shepherd speaks to them, they know that the shepherd is leading them to better pasture, to clear water, to
good grass. They know by experience that every time the shepherd speaks, it is for their benefit Á-? so they
know his voice very well. But thatÁ-?s from following the shepherd. If they donÁ-?t follow him, then they could
get confused, they could hear another voice, and think itÁ-?s the shepherd, because they havenÁ-?t heard his
voice in such a long time. They could be confused.
Lord preserve her and give her salvation, but she was in danger, because we can become deluded if we
donÁ-?t follow the Lord in virtue every day. The idea that the Lord will forgive me for this sin later Á-? later
may not come for you! Salvation is the knowledge of God, and the knowledge of God in those who have
become pure is joy, but those who have not purified themselves Á-? or shall I say (I always want to be
careful to be clear here, so people do not misunderstand), those who attempt, those who desire, those who
struggle to purify themselves Á-? they, when they see God, will be glad.
For the most part, the reason why we who desire to no longer sin keep falling into sin is so that we donÁ-?t
fall into the greatest of sins, pride and vainglory, which will cast us down to the abyss as surely as Satan
was cast down by his pride. ThatÁ-?s why we often just continue in our sins: because of our pride.
Jesus Christ gave to us, and the example of all the saints who followed after Him. And then eternal life is
unity, unity with God. What an amazing thing! Flesh, which would burn in the Fire of Divinity, will instead
by glad and be full of joy.
everything that happens! There is nothing that occurs in your life that the Lord does not either allow or
cause. Everything is in His Providence, and everything according to His will is for your benefit. But you
must learn to see His will, and His will is found by listening to His voice, and His voice is understood by
following Him. To some, this might seem to be a circular argument, but not to a Christian. You follow the
voice of the Lord, and He will with His Grace enlighten you and illuminate you, so that you cannot be
deluded, so that youÁ-?ll know Him in all things.
swine-herders; we wouldnÁ-?t disobey the LordÁ-?s Law that terribly, right? Keeping swine was against the Law
of Moses. Eating swine, keeping them, touching them was against the Law of Moses. And these were Jews
that were keeping swine. Well, just as it is today, people flock to anything that is sinful. So they loved their
swine. And when the Lord delivered one of their members from a terrible affliction which had been
visited upon this man because of their sins, they lost their source of income because the swine went and
were drowned. So what do they do? They go to the Lord and they ask Him to leave. They didnÁ-?t hear His
voice, they didnÁ-?t see Him as the shepherd, they saw Him as a frightening person who has incredible
power and was ruining their business!
than keeping swine. When we allow ourselves lustful thoughts, when we are angry, this is much worse than
keeping swine. And many times, when we ask the Lord to depart from us Á-? yes, we ask Him to depart
from us Á-? this is much worse than what these people did, because should live within us as Christians. How
do we ask Him to depart from us? By not receiving His word, by not wanting to follow to the letter what