Prodigal: Jesus turns a mess into a message.
Me: That is something He can do.
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 10:13 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: That is fine as frog hair.
Me: I agree, pretty to the eye.
This is from Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
The spiritual leader will be alert to the most effective way to influence people. Hudson Taylor is well known for his expression, “It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone.” During his missionary career he demonstrated the truth of his claim a thousand times.
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Matthew 18:16 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: We need some encouragement.
Me: I can tell that you are not having the best day.
Prodigal: Maybe this devotion will happen.
I AM HERE
Trials, testing, refiner’s fire, struggles, tribulations, and God’s plan. They can all mean the same thing when we speak those words to others. The emotional struggle we feel is very personal during those times. We hear the words of comfort and wisdom from our Christian sisters which bring a relief for a moment. The testing does not stop though. With that you are unsure of what the plan is.
If this is your first trial as a Christian, or the first one of the day, this will help remind you of what God’s plan is.
The first step is:
I am here by God’s Plan
Job 1:7-12 NKJV
And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to Your face!” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
In my first major trial, I was in shock. I walked around saying “This can’t be happening.” “I have been growing in the Lord.” “I have been praying and reading the bible more than ever.” “Bad things don’t happen when you do good.”
I stayed there for a long time, thinking if I just said all this enough the trial would somehow go away. What the Lord was trying to say was I was here by His plan.
When we look at this scripture in Job it will help us with the first step in handling a trial. We acknowledge that I am here and God said this is good.
God watches us, but He is also watching what Satan is trying to do. We do not know how many plans of Satan that God has protected us from. We can think of it as colander. As we pour in the food from our pot, smaller items escape in the drain through the holes. We have the big items left in the colander that we can then work with.
What God has allowed to stay behind, He has a purpose for and has meaning. When the trial begins to surround your day, don’t try to figure it out. Follow the first step. Just say God has allowed and He sees what is happening. God loves me.
Lord help us to remember that we are where we are by God’s plan. Give us your wisdom and patience to help us today with what we have to face. We thank you for the ways you have protected us and we did not know. We thank you for how you will help us during this time of trial.
Jennifer Van Allen
Women Lovin’ Jesus (You Tube)
Prodigal: A clean conscience makes a soft pillow.
Me: Yes, it does.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Click here to watch the video.
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: People say that religion causes war.
Me: That is not always true.
This is from the book The Reason for God by Timothy Keller
This evidence seems to indicate that religion aggravates human differences until they boil over into war, violence, and the oppression of minorities.
There are problems with this view, however. The Communist Russian, Chinese, and Cambodian regimes of the twentieth century rejected all organized religion and belief in God. A forerunner of all these was the French Revolution, which rejected traditional religion for human reason. These societies were all rational and secular, yet each produced massive violence against its own people without the influence of religion.
Can we forget that the Nazis wanted to remove a whole race of people that had nothing to do with a religion. Society is so quick to point out mistakes in Christianity, but what about remembering the positives. There was a day when people told the truth, when people worked hard and people attempted to love their neighbor.
Even though this was not done perfect, it was still an idea to strive for. Now, white lies are the norm. Love means, only if I feel love first. Making quick money or lying about money really does not have any negative connotation to it. What if we just tried to be honest today. Just for today.
Daniel 6:12
Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: That is a cute little house.
Prodigal: It is not the size of the house that matters.
This is from Patricia Mora
I had been crying for days. Nothing made sense. We had obeyed God’s commands. I had quit my job and stayed home-through financial trials and frustration. After nearly five years of difficulties, my husband had a decent job. We could finally afford to buy this little house we had been renting–but the owner had just sold it out from under us. “Why, Lord?”
It wasn’t perfect. It was tiny, with a barely decent sized “master” bedroom and two other bedrooms best described as miniature. If I could have my “druthers”–which I knew I could not– I would buy a bigger house, adding a two car garage, a pantry in the kitchen and one more room for our small buisness.
Why another trial? What have we done? Is there some sin in our lives? We could think of none.
The owner of this tiny house had promised to wait for the paperwork to go through. We knew low income government programs took an inordinate amount of time, but this one had dragged on and on. As the months passed, I had updated the information we were receiving from the agency to reassure the owner that buying this house was just a few more weeks away. He had never indicated he was growing tired of waiting. The phone call had come out of nowhere, knocking the breath right out of me.
