Adopted by God

John 1:12-13 (NLT)

¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

This verse tells us that all who believed and accepted Jesus Christ were given the right to become children of God; that is they became adopted by God to live as His children in His kingdom.

The other day I listened as my wife told a story of a man who was about to marry a woman who had a child. The father of the child had deserted them and had no interest in them.

Seeking to marry this woman, the father of this man, being a Godly person, told his son, “If you marry this woman, you also assume responsibility for her girl as she has no one of her own.”

The man carefully listened to his father. He married the woman and later adopted the girl. She was treated as she was his very own. She was always considered the first child in their family; even as they had more children. This girl learned the love of a father who adopted her without question, who loved her and respected her as one of her own.

My wife said the girl turned out to be a woman who understood the accepting love of another and never had a problem accepting the love of God the Father.

Give thanks to God who out of your belief of His Son takes you to be one of His adopted heirs.

Light of the World

Matthew 5:14-16 (NLT)

14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Jesus reminds us that we are the reflection of God’s light in this world that like a city on a hill top or a light on a table so that our good deeds can be seen for others to know our love of God.

Rick Richardson, writes in Reimagining Evangelism: My friend Sam works at Einstein Brothers Bagels, where I write my books. Sam has a Muslim dad and a kind-of-Baptist mom. Recently, as I was going through the line, Sam waved me over. "I've lost my wallet again. I don't know where it is!"

"Sam, I will pray for you," I assured him.

"I guess it can't hurt," he replied (I get that response a lot).

Ten minutes later, he came over and told me he had found it. "All right!" I rejoiced. "Hey, you can ask me to pray for you any time." He laughed.

The next week as I went through the line, Sam let me know his ulcer was acting up. "Sam, is there anything I can get you?" I asked. He sent me over to the nearby Cub Foods to pick up some medicine. When I came back, I told him I would pray, too. This time he welcomed my prayers a little more enthusiastically.

Ten minutes later, he approached me and said he felt much better and hadn't needed to take the medicine. That was very unusual for him. "Man, I wish I had prayed for you before I went and bought that medicine!" I exclaimed. He laughed again.

These days, he doesn't wait for me to ask. When I see Sam, he often asks me to pray for him without any suggestion from me at all.  [Rick Richardson, Reimagining Evangelism (IVP, 2006), p. 20-21]

Let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. For you are the light of the world.

Jesus Wept

John 11:35 (NKJV)

35 Jesus wept.

This verse comes from the story of Lazarus who had died. He was the brother of Martha and Mary, all of which were friends to Jesus. The shortest verse in The Bible, yet it has great importance. The words, Jesus wept, shows the humanity of Jesus as tears fell down His face for His friends. It shows Jesus understood grief and He could weep as one who loved another.

My Mother-In-Law passed away last Monday around 3:30PM at the age of 86. We know her life was slowly stolen by either Alzheimer’s or Dementia.

For over a year had not been able to walk. For months she had not been able to get out of bed. For months she was only able to take small bites of food, and then she stopped eating. She was not able to communicate clearly. She had trouble breathing. She was in constant pain and she was only able to take drops of water at a time. We watched her decline, we had done all we could do without prolonging agony and suffering. Naturally we grieved for her as the disease was taking her life.

She left behind a husband of 61 years, along with a son and his wife, a daughter and her husband, 5 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.  We were all deeply grieved by her death. Her husband especially feels the emptiness and the loss of her presence; even though he knows she is in a better place; it is still difficult for him.

Jesus understands our grief. He saw the pain of the family after Lazarus had passed away. Jesus wept as He mourned with them. I believe Jesus also wept because He planned to perform a miracle that would take Lazarus from a beautiful place of eternity and place him back into this harsh world.

Remember Our Savior loves us and understands the pains of life. Jesus is always listening to our prayers and feels our tears. Know that His love, grace and mercy can sustain us through the most difficult of times, because Jesus faced the most difficult of times. Jesus faced those difficult times for our sake, so we could spend eternity with Him in heaven.

Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease. I personally have lost family members to Alzheimer’s and I know others who have loss family dear to them because of it.

Please remember these people in prayer. If you are able to give, please donate to www.alz.org or other charitable organizations such as http://www.leezascareconnection.org/ and even read more about this disease at http://www.alzheimers.gov/ which informs and guides families. May God bless you and ease any grief you may be experiencing.

Run the race with endurance

Hebrews 12:1(NLT)

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Here observe what is the great duty which the apostle urges upon the Hebrews, and which he so much desires they would comply with, and that is, to lay aside every weight, and the sin that did so easily beset them, and run with patience the race set before them. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next … Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither.

