Prodigal: What a nice relaxing day.
Me: Yes, it is.
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 11:28
Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf. (ESV).
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Sometimes I am up and sometimes I am down.
Prodigal: But God’s love remains the same.
This is from the book Vocabulary of Faith by Hampton Adams
Some people try to measure the love of God by the way things go with them. If they are prosperous, they talk about the love of God. If reverses come, they doubt God. But no one really knows the love of God who does not know it in such deep and fortified places in his inner life that nothing could ever cause him to doubt the love of the heavenly Father. God’s love does not keep us from adversity. It keeps us when adversity falls upon us. God’s love keeps us, too, in flush of our successes. It keeps us humble. It keeps us aware of the deep sources of our life. It keeps us aware that our life is not dependent upon these successes. This is the knowledge of God’s love that comes to us when our spirit responds to the action of the Holy Spirit.
God’s love is always around us. It is blocked at times from the distractions of our souls. Quietness is needed desperately. We think we are too busy for it, but make time. You cannot be too busy for God. We are refreshed when we soak in God’s love. It hits our spirits and we take a drink not from a well but His refreshing word. Our thirst will continue until we stop for what we need. You are in control of when you stop.
Matthew 22:37-39
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Those pumpkins are a sign that Thanksgiving is close!
Prodigal: Yes, my stomach is ready!
Me: Mine too!
This is from the book The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey
And in Jerusalem, the capital, though many people saw the miracles he did and believed in him, “He would not entrust himself to them,” for he knew what was in their hearts.
A sign is not the same thing as proof; a sign is merely a maker for someone who is looking in the right direction.
They will not believe. They are not looking in the right direction. You believe and you see. That is enough for now. Pray and wait for the Lord to work.
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Proverbs: Let’s praise God for a bountiful harvest this year.
Me: Yes, he has been good to me!
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 11:27
He who earnestly seeks good finds favor, but trouble will come to him who seeks evil. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I got a lot to do today, so I got started early.
Prodigal: Don’t forget some words of wisdom for the day.
Me: I have time for that.
This is from St. Francis De Sales
Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that, as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto,–do you but hold fast to His dear hand, and He will lead you safely through all things; and, when you cannot stand, He will bear you in His arms. Do not look forward to what my happen to-morrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you to-day, will take care of you to-morrow, and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering, or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations.
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus
Romans 15:5
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: He has a few bulbs burned out on his Christmas Lights.
Me: Bless his heart, best leave him to the Lord.
This is from the book The Cost of Discipleship
What are the disciples to do when they encounter opposition and cannot penetrate the hearts of men? They must admit that in no circumstances do they posses any rights or power over others, and that they have no direct access to them. The only way to reach others is through him in whose hands they are themselves like all other men. We shall hear more about this as we proceed. The disciples are taught to pray, and so they learn that the only way to reach others is by praying to God. Judgement and forgiveness are always in the hands of God. He closes and he opens. But the disciples must ask, they must seek and knock, and then God will hear them. They have to learn that they anxiety and concern for others must drive them to intercession. The promise Christ gives to their prayer is the doughtiest weapon in their armoury.
These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. Deuteronomy 12:1 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: These collards are so small.
Me: Yep, but they are going to be good one day!
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 11:26 The people will curse him who withholds grain, but blessings will be on the head of him who sells it. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: The quilt is looking good!
Me: Yes, it is. I still have a long road ahead of me.
Prodigal: You will get there.
This is from the book No Man Is an Island by Thomas Merton
First of all, although men have a common destiny, each individual also has to work out his own personal salvation for himself in fear and trembling. We can help one another to find out the meaning of life, no doubt. But in the last analysis the individual person is responsible for living his own life and “finding himself.” If he persists in shifting this responsibility to somebody else, he fails to find out the meaning of his own existence. You cannot tell me who I am, and I cannot tell you who you are. If you do not know your own identity, who is going to identify you? Others can give you a name or a number, but they can never tell you who you really are. That is something you yourself can only discover from within.
Psalm 85:3
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath; thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. (KVJ)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: These are the prefect flowers!
Me: Whatever cranks your tractor, I am glad you found them.
Prodigal: While I am enjoying them, then share a story.
This is from the book The Reason For God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller
Religion and the gospel also lead to divergent ways of handling troubles and suffering. Moralistic religion leads its participants to the conviction that if they live an upstanding life, then God (and others) owe them respect and favor. They believe they deserve a decent, happy life. If, however, life begins to go wrong, moralists will experience debilitating anger. Either they will be furious with God (or “the universe”) because they feel that since they live better than others, they should have a better life. Or else they will be deeply angry at themselves, unable to shake the feeling that they have not lived as they should or kept up to standards. The gospel, however, makes it possible for someone to escape the spiral of bitterness, self-recrimination, and despair when life goes wrong. They know that the basic premise of religion–that if you live a good life, things will go well for you–is wrong. Jesus was the most morally upright person who ever lived, yet he had a life filled with the experience of poverty, rejection, injustice, and even torture.
You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Psalms 85:2
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: If I get a notion I might just pick the rest of these.
Me: They sure would be tasty.
This is a short video on devotion.
Proverbs 11:25 The generous soul will be made rich, and he who waters will also be watered himself (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
