ADDICTIONS
DON'T FEED THE PIG
HE COULD END UP AS BIG AS HOGZILLA
By Synthia Esther
I use to give Ryan the analogy of having fed his sexual lusting demonic pet pig so much, his belly was dragging the floor when he tried to walk. Of course the pig analogy could pertain to any addiction. Rather than killing his fat and heavy pet pig, Ryan picked him up and carried him along. Carrying the addicted, fat pet pig along, drags you down with him.
This is how the pet pig addiction process begins; the addict feeds his baby pet pig but he continues to cry for more food, hating to hear his baby pet pig crying and emotionally feel his pain, the addict feeds him on demand. Slowly, but surely, his pet pig grows bigger and bigger until he is so large he can barely breath, and his belly drags the floor. Unable to carry his addicted pet pig around with him anymore, the addict often has to stay home to baby sit him.
Eventually the only time the addict wants to go out is when he becomes a predator in search of his pet pigs favorite food. Now the addicts life is so consumed with feeding and caring for his home bound adult and addicted pet pig that he has little time to do anything else. The addict tries to put his pet pig on a diet but that just makes his addicted pet, pig-out consuming even more food. The only way the addict can keep his addicted pet pig happy is to keep him full and fed.
Why use the pet pig as an analogy for an addict and his addiction? When Jesus cast the demons out of the possessed man in Mark 5:6-20 He asked their name to which they responded, "My name is Legion, for we are many." The demons then begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. There was a large herd of pigs feeding on the nearby hillside (pigs like their feedings), and the demons begged Jesus to send them among the pigs. Jesus then gave them permission to do so and the herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
The man who use to be possessed by them was sitting dressed and in his right mind. Before he was delivered by Jesus Christ of his demons the Bible says in Mark 5:3-5, this man lived in the tombs. No one could bind him any more, not even with a chain (4) For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. (5) Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Modern day 21st century cutters and self mutilators were not the first to find the demonic allure of self induced injury comforting and appealing (reference story, Pass The Razors, Please).
As the addict continues to feed and baby his pet pig addiction, more food is required to satisfy his lustful longings. Eventually your cute little piglet turns into a furious and threating Hogzilla! The only way to rid yourself of your ever consuming, demonic and addicted pet pigs is to quit feeding them! By your actions and with your words, denounce their power to control your heart, mind, body and soul. As Christians we have the spiritual authority to cast them out and send them to the pit, in the name of Jesus. The longer you pamper your pigs desire for food, the bigger and more dominate they will become.
DEMONS WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY
When the legion of demons begged Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs on the nearby hillside, I think they were surprised as Hell, (no pun intended), to end up choking and drowning in a sea of water. They also hate the water, which is represented as the Holy Spirit throughout the Bible. Demons prefer dry places; Mathew 12:43 "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it." David said in Psalm 68:6, ...the rebellious live in a sun scorched land.
I often wondered when I was a child why Jesus didn't send the demons to the pit of Hell where they belong. When I was a child, I thought like a child. Now an adult, I realize there is always a deeper meaning to the examples God uses throughout the Bible. Jesus showed us in this account that demons will torment you to such a degree as to cause death.
If Jesus delivered me from a legion of demons and I saw all those dead pigs floating on a lake of water, I would be in perfect peace and joy. I would know without a doubt that those demons would never be able to torment me again! The demons may go else where but they would avoid the person whom Jesus personally delivered. Demonic entities do not want to do battle with the Son of God "Jesus Christ".
When the evil spirits (demons), which numbered about two thousand entered the pigs, it drove the pigs crazy, causing them to rush down the steep bank and into the lake. Pigs do not have the mental reasoning power of man, and the Bible clearly states in Mark 5:15, that the man who was exorcised of his tormenting demons by the healing power of Jesus, was sitting down, clothed and in his right mind.
Demonic possession can vex a persons spirit so profusely they become depressed, often committing suicide. The Holy Spirit living within a persons heart, mind and soul, creates an opposite spirit of peace and joy. The pigs, now possessed with a legion of demons felt an evil spirit that was so opposed to the life God created within them, they went crazy. The pigs suffered a literal death as a result. Death is always Satan's plan (when he's through with us), as we can no longer exercise our freewill choice in life.
Jesus speaks in John 7:37-38, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:37-38). He also tells us in John 4:14, ..."but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The true measure of a person is in direct relation to the object of their attention and desire. Is your life consumed with endless personal pleasure and activity? Do you call your self righteous behavior of having one foot in the worlds pleasure, and one foot in God's Holy sanctuary being balanced? Or are you seeking to grow in the Holy Spirit, being filled up with living water only Jesus Christ and his word can give? The answer to these questions can be summed up by observing three areas of a person's life. How they spend their time, energy, and money.
Jesus Christ tells us, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness" (Matthew 5:6). Is your life dead to Christ, devoid and dry in the desert of your personal wilderness? Or do you thirst for Christs living water, driving oppressive and harassing spirits away? There is no neutral ground. Rev. 3:16 "So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth." A song I sang as a child in Sunday school sums up my sentiments and beliefs of what the Holy Spirit means to me; "I've got a river of life flowing out through me. It makes the lame to walk and the blind to see, it opens prison doors setting captives free. I have a river of life following out of me." A river of living water for those who accept Christ and his Holy Spirit into their life, as opposed to a life susceptible to demonic influence, control and death. I choose life. What's your choice?