—C. S. Lewis, Irish professor, author, and apologist (1898–1963)

Set your mind on heaven and concentrate on what would benefit God’s heavens the most. There are many witnesses to confirm the testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The problem is we let too many burdens of this present world weight us down and we lose sight of the eternal life waiting for us. We get tripped up by sin and sin tries to destroy anything good we could accomplish. Do not let the weight of sin hold you back, but instead remember the love, mercy and grace of Our Lord. Run the race of life with patience knowing there is an eternity of life awaiting at the finish line for those who have placed their faith in The Lord Jesus Christ.

Let your Yes be Yes and Your No, No

James 5:12 (NKJV)

12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.

But let your yea be yea, and your nay nay; lest you fall into condemnation; that is, "let it suffice you to affirm or deny a thing as there is occasion, and be sure to stand to your word, an be true to it, so as to give no occasion for your being suspected of falsehood; and then you will be kept from the condemnation of backing what you say or promise by rash oaths, and from profaning the name of God to justify yourselves. It is being suspected of falsehood that leads men to swearing. Let it be known that your keep to truth, and are firm to your word, and by this means you will find there is no need to swear to what you say. Thus shall you escape the condemnation which is expressly annexed to the third commandment: The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

In his book When Life Is Hard, pastor and author James MacDonald shares a valuable lesson he learned during his days as a basketball player. He writes:

I played a lot of basketball back in the day. I sprained my ankles many times, and I learned too late that the best way to handle all that black-and-blue is to fill a wastebasket with ice and top it off with water. Then, while the injury is fresh, put your wounded foot deep into that cold water and leave it there.

If you can last for one minute, it's just crazy painful. But if you can keep it in there for two minutes, the injury and its recovery time will be cut in half. … If you can hang on for two and a half minutes, you can be playing basketball again by Thursday, but the pain of holding your foot in that arctic water will have you crying out for someone to bring you a sharp object. Even with my worst injuries I seldom made it two and a half minutes.

But here is the amazing thing about "remaining under the pain" of having your foot in that cold bucket: If you can hang in there for three minutes, you'll be walking on it tomorrow. The pain will be consuming those last thirty seconds, worse by far than the injury itself now. But you will walk tomorrow.

MacDonald concludes: "It is just that way with trials. You can come to the place where the circumstance itself is less painful than the commitment not to give up."  [Van Morris, Mount Washington, Kentucky; source: James MacDonald, When Life Is Hard (Moody, 2010), p. 63]

It can be painful to give a truthful answer, especially when you have done something wrong. I use to watch the TV show COPs. So many times a person would get caught where it was clearly seen what they had done for the camera doesn’t hide many facts. Yet when the person was asked if they had committed the crime their answer would be “No.” It wasn’t until they realized they had been watched, the person next to them was an undercover officer, or they were just tired of lying would they finally admit the truth.

Also there are times in our life when we don’t want to commit so we say things like “I think”, “I guess”, “I’m not sure, but … .” You probably know those type of answers. If you need to say yes or no, follow God’s word and answer honestly and truthfully without swearing.  

Be not Ashamed

Romans 1:16 (NIV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

There is a great deal in the gospel which such a man as Paul might be tempted to be ashamed of, especially that he whose gospel it is was a man hanged upon a tree, that the doctrine of it was plain, had little in it to set it off among scholars, the professors of it were mean and despised, and everywhere spoken against; yet Paul was not ashamed to own it. I reckon him a Christian indeed that is neither ashamed of the gospel nor a shame to it. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

John Stott shares the following story from 1958 when he was leading a university outreach in Sydney, Australia. The day before the final meeting, Stott received word that his father had passed away. In addition to his grief, Stott was also starting to lose his voice. Here's how Stott describes the final day of the outreach:

It was already late afternoon within a few hours of the final meeting of the mission, so I didn't feel I could back away at that time. I went to the great hall and asked a few students to gather round me. I asked one of them to read … "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness," (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). A student read these verses and then I asked them to lay hands on me and … pray that those verses might be true in my own experience.

When time came for me to give my address, I preached on the [broad and narrow ways from Matthew 7]. I had to get within half an inch of the microphone, and I croaked the gospel like a raven. I couldn't exert my personality. I couldn't move. I couldn't use any inflections in my voice. I croaked the gospel in monotone. Then when the time came to give the invitation, there was an immediate response, larger than any other meeting during the mission, as students came flocking forward …

I've been back to Australia about ten times since 1958, and on every occasion somebody has come up to me and said, "Do you remember that final meeting in the university in the great hall?" "I jolly well do," I reply. "Well," they say, "I was converted that night."

