Prodigal: I am ready to take a load off.
Me: Me too. Let’s rest here for awhile.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs 6:20
Proverbs 6:20
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching (ESV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I love the pool in the summer!
Prodigal: Me too!
This is from the book Psalm 91 by Peggy Ruth and Angelia Schum
The summer that Cullen was five years old, I was swimming with him and his cousins in their pool. One of the adults had said, “Ok, everyone out of the pool.” Everyone else had headed inside the house, when Cullen saw a plastic life raft come floating by. He said, “Hey, James, watch this,” as he stepped off the side of the pool onto the raft like it was a solid piece. It flipped out from under him, and he fell backward into the water, grazing his head on the side of the pool as he fell.
It was deep end of the pool, and I watched Cullen, with his arms and legs outstretched, just start sinking to the bottom. I dove in and grabbed him under the arms, but he is unusually big for his age and weighed more than I did. His dad always said that he felt like a chunk of lead when you tried to lift him, so I wondered if I could get him to the top of the water–especially since he must have been dazed from scraping his head on the concrete.
I knew we were in trouble, so I called on God, and suddenly, I felt someone grab me from behind and begin pushing Cullen and me straight up from the bottom of the pool. (I thought one of the adults had seen us and dove in to help me.) I shot up out of the water with Cullen above me. Then it was like someone pulled Cullen from my arms and laid him on the side of the pool. (I was in water way over my head, so there was no way I could have lifted dead weight out of the pool.) Cullen started crying and coughing, and when I looked around, no one was there–absolutely no one! I knew God had heard me call, and He had sent an angel to answer my call.
Psalms 90:2
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: The Lord has made this all.
Prodigal: I think He did a great job!
This is from the book Jonathan Edwards by David J. Vaughan
According to Edwards, there were five “distinguishing marks” of a true work of God’s Spirit:
The Holy Spirit always (1) engenders a greater esteem for Jesus; (2) operates against the kingdom of Satan; (3) causes men to have a greater regard for the Holy Scriptures; (4) leads people into truth; and (5) operates as a spirit of love to God and man.
The Holy Spirit is about truth and the Lord. The Holy Spirit is here to guide you and direct you toward the Lord. Do not get confused. Confusion is Satan. Confusion is about the kingdom of Satan. Seeking the Lord is about finding that truth that you need today. This will show you how to love others today. This will allow others to see the love of God today.
1 John 4:1
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: You look like you have been busy.
Me: I have been, but the Lord is good to me!
This is a short video devotion.
Click here to watch the video devotion
Proverbs 6:19
A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodgialpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I am popular!
Me: Your friends are flocked around you like chickens on a june bug.
Prodigal: They sure are!
This is from Charles Spurgeon
The law was given, however, according to the text, “that the offense might abound.” Such was the effect of the law. It did not hinder sin, nor provide a remedy for it; but its actual effect was that the offence abounded. How so?
It was so, first, because it revealed the offense. Man did not in every instance clearly discern what was sin; but when the law came, it pointed out to man that this evil, which he thought little of, was an abomination in the sight of God. Man’s nature and character was like a dark dungeon which knew no ray of light. Yonder prisoner does not perceive the horrible filthiness and corruption of the place wherein he is immured, so long as he is in darkness. When a lamp is brought, or a window is opened and the light of day comes in, he finds out to his dismay the hideous condition of his den. He spies loathsome creatures upon the walls, and marks how others burrow out of sight because the light annoys them. He may, perhaps, have guessed that all was not as it should be, but he had not imagined the abundance of the evils. The light has entered, and the offense abounds.
Law does not make us sinful, but it displays our sinfulness. In the presence of the perfect standard we see our sinfulness. In the presence of the perfect standard we see our shortcomings. The law of God is the looking-glass; but it prompts you to seek the cleansing water. The design of the law is the revealing of our many offenses, that, thereby, we may be driven out of self-righteousness to the Lord Jesus, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I am ready for a story.
Me: I think I have just the one for you to read.
This is from the book The Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado
“I have everything I need for joy!” Robert Reed said. “Amazing!” I thought.
His hands are twisted and his feet are useless. He can’t bathe himself. He can’t feed himself. He can’t brush his teeth, comb his hair, or put on his underwear. His shirts are held together by strips of Velcro. His speech drags like a worn-out audio cassette.
Robert has cerebral palsy.
The disease keeps him from driving a car, riding a bike, and going for a walk. But it didn’t help him from graduating from high school or attending Abilene Christian University, from which he graduated with a degree in Latin. Having cerebral palsy didn’t keep him from teaching at a St. Louis junior college or from venturing overseas on five mission trips.
And Robert’s disease didn’t prevent him from becoming a missionary in Portugal.
He moved to Lisbon, alone, in 1972. There he rented a hotel room and began studying Portuguese. He found a restaurant owner who would feed him after the rush hour and a tutor who would instruct him in the language.
Then he stationed himself daily in a park, where he distributed brochures about Christ. Within six years he led seventy people to the Lord, one of whom became his wife, Rosa.
I heard Robert speak recently. I watched other men carry him in his wheelchair onto the platform. I watched them lay a Bible in his lap. I watched his stiff fingers force open the pages. And I watched people in the audience wipe away tears of admiration from their faces. Robert could have asked for sympathy or pity, but he did just the opposite. He held his bent hand up in the air and boasted, “I have everything I need for joy.”
His shirts are held together by Velcro, but his life is held together by joy.
Psalms 50:2
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: You need to keep your saddle oiled and your gun greased.
Prodigal: We will be prepared.
This is a quick video devotion on proverbs.
Proverbs 6:18
A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil,
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: It will be a beautiful day!
Prodigal: Yes, and I am waiting to see what God will do today.
This is from the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis
Therefore we must watch and pray, lest our time pass away idly. If it be lawful and expedient for you to speak, speak those things that may edify. An evil custom and neglect of our own good often makes us to set no watch before our mouth. Yet, devout discourses of spiritual things do greatly further our spiritual growth, especially when persons of one mind and spirit be gathered together in God.
John 6:27
Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Your garden looks good!
Prodigal: I am prouder than a prize heifer over my garden.
Me: Make sure you enjoy the garden.
This is from the book The Soul Winner by C.H. Spurgeon
May we be altogether alive from the crowns of our heads to the soles of our feet! I know such Christians. You cannot come into contact with them without feeling the power of the spiritual life that is in them. It is not merely while they are talking about religious topics, but even in the commonplace things of the world, that you are conscious there is something about them that tells you that they are altogether alive to God. Such Christians will be used by God for the quickening of others.
You are a christian that is alive with the light of the Lord. Allow yourself to be used by God today. Allow yourself to follow in His leading. Allow yourself to put aside your plans today. The Lord’s work needs the Lord’s workers.
God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
wwwfaithincounseling.org
Me: I’m starting a new project.
Prodigal: I think it will turn out great!
This is a short video devotion on proverbs
click here to watch the video
Proverbs 6:17
A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
