Spread Love - From Mother Theresa

 

Memorable words from Mother Theresa....

"Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one come to you without  leaving better and happier.  Be the living expression of God's kindness: Kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting...."

Yes, we are the only visible evidence of God's love and mercy. Let others see Him in us!

Quoteworthy - Our Nation- Chuck Missler

From Chuck Missler

You have something even more powerful than the ballot box: You have the prayer closet.


You have a twenty-four hour hotline to the Throne Room of the universe and God is anxious to hear from you.

If you care about your children and grandchildren, you'd better pray that God, in His mercy, will send us  grass-root revival.


And it starts with the person you see in the mirror each morning.


We possess a message of extraterrestrial origin. It portrays us as objects of an unseen warfare in which we are both the pawns and the prize.


Our eternal destiny depends upon our relationship with the Ultimate Victor in the cosmic conflict.


                                    --Dr. Chuck Missler

It's Not About the Big Stuff - Oswald Chambers

 

Usually it is not about the big stuff....

Thoughts from Oswald Chambers....

"We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises - human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently.

"But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live 24 hours every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus.

"It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God - but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people - and this is not learned in five minutes."

[I find this so true - usually I can 'rise to the occasion' when faced with extraordinary circumstances.

It's when I am dealing with people on the telephone, in the check-out line, disagreeing with my family and friends on how to proceed with some event, waiting for people who always run late - that I find myself out of sorts and critical and un-Christ-like. It's the 'small stuff' that defeats me!]

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself to others, you will become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble. It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do hot feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress
yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Therefore, be at peace with God, and whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

What really transforms us?

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Romans 12:2 (NIV)


Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your mind from within. Romans 12:2 (JBP)

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Romans 12:2 (NLT)


I've been pondering this idea for the last few days -- how do we
really change our thinking and behavior? Obviously, we can't!

But God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, can and will!

I make a list of things I know I need to change (and I know there are many more I am not even aware of now).

--Forgive a person who wronged me
--Be kinder
--Be more patient
--etc...

I read and re-read 1 Corinthians 13 and vow to make that my
goal - I even do the thing about putting Christ's name in 
1 Corinthians 13 wherever "love" is....like in verse 4: "Love (Jesus) is patient, Love(Jesus) is kind"....I especially note verse 5...."keeps no record of wrongs"....and I think of all those memories I have in my mind of things people have done or said to me that hurt....those retained memories  are the "record of wrongs" He does not want me to hold on to....

But I don't seem to make much headway.

Am I kinder - more patient - more loving - more forgiving than I was yesterday?

I don't see much evidence of that.

I go back to 1 Corinthians 13 and try to insert my name in the place of "Love" and notice what a laugh that is!



Here is my new goal - Don't think about my shortcomings -
Don't list the areas of my life that I need to work on....

Instead, thinking constantly about what God has already done - and is doing - for me!

His love, His forgiveness, His kindness - concentrating on that makes me so grateful for His goodness to me that I find myself more easily extending it to others!

The power for transforming our lives comes from the basic gospel itself. We can be changed, not by being reminded of how we fall short, but by reminding ourselves of what He has done for us!

That's the power of the gospel!

It's so much easier this way - concentrate, not on myself, but on Him! 

As C. S. Lewis said, "Humility is not thinking less of myself, but thinking of myself less."

Good News for Bad News

I am thinking today about how the core of the gospel has been the same for so many centuries. What we believe today is essentially what has been taught for the last 2000 years, and we can sing so many of the same songs, read the same messages and sermons as our forefathers. And, also on the flip side, the heresies are pretty much the same, too. Gnosticism, a threat of the early church, is here with today, almost exactly as it was then.

Just before the outbreak of World War II, Oxford professor and don, C. S. Lewis, wrote, "Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason because bad philosophy needs to be answered."

Later, in Weight of Glory, he wrote, "to be ignorant and simple now...would be to throw down our weapons and to betray our uneducated brethren who have no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen."

Attacks against us have always taken an intellectual approach, and they should be answered that way.

Chuck Colson's comments....
Bad philosophy--like relativism, naturalism, and secular humanism--runs rampant in our legislatures, schools, movie theaters, and even our churches....we need to learn how to defend the Truth when so many others are throwing down their weapons.
We need to be able to understand and express our own worldview...