Even though this little house was far less than we needed, I really loved it. I liked the floor plan and the large closets. I loved the “big” kitchen-the only normal-sized room in the house. Most of all, I loved the neighborhood. It was surrounded by tall pines and Oregon grape undergrowth. Huge ferns grew wild and blooming rhododendrons blazed scarlet, purple, and white. Here the silence and majesty of God’s creation brought peace in the midst of distress.
Our little rental was hidden, tucked way in the forest, in a tract of homes aptly named “Wilderness Rim,” some 1200 feet above sea level. From my windows, I watched birds and butterflies play in the sun. Dusk and dawn brought deer to the edge of the cul-de-sac, as chipmunks chirped their high-pitched cries.
How can I leave this neighborhood where God has given us such peace? Oh, why Lord? Why did you let this tiny haven be sold out from under us?
We had to find a new place to live. The government program was useless now. We would simply have to rent–again. Brokenhearted, confused with God’s unfathomable pain, we drove down the mountain to seek a new rental house. Hoping to stay in the “Rim,” we entered the only real estate office in town.
Disappointed, we learned there were few rentals in the “Rim” at any time. None, now. There was, however, a single house for sale, just listed that morning. The out-of-town owner would sell VA. To our surprise, my veteran husband could qualify for this house, using a “no down/no closing” loan–if we were interested in buying. Did we want to see the house?
We did. Driving back up to the Rim, we pulled into the familiar subdivision to view the only house for sale. With pleasure, we discovered this house had exactly the same floor plan as our rental–with a few exceptions: it had a pantry in the kitchen, a two-car garage, and a bonus room large enough for our business. Everything I’d wanted added to our rental. Best of all, this house had nearly the same view as the little one I loved. That’s because it was right next door.
God was not angry with us. He only wanted to bless us with something better–an unexpected blessing.
Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart
Psalm 37:4
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Let’s count our blessings today.
Me: Yes, we can always do that.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. (ESV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Shoot straight with me.
Prodigal: I wanted us to have some time before I did.
Me: Looks like there is no better time than now.
This is from the book All of Grace by C.H. Spurgeon
Sometimes faith is little more than a simple clinging to Christ-a sense of dependence and a willingness to depend. When you are down at the seashore, you will see limpets sticking to the rocks. You can walk softly up to a rock, strike a mollusk a quick blow with a stick, and off he comes. Yet try the next limpet in that way. You have given him warning; he heard the blow with which you struck his neighbor, and he clings with all his might. You will never get him off! Strike and strike again, but you might as well break the rock. The limpet does not know much, but he clings. He is not acquainted with the geological formation of the rock, but he clings. He can cling and has found something to cling to; this is all his stock of knowledge, and he uses it for his security and salvation. It is the limpet’s life to cling to the rock, and it is the sinner’s life to cling to Jesus. Thousands of God’s people have no more faith than this. They know enough to cling to Jesus with all their heart and soul, and this suffices for present peace and eternal safety. Jesus Christ is to them a strong and mighty Savior, a Rock immovable and immutable. They cling to Him for dear life, and this clinging saves them. Can you not cling? Do so at once.
Romans 13:1-2
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I don’t know if you should get so close to that spider.
Prodigal: I am not afraid of no spider.
Me: There are two types of fear.
This comes from the book Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges and Phyllis Hendry
The capacity to experience fear is a gift from God. When heeded, fear protects us. Yet what we actually do with fear when we experience it can prevent us from enjoying the good it can bring. So instead of enhancing life, fear has poisoned human relationships ever since man first stepped outside of God’s will. Consider the consequences of Adam and Eve’s eating the forbidden fruit: they immediately became self-conscious, covered their nakedness, and hid from God in fear. Human beings have been hiding ever since, because we fear that our weaknesses and bad behavior will be found out. The irony is, God already sees those weaknesses and knows all about our bad behavior.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: The right thing and the hard thing are usually the same thing.
Me: That is true!
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 10:10 Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, and a babbling fool will come to ruin. (ESV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
