Author Archives: Jennifer Van Allen

Risky Flight

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

 

Me:  How is your friend?

Prodigal:  She cooks her peas and turnips in the same pot.

Me:  Doesn’t mean she still can’t help out some.

Prodigal:  Yeah, people deserve a chance.

 

This is from the book Angels Watching Over Us: In the Shadow of Wings

Bess thanked the flight crew as she disembarked in Chicago.  She had taken only a few steps when she felt a crushing pain in her chest.  She stopped and leaned forward, bracing herself against the corridor wall as the pressure grew.  Then someone grabbed her arm and guided her into the terminal.  Bess felt herself being eased into a chair.

She could hardly breathe, and when she raised her eyes she looked into the face of a small girl no older than five.

“Where’s your medicine?”  the child demanded.  Bess glanced at her purse, and in seconds, the little girl found the nitroglycerin, opened the childproof cap, and placed a pill gently in Bess’s mouth.  Bess rolled it under her tongue, and closed her eyes.  The pain was so harsh.

“Take two,”  the little voice commanded, and Bess complied, smiling despite the pressure in her chest.  Gradually the pain retreated.

“Mom!  What happened?”  shouted Bess’s son, Dan, as he pushed through the crowd.

“Zosia!”  screeched a voice, and a red-haired woman rushed up to the little girl and hugged her tightly.  She said something to the child in a language Bess didn’t understand.

The nitro had done its work, and Bess kissed her son.  “Just an angina attack.  I haven’t had one for so long I forgot how bad they can be.”

Bess didn’t argue when Dan suggested they stop at the hospital on the way home.  The pain had never been so strong before.  Then she turned to the little girl, who still held her hand.

“Thank you, sweetheart,”  Bess said, giving the little hand a gently squeeze.  “For such a little angel, you’re very smart and brave!

“Excuse me, I’m Zosia’s aunt, ” said the woman, who spoke with a slight accent.  “I don’t know how Zosia ended up over here–we just stepped off a plane from Poland.  But thank you for your kind words.”  She spoke rapidly to the child in Polish.  Zosia chattered back in the same language and smiled shyly at Bess.

“Zosia says she’s happy you’re better,” said the girl’s aunt.

“But, why doesn’t she say it?”  Bess asked, surprised.

“She can’t Zosia doesn’t know English yet!” said the woman laughing, as they waved gaily and disappeared into the crowd.

 

Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD:  look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.

Isaiah 51:1

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

 

The Shield of Faith

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me:  What is that Prodigal?

Prodigal:  It is my shield and I need to use it today.

Me:  Let me share how the shield is used.

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

The most versatile defensive armor of the soldier was his shield.  With great quickness, he could quickly divert blows and fiery arrows from many angles.  This shield, Paul says, is our faith–faith in God’s Word and in the living, reigning God who spoke it and stands by it.  It is faith that we are protected by Christ-our Shield.

Spiritual blindness deadens our faith and leaves us unshielded from the enemy.  However, true living faith holds up what God’s Word says to divert the lies that the devil shoots into the mind.  These lies are the soul-damaging and soul-destroying deceptions that come at us out of our blind spots and stir us to reject God’s way–the good way, the only way–and pursue the way of self and sin.  First Peter 5:9 tells us to resist the devil steadfastly in the faith.  And John declares, “This is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith” (1 John 5:4).

The Bible declares that God is our shield and exceedingly great reward (Gen. 15:1).  And He is our very present help in time of trouble (Psalm 46:1).  When I can see clearly, I am shielded from the debilitating effects of accusation and malicious criticism by believing only what God says about me.  He says I am loved with an everlasting love (Jere. 31:3).  Accusers will say that God has cast me off, but faith says He will never leave me nor forsake me (Heb. 13.5).

You want to focus on the slander, the hurt, the critics and their words.  How could people say so many things about you, and think they know you and yet have never spoken to you.  Forgive them and now focus on the truth of what God says about you.

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

Hebrews 5:14

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

A Slip in Words

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me:   The winds came and the tree fell.

Prodigal:  Yes, I guess it is something to ponder.

This is from the book  The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis

We ought not to believe every saying or suggestion, but ought warily and patiently to ponder the matter with reference to God.  But alas!  Such is our weakness, that we often rather believe and speak evil of others than good.  Those that are perfect men do not easily give credit to every tale; for they know that human infirmity is prone to evil, and very subject to slip in words.

It is great wisdom not to be rash in thy actions, nor to stand obstinately in thine own conceits; it belongeth also to this same wisdom not to believe everything which thou hearest, nor presently to pour into the ears of others what thou hast heard or believed.  Consult with a man that is wise and conscientious, and seek to be instructed by a better than thyself, rather than to follow thine own inventions.

A good life maketh a man wise according to God, and giveth him experience in many things.  The more humble a man is in himself, and the more resigned unto God; so much the more prudent shall he be in all things, and the more at peace.