C.S. Lewis was right. Our culture needs more men and women who will wield good philosophy to counter the bad philosophy of the postmodern era--men and women who can winsomely present the Christian worldview in their own spheres of influence!

Wandering and wondering - A Penny for My Thoughts

I remember a line from John Owen (a great Puritan/English theologian who lived in the 1600's) about wandering thoughts. His writing is a bit hard to get through sometimes, but I remember something like this: What do you think about when you are not thinking about anything in particular?

So that is what I have been thinking about these past few days. Into what areas does my mind go when I have not channeled it a certain way? What is the "default setting" of my brain?

OK. The results are not good.

I am embarrassed to say that only about one-fifth (20%) of the wandering directions my mind takes are God-honoring, or are spiritually-minded, as John Owen would say.

This is a truly terrible! This blog is sort of my journal, and a person shouldn't lie in their journal! (Like lying about your weight when you go to the weight doctor?) So I have to just admit it.

As I tried to track it -- and it is not easy -- I found that in only about one-fifth (20%) of the time my mind drifts - seeks its own direction - does it pursue the directions that are pleasing to God. Like hymns of praise to Him, prayers, kind, loving thoughts, grateful expressions, positive, healthy mental excursions that please God, and are, in truth, good for us emotionally. Only 20%!

And the other 80% is far from that. About one-half at that involves fantasies, delusions of grandeur, self-centered, self-indulgent thoughts. And the other half is made up of flights into remembering past grievances, past sins of my own, rehearsed defenses against words of others, etc.

In summary, the 80% is completely and totally made up of the thing God hates most -- pride.

So when my mind wanders, about 20% of the time it might find its way into
areas that please God, but at least 80% of the time it goes into areas that are completely contrary to God's will and do not give Him pleasure! (And are not conducive for my own mental health either!)

Owen said that where our mind goes (when it is in our default mode) is the measure of our holiness -- our spiritual-mindedness. Well, my measure is pitifully low at this point!

God wants me to address this. He wants me to bring my idle thoughts into alignment with His Word.

...Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things....Philippians 4:8

Then I look at the verse just before. It says And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

That's what I need. God's peace to guard my mind....even in default mode...for His honor and glory.

I am praying that (1) I will be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit when He reveals to me that my thoughts are going on the wrong paths -- that I will be sensitive to catch them right away, grab those thoughts, take control of them, and throw them away, or give them to Him and ask Him to blot them out and

(2) He will help me "guard my mind" by re-setting my default patterns. And I guess that the way to re-set my default is to think of things that are good and pure and God-honoring -- just like Philippians 4:8 says.....keep thinking about those things...and again, as always, the answer is right in His Word.

All I ever need for rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness is in Scripture, which is God-breathed and equips us for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16).

So this morning I am memorizing some psalms --

O give thanks to the Lord, for His love endures forever!
I have hidden your word in my heart so that I might not sin against
you!
I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart!

P.S. I wrote this a week or so ago, and, through God's grace, I can see the 20% increasing -- yeah!


Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.

A Many-Splendored Thing

I am still having trouble absorbing the fact that God loves us as much as He loves His Son.

But that is what He said!

May they be brought to compete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.  (John 17:23)

So I am re-reading John 17 today.

There are many pictures of God's love in Scripture. The Cross is the greatest picture of God's love for us. But there are many more.

I think of the story of the prodigal son. He wasted all the wealth his father gave him, ended up with nothing, but in desperation returned home. And, we all know the story, was welcomed back into the family.

The story has been told for generations for wayward children, as we all are.
And think of the hymns...here's just one...

I've wandered far away from God
Now I'm coming home
The paths of sin too
Long I've trod.
Lord, I'm coming home.
Coming home, Coming home
Never more to roam
Open wide those arms of love
Lord, I'm coming home!

Prodigal as we use the word means wasteful and reckless. It refers to people who squander all they have with no thought of anyone else, nor even of the consequences for themselves!

That is the negative meaning of the word. But prodigal can also mean
lavish, bountiful, unsparing, extravagant. That's the kind of love the father had! So we could also call this parable the Story of the Prodigal Father!

