Prodigal: We all have our own style.
Me: Yes, that is ok.
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 11:16 A gracious woman retains honor, But ruthless men attain riches. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: That was some shindig at your place!
Prodigal: We know how to ham it up…
Me: Lol, so funny. Let me share before another bad joke is started.
This is from the book The Revolution That Changed the World by Dr. David Jeremiah
Some Christians virtually ignore the Old Testament, thinking the New Testament renders it irrelevant. This is a mistake. We lean the human story-who we are and why we need redemption–by reading the Old Testament. The Old Testament reveals the origin of humankind, the nature of sin, the result of disobedience, the character of God, and his unfolding purpose. Perhaps the most obvious benefit is that the Old Testament reveals Christ through hundreds of specific prophecies about his life and death. As the adage says, “The Old Testament is the New Testament concealed; the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
Psalm 2:1-2
Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodgialpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I have a prayer for your friends!
Prodigal: We need some prayer.
This is from the book The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions
Thou Great I AM,
I acknowledge and confess that all things come of thee–
life, breath, happiness, advancement,
sight, touch, hearing,
goodness, truth, beauty–
all that makes existence amiable.
In the spiritual world also I am dependent entirely upon thee.
Give me grace to know more of my need of grace;
Show me my sinfulness that I may willingly confess it;
Reveal to me my weakness that I may know my strength in thee.
I thank thee for any sign of penitence;
give me more of it;
My sins are black and deep,
and rise from a stony, proud, self-righteous heart;
Help me to confess them with mourning, regret, self-loathing,
with no pretence to merit or excuse;
I need healing;
Good Physician, here is scope for thee,
come and manifest thy power;
I need faith;
Thou who hast given it me, maintain, strengthen, increase it;
Centre it upon the Savior’s work,
upon the majesty of the Father,
upon the operations of the Spirit;
Work it in me now that I may never doubt thee
as the truthful, mighty, faithful God.
Then I can bring my heart to thee
full of love, gratitude, hope, joy.
May I lay at thy feet these fruits grown in thy garden,
love thee with a confidence that never staggers,
hope in thee with a rejoicing that cannot be stifled,
glorify thee with the highest of my powers,
burning, blazing, glowing, radiating, as from thy own glory.
Psalms 118:24
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: She can flat out cook.
Me: Yep, and I am enjoying it.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 11:15 Whoever puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer harm, but he who hates striking hands in pledge is secure.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Need to spend time with The Most Holy.
Me: Yes, that is something that is good for us everyday.
Purge from our hearts the stains so deep and foul,
Of wrath and pride and care;
Send Thine own holy calm upon the soul,
And bid it settle there!
by Anon
The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalms 68:11 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: You brought cookies!
Prodigal: Of course I did.
Me: A get together with no dessert is as scare as grass ’round a hog trough.
Prodigal: Amen.
This is from the book Joseph: A Man of Integrity and Forgiveness by Charles Swindoll
Behind changes, I repeat, must be a solid foundation. The first and highest priority must be our commitment to sound biblical truth and principles. When we fudge on truth or principles, we don’t even start to succeed. Rather, a subtle erosion occurs and we begin to lose. If our plan requires deception, if it means lying, if it calls for mistreatment of others, or if, in any way, it requires us to soften our theology, it’s spurious. My advice? Dump it now, not later.
God uses love, patience, self control and truth. You will be surprised at how much all that can accomplish.
Genesis 45:14-15
Then he fell on his brother Benjamin’s neck and wept; and Benjamin wept on his neck. And he kissed all his brothers and wept on them, and afterward his brothers talked with him.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Where are you going?
Prodigal: Ain’t no tellin’
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 11:14 Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I am about to have a fit over this ole vacum.
Me: Hold your horses. Let’s look at that anger for a second.
This is from the book Reclaiming Your Heart by Denise Hildreth Jones
It wasn’t hard for me to recognize I was angry at that moment. (It isn’t always quite that clear to me.) But I still needed to get honest with God and myself about what was going on. So I went upstairs to my little boy’s room, where I often like to pray when it is too cold to walk outside, and began to tell God everything I was feeling–the hurt, the fear, the disappointment, but especially the anger. I was so angry.
Do you know what God did in response? Nothing like what I used to think he would do. There was no lightning bolt. He didn’t scream down from his throne and say, “How dare you do anything but praise me!”
No, it was like he pulled up a chair at the table over a batch of hot biscuits and said, “Okay, let’s talk. I’m listening.” And he gave me freedom to be honest. I wasn’t disrespectful. I wasn’t demanding. I was simply broken–and desperate to understand what my heart felt was such extreme injustice.
Reclaiming the angry heart begins by giving ourselves the freedom to be angry. Remember, feeling anger is not a sin. Feeling anger is an unavoidable human response to a perceived threat. So it’s okay to feel angry. Our responsibility is to refuse to let the anger settle in us.
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
Prodigal: That song that I played, sounded good.
Me: Yes you have a talent, but you must take that to the Lord also!
This is from the book Filled with the Spirit…Then What? by R. Mabel Francis
Beloved, here is something that is very hard for us to see on our path to spiritual victory:
Even out seeming good traits must go to the cross!
Many people thought they were being kind when they would say, “Miss Francis is such a loving person” –and I believed it, too!
It is true that I did may pleasant things. But God said, “Yes, you are very loving, but the trouble is you love yourself.”
I was astonished. What did He mean? At that time three girls lived with me. They should have been strong Christians, but they were spoiled. The Lord said to me: “You are like a mother who is spoiling her child. She thinks she loves the child if she gives her everything she wants. It is not that she loves the child but that it pleases her to do this.” This vivid portrayal pierced my inner being like an arrow. I pleaded earnestly, “Lord, what can I do?”
He said, “Consign it to the cross.”
From that moment on there was a tremendous difference in my life. This trait seemed to be the center of my self-life. So I learned that my self-life was not always some ugly thing, some mean thing. With true insight into my human spirit, God knew that I had been brought up in a loving home an that it pleased me to do nice things. He had put His finger on the root of my weakness–myself!
Psalms 130:5
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: You want to play?
Me: Sure, but I will probably win!
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs
Proverbs 11:13
Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered. (ESV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
