now and again to eat up the important elements from My Words; but, I, Jesus Christ, the Lord, will manifest Myself time and again to bring back to you those missing elements; I will embellish and repair My Church;

God's Eyes Look Upon Us

For my sketchbook, I thought to paint a starry night sky and attempt to draw a pair of eyes. God's Eyes. I used a brush pen and some watercolours-white, blue, and black. To make the background dark I just rubbed a piece of carbon paper all over a blank sheet of white paper. That is how I got the grey background and then I was able to add white dots for stars lol. don't @me. Just FYI, I'm not that skilled with watercolours nor writing apparently, but with practice and some lessons I know I can get better. This TLIG message struck me in a wonderful and exciting way as I was reading it. It was exciting to me to know that God is alive and looks upon us in this way, as a Father. Everyone who Knows Him loves Him. God is Love. Love is all.

Here is the original TLIG message that I read today: sidenote observation: Jesus means in Matthew 24:42-44 when He will come like a thief in the night, unexpectedly, and surprisingly even to the master of the house! Yes, He is coming very soon and the command 'to stay awake' simply means not to give up hope and expectations of His coming. Amen.

Alone You Are Not 

Vassula, in the stillness of the night, I shall come; the hour is near, alone you are not; the world seems to forget My Presence; I am God, but how many think of Me? very few; 

 (I saw a night filled with stars, still, and beyond those stars God’s Eyes upon us.)  

stay awake, for in this stillness of the night I shall descend, I have laid My plans before I created you little one; I will lift you to Me and show you something;

 rest, beloved, now;

Celebrating Pentecost with The Lord's Prayer in Aramaic

Come Holy Spirit!

On Pentecost 2000 or so years ago, the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles in that upper room with a mighty gust of wind and appeared as tongues of fire and the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus to all those who heard them. Acts 2:1–31. It was the opposite of the Tower of Babel; everyone heard the disciples speaking in their own language! Jesus sent The Holy Spirit of understanding, not confusion. Amen!

The Catholic Church was born that day. I like to think Mary, Our Mother dandled the newborn church on her lap even! What a glorious mystery indeed!

The Lord’s Prayer in the Ancient Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.

Aboon Dbashmayo (Our Father who art in Heaven)
Nethcadash shmokh (hallowed be thy name).
teethe malkoothokh, (thy Kingdom come),
nehwe sebyonokh, (thy will be done);
aykano Dbashmayo off bar’o. (on earth as it is in heaven.)
Hab lan lahmo dsoonconan yawmono, (Give us this day our daily bread).
washbook lan howbain wahtohain (and forgive us our trespasses)
aykano doff hnan shbakn il hayobain (as we forgive those who trespass against us)
lo thaalan il nessyoono (and lead us not into temptation)
elo fasson men beesho (but deliver us from evil)
metool ddeelokhee malkootho, (for thine is the kingdom)
ou haylo ou Teshbohto, (and the power, and the glory)
loalam olmen Amin. (for ever and ever. Amen.)

The Good Shepherd

imagecredit: verseproject

JN 10:1-10 

Jesus said:
“Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate
but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.
But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice,
as the shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When he has driven out all his own,
he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him,
because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger;
they will run away from him
because they do not recognize the voice of strangers.”
Although Jesus used this figure of speech,
the Pharisees did not realize what he was trying to tell them.
 So Jesus said again,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep.
All who came before me are thieves and robbers,
but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate.
Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.
A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy;
I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.”

 Prayer: 
 "Lord Jesus, you always lead me in the way of true peace and safety. May I never doubt your care nor stray from your ways. Keep me safe in the shelter of your presence."

Daily Quote from the early church fathers: 
Green pastures and still waters, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.

"The pastures that this good shepherd has prepared for you, in which he has settled you for you to take your fill, are not various kinds of grasses and green things, among which some are sweet to the taste, some extremely bitter, which as the seasons succeed one another are sometimes there and sometimes not. Your pastures are the words of God and his commandments, and they have all been sown as sweet grasses. These pastures had been tasted by that man who said to God, 'How sweet are your words to my palate, more so than honey and the honeycomb in my mouth!'" (excerpt from Sermon 366,3,1)

30 Day Bible Reading Journal - Isaiah 61

♡ I've started a month-long Bible reading journal I got online from arabahjoy.com. It begins with Isaiah chapter 61. I never expected this chapter to be so full of the wisdom and knowledge of the Lord! I mean I am pretty familiar with the Bible but I have never delved into this chapter in its fullness before! Admittedly it has been a considerably hard chapter to wrap my head around but it's incredible to discover and to understand. For example. Did you know that it holds a lot of promises for the end times in which we are living? So Praise God!  :)♡♡