God Is

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Me:  Howdy, Prodigal!  Howdy Happy!

Prodigal:  I love spending time with my friends!  They make life easier to handle.

Me:  I agree, where would I be with out the support of my friends?

Prodigal:  Let’s share so we can encourage out friends?

 

Today the book I am going to share from is You Can Change by Tim Chester

 

God is great–so we do not have to be in control

God is glorious–so we do not have to fear others

God is good–so we do not have to look elsewhere

God is gracious–so we do not have to prove ourselves

 

God is….God is….God is….God is…..

Why do I wake up some mornings and can say with my mouth what God is but my heart refuses to accept it when I look at my day?  You do not have to be in control today!  You do not have to fear others!  You do not have to look elsewhere!  You do not have to prove yourself!  You know how the day will turn out if you live by those truths.  You also can imagine what will happen if you choose not too.

 

Romans 12:21

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org.

Isaiah 53

 

Me:  How are you today?

Prodigal:  Good, just enjoying the day!

Me:  As we hang out together, I will share some of my readings.

 

This is from the book I have a Friend Who’s Jewish Do You? by Don Goldstein

 

Have you ever gone to synagogue and noticed that on Shabbat, the Haftorah readings conclude at Isaiah 52:12; the very verse which begins the “Surrering Servant” passage…and then the readings pick up immediately after the 53rd chapter of Isaiah?

Herbert Loewe, a Reader in Rabbinics at Cambridge University and co-author with Claude Montefiore of A Rabbinic Anthology has this to say on the subject:

“Quotations from the famous 53rd chapter of Isaiah are rare in Rabbinic literature.  Because of the Christological (that is Messianic) interpretation given to the chapter by Christians, it is omitted from the series of prophetical lessons (Haftorah) for the Deuteronomy of Sabbaths…The omission is deliberate and striking.

 

Isaiah 53 3-5

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.  But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

Something is Never Quite Right

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Me:  What are you looking up?

Prodigal:  Reading the news, just so much to worry about.

Me:  Yes, I believe focusing too much on the bad will lead us to a lot of worry.

Prodigal:  What should I do then?

Me:  I have something that I read that might be helpful to you.

 

Simple Faith by Charles Swindoll

 

It has been my observation that worries are basically dissatisfied people.  Something is never quite right.  When one thing is fixed, something else is never quite right.  Contentment with the way things are, even knowing that God could change them if He wished, is a mind-set that is foreign to the worrier.  What is  not enjoyed because of what could be.  Whoever chooses to live like that should be ready for a lifetime of dissatisfaction.

 

What should I focus on today Lord?  Well of course I should look to you!  How about when the sad news of the world comes to my ears and makes my heart mourn?  Well then I know that you first mourned for sin before I was born.  How about when suffering comes my way because I am speaking your truths?  Well then how could I forget you suffered more than I have.  So then I guess I am left with looking at you Lord and being content that you are all I need!

 

Luke 15:4-5

What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

What Motivates You

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Me:  Howdy, Prodigal!

Prodigal:  You look like you have a lot on your mind?

Me:  I do. It seems that we are faced with struggles often.  We can follow our flesh or follow the spirit.  Sometimes the flesh seems tempting but we know that leads to death.

Prodigal: That seems a lot to have on your mind right now.  Why don’t you share something you read to help you  focus on Christ.

Me:  That works for me!

This is from Billy, A Personal Look At Billy Graham, The World’s Best-Loved Evangelist by Sherwood Elliot Wirt

 

But is that all there was to it–mere ambition?  Is that what motivated Billy?  He had become a follower of Jesus.  Is that what motivated Jesus?  Let’s set the record straight.  Factually and theologically, all Billy Graham did was to get out of God’s way.  He laid his life at the altar and made himself an empty vessel for the Holy Spirit to fill and use.  No one can possible understand the “most successful evangelist in Christian history” unless one knows that Billy considers such titles good for selling books and little else.

God is love.  It was God’s loving desire to make His servant an instrument to win millions of people to Himself.  That’s why He poured out His love into Billy’s heart.  Billy Graham saw what the Holy Spirit was doing and wanted done, and he showed up for work.

 

God I am not as focused on you as I should be today.  Laying down my life at the altar today is a struggle because I am looking at my hurts instead of looking at your love.  Yet, I know even you are showing me compassion and not condemnation in my struggles.  God I am every so grateful for your forgiveness.  Even in my struggle, I can’t run from your love that is ever present.

 

Deuteronomy 7:9

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org

“Tireless” Prayers

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Me:  What are you working on today Prodigal?

Prodigal:  I am checking my tires, I think this one may be going flat.

Me:  Yep, you got to make sure everything is in working order.

Prodigal:  You can share a story while I work.  It will not bother me.

 

Today’s story come from the book Voices of the Faithful by Beth Moore

Rogers finished a course on evangelism simultaneously with completing medical school.   He prayed God would use all of his training for His glory.  The government offered him a position working with 30 different tribes in an area where many had never heard of Jesus.

This region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was isolated.  To get anywhere, Rogers hopped on the back of a small motorcycle driven by a Muslim man.  The small motorcycle easily was maneuvered through overgrown walking paths.  When they arrived at a river, they carried the motorcycle across a log bridge.

One day, they had a flat tire in the middle of nowhere.  Knowing they could be stuck for days, Rogers said to the driver, “We can’t fix this tire, but God can.  Take it off.”

Rogers lifted the flat above his head and said, “God, we can’t fix this tire, but You can–so fix this tire.”  He then told the driver to put it back on the bike and pump it up.  The driver followed orders but thought the doctor had lost his mind, especially when Rogers ordered him to continue driving on the flat tire.

They drove slowly for the first half mile and gradually picked up speed.  By the end of the day, the twosome traveled almost 60 miles on the “flat” tire.  The driver thought Rogers was a magician, but the doctor explained that his God answered prayers.

Word about the miracle spread throughout the province.  Every village the pair visited wanted to hear about the “God who answers prayers.”  By the end of the 21-day trip, many came to Christ, including the driver.

Rusty, Central, Eastern and Southern Africa

 

And others experienced mockings and scourgings, yes, also chains and imprisonment.

Hebrews 11:36

 

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org