Prodigal: There’s no dollar sign on peace of mind.
Me: Amen!
This is a video devotion on Proverbs
Proverbs 8:22 The LORD possessed me at the beginning of His way, Before His works of old. (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: This garden is fine as a daisy.
Me: Yes, it is beautiful.
Everything in Christ astonishes me. His spirit overawes me, and his will confounds me. Between him and whoever else in the world, there is no possible term of comparison. He is truly a being by himself….I search in vain in history to find the similar to Jesus Christ, or anything which can approach the gospel. Neither history, nor humanity, nor the ages, nor nature, offer me anything with which I am able to compare it or to explain it. Here everything is extraordinary.
Napoleon
Even with power you can humble yourself to acknowledge how great Jesus really is.
John 17:13
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I declare, that is a happy face!
Prodigal: Yes, look at how much joy there is!
This is from the book God’s Psychiatry by Charles L. Allen
When we look at Jesus’ face we know it was a happy face. Little children ran to get in His lap and clasp Him around His neck. People invited Him to their parties. Seeing God in Christ, we are not afraid of Him; instead we want to be closer to Him. We listen as He says, “Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin no more.” (John 8:11), and we are ashamed of our sins, we want forgiveness, and we come to Him repenting and asking for His cleansing.
We look as “he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). Though it meant death, He would not go back on the high purposes of His life. Seeing Him puts the steel in our own backbones to make the right decision. We watch as He walked seven miles to Emmaus to give hope to the downhearted (Luke 24:13-32), or as He gave a new chance to His friends who failed Him (John 20:19-31), and we take new heart and new hope.
How wonderful it is to see God. To encourage the early Christians who were bearing almost the unbearable John says to them that those who are faithful “shall see his face” (Rev 22:4). The promise of seeing Him compensated for any sacrifice.
For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Matthew 16:26 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: That is beeutiful!
Me: I love it, wanted to share that, not every cloud brings a storm.
This is a video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 8:21 That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Where did everybody else go?
Prodigal: They took off like two hound dogs backed into a porcupine.
Me: We will just continue without them.
This is from Ellen Vaughn
Far too often we trivialize the holy, perceiving God as an extension of ourselves. God is white, just like us. Or black, or Asian, or Hispanic, or whatever. He’s from North America. Or not. God must be a Republican. Or a Democrat. Or most assuredly an Independent. We unconsciously assume He’s whatever we are, just bigger, though He shares our little biases, quirks, and opinions. No. God is huge. Mysterious. Multidimensional….We live in a land that has largely lost a sense of holy reverence, let alone the transcendent. Most everything is assessed by the criterion, “how does it affect me?” In a supremely self-referential culture it’s hard to conceive of anything that is so wholly Other.
That is why today, you think God is not powerful enough. You think He is like you. God can do so much more than you can. That is why we can trust Him with this day.
John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Gee whiz! What a great garden!
Me: It is beautiful, and amazing.
This is from the book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
There is a paradox here. As long as Dick does not turn to God, he thinks his niceness is his own, and just as long as he thinks that, it is not his own. It is when Dick realises that this niceness is not his own but a gift from God, and when he offers it back to God-it is just then that it begins to be really his own. For now Dick is beginning to take a share in his own creation. The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God. What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose.
Anything can be a distraction from the Lord. Even how nice people say you are. Pride can increase because of how nice you are. Before long you expect verbal praise from others about your niceness. Then you start making decision so that you hear more about yourself and not necessary what God wants you to do. It is great that you have a kind heart, but you may be drifting from the Lord.
And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them.
MATTHEW 15 : 30
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I took my own sweet time with this one.
Prodigal: I know.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs
Proverbs 8:20 I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice (ESV).
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: This is one fancy place.
Me: Stop ya poking fun.
Prodigal: Don’t worry I’m not judging anyone.
This is from the book Job by Charles Swindoll
We Christians can be terrible judgmental, assuming we know why others are going through hard times. Furthermore, we can paint with too broad a brush as we criticize folks because it seems like they’re implicated by the sins of another. We need to stay with the facts, not allowing our selves to yield to suspicions and jump to false conclusions. It is unfair to see someone as guilty because others around them have failed.
1 John 4:20
If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodialpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: You look like you are in prison.
Prodigal: Sometimes we can feel that way.
This is from the book In the Grip of Grace by Max Lucado
Near the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, is a remarkable facility. Twenty years ago the Brazilian government turned a prison over to two Christians. The institution was renamed Humaita, and the plan was to run it on Christian principles. With the exception of two full-time staff, all the work is done by inmates. Families outside the prison adopt an inmate to work with during and after his term. Chuck Colson visited the prison and made this report:
When I visited Humanita I found the inmates smiling-particularly the murder who held the keys, opened the gates and let me in. Wherever I walked I saw men a peace. I saw clean living areas, people working industriously. The walls were decorated with Biblical sayings from Psalms and Proverbs…..My guide escorted me to the notorious prison cell once used for torture. Today, he told me, that block houses only a single inmate. As we reached the end of a long concrete corridor and he put the key in the lock, he paused and asked, “Are you sure you want to go in?”
“Of course,” I replied impatiently, “I’ve been in isolation cells all over the world.” Slowly he swung open the massive door, and I saw the prisoner in that punishment cell: a crucifix, beautifully carved by the Humanita inmates–the prisoner Jesus, hanging on a cross.
“He’s doing time for the rest of us,” my guide said softly.
Our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin. Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control.
Romans 6:6-7
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: There going to make it to the finals!
Me: Tell the truth and let the Lord love them!
Prodigal: Amen!
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs
Proverbs 8:19
My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, And my revenue than choice silver. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodgialpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