But who so looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.  James 1:25

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

The Sword

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal: Look at that sword!

Me: Yes, it is a nice one.

I really was not sure. I thought about going to the sun room, and reading. The room had plenty of windows, and was bright and sunny. It would make a relaxing place to sit and read. I thought about taking the dog for a walk and, I thought about just spending time on the phone.

For what ever reason, I did decide to stay. My family had decided to watch a show on television, that I had never seen. The show was on the Discovery channel. Tonight they were going to discuss swords. Information was given on different points about swords.

The beginning really did not capture my attention. I found myself distracted and moving around and missing parts of it. I really was not sure why, I continued to watch the show.

Toward the end of the show, they brought in an expert on how to handle swords. While the sword was out, various moves were discussed. He explained some very core truths you have to grasp in order to be effective with the sword.

They show the two men completing several exercises with the sword. The purpose of these exercises was so that you would become familiar with the sword. They were several movements and a lot of time was spent just learning these exercises over and over. This first truth was that you have to become familiar with the sword. A person should be able to understand how it feels, how much it weighs and the smallest detail about the sword.

The second truth was teaching how to cut with the sword. This exercise used a watermelon and they would practice cutting open the watermelon with one swing. He explained that even a dull blade could cut open a watermelon. This is because the sword already has what it takes to be an effective tool. The tough part is trying not to use our muscle in cutting open the watermelon. If we use our muscle then it will not be clean and may not cut the watermelon at all. All the power is in the sword.

Most people have to re train themselves when learning how to use a sword. They have to learn that it is not themselves that has to put the power in the sword. For most people this is really hard. It can take time to understand the complete power of the sword itself. Once you have mastered the ability to let go and completely allow the sword to do all the work, then you can see the power in the sword completely.

The power is all in the sword and we have to re train ourselves to understand it is not our power at all. In Ephesians 6 the bible explains our armor that we use in spirtual battle. The last piece of armor that is described is the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.

If we really want to use our sword effectively, we need to be familiar with the sword. If we really want to cut through the enemies lies, we need to realize the power in the sword. The power is in the word of God and not ourselves. The sword can complete the task. That means we do not have to have the most strength. We do not have to be a spiritual giant. We do not have to be afraid of an enemy that seems bigger than us. The power is in our sword and not us.

God cared enough about us that he made sure that the sword we carry is amazing. This sword is not small and easily broken. No this sword has the power to stop the enemy in anything that may come against us.

Today the enemy looks tricky. The enemy is taunting. The enemy seems not to stop. But the enemy doesnt have your sword.

Coming out swinging today and see how the sword will make them all fall.

Ephesians 6:19-20

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

God Doing His Part

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Prodigal:  I don’t know if this will turn out the best.

Me:  Don’t worry, I don’t expect perfection and neither does Christ.

Prodigal:  Makes me happy to hear that.

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

Charles Spurgeon once preached what, in his opinion, was one of his poorest sermons.  He stammered and stumbled through it and felt like a complete failure by the sermon’s end.  He was greatly humiliated, and when he got home he fell on his knees and cried, “Lord God.  Thou canst do something with nothing.  Bless that poor sermon.”

All through the week, Spurgeon uttered that prayer about his failure.  He awoke in the night and prayed about it.  Then he determined that the next Sunday he would redeem himself by preaching a great sermon.  Sure enough, the next Sunday the sermon was delivered well and, at the close of the service, people crowed about him and covered him with praise for it.  Spurgeon went home pleased with himself, but he later said to himself, “I’ll watch the results of those two sermons.”  And he did.

From the one sermon that seemed a failure, he was able to trace forty-one conversions to Jesus Christ.  From the magnificent sermon, he was unable to discover a single soul who had been saved.

In that day shall the LORD of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people.

Isaiah 28:5

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

What Do You See?

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

 

Me:  What do you see?

Prodigal:  I see the sun and the water and where they seem to meet together.

Me:  What a wonder to see.

 

This is from the book  God Came Near by Max Lucado

 

Should a man see only popularity, he becomes a mirror, reflecting whatever needs to be reflected to gain acceptance.  Though in vogue, he is vague.  Though in style, he is stodgy.  Personal convictions change with the seasons.  Individual beliefs come in all colors, each for a different night of the week.  He’s a puppet on a thousand strings.  He’s a singer of a hundred songs, with no song of his own.  His appearance changes to fit the seeing so often that he forgets who he set out to be.  He is everyone and no one.

Should a man see only power, he becomes a wolf–prowling, hunting, and stalking the elusive game.  Recognition is his prey and people are his prizes.  His quest is endless.  There is always another world to conquer or another person to control.  As a result, he who sees only power is degraded to an animal, an insatiable scavenger controlled not by a will from within but by lurings from without.