Stott concludes, "The Holy Spirit takes our human words, spoken in great weakness and frailty, and he carries them home with power to the mind, the heart, the conscience, and the will of the hearers in such a way that they see and believe."  [Michael P. Knowles, editor, The Folly of Preaching (Eerdmans, 2007), pp. 137-138]

The gospel is the “Good News” of the salvation for sins that can be found in The Lord Jesus Christ. God sent Jesus first for the Jews and then the Gentiles, which in reality is everyone else. God had a special place in his heart for the Jewish population, but God also loved all people and extended His Mercy, Grace and Love to all. Do not be ashamed of the gospel for it brings salvation to all who have faith.

Ignoring the warning signs

James 1:21 (NLT)

21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

We are called upon to suppress other corrupt affections, as well as rash anger: Lay aside all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, v. 21. The word here translated filthiness signifies those lusts which have the greatest turpitude and sensuality in them; and the words rendered superfluity of naughtiness may be understood of the overflowings of malice or any other spiritual wickednesses. Hereby we are taught, as Christians, to watch against, and lay aside, not only those more gross and fleshly dispositions and affections which denominate a person filthy, but all the disorders of a corrupt heart, which would prejudice it against the word and ways of God. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

In his book Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon, Michael P. Ghiglieri chronicles the nearly 700 deaths that have occurred in the Grand Canyon since the 1870s. Of course most people aren't shocked that fatal mishaps occur there. After all, the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide, and attains a depth of over a mile (6,000 feet). The extreme temperatures (which often exceed 100 degrees) can quickly lead to heatstroke and dehydration.

So how did most of the deaths occur? Air crashes account for the largest number of deaths at the Grand Canyon. Floods have claimed the lives of some of the river rafters. Other despondent souls have taken their own lives. But according to Ghiglieri, a number of people have gone "over the edge" and fallen to their death through their own carelessness. Specifically, they ignored posted warnings and confidently walked out on to dangerous precipices.

For example, in 1992, a 38-year-old father jokingly tried to frighten his teenage daughter by leaping on to a guard wall. He flailed his arms as he pretended to lose his balance. Then he comically "fell" on the canyon side onto a ledge he assumed was safe. But sadly, after ignoring numerous warning signs, he lost his footing and fell 400 feet into the void below.

Then in 2012, an 18-year-old woman who was hiking on the North Rim Trail decided to venture off the beaten path to have her picture taken at a spot known as Inspiration Point. As she sat down on the ledge of the 1,500-foot deep canyon, the rocks gave way, and she plummeted to her death.

These deaths were not just tragic; they were also completely avoidable. Does anyone truly want his or her last words before "AAAAHHHHHH" to be, "Look at how close I can get to the rim without fall …. ?" Call me overly cautious, but without a hang-glider or parachute attached to my body, I can see the Canyon just fine 10 yards back from the precipice.

And yet many of us approach sin by asking the question, "How close can I get without crossing the line?" We avoid God's warning signs and then edge right up to disaster, confident that we—unlike other people—can avoid the crash. Like the child who listens to a parent's warning and then does everything to push the boundaries, we rush to the edge of sin with a false sense of security.

The value of Honesty

Proverbs 14:5 (NIV)

5 An honest witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies.

In the administration of justice much depends upon the witnesses, and therefore it is necessary to the common good that witnesses be principled as they ought to be; for, 1. A witness that is conscientious will not dare to give in a testimony that is in the least untrue, nor, for good-will or ill-will, represent a thing otherwise than according to the best of his knowledge, whoever is pleased or displeased, and then judgment runs down like a river. 2. But a witness that will be bribed, and biassed, and browbeaten, will utter lies (and not stick nor startle at it), with as much readiness and assurance as if what he said were all true. [Matthew Commentary]

Flywheel is a film about Jay, a Christian used-car salesman who becomes convicted that he has been grossly overcharging his customers. In this scene, conviction begins to settle in Jay's heart when he manipulates the sale of a car to his pastor.

As the scene opens, Jay is standing in the used car lot when he notices that his pastor is looking at a car. Jay walks over and says, "Well, the good Reverend came after all!"

"Jay, how's the car business today?" the pastor replies.

"We're making ends meet. It's good to see you. Tell me what I can do for you?"

"Well, I'm looking for a car for my daughter. She's our last one. I wish she were here, but she's out shopping for clothes with her mother. I'm just trying to find a good buy for her."

"Well, let me commit to giving you a good deal," Jay says, licking his chops.

The scene shifts to two salesmen that are sitting in the office that oversees the parking lot. Watching the interaction between Jay and the pastor, one salesman says to the other, "Hey, who is that guy with Jay? I think I've seen him before."

