Words of Strength

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me! It's just a childhood chant, but although we can put up a good front about hurtful words not hurting, the truth is they can be damaging at any age.

More importantly, it's the "good" words that hold the true power.

My question is this...why waste time on discouraging words, knowing how powerful encouraging words can be?

This from Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, Volume 2:

WORDS OF STRENGTH

When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need—words that will help others become stronger. - Ephesians 4:29

Before you speak, ask: Will what I’m about to say help others become stronger?

You have the ability, with your words, to make a person stronger. Your words are to their soul what a vitamin is to their body. If you had food and saw someone starving, would you not share it? If you had water and saw someone dying of thirst, would you not give it? Of course you would. Then won’t you do the same for their hearts? Your words are food and water!

Do not withhold encouragement from the discouraged.

Do not keep affirmation from the beaten down!

Speak words that make people stronger. Believe in them as God has believed in you.

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Find Max Lucado books at Amazon.com!

Self Esteem Issues

Some of us (me included) have self esteem issues. We say to ourselves things like, "I'm not smart enough" or "I'm not as good looking as he or she" or even just "I'm not good enough."

In a world where it often appears to be a matter of survival of the fittest, how we look at ourselves is crucial. But even though we may want to give up on ourselves, there is help...and hope. We can find self esteem in what some call "God esteem."

May we all find that now!

This from Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, Volume 2:

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. - Ephesians 4:32 NKJV

Our heavenly Father is kind to us. And since he is so kind to us, can’t we be a little kinder to ourselves? Oh, but you don’t know me, Max. You don’t know my faults and my thoughts. You don’t know the gripes I grumble and the complaints I mumble. No, I don’t, but he does. He knows everything about you, yet he doesn’t hold back his kindness toward you. Has he, knowing all your secrets, retracted one promise or reclaimed one gift?

No, he is kind to you. Why don’t you be kind to yourself? He forgives your faults. Why don’t you do the same? He thinks tomorrow is worth living. Why don’t you agree? He believes in you enough to call you his ambassador, his follower, even his child. Why not take his cue and believe in yourself?

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Find Max Lucado books at Amazon.com!

Barely Holding On

Four dollars per gallon at the pump...foreclosure crisis...the tightening of the credit policies...the strain on business... If we are honest about ourselves, even without considering these current issues, chances are many of us are just barely holding on in one or two areas of our life...but we don't tend to talk about them. - Barry Minkow, during the introduction of his message last Sunday at Community Bible Church of San Diego.

Finishing out my work this evening I plugged into Pastor Barry Minkow's message titled "Broken." He reviews the story of eight people who came in Christ's path shortly before he died on the cross...and what state of mind or emotions they must have been in...most likely just barely holding on.

You can listen to his audio here (Broken 3/16/08).

It made my evening...and I hope you find it impactful as well.

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CLEANING UP

BOOK DESCRIPTION: Before he was even old enough to drink, he had bank accounts, a Ferrari, a mansion, a multi-million dollar corporation, and a desperate little secret . . . it was all a lie. Most of us can't imagine life getting much worse than it got for Barry Minkow, the one-time Wall Street wiz kid who catapulted his company to stardom and success only to see it exposed as a $300-million fraud. Most of us can't imagine spending more than seven years in federal prison and coming out owing victims $26 million. Most of us can't imagine our careers changing from FBI target to FBI trainer, from CEO to senior pastor, from con man to con catcher. Or can we? We've all slipped up. We've all failed. Cleaning Up is Barry Minkow's comeback story-a powerful a tale of redemption and inspiration, of second chances and setting things right. More than a decade from defrauding investors, today, as cofounder of the Fraud Discovery Institute, he's uncovered over a billion dollars worth of investment scams...and pastors a church in San Diego.