Prodigal: Well, I’ll be if I didn’t realize what day it is.
Me: It is ok, sometimes we get caught up with everything else.
This is a video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 8:14 Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. (KJV)
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Sometimes we just need reminders.
Prodigal: Sometimes we do.
This is from the book Sister Freaks by Rebecca St. James
Dana learned early of God’s love for her and never doubted that He was real. In her simple understanding, He was her friend. Dana continued to grow in her trust in Him and His extravagant love. On her ninth birthday she made it official and went to the altar, asking Him to be her Lord.
The crossroads of her existence came when at twenty-five years old she felt God ask if she’d be willing to move across the world to care for little children in Africa. She had doubts. But she felt so full of His love, she couldn’t imagine keeping it to herself. After lots of prayer, her answer was s resounding yes! It was a decision that would uproot all Dana knew about God.
After many hours of travel, the young woman arrived in Mozambique, a country located on the dry, dusty, eastern border of Africa. Dana’s new home was in an orphanage, which housed at that time approximately four hundred children, most of them abandoned, some deathly ill, and all broken and hurting. A wild mix of intense emotions arrived with Dana, but she had ministered in some pretty rough areas of other countries and in inner-city situations, so she was confident God had adequately prepared her to handle that too.
Dana adored the dark-skinned people of Mozambique, soon loving them as if she’d grown up with their soil under her feet. Otencia, a little girl eight years old, was one of Dana’s shadows at the orphanage. She visited Dana daily, sometimes bringing bread and tea in the morning for breakfast. Each week she insisted on helping Dana hand-wash her clothes and sweep her room. Dana couldn’t believe how responsible she was for one so young.
The conditions were shocking, but Dana’s faith was sure. God wanted to demonstrate His love and care to those children. She and her team had many trials to overcome, one being that Dana became very ill with malaria, a disease passed through mosquitoes. Still, she considered that merely a part of the sacrifice–a cross she would gladly bear for Jesus.
A few months after Dana’s arrival, an outbreak of cholera, a very deadly disease from contaminated water, hit her orphanage. For almost two weeks, Dana spent days and nights transporting the children who were most ill to a tent hospital. There, under the tattered canvas, she lay them on rough wooden table, the only hospital “beds” available. Each trip, Dana saw them getting worse, not better. All she could do was watch as the life drained out of several of those precious ones, their bodies growing limp, their breathing slowing, their skin cooling. It was actually a tent of death, and each visit there dented Dana’s faith a little more. But she held on, doing what needed to be done.
Then Otencia became ill. It was cholera, and as her energy and strength faded, Dana faced the unthinkable task. It was part of her service, part of her mission, so she carried the young girl through the night, Otencia’s soft face held to Dana’s mixing their tears all the way to the tent.
Dana tried to speak words of comfort, but could Otencia understand? Leaving her there with those fawn eyes looking back at her–eyes filled with fear when Dana peeled Otencia’s hands from her arms, leaving her to lie on the table. Dana turned and walked away. Would Otencia make it? She could only hope.
But as Otencia’s cries faded into the darkness behind Dana, she found there was no hope left inside. Her soul collapsed in on itself, sucking what was left on her heart into a dark hole of doubt and questions about the goodness of God in the face of such anguish.
Back at the orphanage, death continued to take others. Apart from the cholera epidemic, AIDS, pneumonia, and untreated disease but claimed three more lives. The team had to continue on, but Dana cried day and night, “Where are You in the midst of this, God?” She endured weeks of questioning and bitterness against this God whom she had loved and trusted since she was a little girl. How can I ever trust Him again?
For weeks, the Lord remained silent. No answers came. No comfort was given. And then, in the middle of a worship service for the missionaries, He broke the silence in clear, unmistakable terms. Dana was down on her knees, on the concrete floor, when one of the leaders began to read from John 12:24: “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”
As she heard these words, Dana felt her spirit began to groan deep within her. Before she knew exactly what was happening, she had fallen on her face and was crying out, “Kill Me! God, just kill me!” Dana was dying. She was dying to all that she had known before and all that she thought God was…and wasn’t. Dying to her need to know why; dying a beautiful, hard death. And in exchange for Dana’s death, the Lord breathed into her new life–and with this life came these words: “Dana, my goodness is never determined by your circumstances.”
In the midst of all the darkness, a new light of understanding began to grow. God’s goodness is one of those absolutes in this world of suffering. It is goodness that passes beyond all suffering, all death, and all brokenness. In His goodness, there in Mozambique, He brought Dana into a death of her own.
She realized that somewhere along the way, she had become convinced that the Lord was only as good as the events in her life. When life was all right, God seemed loving and close. When things felt as if they were crashing down around her, Dana questioned His motives, forgetting that He was the one who never changed. That’s why she had to die. Dana had to die to herself and all her expectations, so she could see Him for who He really was.
And as Dana died, she began to live in a new way, letting the Lord show her His heart even in the midst of such a distorted and painful world. He showed that while suffering and death had so overwhelmed her, it was His goodness that met those precious little ones at the gates of eternity. It was His voice that ushered them into the land of eternal living–free from the bondage of earth. It was His perfect love that kept many more from death and suffering during those critical days and weeks.
It was certainly His goodness that brought Dana to a place of spiritual death, she saw, allowing her to be raised to new life in Him. Heaven now fills her thoughts. She says, “How can I describe the abundant life waiting for us who are willing to die to ourselves and find real life hidden with Christ in God?”
Dana is willing to work and believe.
Let heaven fill your thoughts. Do not think only about things down here on earth. For you died when Christ died, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:2-3)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I wonder if they knew Jesus.
