Author Archives: Jennifer Van Allen

The Sword of the Spirit

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me: How is it going?

Prodigal: Just with Petey the Pirate.

Me: He has some sword!

Prodigal: Yes, he does.

This is from the book Overcoming Spiritual Blindness by James P. Gills, M.D.

The one offensive weapon given to the Christian soldier for spiritual warfare is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Eph 6:17). We have discussed the importance of the Word of God for every aspect of our spiritual life. However, in this passage, rhema is the Greek for this “word” of God, brought forth in specific, direct application to the issue at hand. It carries a very personal encouragement by the Spirit for the individual receiving it. This is the powerful application of God’s Word that is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb 4:12). It is the Word of God, not just written on the page, but drawn smartly and thrust deeply into the enemy.

When the Lord Jesus was tempted by the devil, He met each approach with a specific and devastating counter: “It is written” (Matt. 4:4). Those three words are Satan’s worst nightmare; using God’s Word against him thwarts his attacks with God’s direction.

The sword of the Spirit can also cut through the hardest layers protecting a heart that opposes God. When told that “every knee shall bow” to Christ, some people may laugh and ridicule, but when the Spirit uses the Word in their hearts it becomes different.

We thank God that the sword of the Spirit continues to work in cutting away sin in our own lives. When God quickens His Word to our hearts, our occasionally prayerless and cold spirits are pierced. Then we return to our first love for Christ, and see through the vanity of temporal things; again we hunger for the satisfaction alone that comes from being in His presence. The sword of the Spirit is mighty and we need it desperately to fight against our own sins as well as in seeking to free others from the enemy who does not easily let his captives go free.

Mark 2:1

And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was reported that he was in the house.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Avoiding Hypocrisy

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me: I think that is a fake tree Prodigal:

Prodigal: I think it might be, it is not as good as a real tree.

Me: I have to agree.

This is from the book Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado

  1. Expect no credit for good deeds. None. If no one notices, you aren’t disappointed. If someone does, you give the credit to God. Ask yourself this question: “If no one knew of the good I do, would I still do it?” If not, you’re doing it to be seen by people.
  2. Give financial gifts in secret. Money stirs the phony within us. We like to be seen earning it. And we like to be seen giving it. So “when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matt. 6:3).
  3. Don’t fake spirituality. When you go to church, don’t select a seat just to be seen or sing just to be heard. If you raise your hands in worship, raise holy ones, not showy ones. When you talk, don’t doctor your vocabulary with trendy religious terms. Nothing nauseates more than fake “Praise the Lord” or a shallow “Hallelujah” or an insincere “Glory be to God.”

It is not about YOU. It is about the Lord! It is to easy to think something is about you because you can take the credit but that will increase pride and before you know it, the ministry is about you. Stay true to what the Lord has done in your life!

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6:3-4

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Women Lovin’ Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: God wants full custody, not just weekend visits.

Me: Love it!

This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.

click here to watch the video

Proverbs 10:9

Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out. (ESV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Real Contact With Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me: We are alone, shoot straight with me. What do you think?

Prodigal: Sometimes we have to get alone to have that private conversation and those can be good.

Me: That is what I choose now.

Prodigal: Let me share a story as my answer.

This is from the book Joy In Christ’s Presence by Charles Spurgeon

Jesus Christ does not save the worthy, but the unworthy. Your plea must not be righteousness, but guilt. And, though you are ashamed of yourself, Jesus is not ashamed of you, for you are a child of God. Though you feel unfit to come, let your unfitness only urge you on with a greater earnestness of desire. Let your sense of need make you more fervent to approach the Lord, who can supply your need.

O, my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely. Song 2:14

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Entertaining

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: Thanks for having me over.

Me: Anytime and you are a joy to be with.

Prodigal: It is nice to share your home with others.

Me: Yes, it is.

This is from the book Open Heart Open Home by Karen Burton Mains

Entertaining has little to do with real hospitality. Secular entertaining is a terrible bondage. Its source is human pride. Demanding perfection, fostering the urge to impress, it is a rigorous taskmaster that enslaves. In contrast, scriptural hospitality is a freedom which liberates.

Entertaining says, “I want to impress you with my beautiful home, my clever decorating, my gourmet cooking.” Hospitality, however, seeks to minister. It says, “This home is not mine. It is truly a gift from my Master. I am His servant and I use it as He desires.” Hospitality does not try to impress, but to serve.

Entertaining always puts things before people. “As soon as I get the house finished, the living room decorated, my place setting complete, my housework done–then I will start having people in.” The So-and so’s are coming. I must buy that new such-and such before they come.” Hospitality, however, puts people before things. “We have no furniture; we’ll eat on the floor.” The decorating may never get done. Please come just the same.” “The house is a mess-but these people are friends. We never get to see them. Let’s have this time together anyway.”

Because we are afraid to allow people to see us as we really are, we welcome the false ideal of entertaining. To perpetuate the illusion we must pretend we love housework, that we never put our hair in rollers, that our children are so well disciplined that they always pick up their toys. We must hint broadly that we manage our busy lives without difficulty. Working hard to keep people from recognizing our weak points, we also prevent them from loving us in our weakness.

Because hospitality has put away its pride, it doesn’t care if other people see our humanness. Because we are maintaining no false pretensions, people relax and feel that perhaps we can be friends.

Open your house today and guess what a lot of people including me just do not like housework so you can share that with others.

