Made the Devil Pay

There was a little old lady who was very spiritual who would step out on her porch every day, raise her arms to the sky and yell "Praise the Lord."
One day, an atheist bought the house next door to her, and he became very irritated with the spiritual lady.
So after a month or so of her yelling, "Praise the Lord" from her porch, he went outside on his porch and yelled back, "There is no Lord."
Yet, the little old lady continued.
One cold, winery day, when the little old lady couldn't get to the store, she went out on her porch, raised her hands up to the sky and said, "Help me Lord, I have no more money, it's cold, and I have no more food."
The next morning, she went outside, and there were three bags of food on the porch, enough to last her a week.
"Praise the Lord,! " she yelled.
The Atheist stepped out from the bushes and said, "There is no Lord ha ha ha, I bought those groceries!"
The little old lady raised her arms to the sky and said, "Praise the Lord, you sent me groceries and you made the Devil pay for them!"

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The Donkey

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a steppingstone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

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The Necklace

*The cheerful little girl with bouncy golden curls was almost five.*

*Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand, she saw them, a circle of glistening white pearls in a pink foil box.*

*Oh mommy please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy, please?"*

*Quickly the mother checked the back of the little foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue eyes of her little girl's upturned face.*

*"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00.*

*If you really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for you and in no time you can save enough money to buy them for yourself.*

*Your birthday's only a week away and you might get another crisp dollar >bill from Grandma."*

*As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her penny bank and counted out >17 pennies. After dinner, she did more than her share ofchores and she went to the neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pickdandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma did give her another new dollar bill and at last she had enough money to buy the necklace.*

*Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up and grown up.*

*She wore them everywhere, Sunday school, kindergarten, even to bed.*

*The only time she took them off was when she went swimming or had a>bubble bath.*

*Mother said if they got wet, they might turn her neck green.*

*Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when she was ready for>bed, he would stop whatever he was doing and come upstairs to read her a >story. One night as he finished the story, he asked Jenny, "Do you love me?"*

*"Oh yes, daddy. You know that I love you."*

*"Then give me your pearls."*

*"Oh, daddy, not my pearls. But you can have Princess, the white horse>from my collection, the one with the pink tail. Remember, daddy? The one you gave me. She's my very favorite."*

*"That's okay, Honey, daddy loves you. Good night." And he brushed her >cheek with a kiss.*

*About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"*

*"Daddy, you know I love you."*

*"Then give me your pearls."*

*"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby doll. The brand new >one I got for my birthday. She is beautiful and you can have the yellow >blanket that matches her sleeper."*

*"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one. Daddy loves you."*

*And as always, he brushed her cheek with a gentle kiss.*

*A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was sitting on herbed >with her legs crossed Indian style.*

*As he came close, he noticed her chin was trembling and one silent tear>rolled down her cheek.*

*"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"*

*Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand up to her daddy.*

*And when she opened it, there was her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she finally said, "Here, daddy, this is for you."*

*With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's daddy reached out with one hand to take the dime store necklace, and with the other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to Jenny*

*He had them all the time. He was just waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he could give her the genuine treasure.*

*So it is, with our Heavenly Father. He is waiting for us to give up the cheap things in our lives so that he can give us beautiful treasures.*

*Isn't God good? Are you holding onto things that God wants you to let go of?

Are you holding on to harmful or unnecessary partners, relationships, habits and activities that you have come so attached to that it seems impossible to let go? Sometimes it is so hard to see what is in the other hand but do believe this one thing ...*

*God will never take away something without giving you something better >in its place.*

*The greatest gifts happen when you share love and touch

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The Duck

In his book, "Will Daylight Come?" Robert Heffler pens this moving illustration There was a little boy visiting his grandparents on their farm. And he was given a slingshot to play with out in the woods. He practiced in the woods, but he could never hit the target. And getting a little discouraged; he headed back to dinner. As he was walking back he saw Grandma's pet duck.

Just out of impulse, he let the slingshot fly, hit the duck square in the head, and killed it. He was shocked and grieved. In a panic, he hid the dead duck in the wood pile, only to see his sister watching. Sally had seen it all, but she said nothing. After lunch that day Grandma said, "Sally, let's wash the dishes." But Sally said, "Grandma, Johnny told me he wanted to help in the kitchen." Then she whispered to him, remember the duck?So Johnny did the dishes. Later that day, Grandpa asked if the children wanted to go fishing and Grandma said, "I'm sorry but I need Sally to help make supper." But Sally just smiled and said, "Well that's all right because Johnny told me he wanted to help." She whispered again, remember the duck? So Sally went fishing and Johnny stayed to help.

After several days of Johnny doing both his chores and Sally's he finally couldn't stand it any longer. He came to Grandma and confessed that he had killed the duck. Grandma knelt down, gave him a hug, and said, "Sweetheart, I know. You see I was standing at the window and I saw the whole thing. But because I love you, I forgave you. I was just wondering how long you would let Sally make a slave of you."

Thought for the day: whatever is in your past, whatever you have done and the enemy keeps throwing it up in your face (lying, debt, fear, hatred, anger, Unforgiveness, bitterness, etc.) whatever it is you need to know that God was standing at the window and He saw the whole thing.

He wants you to know that He loves you and that you are forgiven.

He is just wondering how long you will let the enemy make a slave of you.

The great thing about God is that He not only forgives you, but He forgets.

Go ahead and make the difference in someone's life today. Share this with a family member or friend. Remember, that God is at the window.

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