Me: I hope she did, we have a choice today to find out who Jesus is.
This is from the book Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore
“Show me Your handiwork,” I had prayed moments before. My heart danced at the thought of walking alongside God Almighty, anticipating the wonders of His handiwork. I expected Him to show me faces. I would look into the eyes of each person, seeing them as He sees them. I’d see how special they are and be inspired to pray for these magnificent displays fo His handiwork.
And that’s when I saw it. The dingy bus lumbered past me from where I stood on the sidewalk. Not a seat was left unfilled, and the eyes of each prisoner seemed to gaze vacantly at me through the windows. These were the faces of those condemned. Their guilt was indisputable and their sentences issues–punishment by death.
On that bus rumbling away was God’s handiwork. Each passenger was lovingly knit together by His hands. Did they even know where they were headed? They seemed to simply resign themselves to the journey ahead. They didn’t know that they had a choice. They didn’t know that there is One who wants to free them. If only they’d call on His name….
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? (Roman. 10:14).
It was the first time I’d seen them, but now I know they are all around me. How is it that I hadn’t noticed them before? Maybe I had never taken the time to look.
–A worker in Central and Eastern Europe
Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal lie and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
John 5:24
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: What a pretty day, that the Lord has made.
Me: Yes, Praise God for all things!
This is a video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 8:13
The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate. (ESV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Looks like you are at a dig site.
Prodigal: It will be interesting to see what I find.
This is from the book Exceeding Gratitude for the Creator’s Plan by James P. Gills, M.D.
Hen Gee, the chief science writer for Nature, was quite candid in talking about this problem: “The intervals of time that separate fossils are so huge that we cannot say anything definite about their possible connection through ancestry and descent. Each fossil is an isolated point, with no knowable connection to any other given fossil, and all float around in an overwhelming sea of gaps.”
Gee admitted that all the fossil evidence for human evolution between ten and five million years ago–several thousand generations of living creatures–can be fitted into a small box. He concluded that the conventional picture of human evolution is a “completely human invention created after the fact, shaped to accord with human prejudices.”
Listen carefully how people will try to take information and fit it to their story. The truth stands firm and can stand alone. The truth cannot be buried so easily, and will not go away so easily.
1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Lord have mercy, this is interesting.
Prodigal: I know, God’s plans are great!
This is from the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan
When people gladly sacrifice their time or comfort or home, it is obvious that they trust in the promises of God. Why is it that the story of someone who has actually done what Jesus commands resonates deeply with us, but we then assume we could never do anything so radical or intense? Or why do we call it radical when, to Jesus, it is simply the way it is? The way it should be?
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ
1: Corinthians 11:1
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step.
Me: Very true and steps have been taken.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs
Proverbs 8:12
“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, And find out knowledge and discretion. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: How are y’all doing?
Prodigal: We are enjoying the minute.
I remember going home from the Navy for the first time during World War II. Home was so far out in the country that when we went hunting we had to go toward town. We had moved there for my father’s health when I was just 13. We raised cattle and horses.
I started a little flock of Shropshire sheep, the kind that are completely covered by wool except for a black nose and the tips of black legs. My father helped them have their twins at lambing time, and I could tell each one of the flock apart at a distance with no trouble. I had a beautiful ram. Next door was a poor man who had a beautiful dog and a small flock of sheep he wanted to improve with my ram. He asked me if he could borrow the ram; in return he would let me have the choice of the litter from his prize dog.
That is how I got Teddy, a big, black Scottish shepherd. Teddy was my dog, and he would do anything for me. He waited for me to come home from school. He slept beside me, and when I whistled he ran to me even if he were eating. At night no one could get within a half mile without Teddy’s permission. During those long summers in the fields I would only see the family at night, but Teddy was with me all the time. And so when I went away to war, I didn’t know how to leave him. How do you explain to someone who loves you that you are leaving him and will not be chasing woodchucks with him tomorrow like always?
So, coming home that first time from the Navy was something I can scarcely describe. The last bus stop was fourteen miles from the farm. I got off there that night at about eleven o’clock and walked the rest of the way home. It was two or three in the morning before I was within a half mile of the house. It was pitch dark, but I knew every step of the way. Suddenly Teddy heard me and began his warning bark. Then I whistled only once. The barking stopped. There was a yelp of recognition, and I knew that big black form was hurling toward me in the darkness. Almost immediately he was there in my arms. To this day that is the best way I can explain what I mean by coming home.
What comes home to me now is the eloquence with which that unforgettable memory speaks to me of my God. If my dog, without any explanation, would love me and take me back after all that time, wouldn’t my God?
by David Redding
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
Revelation 21:4
Jennifer Van Allen
Me: Well, that is mighty nice that He gave you a hug.
Prodigal: I think we are going to get along just fine.
This is Treasured Friends by Ann Hibbard
A true friend is someone we look to for support. She is always on our team, cheering us on to victory. When we have a problem, she does not try to solve it for us. Instead, she listens and expresses her solidarity. When our perspective has become distorted by self-pity, she encourages us, not with pat answers but by gently pointing us toward the truth.
There is never a hint of criticism from a true friend. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t sometimes say hard things. She is the one who asks the tough questions. But we know that her intentions for us are only good. Anyone can say what we want to hear. A true friend tells us what we need to hear. Yet, every word is prompted by love.
Friends are so valuable. Where would we be without them. Remember your friends today and make them feel appreciated.
Psalms 103:2-5
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodialpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I reckon that I will Start where I am, use what I have, and do what I can.
Me: Yes, with the Lord guiding you.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 8:11
For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
