Me: I see you brought your friend.

Prodigal: Yes, he is a good friend.

Me: Y’all look closer than two fleas in a dog’s ear.

Prodigal: We are.

This is from the book When God Whispers Your Name by Max Lucado

Scarilege is to feel guilt for sins forgiven.

God forgets the past. Imitate him.

Greed I’ve often regretted. Generosity-never.

Never miss a chance to read a child a story.

Pursue forgiveness, not innocence.

Don’t ask God to do what you want. Ask God to do what is right.

Nails didn’t hold God to a cross. Love did.

You’ll give up on yourself before God will.

Know answered prayer when you see it, and don’t give up when you don’t.

Flattery is fancy dishonesty.

The right heart with the wrong creed is better than the right creed with the wrong heart.

We treat others as we perceive God is treating us.

Sometimes the most godly thing we can do is take a day off.

Faith in the future begets power in the present.

No one is useless to God. No one.

Conflict is inevitable, but combat is optional.

You will never forgive anyone more than God has already forgiven you.

Succeed in what matters.

You’ll regret opening your mouth. You’ll rarely regret keeping it shut.

To see sin without grace is despair. To see grace without sin is arrogance. To see them in tandem is conversion.

God doesn’t keep a clock.

Never underestimate a gesture of affection.

When Jesus went home, he left the front door open.

As soon as you can, pay your debts.

As long as you can, give the benefit of the doubt.

As much as you can, give thanks. He’s already given us more than we deserve.

Romans 12:13

Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Me; Are you safe with your back turned like that?

Prodigal: I am protected!

Me: Praise God!

I Am In Training 

The title may be training, but we are still talking about being in a trial.  The third step in dealing with trails is that we are being trained in them, if we remain obedient. 

Psalm 94 is scripture that is dealing with people who are in a calamity.  Most scholars believe that David is the author and was talking about many of problematic situations that happened in his lifetime.  Almost in the middle of this 23 verse Psalm we find the verse that is talking about teaching. 

There is an explanation of some of the heart reaching experiences that are happening around them and then a pause that goes on about teaching. 

Psalm 94:9-12 

He that planted the ear, shall he not hear?  he that formed the eye, shall he not see?  He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?  The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.  Blessed is the man who thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law; 

When we exam this all together there is relationship between, trials, training and blessing.  One of the ways to be obedient in a trail and obtain a blessing is to acknowledge God is trying to train you. 

Seeking the Lord in praying is the first step in accepting training.  Ask questions like: 

“What are you trying to train me in?” 

“What steps of obedience do I need to take to help the training?” 

“What has already been part of my training?” 

“Show me what is training from you and what is the enemy trying to stop the training?” 

We are often arrogant in our lives until a trial comes.  The trail tends to humble us, we can then see how much we can really grow in an area. 

Often, we think I know how to pray, worship, read my bible, serve and love.  Sometime the trails are taking our skills and training them to another level.  Sometimes the skills we have are not done consistently.   

I learned some of the following skills set in trails.  I learned consistent prayer, worship, praise, serving and love others.  The prolonged trail forced me to learn how to use these daily in order to be obedient to the Father. 

As we are struggling in a trial, if we think of it as God’s Boot Camp for training and learning it may help with our obedience.  Just as a real boot camp has exercise that are performed to increase muscle and endurance.  The Lord’s boot camp may be trying to increase your spiritual muscle and endurance. 

Lord, Help us with training during our trials.  Speak to our spirit’s about how this training will glorify you.  Lord give us endurance during training and let us not give up when we feel our strength is being tested. 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Prodigal: These are dandy!

Me: Yes, beautiful to see.

This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.

click here to watch the video

Proverbs 10:14 Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. (KJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Me: Your friends have me shaken in my boots!

Prodigal: You don’t have to be afraid.

This comes from the book The Vision of His Glory by Anne Graham Lotz

What are you afraid of? If you have not suffered “because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus,” is it because your fears have kept you silent? Have your fears been the bushel under which you have hidden your light? Let you light shine! John did. Think of the vision of His glory John would have missed had he played it safe!