He never exhausted his supply of love. His household, and probably most his neighbors, thought he was excessive and extravagant, even recklessly wasteful of his love. Throwing it away. Of course, none of that matters it you have an unlimited supply!

In John 13 Jesus tells His disciples to love one another. By this shall all men know you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35. It was a "mandate" and that is why we call Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday.

Christ taught us to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds. And then to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those were the two greatest commandments.

It's all so profoundly simple. God loves His Son totally (that word is such an understatement, but I don't think there is a word to say what we need to say about God's love) and He loves us the same way, to the same extent (I still find it hard to type that phrase...to the same extent...
so I guess I still can't comprehend it.)

That must make God our model. The One we are to copy. He loves His Son in that never-ending, unlimited, always available way. And His Son loves Him the same way. And God loves us the same way, and we are to love Him and each other the same way and then it just circles upward in the celestial realm.

We are to love each other just as God loves His Son....which is the same way God loves us...which is the way we are to love Him....and each other....and His Son.....
It's an ever-widening circle of never-ending love.

Where Can I Go? Max Lucado

The world rams at your door; Jesus taps at your door.

The voices scream for your allegiance; Jesus softly and tenderly requests it.

The world promises flashy pleasure. Jesus promises a quiet dinner...with God.  "I will come in and eat."

Which voice do you hear?

Let me state something important. There is never a place in which Jesus is not present. Never. There is never a room so dark...a lounge so sensual...an office so sophisticated...that the ever-present, ever pursuing, relentlessly tender Friend is not there, tapping quietly on the door of your heart--waiting to be invited in.

Few hear His voice. Fewer still open the door. But never interpret our numbness as His absence. For amidst the fleeting promises of pleasure is the timeless promise of His presence.

"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 

"Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

There is no chorus so loud that the voice of God cannot be heard....if we will but listen.

Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm

                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
   
"Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me." (Revelation 3:20)

"And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)

"Is there any place I can go to avoid Your Spirit? to be out of Your sight? If I climb to the sky, You're there! If I go underground, You're there! If I flew on morning's wing to the far western horizon, You'd find me in a minute--You're already there waiting!

Then I said to myself, 'Oh, He even sees me in the dark! At night I am immersed in the light!'

It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to You; night and day, darkness and light; they're all the same to You."
                                         (Psalm 139:7-10, Message)

What Alice Learned in Wonderland

"But I don't want to go among mad people," said Alice.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat. "We're all mad here."


I keep thinking about these words as more and more tragedies
get news coverage - from family disasters here, chemical weapons in Syria, hostage situations, gang violence in our large cities.....

Are we all "mad" down here?

More from Alice in Wonderland....

     Alice opened the door and found it led into a small passage, not much bigger than a rat-hole: she knelt down and looked along the passage into the loveliest garden you ever saw. How she longed to get out of that dark hall and wander about among those beds of bright flowers and cool fountains, but she couldn't even get her head through the doorway; "and even if my head would go through," thought poor Alice, "of would be of very little use without my shoulders."


So eager was she to be able to get through that small doorway into the perfect exquisite garden, that she risked her very life by  picking up the bottle that said "Drink Me"-- knowing it might be poison -- and then to drink it all -- hoping it will enable to get her into that garden!  (She had to get smaller!)

C. S. Lewis recalls a time when he and his brother, as children, created a sort of small miniature garden. It was perfect and throughout the rest of his life he remembered the yearning he felt for a place of quiet beauty and safety - the kind of desperate longing we all feel for something more than this -- surely there is something more....or is this all there is? It is just not possible that this is as good as it gets? Is it?

Lewis reminds us that we have those feelings simply because there is more -- we were not created for this world! We were created for a far more perfect and glorious life. This world is only The Shadowlands, he says.

Anyway you look at it, we have to be very small to get into that garden! To get to where we yearn to be.

And Jesus told us we had to be humble and like little children....in order to be a part of His Kingdom.







P.S. Alice ate little cakes and got smaller....I eat cakes and get larger -- what does that mean?

More about Revelation - Notes on Psalm 19

What'd So Special About Language?