The other salesman looks out the window and says, "He's a minister, isn't he? Jay will probably give him a deal."

"Twenty bucks says he doesn't!" the other salesman fires back, knowing full well that Jay is a swindler.

"Do you really think he's going to stiff a minister?"

"Twenty bucks says he will!"

"You're on," the other salesman replies, and both watch from the window. As they watch Jay and his pastor examining a Camry, they check the files to see its listed price. The Camry is worth $6,500.

"Jay will sell it for $8,000," one salesman says. The other replies, "$7,000."

The scene shifts back to Jay and his pastor. After answering his pastor's questions about the Camry, Jay says, "I've got $8,500 in this car. If you want, I'll give it to you for $9,000."

Thinking it over, the Reverend decides to take it for a test drive. When Jay comes into the office, one of salesmen asks, "Is he buying it?"

"He might," Jay replies.

"You think he will?"

"I do."

"How do you know?"

"I sell cars for a living."

"Ha! At what price?"

The next scene shows Jay's pastor signing on the dotted line. As Jay walks the minister to the Camry, the two salesmen check the bill on the desk. They're surprised to see that Jay sold the car for $9,000, and they argue over who won the bet.

When the scene shifts back to Jay and his pastor, the pastor says, "Jay, thanks. You've treated me so well today. I would like to do something for you. I'd like to pray and ask God to bless you and your business."

"I'd appreciate that," Jay stutters.

"Let's pray." The minister puts his hand on Jay's shoulder, and says, "Lord, today I come before you and thank you for this day. I thank you for Jay and his business. I thank you for the car for Lindsay, and I ask that you protect her and give her grace as she drives this car. And Lord, I ask that you treat Jay just like he treated me today in this deal. In your name I pray, Lord, Amen."

"Amen," Jay says softly. As the minister drives away, Jay is left standing in the parking lot with a guilty look on his face.

[Flywheel (Sherwood Pictures, 2003), directed and written by Alex Kendrick; submitted by Jerry De Luca, Montreal West, Quebec, Canada]

Who is The King?

Philippians 2:9-11 (NIV)

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Observe, It is to the glory of God the Father to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord; for it is his will that all men should honour the Son as they honour the Father. [Matthew Henry]

On the game show Family Feud, hosted by Steve Harvey, contestants are asked to guess how 100 people responded to various survey questions. On a 2012 episode, a contestant had to provide the top answers to the following survey question: "When someone mentions 'the King,' to whom might he or she be referring?" Here were the four top answers:

1.81 people said "Elvis Presley"

2.7 people said "God or Jesus"

3.3 people said "Martin Luther King, Jr."

4.2 people said "The Burger King"

[James Gilmore, "We Have No King but Elvis," White Horse Inn blog (9-14-12)]

Who or maybe what, is the King in your life? Revelation 17:14 tells us, “These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.””

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion

Philippians 1:4-6 (NIV)

4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

The work of grace is but begun in this life; it is not finished here; as long as we are in this imperfect state there is something more to be done. If the same God who begins the good work did not undertake the carrying on and finishing of it, it would lie forever unfinished. He must perform it who began it. We may be confident, or well persuaded, that God not only will not forsake, but that he will finish and crown the work of his own hands. For, as for God, his work is perfect. The work of grace will never be perfected till the day of Jesus Christ, the day of his appearance. When he shall come to judge the world, and finish his mediation, then this work will be complete, and the top-stone will be brought forth with shouting. [Matthew Commentary]

Nicholas Kristof, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times wrote a column in March 2015 entitled, "A Little Respect for Dr. Foster." Kristof makes clear that he isn't an evangelical Christian yet he says, "But I've been truly awed by those I've seen in so many remote places, combating illiteracy and warlords, famine and disease, humbly struggling to do the Lord's work as they see it … " He focuses on "Dr. Stephen Foster, 65, a white-haired missionary surgeon who has lived in Angola for 37 years—much of that in a period when the Angolan regime was Marxist and hostile to Christians."

"We were granted visas," [Foster] said, "by the very people who would tell us publicly, 'your churches are going to disappear in 20 years,' but privately, 'you are the only ones we know willing to serve in the midst of the fire.'"

Kristof writes, "One son contracted polio; a daughter survived cerebral malaria; and the family nearly starved when the area was besieged during war and Dr. Foster insisted on sharing the family rations with 100 famished villagers."

Kristof concludes: "The next time you hear someone at a cocktail party mock evangelicals, think of Dr. Foster and those like him. These are folks who don't so much proclaim the gospel as live it. They deserve better." (Although there's probably much more proclaiming than Kristof realizes. Dr. Foster's website carries the banner: Hope for Angola through healthcare, agriculture, education, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.)

