The Power of Words

by Tim Howard

I grew up in a family of 7 children. When you add a father and a mother to the mix you have a full house. I believe all of us kids felt loved but none of us can remember our father ever saying the words: “ I Love You!”

One of the greatest ways to show care, concern and compassion is by speaking to each other in love and that means more than saying those three little words – ‘I Love You.’ According to Ephesians 4:15 – The Apostle Paul declares: “…speak the truth in love so that we will grow up and look like Christ...”

Speaking is the ‘means’ – Love is the ‘mode’ and truth is the ‘message.’ When you combine these three elements an atmosphere is created, which enables a person to grow up, mature and become the individual he or she was meant to be.

Of course there are many ways of conveying love but words are among the best! Actions may speak louder than words but they aren’t intended to be a substitute for words. It’s not one or the other  - it’s both – Show and Tell! When you show evidence of your concern and then express it through words – love becomes powerful!

A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change his or her life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of understanding can help a person grow in wisdom and someone who speaks a word of hope can break the spirit of depression.

Words have power! They can destroy or build up. They can bring life or death – heal or hurt – devastate or shape a person’s attitude.

When someone speaks out bitterness and resentment he or she hurts people and when you add a little dab of anger, plus a little dose of hatred you have an explosive combination.  The type that devastates!

On the other hand, when someone speaks a comforting word, an encouraging word or an uplifting word to a person – joy is released, hope is realized and their experience is positive.

James 3:2 -10 “…If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! 

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can’t go on.” MSG

Don’t believe the old adage: 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me' because it’s not true.

God Is

by Tim Howard 

If someone asked you asked you to fill in the blank: God Is _________? What would you say? It would be difficult because explaining God is impossible. If you could explain Him – He wouldn’t be God. 

Last weekend many people celebrated Easter and the truth that Jesus Christ is raised from the dead by the power of God and lives today. 

If God is dead then there isn’t anything worth worrying about. If He really is alive, however, everything changes. The author of Hebrews said: “it’s sobering to discover that God really is alive.”  If God isn’t alive then ‘nothing matters’ but if God is alive ‘nothing else’ matters. 
You may know very little or nothing at all about God. You may not be able to articulate what you believe about Him or you might call Him a ‘higher power’.  Wherever you find yourself – there are 5 truths about God that every person on this planet needs to know. Lies, misinformation and opinions abound but these 5 truths are found in the Bible and are true for all people, at all times and in all places. 

These 5 truths have the power to change a person’s life.
1.    GOD IS! It may sound simplistic but the starting point for knowing God begins with this simple belief.  Heb. 11:6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” When God created the heavens and the earth, he revealed His existence. Romans 1 tells us that the creation is His primary way of revealing His existence. 
2.    GOD IS all knowing. My grandson at age 7 thinks he knows everything but he doesn’t! When my sons were teenagers, they thought they knew everything but they didn’t! The theological term is ‘omniscient’ and it only refers to God because He really does know everything.  He knows your name. Everything about you. All you have done, all you haven’t done – that you should have done, all the pain you’ve caused. All the good you’ve accomplished. Nothing escapes His notice. He knows you are broken and can’t fix yourself. He knows about your dreams and desires and how many of them haven’t been fulfilled.
3.    GOD IS compassionate toward you. Even though He knows all the good bad and the ugly – Even though He knows what you will do tomorrow and what you did yesterday He still cares for you. And He wants to invest in your life.
4.    GOD IS able to fix what is broken. He can put you back together! Broken relationships, broken dreams, broken marriages, broken families – No problem, God is able to do the impossible
5.    GOD IS committed to helping you discover His destiny for you.  Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” 

We’ve heard great speeches like Martin Luther King’s: “ I have a dream… We’ve heard about the American Dream but God has a dream for you and He’s committed to walking with you so you won’t get lost along the way.

John 11:25 - 26 “You don’t have to wait for the end. Jesus said - I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?” Do you believe GOD IS?

The Power of Love

by Tim Howard

I love ice cream. I love my new puppy. I love the new car I just purchased. I love my wife or I love my husband – We hear the word ‘LOVE’ used in many ways and it seems to refer to a myriad of different things.

Sometimes I wonder if we really know what this word means. Is love merely an emotion? Is it a decision we make? Is it just words we express or does it require an action on the part of the one saying it?  If there is true love – shouldn’t it be seen in some way?

