Fresh Bread
      # 18

STAY OUT OF THE PIG PEN
&
PET PIGS

LET THE “F”S GO!

      “Don’t go there”, my friend Julie said. She was referring to going some place in her thoughts. In other words, she chose NOT to think about a particular subject.
      I admit, I was there this morning. I was in the Pig Pen of my mind. I was telling God, “I just don’t understand people who have no conscience, could care less how much they hurt someone else as long as they get what they want; people who cannot say they are sorry and have the gumption to try to fix what they messed up. I just don’t understand.”
      “Yes, you do.”, the Lord said. “These are all the signs of the times. Stay away from these people. Don’t go to the Pig Pen. Stay out of the Pig Pen.”
      That sounds harsh, especially for those of us who have been willing to go into any pig pen to save the lost. But it was such a strong word, I knew He meant it. Maybe not for you, but definitely for me. Time is short, and the Lord has a plan to rescue as many as possible. You decide for yourself if this message is for you.
      We can’t always stay away from these people in the natural (not that we are so self-righteous…I don’t mean to say that), but for the sake of God’s Plan for us and His Kingdom, we want to hear from Him individually. He has a reason for all He shares with us. But we can stay out of their pig pens in our minds (where the enemy wants to attack us), when we understand the importance and “why” we are doing this. Are our motives pure? I pray so.
      I have particularly thought of the Pig Pen lately as I associated it with the Prodigal Son story in the Bible and I am seeing so many prodigal sons running to the pig pens of life. (Luke 15:11-24). These Pig Pens (thoughts) have become an extra weight on the children of God. He wants to help set them free from this burden.
      I picture ourselves as the father in this story. We let the son or loved one go. Each has to find God for themselves; even if it is in a Pig Pen. Verse 13 says the boy journeyed into a far country. In a sense that spiritual country is so far from the ways we have learned from God that we cannot understand why they would want to live in a pig pen, when God has already shown them how much more they have at home.
      Our minds have been “born again” to the ways of God. Our thought processes are completely different. It disturbs our inner peace to even try to understand why they think as they do.
      Perhaps you, as I, have had a Pet Pig or sometimes more than one. But someone you worry about all the time. Every morning the devil may call you to “go feed the pig”. All this does is frustrate you because you know you can no longer get in the pen with that pig…you are different. One of you will have to change if you are to be compatible.
      If you are willing to be like the Pig…then you will eat the slop, husks, and scraps of life that the pig eats. But you can no longer stand that stuff. You still love your Pet Pig, but you can’t be like him or her, and you cannot live their life style. You made a choice (Jesus) and you can no longer live in a Pig Pen. You’re just not a Pig.
      I consider that the prodigal son’s father had no telephone or convenient way to stay in touch with his son, so he just continued to work his land. You could say, He continued to serve the Lord daily by going on with his life and doing what he could. He chose to let his son go to find God for himself. We don’t know that God assured the father that his son would come home…but when he did…Oh, what Joy. What a Godly celebration for the young man whose eyes were opened; who repented and humbled himself. What riches he received from the love of a father who was willing to let him find Jesus for himself.
      As our Pet Pigs are often taken out of our hands and end up in a Pig Pen…surely it is a sign that God is bringing them to a point of decision.
      Yes, we love them, and we pray that their eyes be opened. We pray Ephesians l:17 over them “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” But we don’t spend our whole day in their Pig Pen. We leave them with God, and continue to work the fields where God has called us.
      God loves us too, and He delights in those who have chosen Him over the ways of the world. God loves your Pet Pig, but wants what is best for you, too.
      So He asks you to stay out of the Pig Pen of your mind and allow Him to do His Work, His Way,

      Trusting Him, that He will do what is Best for your Pet Pig.
      Now, GO…and live in the FULL JOY of the Lord. There are many fields to plow and many young sheep who are hungry to be fed the Living Word of God. Refuse to spend your whole day in the Pig Pen.
      Go today where God wants you to go. Do what God wants you to do. Feed the flock that is among you…not the one who is far away. LET God feed that one. Should that Pet Pig come home “then” will be soon enough to rejoice.
      Until then…you be about the Father’s business where you are today.
      Remember, you were there in a pig pen of your own once…and Who pulled you out? God is well able to take care of your Pet Pig. You can Trust Him. Let It Go! As one of my original Angel Food cards says: “Rise above the muck and mire. It’s hard to see with mud in your eyes.”
      So, what are you going to do with that Pet Pig today?

SO WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO
WITH THAT PET PIG
TODAY?

If you keep feeding them

You could end up with more than you can handle.

      And I must share this last news with those who know where I live and my life style. As I took a break and went to the mail box, guess what I saw on the side of the highway. You guessed it. About 8 wild pigs. “Oh, oh, I thought. “The pigs are back. I guess it’s their season to multiply again.”
      Was this a confirmation that this message is needed for us today? I hope so. I pray that I have shared what someone needed to hear. If so, the time I spent preparing this meal of Angel Food has certainly been worth it. Stay Blessed and stay out of the Pig Pens.