As long as we live in this world we will never find perfection in life. Through our lives we can show others the good things God has to offer. Then one day God will finally complete the good work He started in us and bring us to perfection through His Son Jesus Christ.

God's word is backed by the honor of His name

Psalm 138:2 (NLT)

2 I bow before your holy Temple as I worship. I praise your name for your unfailing love and faithfulness; for your promises are backed by all the honor of your name.

Christ is our temple, and towards Him we must have faith, as Mediator between us and God, in all our praises of Him. Heaven is God's holy temple, and it is there we must lift up our eyes in all our prayers to God.

Think about that statement for just a moment. He has exalted His Word above His own name. How powerful is God’s name? It is so powerful that the Jews wouldn’t even speak His name in public. It so powerful that the Bible declares that at the very mention of His name demons tremble, everyone and everything is forced to their knees in worship, and out of their mouths will come a confession that He is Lord. And yet, as powerful as His name is the Psalmist declares that He has exalted His word above even His name! God’s Word is powerful! God’s Word is authority.

Where did Jesus turn when facing off against the devil? The Word! God used God’s Word to take authority! Any Word that Jesus would have spoken would be carried out. He says about himself in Matthew 28:18 that all authority has been given to Him. I mean He is God. He could have looked at the devil and said “boo” and victory was sure. And yet, He uses the written Word of God to wield authority!

God’s Word is the authority figure that we must submit to!

God's way

Psalm 18:30 (NLT)

30 God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection.

Not only is God perfect, but all the things done of God are perfection. God creates, performs and perfects what has been put in place. God promises us many things throughout The Bible and those promises prove true. In moments of need God is our protector even being a Father to the fatherless.

Most people know about the passion of Martin Luther King Jr. for racial justice and nonviolent resistance. However, some people aren't as familiar with King's deep personal faith in Christ. In his book Welcoming Justice, Charles Marsh describes one of King's profound encounters with the Risen Christ.

[In January 1956, Martin Luther King Jr.] returned home around midnight after a long day of organizational meetings. His wife and young daughter were already in bed, and King was eager to join them. But a threatening call—the kind of call he was getting as many as 30 to 40 times a day—interrupted his attempt to get some much-needed rest. When he tried to go back to bed, he could not shake the menacing voice that kept repeating the hateful words in his head.

King got up, made a pot of coffee, and sat down at his kitchen table. With his head buried in his hands, he cried out to God. There in his kitchen in the middle of the night, when he had come to the end of strength, King met the living Christ in an experience that would carry him through the remainder of his life. "I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on," King later recalled. "He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone … He promised never to leave me, no never alone."

In the stillness of the Alabama night, the voice of Jesus proved more convincing than the threatening voice of the anonymous caller. The voice of Jesus gave him the courage to press through the tumultuous year of 1956 to the victorious end of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. More than that, it gave him a vision for ministry that would drive him for the rest of his life.

No matter what we are going through God has a plan for our life. Sometimes the road may seem difficult, but we must remember God’s way is perfect. 

Frail Life

Job 14:1 (NLT)

1 How frail is humanity! How short is life, how full of trouble!

Human life is frail. A person here today can be absent tomorrow. We want to accomplish so many things in life, but alas, life is short. Even the time we have been given can be full of woes and troubles, leaving us little time to achieve all the things we long to do.

There is no accident that I have been away from writing for a short while. Members of my family needed me and I took the time to be with them. While I have 24 hours in a day just like everyone else, sometimes you have to prioritize your life in such a way that you can give time to God, time to your family and friends, and even time to those with whom you work. So there are occasions out of our short life that we must stop and help as needed. If we are having routine talks with God He would remind us that even He rested on the 7^th day to review the work He had completed; so maybe we need to rest and review what is in front of us.

I have seen frailty in life as family members and friends have passed away. Some had their lives cut way too short in life. Some were in accidents that caused them much pain and suffering. Some could not face the troubles of life and went in their own time.

Yes life is short, so use it wisely. Use it to serve God, your family, your friends, and those you work with.

Last week I was helping my wife. Her mother’s health has slowly been declining. My wife has taken the time to care for her parents and I have helped fill in places and done things she might have normally done. But there comes a time when we are called to take a break and fully help our family and last week was it for me. For I’m not sure how much longer my mother-in-law has, only God knows. I do know it is shorter today than it was yesterday.

In the near future I may steal away some more days for family, but even when I do, I will lift up my family and my friends to God who is always near. I will remember their troubles and ask God to comfort them.