Instead, John endured with patience not only his suffering but also his solitude.

But as for me, I will always have hope

Psalm 71:14

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Prodigal: Those who have tact have less to retract.

Me: Yes, very true.

To our most bitter opponents we say:”….Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws because non cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. Throw us in jail and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.”

Martin Luther King Jr.

I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 1 Corinthians 1:4 (KJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Prodigal: Jesus turns a mess into a message.

Me: That is something He can do.

This is a short video devotion.

click here to watch the video

Proverbs 10:13 In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. (KJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Prodigal: That is fine as frog hair.

Me: I agree, pretty to the eye.

This is from Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders

The spiritual leader will be alert to the most effective way to influence people. Hudson Taylor is well known for his expression, “It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone.” During his missionary career he demonstrated the truth of his claim a thousand times.

But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. Matthew 18:16 (KJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Prodigal: We need some encouragement.

Me: I can tell that you are not having the best day.

Prodigal: Maybe this devotion will happen.

I AM HERE 

Trials, testing, refiner’s fire, struggles, tribulations, and God’s plan.  They can all mean the same thing when we speak those words to others.  The emotional struggle we feel is very personal during those times.  We hear the words of comfort and wisdom from our Christian sisters which bring a relief for a moment.  The testing does not stop though. With that you are unsure of what the plan is.   

If this is your first trial as a Christian, or the first one of the day, this will help remind you of what God’s plan is. 

The first step is: 

I am here by God’s Plan 

Job 1:7-12 NKJV 

And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?”  So Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”  Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”  So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?  Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side?  You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.  But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse you to Your face!”  And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”  So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. 

In my first major trial, I was in shock.  I walked around saying “This can’t be happening.”  “I have been growing in the Lord.”  “I have been praying and reading the bible more than ever.” “Bad things don’t happen when you do good.” 

I stayed there for a long time, thinking if I just said all this enough the trial would somehow go away.  What the Lord was trying to say was I was here by His plan. 

When we look at this scripture in Job it will help us with the first step in handling a trial.  We acknowledge that I am here and God said this is good.   

God watches us, but He is also watching what Satan is trying to do.  We do not know how many plans of Satan that God has protected us from.  We can think of it as colander.  As we pour in the food from our pot, smaller items escape in the drain through the holes.  We have the big items left in the colander that we can then work with. 

What God has allowed to stay behind, He has a purpose for and has meaning.  When the trial begins to surround your day, don’t try to figure it out.  Follow the first step.  Just say God has allowed and He sees what is happening.  God loves me. 

Lord help us to remember that we are where we are by God’s plan.  Give us your wisdom and patience to help us today with what we have to face.  We thank you for the ways you have protected us and we did not know.  We thank you for how you will help us during this time of trial. 

Jennifer Van Allen 

www.theprodigalpig.com 

www.faithincounseling.org 

Women Lovin’ Jesus (You Tube) 

Prodigal: A clean conscience makes a soft pillow.

Me: Yes, it does.

This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.

Click here to watch the video.

Proverbs 10:12

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins. (NKJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Prodigal: People say that religion causes war.

Me: That is not always true.

This is from the book The Reason for God by Timothy Keller

This evidence seems to indicate that religion aggravates human differences until they boil over into war, violence, and the oppression of minorities.

There are problems with this view, however. The Communist Russian, Chinese, and Cambodian regimes of the twentieth century rejected all organized religion and belief in God. A forerunner of all these was the French Revolution, which rejected traditional religion for human reason. These societies were all rational and secular, yet each produced massive violence against its own people without the influence of religion.

Can we forget that the Nazis wanted to remove a whole race of people that had nothing to do with a religion. Society is so quick to point out mistakes in Christianity, but what about remembering the positives. There was a day when people told the truth, when people worked hard and people attempted to love their neighbor.

Even though this was not done perfect, it was still an idea to strive for. Now, white lies are the norm. Love means, only if I feel love first. Making quick money or lying about money really does not have any negative connotation to it. What if we just tried to be honest today. Just for today.

Daniel 6:12

Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org