Author Archives: Jennifer Van Allen

The Unseen Riches

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: This was once beautiful!

Me: Somethings change and somethings never change.

This is from the book God Will Make A Way: Stories of Hope

One day the Reverend John Newton called upon a Christian family who had suffered the loss of all they possessed in a devastating fire. He greeted the wife and mother of the family by saying, “I give you joy.”

She seemed surprised at his words, almost offended, and replied, “What! Joy that all my property is consumed?”

“Oh no,” Newton answered, “but joy that you have so much property that fire cannot touch.”

His words reminded her of the true riches of her life, those things that she valued beyond measure.

From time to time, it is good to remind ourselves that the things we value the most are things that are unseen. They may be felt or experienced, but they cannot be handled, quantified, appraised, viewed, or calculated. The genuine riches of our lives include the love of family and friends, peace of heart, peace of mind, health, joy, hope for the future, and faith.

In the house of the righteous there is much treasure.

Proverbs 15:6

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Women Lovin’ Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me: Something to remember.

Prodigal: What?

Me: Don’t be afraid of opposition. A kite rises against the wind.

This is a short video devotion on Proverbs

Click here to watch the video

Proverbs 9:1 Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars. (NIV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Could You Hurry a Little?

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me: We have to hurry the show is about to start.

Prodigal:  I will be there.

 

 

Lord, I know there are countless times

When I must wait patiently for You.

Waiting develops endurance.

It strengthens my faith

And deepens my dependence of You.

 

I know that You are Sovereign God–

Not an errand boy

Responding to the snap of my finger.

I know Your timing is neatly wrapped

In Your incomparable wisdom.

 

But, Lord

You have appointed prayer

To obtain answers!

Even David the Psalmist cried

With confident boldness:

“It is time, O Lord, for you to act.”

 

God, on this silent sunless morning

When I am hedged in on every side

I too cry boldly.

You are my Father, and I am Your child.

So, Lord, could You hurry a little?

 

by Ruth Harms Calkin

 

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:  and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

Daniel 2:44

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

 

Church and Work

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: I was just about to make a copy.

Me: Working is good for the soul.

Prodigal: So is God’s word.

This is from the book Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles Swindoll

This is a good time to ask a theological question: Is God not sovereign over all realms, including the realm of our employment? Since when did character take a vacation from business? And whoever said that our faithfulness at church is more important than our faithfulness at work? Somehow I’ve never been able to understand how followers of Christ could separate life into separate segments, calling one secular and the other sacred.

What can we do today to remember that God is in our work? It is easy to separate the too. God never meant it to be separated. Let us pray for our work for a week and see how God speaks to us.

Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, “What is your occupation?” So they said to Pharaoh, “Your servants are shepherds, both we and our fathers.”

Genesis 47:3

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Women Lovin Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: I will be praising Jesus till the cows come home!

Me: Lord willing, I would love to also!

This is a short video devotion on proverbs.

click here to watch the video

Proverbs 8:36 But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death. (KJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Universal Voice

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

 

Me:  Did you enjoy the show?

Prodigal:  He was a-dancin’ and a-hollerin’ like a barefoot boy in a bed of fire ants.

Me:  I thought he was a little much.

 

This is from the book The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

 

This universal Voice of God was by the ancient Hebrews often called Wisdom, and was said to be everywhere sounding and searching throughout the earth, seeking some response from the sons of men.  The eighth chapter of the Book of Proverbs begins, “Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice?”  The writer then pictures wisdom as a beautiful woman standing “in the top of the high places, by the way in the places of the paths.”  She sounds her voice from every quarter so that no one may miss hearing it.  “Unto you, O men, I call;  and my voice is to the sons of men.”  Then she pleads for the simple and the foolish to give ear to her words.  It is spiritual response for which this Wisdom of God is pleading, a response which she has always sought and is but rarely able to secure.  The tragedy is that our eternal welfare depends upon our hearing and we have trained our ears not to hear.

 

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.  Pray that the Lord will allow you to hear his quiet small voice today.  Remember we are to love and revenge is not our part in this world, that is left to the Lord.

 

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:  for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Joel 2:32

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

 

God Is Your Home

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: I’m plum tired.

Me: We need rest at times, and a break. Maybe this will be a good one for you.

This is from the book Let The Journey Begin by Max Lucado

Don’t think you are separated from God, he at the top end of a great ladder, you at the other. Dismiss any thoughts that God is on Venus while you are on earth. Since God is Spirit (John 4:23), he is next to you: God himself is our roof. God himself is our wall. And God himself is our foundation.

Moses knew this. “Lord,” he prayed, “you have been our home since the beginning” (Ps 90:1). What a powerful thought: God as your home. Your home is the place where you can kick off your shoes and eat pickles and crackers and not worry about what people think when they see you in your bathrobe.

Your home is familiar to you. No one has to tell you how to locate your bedroom; you don’t need directions to the kitchen. After a hard day scrambling to find your way around in the world, it’s assuring to come home to a place you know. God can be equally familiar to you. With time you can learn where to go for nourishment, where to hide for protection, where to turn for guidance. Just as your earthly house is a place of refuge, so God’s house is a place of peace. God’s house has never been plundered, his walls have never been breached.

Proverbs 15:16

Better is a little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble with it.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Women Lovin’ Jesus

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: Why in the world would you eat that?

Me: What is good to me, might not be good to you. It is ok though. We can make it work.

This is a short video devotion.

click here to watch the video

Proverbs 8:35

For whoever find me finds life, and obtains favor from the LORD; (NKJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

A Prayer

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: It is so quiet you can hear a pin drop.

Me: Good time to seek the Lord in prayer.

This is from Out Live Your Life by Max Lucado

Father, you have used all types of people for your holy purposes: prostitutes, murderers, persecutors, liars, thieves, swindlers, the illiterate, the blind, the lame. Grant me the grace to treat everyone I meet as someone for whom Jesus died and rose again. Let there be no unwholesome or unholy distinctions in my eyes and no unworthy favoritism in my actions. Rather, make me into a vessel through whom Jesus shines. In Christ’s name I pray. amen.

You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seal, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

Revelation 5:9

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

When The Lights Came On

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: I needed some light so I turned this on.

Me: I have a story about someone else needing some light.

This is from Franklin Graham

In 1971, as a newly licensed pilot, I was flying with my flight instructor from Vero Beach, Florida, to Longview, Texas. That night, we hit bad weather over Mobile, Alabama, and air-traffic controllers suggested we fly north toward Jackson, Mississippi, to avoid an approaching storm.

As we rose above the clouds, I noticed the instrument panel lights flicker. A minute later, radios and instruments started going dead; then all our lights went out. Our situation was desperate, and as we flew an emergency triangle, we prayed to God for His protection. We decided to drop below the clouds and try to see the ground. Soon we spotted the distant lights of Jackson and headed for the airport’s rotating beacon.

We circled the control tower twice, then got a green light to land. Without any electrical power, we had to lower the landing gear manually. At that moment, all the strobe landing lights came on and slowly, safely we touched ground.

Then the landing lights went off. That’s odd, I thought, at least they could have waited until we taxied to the ramp. It was even odder when a man from the tower asked us, “Who gave you permision to land?”

And then, little by little, we learned no one in the tower had seen us circling overhead. The green light had been flashed by a traffic controller who was explaining to his visiting pastor what he would do in a case a plane ever attempted to land without radio communication. The emergency landing lights were part of the same demonstration.

But the whole story can never be explained–just accepted with gratitude, as I strive to serve the Lord each new day.

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God,

for I will yet praise him,

my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:11

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org