Once upon a time, an old man lived on a small farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, the grandson noticed that his grandfather would get up early and sit at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson who wanted to be just like him tried to imitate him in every way he could.

One day the grandson asked, "Grandpaw, I have been trying to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?"

The grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Take this old wicker coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water."

The boy did as he was told. All the water leaked out before he could get back to the house. The grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little faster next time."

The boy went to the river with the basket to try again. This time he ran faster, but again the old wicker basket was empty before he could get home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, and he went to get a bucket instead.

The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do it. You're probably just not trying hard enough" He went out the door to watch the boy try again.

At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to prove to his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would all leak out before he could get anywhere close to home. The boy scooped the water and ran really hard, but when he got to the porch where his grandfather was waiting, the basket was once again empty. Out of breath, he said, "See Grandpaw, it's useless!"

"So you think it is useless, do you?" the old man commented, and then said, "Look at the basket."
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old wicker coal basket, it was very clean.

"Son, that's exactly what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but as you repeatedly read it, it will change you from the inside out. That is the way God works through His Word, The Bible, in our lives; He changes us from the inside out and slowly transforms us into the image of His Son."

THE MORAL OF THE STORY: By reading even just a portion of God's word each day, you will be surprised at how your life is transformed, and by repeatedly reading, you will eventually be able to learn and retain the lessons that God has been trying to teach you through His Word. So, keep on reading God's Word each day!

Your goals, minus your doubts, equal your reality.

~Ralph Marston~

Problems will either stop you or stretch you.

Most of the times we want to use our faith
to get rid of a problem with Divine delivering power,
but we forget about Divine enabling power,
to enable us to endure.

You are not just going through,
...you are growing through.

Lord, give me the right words to say
To broken hearts that come my way
To those who have been hurt before
That, I not hurt them any more

To those whose hearts have hardened up
To those who won't hold out their cup
That, Lord, You long to overflow
With love and mercy. Lord, let me know

That I might have the words to say
That I might plant a seed today
That glory would be given to You
Through all I say and all I do

Lord, give me the right words to say
More hearts are breaking every day
They're out there crying in the night
I long to help them see the light

But, fragile are those souls and weak
So this is why Your words I seek
And pray Thee give me words to say
That I, not one soul, turn away.

~by Susan Tier~

In Florida, an atheist became incensed over the preparation for
Easter and Passover holidays and decided to contact the local
ACLU about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the
constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all
their holidays while the atheists had no holiday to celebrate.

The ACLU jumped on the opportunity to once again pick up the
cause of the godless and assigned their sharpest attorneys to
the case. The case was brought before a wise judge who after
listening to the long, passionate presentation of the ACLU
lawyers, promptly banged his gavel and declared,
"Case dismissed!"

The lead ACLU lawyer immediately stood and objected to the
ruling and said, "Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this
case? Surely the Christians have Christmas, Easter, and many
other observances. And the Jews--why in addition to Passover
they have Yom Kippur and Hanukkah... and yet my client and all
other atheists have no such holiday!"

The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said,
"Obviously your client is too confused to know about, or for
that matter, even celebrate the atheists' holiday!"

The ACLU lawyer pompously said, "We are aware of no such holiday
for atheists, just when might that be, your honor?"

The judge said, "Well it comes every year on exactly the same
date - April 1st!"

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
Psalm 14:1, Psalm 53:1