Psalm 19:1-6

The heavens declare the glory of God;
     the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
     night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language
     where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth,
     their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
     which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
     like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens
     and makes its circuit to the other;
     nothing is hidden from its heat.


Psalm 19:7-14

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
     The statutes are of the LORD are trustworthy,
         making wise the simple.

The precepts of the LORD are right,
     Giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the LORD are radiant,    
     giving light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is pure,
     enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure
     and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold,
     than much pure gold;

They are sweeter than honey,
     than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned;
     in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
     Forgive my hidden faults.

Keep your servant also from willful sins;
      may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,
     innocent of great transgression.

May the words of my mouth
     and the meditations of my heart
        be pleasing in your sight,

 O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

                     
The Bible talks about two kinds of revelation: (1) what is revealed about God visibly in nature, which is called General Revelation, and (2) what is revealed about God in Scripture, which is usually called Special (or Specific) Revelation.

General Revelation, witnessed in nature, testifies to the existence of a Creator.

Here in Psalm 19 David tells us that God's General Revelation is continuous, abundant, and universal.
 (verses 1-6).

In verses 3-4 we read: There is no speech or language where their voice [God's visible created acts] are not heard. Their voice goes into all the earth....

Language is the unique ability of human beings, the ones God created in His own image.

There are no primitive languages. There is no evidence that primitive languages ever existed in all of human history.

There are primitive people, who speak languages. But their languages are highly complex with complicated grammar and vocabulary, able to convey past and future time, precise verbs and nouns, and able to pose verbally abstract notions.

Language did not evolve from primitive to complex.
There were no cave men grunts preceding language.
The spoken word developed at the beginning of man's history and was always capable of describing human activity real or imagined.

The pygmies of Africa speak in a language just as developed as professors at Harvard University.

A 6-year-old child, when he enters school, already has a vocabulary of 5,000 to 6,000 words! He will add about 800 new words a year and when he is a teenager he will have a vocabulary of 15,000 words!

(Scientists working with apes report that after years of work, the great animals can sometimes recognize a vocabulary of 150 words! And that is a remarkable achievement!)

So in the first six verses of this remarkable Psalm we read David's words about the continuous, abundant, and universal revelations about Himself through His creation.

Then we read verses 7-14 and see how they reflect God's Specific Revelations about Himself through His Word.


To be sure, the only way we know about God's invisible moral attributes -- His mercy, love, justice, righteousness, compassion -- is because He reveals them to us in Scripture.

But first notice this: In the early verses David refers to God as God (El) - the generic, common name for the Supreme Being used by many cultures at the time of the Hebrews.

But now in verses 7-14 he refers to God as LORD, the sacred, covenant name for God used only by the Jews.

The sacred name LORD was first revealed to Moses at the burning bush -- "I AM WHO I AM" - and it occurs 7 times in this section.

The name LORD was never pronounced by the Jews, because it was too sacred. And scribes, when they came to the word, put aside their writing instrument, took a new one to write the word, and then cast it aside and resumed writing with the original stylus.

God's original General Revelation was to the world, and rejected by the world.

His second Specific Revelation was entrusted to His chosen people and they were to guard and proclaim the message to all the world.

They were the ones who really knew God, understood His mercy and righteousness and understood that the LORD was eager to forgive us of our sins.

They knew God as Creator and also as the merciful and compassionate LORD.

They understood both God's General Revelation and also His Specific Revelation.

They knew and loved a God they wanted to please, and sought to please Him with their words and meditations.

They could confidently ask, "Forgive my hidden faults," and say, "The LORD is our Rock and our Redeemer!"

They knew Him well!out 

What God Wants

He who has an ear, let him hear....Revelation 2:7

God wants to reveal Himself to us.
For us, it's about listening.

While the beggar [who was a cripple Peter had just healed] held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon's Colonnade. When Peter saw this he said to them:

Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.

You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him as you can all see....Acts 3:11-16

What would you say if you knew people were listening? (And they are not always listening.)

This is what Acts 3 is about. The healing of the crippled beggar got their attention.

Physical healing is temporary.
Spiritual healing is permanent.

1. Peter got the attention of the people

Verses 9 and 10: When all the people saw him walking and praising God, they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him..