On Valentine Day the words ‘I Love You’ will be echoed by millions of people as they share some personal moments with someone they care about. Will those words carry substance or will they sound hollow?      
     
Many have written on the subject of love and the various applications but Paul the Apostle gives a concise and clear definition of this word in1 Corinthians 13:4-8. It helps us understand what God means when he declares His love for us and teaches us what true love for others really is.

“Love is patient – Love is kind and cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, isn’t always “me first! Doesn’t fly off the handle, doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, doesn’t revel when others grovel, takes pleasure when truth wins over lies, puts up with anything, always trusts in God, always looks for the best in everything, never looks back and love never gives up.” 

41 years ago during the Valentine Day celebration I spoke these words to my fiancée: ‘I love you’ – I followed that up two days later by saying: “I, Tim Howard take you Donna to be my wife. To have and to hold – from this day forward – for better or for worse.  I promise to love you the same way Jesus loves me.  I promise to support you, cherish you, respect you, and to be faithful to only you for as long as we both shall live.”

At the age of 22, I didn’t fully understand the meaning of that phrase ‘for better or for worse’.  After 41 years of marriage to the same woman, however, I am beginning to understand that this is the true meaning of LOVE.  We have had our share of bad times!  We have both thought about quitting.  The word divorce has crossed our minds.  When we thought it couldn’t get much worse, it did. It’s laughable now but it was painful then. 

God’s love for us and our love for Him helped us grow in our love for each other. True love doesn’t run when things are difficult. It embraces both the good and the not so good and alters the outcome. What is meant to destroy will be used to develop.

It is God’s love, working in you that will help you grow stronger in the difficult times. It all starts with God’s love for you. As you respond to His kindness and His love, you will grow in your ability to truly love each other.

Your love for others in this Valentine season can be more than mere words. Your love can be powerful if you shape it around 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. God loves the world and his love is powerful! John 3:16. 

A Withered Hand

by Andrew Cromwell

It is said that one day Jesus was teaching at the temple and there in the crowd was a man whose hand was paralyzed. Now, we don’t know exactly what was wrong, but it is pretty clear this hand was not particularly useful. One translation says it was withered, another says shriveled and still another says deformed. It’s safe to say, the dude’s hand was messed up.  

Right in the middle of teaching, Jesus stops and tells the man to stand up in front of everyone. 

So imagine, you are the man. You’re hand is jacked up and it’s been that way for a while. You’ve gotten pretty good at compensating and people who meet you for the first time often don’t notice your limitation. You’re an expert at being invisible. You came to hear Jesus teach, and with a slight hope that the amazing stories you’ve been hearing about Jesus healing people might be true and that He might heal you.

And all of a sudden, Jesus stops and turns and looks at you and tells you to stand up. At first, you think He must be talking to someone else, and then that sick feeling settles in the pit of your stomach and you know He’s talking to you. 

As you stand up, you immediately begin to imagine the worst - Jesus is going to use your disability as an example of what happens when someone lives a sinful life or worse, He is going to mock you. But then, instead of either of those things, Jesus tells you to stretch out your hand.

Let’s just skip ahead in the story for a moment so you can hear how it ends. Jesus tells the man to stretch out his hand, and the man obeys and as he reaches out, his hand is instantly healed. That’s pretty amazing stuff and another example of the amazing power of Jesus.

But let’s step back to that moment just before the man stretched out his hand. The moment right after Jesus uttered the words “stretch out.” Put yourself back in the man’s shoes again. 

“Stretch out your hand?!” Who’s He kidding? I’ve tried that a million times. I’ve prayed. I’ve asked God to heal it. I’ve strengthened the muscles around it in the hopes that would help. I’ve visited doctor after doctor. Tried every medicine and pill and herbal supplement known to man, and still nothing -- nada -- zippo. That hand is dead. I gave up on it long ago.

And yet, something stirs within you. What if Jesus really does have the power to change my situation — to heal my hand? What if today is the day where it all changes? Why not do what He says? What do I have to lose? 

And the rest is history.

So let me ask you a question. Do you have a withered hand? Maybe it’s not a physical disability, but rather a place that is severely broken in your life. That area where you have given up hope that it could ever be repaired. That place you’ve tried to fix and prayed about and worked on and nothing seems to help. 

Good news. Jesus is in the business of repairing withered hands. He’s looking for people who are willing to stand up and acknowledge that they are broken. People who are willing to stretch out and trust that He can fix what is broken. These are the kind of people He heals!