There are only a few, but they have a powerful affect on my life. They are the “Encouragers”. As you might suspect, they are in my thoughts more than anyone else. How can you not be mindful of those who think of you, those who go out of their way to encourage you? It’s only natural that you develop a closer relationship with folks like that than you do to others. When you know they care about you it’s easy to care about them.

Over and over again, the apostle Paul made mention of those who ministered to him. They held a special place in his heart and he didn’t hesitate to make mention of them and thank God for them. We all need people like that.We need to be like that.

Folks would think more of us, both in frequency and value, if we made it a habit to express our gratitude for the good qualities in their life. Sadly, we usually do just the opposite–we condemn rather than commend, and criticize rather than congratulate. We need to turn it around! One writer made this suggestion: “Instead of trying to catch their children doing something wrong, conscientious parents try to catch them doing something right–and praising them for it: “Your drawing is amazing!” “I appreciate the way you let your sister go first.” “You always seem ready to help. That’s a great quality.” “Thank you for saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ so often.”

We live in a difficult and discouraging world–people need all the encouragement they can get. We can make a big difference in the lives of people by simply offering words of encouragement. Little gestures of kindness can make a huge difference in our relationships. So if you’ve developed the bad habit of always looking for the bad in people, turn it around and cultivate the practice of pointing out the good things in their life. Everybody concerned will be happier for it.

The Psalmist said of God,“For with thee is the fountain of life”(Psalms 36:9). There is in that statement far more than our mind can comprehend. He is the source of all that is good.“In Him we live,and move,and have our being”.He has all we need and gives all we have.And,He does so because of grace–no one is earning their way with God. He gives because He is our Father and He desires to give even more than what we allow Him to give, yet we “limit the Holy One of Israel”.

We fail to appropriate what is available simply because of our mis-conceptions about God. In our mind, we drag Him down to our level and suppose that He is either unable or unwilling to provide what we need–what fools we are! We forget that He is the Infinite Fountain of life, love, liberty,and all good things. We forget, as Octavius Winslow wrote, “That the heavier the demand we make upon God, the more we shall receive, and that the oftener we come, the more are we welcome.  That we cannot ask too much.  That our sin and His dishonor are, that we ask so little.  We forget that He is glorified in giving; and that the more grace He metes out to His people, the richer the revenue of praise which He receives in return.  —the heart that gave Jesus will withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly.”

When you feel barren and dry, even fearful that you might perish, remember He “is the fountain of life.”

—-be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke—shine as lights in the world.–Philippians 2:15

There is a story of one Christian man, a deacon and very involved in his church, who was sitting in traffic and late for work. His car was plastered with bumper stickers that read, “Honk if you love Jesus!” and “Jesus is my hero!”

He had already sat through three red lights, and the lady in front of him was talking on her cell phone and trying to apply mascara all at the same time. When the light turned green, she wasn’t paying attention, and continued to sit at a stand still, holding up traffic.

The man began honking, shouting from inside his car, and shaking his fists at the lady to move on. Finally, after traffic began to creep forward, the man noticed red and blue flashing lights behind him. As he pulled over and rolled down his window to greet the officer, he said, “What did I do wrong? I’m late for work, and you’re holding me up!”

The officer responded, “Sir, is this your car?”

The puzzled man growled back, “Yes! Who else do you think it belongs to?”

The policeman replied, “Well, when I saw the bumper stickers on the back of your car and the way you were acting back there, I thought the car must be stolen!”

I’ve read this story many times before, but here’s something that you might not have thought about– How should we respond to a situation like this? Most people assume that the best course of action would be to remove the bumper stickers, but is that really the answer? I don’t think so. Instead of changing the stickers we need to change our attitude. Removing the bumper sticker doesn’t remove the problem. That just deals with the fruit of the problem. We need to get to the root of the problem, which is a change of our behavior. The daily devotional “Senior Living” gives this good advice:

It’s easy for us to become frustrated and impatient with the world. But, many of us often come too close to tarnishing our witness for Jesus because of our words and deeds. Decide to put on the full armor of God each morning in prayer and God’s Word, so others will see Jesus in you. Ask God to help make you a shining witness of His love, kindness, and gentle spirit each day as you interact with those who don’t know Him.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.–Proverbs 4:23