Mark 2:3

And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Women Lovin’ Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: Be careful when you go with the flow–you might end up over the falls!

Me: That is true.

This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.

click here to watch the video

Proverbs 10:8

The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a bubbling fool will come to ruin. (ESV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Lead Like Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: If this ain’t a breathe of fresh air.

Me: What is?

Prodigal: Taking time like this.

Me: Yes, and listening for what God wants us to do.

This is from the book Lead Like Jesus by Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges and Phyllis Hendry

People who want to lead like Jesus, on the other hand, respond to things that happen to them. Before taking action, they choose to step back from the emotion of the moment, even for just a second or two, and desiring to love and serve, run some value checks on the situation. People who lead like Jesus are quick to listen, slow to judge, slow to become angry, and quick to let someone else receive the praise.

Praise of yourself can increase pride. How you struggle with pride. Just remember to pause and pray.

Proverbs 16:5

The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

An Angel in Every Lap

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: It is fun being around all the kids.

Me: Be careful with them.

Prodigal: We will

The trip started out as hundreds of others did. Lorie Torbeck of Appleton, Wisconsin, helped by her teenage daughter, Eryn, buckled the seven children who attended Lorie’s home day care into their seat in her big Chevy Suburban to go to the high school.

“Eryn was a cheerleader, and it was yearbook picture day for the team,” Lorid later recalled. “The kids and I had make this quick trip dozens of times.”

Now, as they were driving along a narrow stretch of highway, a white panel truck came toward them. Lorie moved onto the shoulder to give the truck ample room to pass. But as she tried to return to the highway, her tires became stuck in a six-inch drop from the concrete to the gravel shoulder. The vehicle began to fish-tail. “Hold on!” Eryn screamed. The van rolled over.

Dear God, now now–the children are with me! Lorie silently pleaded as the van rolled a second time. Immediately she heard a voice saying, “Don’t be frightened. God is with you, and you will all be all right.” She also had a vision of angels sitting on the children’s laps, wrapping their arms around each little one. “An overwhelming sense of peace came over me,” Lorie said, and she was able to relax even as the truck became airborned and flipped twice more, then came to a rest upright on a small hill.

The sudden silence was horrifying. Lorie was afraid to turn around and look, and instead fumbled for her cell phone. Where was it? Suddenly, everyone was crying. Cars around them were stopping. “Call an ambulance!” Lorie yelled, then turned to help the children.

Seeing everyone alive, she flew into action, pulling back two of the boys who were attempting to scramble through the broken windows, then passing four of the preschoolers to bystanders who had come to help. Eryn unbuckled Makayla, the screaming baby, from her car seat–she had probably saved Makayla from serious injury by wrapping herself around the baby as the van rolled. As the second to last child was removed, it suddenly occurred to Lorie that the van might roll again, but three-year-old Cody was still inside, too far for her reach. “But no one would let me crawl back to reach him,” Lorie recalled. “I had to wait until the police arrived, and they got him out.”

Wearily, Lorie climbed the hill. Good Samaritans had set all the children on blankets and were keeping them warm and safe. Lorie did a quick exam and discovered that four had escaped injury except for bruising from their seatbelts. The other three had glass cuts on their hands, but nothing more serious. As the ambulance arrived, she realized that she was covered in blood from a severed artery. She didn’t know yet that she also had broken a vertebra. “A policeman told me later that when he saw the damage to my truck, he expected to be pulling bodies out of it,” Lorie said. “No one could believe there weren’t more serious injuries.”

Later, Lorie discovered that her aunt, who lived seventy miles away, had been moved to get down on her knees and pray for a relative who was traveling. The feeling came upon her at 3:30 pm, the exact time Lorie’s truck began to roll.

It was a miracle. But a few days later when her day care reopened, Lorie discovered she wasn’t the only one to recognize it. “There were angels in our laps in the truck that day,” a boy told Lorie mater-of-factly, then ran off to play. Before she could react, another child told her the same thing. Lorie remembered her vision: an angel in each child’s lap protecting each little boy and the calm voice that assured her everyone would survive.

Mark 12:32

And the scribe said unto him, well Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Women Lovin’ Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me: I saw this and liked it.

Don’t make me come down there.

—God.

Me: Love it!

This is a short video devotion.

click here to watch the video

Proverbs 10:7

The memory of the just is blessed; but the name of the wicked shall rot. (KJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Defied the Law of Gravity

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: I like to hear the ways that we are protected.

Me: I just read a story, I think you might like.

Prodigal: I am all ears.

This is from the book Where Angels Walk by Joan Wester Anderson

Laura Leigh Agnese of Bethpage, New York was in her home one morning when her three-year-old son Danny tore across the living room floor and tripped. A horrified Laura Leigh watched him, almost in slow motion, hurtle headfirst toward the sharp corner of a table. She took several steps, knowing already that she was too late to break his fall.

But Danny didn’t hit the table at all. Instead, he seemed to stop in midair. Within a few seconds he stood straight up again and ran on.

By the next day, Laura Leigh had forgotten the incident–until Danny, absorbed in play, looked up in her.

“Mommy? I saw a beautiful lady. With wings.”

“Really, Danny?” Laura Leigh smiled. His stories were so imaginative. “What is the lady like?”

“She’s nice,” Danny said matter-of-factly. “She caught me yesterday so I didn’t hit my head against the table.”

Laura Leigh felt a chill. “Did the lady say anything?”

“Uh-hum. She said she was going to watch over me and keep me from getting hurt.”

Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org