Prodigal: I ain’t got a dadblame thing to do.
Me: Well you can help me with this.
Prodigal: Sounds good.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 11:30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: You have been spending a lot of time on that.
Me: This project has love in it, I work with love in my heart.
Prodigal: I am sure they will appreciate it then.
Me: I think they will.
This is from the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis
Oftentimes there seemeth to be charity, and it is rather a fleshly mind: because natural inclination, self-will, hope of reward, and desire of our own interest, will seldom be away.
He that hath true and perfect charity, seeketh himself in nothing: but only desireth in all things the glory of God.
He also envieth none; because he is in love with no private joy, neither willeth he to rejoice in himself; but wisheth above all good things to be made happy in the enjoyment of God. He attributheth nothing that is good to any man, but wholly referreth it unto God, from whom as from the fountain all things proceed; in whom finally all the Saints do rest in fruition.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 NIV
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I see you found red gems.
Prodigal: Yes, I thought you said something about them.
Me: Yes, a story I heard. Those are not the exact gems but thanks for trying anyway.
This is from the book The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller
Arvin Engelson, a fellow student with Kathy and me at seminary years ago, likened marriage to a gem tumbler. You put gems into the tumbler and they are brought into constructive, creative contact with each other. They knock the rough edges off of each other until each gem is smooth and beautiful. But if you don’t put a special compound into the tumbler with the gems, the stones will either bounce off of one another without any effects or may crack and shatter each other. The grinding compound in the gem tumbler is like God’s grace in a marriage. Without the power of grace, truth and love can’t be combined. Spouses either stay away from the truth–they “bounce off each other”– or else they attack one another and they shatter.
Grace can be tough. We long for grace every time we make a mistake but sometimes we want to prove we are right more than give grace. Thank God that He doesn’t always just prove He is right and instead gives us grace. The Lord forgives you and is working in your heart. Don’t close your heart up but instead open yourself up so that you may be able to determine how you can apply grace to yourself and to that other person.
Jennifer Van Allen
Proverbs 3:11-12
My son do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I am ready for some turkey!
Me: Me too!
This is a short video devotion
Proverbs 11:29
He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise of heart. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Well, this is all going to turn out well.
Prodigal: I think so too!
This is from the book Rise & Shine by Charles Swindoll
I’ll shoot straight with you, hoping to awaken you to a subtle danger. If your motive is in any way to promote greatness for yourself, you’re in the wrong calling. There are no Academy Awards given on earth for people in ministry, nor should there be. Our rewards come later. By His sovereign choice, they come when our King provides them in the future. And it is good to remember that as soon as the crowns are placed on our heads, we will immediately remove them and place them at His feet (where they deserve to be). Why? That’s easy to answer: Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, not the one who proclaims the Lamb.
1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I am going to ask you not to eat turkey during Thanksgiving.
Me: I’d rather jump barefoot off a six-foot stepladder into a five-gallon bucket full of porcupines.
Prodigal: Maybe you can have a little.
This is from J. Tauler
How can we come to perceive this direct leading of God? By a careful looking at home, and abiding; within the gates of thy own soul. Therefore, let a man be at home in his own heart, and cease from his restless chase of and search after outward things. If he is thus at home while on earth, he will surely come to see what there is to do at home,–what God commands him inwardly without means, and also outwardly by the help of means; and then let him surrender himself, and follow God along whatever path his loving Lord thinks fit to lead him: whether it be to contemplation or action, to usefulness or enjoyment; whether in sorrow or in joy, let him follow on. And if God do not give him thus to feel His hand in all things, let him still simply yield himself up, and go without, for God’s sake, out of love, and still press forward.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. 1 Thess. 5:14
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: What a nice relaxing day.
Me: Yes, it is.
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 11:28
Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. (ESV).
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Sometimes I am up and sometimes I am down.
Prodigal: But God’s love remains the same.
This is from the book Vocabulary of Faith by Hampton Adams
Some people try to measure the love of God by the way things go with them. If they are prosperous, they talk about the love of God. If reverses come, they doubt God. But no one really knows the love of God who does not know it in such deep and fortified places in his inner life that nothing could ever cause him to doubt the love of the heavenly Father. God’s love does not keep us from adversity. It keeps us when adversity falls upon us. God’s love keeps us, too, in flush of our successes. It keeps us humble. It keeps us aware of the deep sources of our life. It keeps us aware that our life is not dependent upon these successes. This is the knowledge of God’s love that comes to us when our spirit responds to the action of the Holy Spirit.
God’s love is always around us. It is blocked at times from the distractions of our souls. Quietness is needed desperately. We think we are too busy for it, but make time. You cannot be too busy for God. We are refreshed when we soak in God’s love. It hits our spirits and we take a drink not from a well but His refreshing word. Our thirst will continue until we stop for what we need. You are in control of when you stop.
Matthew 22:37-39
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Those pumpkins are a sign that Thanksgiving is close!
Prodigal: Yes, my stomach is ready!
Me: Mine too!
This is from the book The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
And in Jerusalem, the capital, though many people saw the miracles he did and believed in him, “He would not entrust himself to them,” for he knew what was in their hearts.
A sign is not the same thing as proof; a sign is merely a maker for someone who is looking in the right direction.
They will not believe. They are not looking in the right direction. You believe and you see. That is enough for now. Pray and wait for the Lord to work.
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Proverbs: Let’s praise God for a bountiful harvest this year.
Me: Yes, he has been good to me!
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 11:27
He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