Should a man see only pleasure, he becomes a carnival thrill-seeker, alive only in bright lights, wild rides, and titillating entertainment.  With lustful fever he races from ride to ride, satisfying his insatiable passion for sensations only long enough to look for another.  Ferris wheels of romance.  Haunted houses of eroticism.  Hammer rides of danger and excitement.  Long after the crowd is gone he can still be found on the carnival founds rummaging through empty boxes of popcorn and sticky cones that held the cotton candy.  He is driven by passion, willing to sell his soul if need be for one more rush, one more race of the pulse, one more sideshow that will take him away from the real world of promises broken and commitments to keep.

Seekers of popularity, power, and pleasure.  The end results is the same: painful unfulfillment.

Only in seeking his Maker does a man truly become a man.  For in seeing his Creator, man catches a glimpse of what he was intended to be.  He who would see his God would then see the reason for death and the purpose of time.  Destiny?  Tomorrow?  Truth?  All are questions within the reach of the man who knows his source.

It is in seeing Jesus that man sees his source.

 

 

Then Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way.

Matthew 15:32

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

My First Responder

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

Me:  Today is the day that the Lord has given!

Prodigal:  That is true for all of us.

Today we share from the book Chicken Soup for the Soul: Angels and Miracles by Amy Newmark

I was driving home from an audition to sing as a church cantor in a local Catholic church.  The audition went very well and they had hired me on the spot.  I felt blessed.

It wasn’t far to the highway that would take me home.  I had a green arrow indicating that I could make a left turn, so I turned toward the entrance ramp.  Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a speeding Suburban blew through a red light and plowed into my little Neon.  I saw it coming and there was nothing I could do.

Glass shattered around me, the airbags deployed and something heavy pushed against my legs.  It was the car’s engine.  To make matters worse, the engine was in flames.  I frantically tried my door, only to find it was completely caved in.  I couldn’t budge it.  I’m pretty sure I was screaming by then.

The police came quite quickly and one officer put out the flames with a fire extinguisher.  The car was still smoldering under the crushed hood, though, and I could smell gasoline.

When the firefighters and rescue team finally arrived, they couldn’t get the door open either.  Flames began spreading out from under the hood again.  I was crying now as the firemen scrambled to get something to cut me out.  I could see on their faces that things looked rather grim.  I kept calling for someone to help me.  The adrenaline had started to wear off and I was almost certain that my left ankle was broken.

A man suddenly appeared at the side of my car.  I remember he was very handsome and had a comforting smile.  He said, “I’ve go you, sweetheart.  Hang on.”

Before I knew it, he had opened the door effortlessly and helped me out of the burning wreck.  Then he let me lean against him and he guided me to the side of the road, out of harm’s way.  The front end of the car was engulfed in flames by then.  The firemen rushed over with a foam spray to put out the fire, frantic to rescue me from where I was stuck–except I wasn’t there anymore.

One of the astonished firefighters walked over to where I was sitting.  The man who helped me had disappeared so I assumed he had gone back to his own vehicle.

I asked the firefighter if he could thank the man for me.  He shook his head, and said, “Lady there was no man.  We went for the Jaws of Life to get you out of the car, only to find you sitting on the curb.  Lady, we couldn’t open that door.  It’s so damaged, the only way to free you was to cut you out.

I knew I had seen him.  That man helped me walk to the curb.  I couldn’t have done it myself because I couldn’t even put any weight on my injured foot.  I argued with the firefighter:  The man who had saved me had been there.  I held onto him.  He was real.  I felt him guiding me out of the car and across the road.  I leaned on him when I could not walk.

The fireman responded, “Trust me, Miss, there was no one there.  I have no idea how you got out, but I can assure you there was no man.”

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

Jennifer  Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

The Humble Conceit

Posted on by Jennifer Van Allen

 

Me:  You are doing great with the climbing!

Prodigal:  Thanks, the company is good company and it helps.

Me:  I will continue with my thoughts then.

 

This is from the book The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis

 

Every man naturally desireth to know; but what availeth knowledge without the fear of God?  Better, surely, is an humble rustic that serveth God, than a proud philosopher that, neglecting himself, studieth the course of the heavens.  Whoso knoweth himself well, groweth mean in his own conceit, and delighteth not in the praises of men.  If I understood all things in the world, and were not in charity, what would that hep me in the sight of God, who will judge me according to my deeds?

Cease from an inordinate desire of knowing, for therein is found much distraction and deceit.  The learned are well pleased to seem so to others, and to be accounted wise.  There be many things, which to know doth little or nothing profit the soul:  and he is very unwise, who is intent upon anythings save those which avail for his salvation.  Many words do not satisfy the soul; but a good life comforteth the mind, and a pure conscience giveth great confidence towards God.

 

Faith is needed at this time.  Faith comes from the spirit and not the mind.  Faith will be your foundation and not your knowledge.

 

But he knoweth the way that I take:  when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Job 23:10

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org