What turned their heads?

But if you cannot heal people, what will make them listen? Why would they listen to us?
Peter had an attentive audience. How do we get an attentive audience?

Very simply, our lives have to be changed.

Everyone is being observed all the time.

Usually they want one of two things. They want to either (1) See us real and authentic, or (2) see us fall - then they can be relieved and say, "Good, this isn't for real afterall! I knew it all along!"

2. The Groundedness of Peter

Verse 12: Why do you stare at us?
He could tell they wanted to glorify him, so he had the divert their attention back to God.

Seeing a man healed did not automatically direct their attention to God. (Isn't that still a problem?)

Remember after the burial of Jesus, Peter, determined to move on, said "I'm going fishing." And then he was surprised by the grace and mercy of Christ, as He appeared and spoke gently and lovingly to him, and reinstated the unfaithful Peter to a position of authority in God's plan for the church.

3. The Exaltation of Christ.

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jesus had glorified Jesus. That is what we also must do when we get the opportunity.

Sometimes faith results in healing. We don't ask for healing often because we don't need it!

If all He can do is heal crippled people, then what can He do for me?

Many of those people in the crowd Peter was speaking to had seen Christ, beaten, bleeding, and nailed to the cross. It was Ground Zero. Peter testified to His resurrection.

What would you say to people if they were listening?

Are we living in a manner that would get their attention? Get them to listen?
Are we walking in integrity and in the power of the Holy Spirit?

Can we share the message of Christ in a manner that would exalt Him?

My Mother's Voice

I woke up this morning with a song on my mind and in my heart - a song we sang when we were teenagers. We just called them "choruses" in those days and we knew dozens of them! I hadn't heard this one in years!




     O I love to hear His voice, saying,
     "You belong to Me, You are not your own.
     With a price you're bought, and you're Mine
     eternally!"


     And I love to hear Him say, "I have saved
     you by My grace."

     And when I get to glory it will then be grander
     still - For I shall see His face!


I found myself straining to hear His voice. Listening in the early hours, filtering through the bird song and the music of ducks and goats and cows. And I heard it!


His voice! Reminding me that I do belong to Him! And will forever!

Remember "In the Garden"? He speaks and the sound of His voice, is so sweet the birds hush their singing, And the melody that He gave to me within my heart is ringing.....

Thank you, our Father, for music in our souls, for songs in the night, for the "music of the spheres," for melodies you bring to our hearts that we alone can hear.

And thank You for the voices we hear all around us.

Before my mother died I called her every day and we talked about many things: Jesus...politics...history...favorite birds and favorite presidents!

Often she called me. And I remember how wonderful it was to hear her say my name. It was sort of musical, sort of lilting. She said "Glorya" differently than any one else. I loved to hear her call me by name.

And I remember thinking I should get a small recorder and place it near the phone so I could have her voice saying my name kept close to me for all my life, because I knew how much I would miss hearing it after she was gone!

Well, I never did that. I never recorded her voice saying my name for future days of heartache and loneliness.

But, guess what! It didn't matter. It is recorded in my mind perfectly! And when I close my eyes and see her face, I can hear her voice saying "Glorya" in that magical way, anytime I need to hear it. So much better than a recording!

I remember reading some lines from young children trying to describe how their mother's voices sounded to them and one young girl said, "When my mother says my name it sounds like it feels good in her mouth."

That's the way I remember my mother's voice saying my name:  it sounded like it felt good in her mouth!


From John 10:

He who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep... To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep he goes before them; and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.

In the time of Christ most villages had large, central pens, called sheepfolds. At the end of the day people brought their small individual flocks and led them into the sheepfold. The shepherds combined their resources and paid for a gatekeeper. He stayed with the sheep during the night.

In the morning the shepherds came to the sheepfold to gather up their own sheep. The gatekeeper knew them and let them in. The sheep were all mixed into one group, but when the shepherd called his sheep, they came up to him and he led them out. They came to him and followed him because they recognized his voice.

We can hear our Good Shepherd's voice every day -- in His Word, from His people, in our hearts. Someday we will hear it in a more dramatic way:

For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Therefore encourage each other with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17


Therefore encourage each other with these words.