Prodigal: Daggone if I don’t have more work to do today.
Me: It will get done, don’t worry.
This is a short video devotion on Proverbs.
Proverbs 11:18 The wicked man does deceptive work, But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward. (NKJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: I like that message.
Prodigal: I thought you would.
Me: Here is one that you might like.
This is by Julian B. Motheral
Dear Someone Out There:
I wonder if you remember the night of June 9,1967, in Mayfield, Kentucky. I promise you I will never forget it.
You see, until that night, I could walk on moonlit nights with my wife. Until that night, I could run and play with my 14-month-old son. Until that night, I could support my family. I have been unable to do any of these things now for almost ten long years–ever since you put a bullet in my spine.
I’ll never forget how nervous you were that night in the service station. The barrel of the pistol you held in you hand was shaking so hard. I remember saying to myself, “You’re mighty nervous. This must be your first job.”
I can’t recall all the details of what happened after I gave you my day’s receipts. I seem to remember picking up your un from the floor where you had dropped it and struggling with you. Did you give me the concussion when you hit me with the pop bottle? Or have I just pieced these things together in an effort to explain all that happened that night.
I do remember being shoved toward the back room with my left arm twisted behind my back. I remember looking up at the clock as you shoved me into the back room. And I still can almost feel the gun barrel as you knocked me in the head again, and I fell to the floor.
I was through fighting. I lay there on the floor hoping you would leave. Why did you feel you had to bend over, place the gun barrel under my left side and try to kill me?
I remember that crashing sound and the blinding flash of light. Then darkness. When I woke up, you were gone. I tried to get to my feet, but from my neck down there was no feeling whatsoever. There was no pain at all. I was totally paralyzed. I was totally helpless. I was dying.
Only a few minutes had passed when three young boys came in and found me. I thought I had been screaming for help. They said I was only whispering.
I don’t remember the 150-mile ambulance ride to the Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis. I only remember in bits and pieces the 18 days I stayed there.
My 17-year-old wife had to face the doctors and be told, “We cannot remove the bullet. There is nothing we can do.” She brought me home to die.
I relived that night of the robbery over and over, and I would often awaken my family with my screams. I couldn’t even feed myself. I was a vegetable.
As I lay there in the hospital bed in the back bedroom of my parents’ home, I knew the feeling of crushing despair.
I remember once, when I had just taken 14 of my daily 42 pills, I looked over to the table by my bedside. On top of the table lay a pair of shiny scissors. If only I could reach them and plunge them into my heart it would be all over. Then I realized I couldn’t lift my hands to grab them. I couldn’t even kill myself.
Did you know I carried your bullet in my neck for over four months? Finally, I was taken to the Jewish Hospital in Louisville, and on November 3, 1967, the .22 caliber slug was removed from the center of my spinal column.
After the bullet was removed I returned to Mayfield. The doctors in Louisville told me I would never walk, that the most I could hope for was eventually to sit on the bedside with a special back brace and possibly be able to feed myself. I wanted more. I felt God could give me more. If left Louisville against doctor’s orders.
With a very painful scar on the back of my neck where the bullet had been removed, I began the long road back to normal life. If I wanted to turn in bed, I had to be rolled over and a pillow propped behind my back so I could remain on my side. I could sit in a chair for only a few minutes at a time, and then I had to be tied in place to remain upright.
I would have my wife and my parents roll me to the back yard and place me on wrestling mats laid on the ground. I would try to crawl and drag myself along the ground, and although it would take me 30 minutes to crawl 30 feet, at least I was moving on my own.
Now the pain was to begin. Pain such as I had never before experienced. My physical therapist told me I would begin to have all kinds of weird feelings in my arms, and later in my legs. He was right.
Even today, though I am now able to use a walker and drive my car with special hand controls, I still have little sense of touch in my hands and arms and now in my legs. Yet, there are times when I feel as though someone has just drenched me in scalding water. At other times my arms will itch until I feel I am going to climb the walls. And the constant pain I carry in my arms and hands helps me to pray.
I promised God, a few months after you shot me, that if He would only let me have enough feeling to know pain, I would never again complain. Even pain was better than no feeling at all. I’m afraid a few times I have failed to keep my promise. But then, I try to stop and realize where He has brought me from.
Since that night I have had a chance to really search through the Book I thought I knew so well. I found in the Bible there were truths I had never before seen. And when I applied to my life what those truths taught me, I was no longer a hopeless cripple, but a cripple with hope.
Do I forgive you for putting a bullet in my spine? By myself I couldn’t do it. Will power will not always work. But when I remembered Jesus on the cross. I found that I could pray as He would: “Father, forgive the boy who shot me, for he didn’t realize what he was doing.”
I believe that, and although I do not know your name, and my never know it, this letter is written to you. I want you to know you need have no fear of retaliation from me. With His help, I have forgiven you. I knew no other way to reach you. But know this. Not one day goes by that I don’t pray for you, that you may know the peace and happiness I now know.
Exodus 20:16
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: I wonder when this will stop.
Me: Till, then stay on your knees.
Prodigal: Amen
This is from the book The Finishing Touch by Charles Swindoll
The ancient prophet Micah isn’t exactly a household word. Too bad. Though obscure, the man had his stuff together. Eclipsed by the much more famous Isaiah, who ministered among the elite, Micah took God’s message to the streets….
Micah states exactly what many, to this day, wonder about pleasing God. Teachers and preachers have made it so sacrificial, so complicated, so extremely difficult. To them, God is virtually impossible to please. Therefore, religion has become a series of long, drawn-out, deeply painful acts designed to appease this peeved Deity in the sky who takes delight in watching us squirm.
Micah erases the things on the entire list, replacing the complicated possibilities with one of the finest definitions of simple faith:
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God? (Mic. 6:8)
God does not look for big-time, external displays….What is required? Slow down and read the list aloud: To do justice….to love kindness….and to walk humbly with your God. Period.
Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Psalms 124:7 (KJV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org.
Prodigal: If they didn’t scatter like chickens.
Me: They will be back.
This is a short video devotion.
Proverbs 11:17 A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself. (ESV)
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Me: Your friend looks like he’s ridin’ the gravy train on biscuit wheels.
Prodigal: He is doing well for himself.
Me: Here is some advice anyway.
This is from the book Elijah: A Man of Heroism and Humility by Charles Swindoll
“Lord, today I want to do what You say regarding contentment; I want to have a calm and gentle spirit. I don’t simply want to call myself a Christian. I want to be known as a genuine servant of God because my life demonstrates the truth I say I believe. Help me this day to face everything and deal with everyone with a gentle and quiet spirit. Help me be content, even though I don’t get things my way.”
1 Kings 18:21
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Ball, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
Prodigal: Look what I bought.
Me: You might as well keep your money near an open window on a windy day.
Prodigal: Maybe something will come out of my investment.
Me: Time will tell.
This is from the book All of Grace by C.H. Spurgeon
Almost all that you and I know has come to us by faith. A scientific discovery has been made, and we are sure of it. On what grounds do we believe it? On the authority of certain well-known men of learning whose reputations are established. We have never made or seen their experiments, but we believe their witness. You must do the same with regard to Jesus. Because He teaches you certain truths, you are to be His disciples and believe His words. Because He has performed certain acts, you are to be His clients and trust yourselves with Him. He is infinitely superior to you and presents Himself to you as your Master and Lord. If you will receive Him and His words, you will be saved.
When we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6
Jennifer Van Allen
www.theprodigalpig.com
www.faithincounseling.org
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
