Prodigal: If that don’t beat all.
Me: I know!
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 14:33 Wisdom is driven away in his wickedness: but the righteous hath hope in his death. (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I don’t know if I can play this game.
Me: It’s as easy as fallin’ of a log.
Prodigal: Let’s play then!
This is from the book Charles H. Spurgeon: The Best from All His Works.
Hear then, O ye that are strangers to the truth as it is in Jesus–hear then the message that I have to bring you. Ye have fallen, fallen in our father Adam; ye have fallen also in yourselves, by your daily sin and your constant iniquity; you have provoked the anger of the Most High; and as assuredly as you have sinned, so certainly must God punish you if you persevere in your iniquity, for the Lord is a God of justice, and will by no means spare the guilty. But have you not heard, hath it not long been spoken in your ears, that God, in his infinite mercy, has devised a way whereby, without any infringement upon his honor, he can have mercy upon you, the guilty and the undeserving?
To you I speak; and my voice is unto you, O sons of men; Jesus Christ, very God of very God, hath descended from heaven, and was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. Begotten of the Holy Ghost, he was born of the Virgin Mary; he lived in this world a life of exemplary holiness, and of the deepest suffering, till at last he gave himself up to die for our sins, “the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” And now the plan of salvation is simply declared unto you–“Whosoever believeth in the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.” For you who have violated all the precepts of God, and have disdained his mercy and dared his vengeance, there is yet mercy proclaimed, for “whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” “For this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief;” “whosoever cometh unto him he will in no wise cast out, for he is able also to save unto the uttermost them that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us.”
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, Luke 24:45 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I love my friend!
Me: Speaking of love. We have given God countless reasons not to love us. But He still does.
This is from the book Christian Caregiving: A Way of Life by Kenneth C. Haugk
Now, there are many ways–some quite subtle–of treating a person as an object. For example, you could become so concerned about getting your own religious ideas across to the person with whom you talk that your forget there is an individual before you with unique problems that need to be ministered to. You also might be preoccupied with getting in Bible reading and prayers, forgetting that an individual might need these resources tailored to his or her own situation. Or you might be in such a hurry to share your faith with someone that you neglect to notice the person is not yet ready to hear your testimony.
Questions you always need to ask yourself are these: Am I here to help the other person, or am I here to help myself, to further my own goals? Am I using the tools of Christian helping to fulfill my own needs or the needs of the other person? If your words and your actions show that you have no ulterior motives for relating to someone, and you are interested solely in helping the person with is or her own unique needs–then you will avoid ministering to him or her as an object.
Can two walk together, except they be agreed? Amos 3:3 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Be careful near the water.
Prodigal: I will.
This is from Ruth Harms Calkin
Lord, I’m drowning
In a sea of perplexity.
Waves of confusion
Crash over me.
I’m too weak
To shout for help.
Either quiet the waves
Or lift me above them–
It’s too late
To learn to swim.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (ESV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: PRODIGAL!
Prodigal: I’m just trying to take a nap.
Me: Sorry.
Here is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 14:31 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: What can our prayers do?
Me: They can do more than you think.
This is from the book Stories of the Heart and Home by Dr. James Dobson
I’m told that George McCluskey, my great-grandfather on the maternal side, carried a similar burden for his children through the final decades of his life. He invested the hour from eleven to twelve o’clock each morning to intercessory prayer for his family. However, he was not only asking God to bless his children, he extended his request to generations not yet born! In effect, my great-grandfather was praying for me.
Toward the end of his life, the old man announced that God had made a very unusual promise to him. He was given the assurance that every member of four generations of our family would be Christians, including those yet to be born. He then died and the promise became part of the spiritual heritage that was passed to those of us in George McCluskey’s bloodline. As members of his family not only know the Lord but serve the Lord.
Numbers 12:7
My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: What a great pair you are!
Prodigal: I heard something I wanted to share. A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.
This is from Grayce Shapiro
How much of a married couple’s time together is spent in quiet pleasures, such as eating breakfast in the morning sun or enjoying an evening walk! Even late at night, when my husband was asleep, I enjoyed reading and writing and thinking, knowing he was there.
But when Billie died, those simple pleasures died with him. I was too tense to sleep. Each moment that I was awake and each tick of the clock reminded me that he wasn’t there. I’d fall asleep only as dawn was breaking, and be wakened moments later by my alarm.
On one such morning I drowsily stumbled into the kitchen, put on the tea kettle, then wandered back into the bedroom and lay down on the bed. Instantly I was fast asleep, the deep exhausted sleep that finally comes, but never when I wanted it to. I had a dream. Billie and I were in the kitchen preparing coffee and toast. I saw him taking bread out of the bag and putting it in the toaster. I could hear him asking me if the water was boiling yet. Suddenly he became stern, saying, “Darling, you have the kettle on the wrong burner.” And he repeated himself. Then he yelled, “Darling, you have it on the wrong burner!”
I jumped to my feet. There was an overpowering smell of gas in the room. The stove! The pilot light that I hadn’t repaired! I dashed to the kitchen, turned off the stove, threw open the windows.
“Oh, thank You, God!” I cried out. And then I added the words that changed my life, “Thank you, Billie.”
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Just hanging around today.
Me: Yep, that is a good thing.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I kept my head to the grindstone on this one.
Prodigal: It shows.
This is from the book Something More: In Search of Deeper Faith by Catherine Marshall
I was learning about the part the will plays in our relationship with God. First, there is that period of initial struggle of the will when we know full well that a decision has to be made. God won’t force it on us; it must be entirely our choice.
God will not force it, but it longs to hear you say yes in obedience. This will grow you, but growth means a season of something new. It will good, but it all starts with a yes on your part.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. John 13:20 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I think you got to get your ducks in a row.
Prodigal: I am trying, but a lot of toys are here.
This is from Nan Closson
Merle was always coming up with ways to entertain our grandsons when they visited town. This time he put his hands on quite a contraption: a mechanical dog. He loaded the batteries, and we tested it before the boys arrived. The dog walked and barked and moved its head. Merle pressed a button to make its tail spin like a propeller. You couldn’t help but laugh.
The boys played with the dog every single day, but nobody could get that tail to way the way Merle could. I caught him fooling with the dog even after the boys had gone back home. “Merle!” I said. “You’re a grown man!” Merle’s hearty laugh made me think he’d live forever. But that wasn’t to be. His health started to fail, and he died on an afternoon in March.
All of us struggled in the days after. One night I roamed the house, utterly joyless. Lord, will I ever laugh again? Suddenly I heard a whirring noise in the bedroom. I crept down the hall to the closet. Holding my breath, I opened the door.
Merle’s little dog was spinning its tail a mile a minute. I burst out laughing. Oh, Merle, I thought. Ever the entertainer. I picked up the control box. The batteries weren’t even inserted.
O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. Psalm 117:1 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
