The Power in Words

By Jeff Cokenour

Words are wondrous gifts, but like all gifts, we must use them thoughtfully and with care. The Power in Words will help you understand how words shape your life and the world around you. The Power in Words contains real-world and historical examples of lives changed - for better or worse by the power found in words.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781973695028

Jeff Cokenour

Jeff Cokenour has worked as a boat scrubber, fry cook, cryptologist, linguist, lumberjack, chef, school teacher, minister, businessman and veterans representative. He served honorably in the U.S. Navy and the Texas State Guard. He managed to graduate from college and makes a mean cup of coffee. Jeff’s leadership roles include youth groups, businesses, churches, corporate discussion groups and teams of all kinds. Jeff’s travels on behalf of the power in words has taken him to such far-off places as Turkey, Tibet, China, North Korea, Pakistan, Dubai, Germany, the arctic circle and even California. Jeff is a pretty good horse trainer, not a bad painter, can eat 4 bowls of his wife’s shrimp stew and shares God’s love with his family on a homestead in south Texas.

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Copyright © 2020 Jeff Cokenour.

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Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,

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Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New

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Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9501-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9500-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-9502-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020911540

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/20/2020

This book is dedicated to my mom, who

always said I should write a book

Also to my wonderful wife, Estee, who

said I should listen to my mom

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1     Where Do Words Come From?

Chapter 2     The Words We Use Today

Chapter 3     Words And Their Power

Chapter 4     Painting Pictures With Words

Chapter 5     The Words We Tell Ourselves

Chapter 6     Healing With The Power In Words

Chapter 7     Plant The Right Words In The Garden Of Your Mind

Chapter 8     Making Sure The Words We Hear Are Good For Us

Chapter 9     Use Words To Make Judgment But Not To Judge

Chapter 10   Words That Have Changed History

Chapter 11   You Can Change Your Life With Your Choice Of Words

Chapter 12   Cultivating The Minds Of Children With Words

Chapter 13   Words Become Your Reality

Conclusion - The Words Of God

INTRODUCTION

What is the good of words if they aren’t important enough to quarrel over? Why do we choose one word more than another if there isn’t any difference between them? - G.K. Chesterton

Words are uniquely human – none of God’s other creatures can create or use them. Contained within words is a power for both good and evil and the words we use are an expression of our beliefs. Our words and the beliefs they identify, define who we are and how we live our lives. I know the previous statement is bold and very broad, but I am convinced it’s true. For example, let’s examine the word, truth. Someone once told me that, all truth belongs to God. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo put it this way, A person who is a good and true Christian should realize that truth belongs to his Lord, wherever it is found, gathering and acknowledging it even in pagan literature

If this is true (and I think it is), then all of the words of truth belong to him, no matter where they are found. One way to picture this is to think of gravity, which is a true scientific law regardless of who is talking about it. Sir Isaac Newton was a firm believer in God, yet the objective truth of his discovery of the acceleration of gravity isn’t found in the Bible or the Quran or any other religious text. Yet, because Newtonian gravity on earth is true, scholars from many faiths have used Newtonian gravitational principles (very specific words) to construct equations that are always true. My point is, in this book I quote words from many diverse sources, however, if I am referencing a truth, consider its true source. Since this book is about words, one powerful word is truth. Jesus said, I am truth (John 14:6, NLT) The Philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal said, "Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it." I urge you to not be a follower of a human creeds and misused words, but rather a lover and student of the truth and the power in words. My hope is that the words, examples and ideas in this book, will encourage you to use words and their power to make your life and our planet a much better place and to draw you closer to God. Unlike some in our world today, I believe mankind’s future in the hands of God will be incredible – God’s words suggest that this will be so. Let’s use our words to provide a glimpse of that wondrous future even now.

CHAPTER 1

Where Do Words Come From?

Begin at the beginning, the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop." - Lewis Carrol, Alice in Wonderland.

Words convey meaning, illustrate ideas and allow us to interact with one another in meaningful ways, but they do much more. Words have the power to create and to destroy. Words paint pictures, lift our hearts and help us understand one another. Reading the words of the Bible, Shelly, Whitman, Byron, Shakespeare, Kagawa, Gibran or Chesterton helps us think of beautiful and higher things. The Greek philosophers used words to search for meaning in the lives of humans and the words of great teachers and theologians, lift our hearts and point us to God. The Bible, for example, contains words of hope, grace and life. Ancient Chinese philosophers used words to prescribe ways for living together in peaceful harmony and modern writers and storytellers use the power in words to weave together wondrous tales that make us laugh, cry, and dream. If used wrongly, words can cause terrible damage: words have even caused wars – and have also been used to bring them to an end. Words are wondrous gifts, but like all gifts, we must use them thoughtfully and with care. Where did words actually come from and how did we get them?

How did we receive this uniquely human gift we call words? Why do we have them? Have they always existed, or at the very beginning of time did someone invent them?

Early humans, living in a period sometimes called prehistory, certainly used words; however, not much about the written communication of these people is known from artifacts. The lack of artifact evidence from the earliest periods of human history, points us to manuscript evidence in the ancient texts we do possess, and these texts talk about early peoples – their kings and, the events of their lives.

While there is scholarly disagreement about the precise origin of written words and their usage, certainly the first humans used very specific words to convey specific meanings – their very lives depended on it. In the biblical book of Genesis, for example, we see the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, using words to describe one another, identify animals and converse with God. The Bible tells us that God brought to Adam every creature, and the man chose a name for each one (Genesis 2:19, NLT). Adam had quite a responsibility – imagine having to name all the animals. As for written words, cave writings have been discovered, dating to about 20,000 years ago. These writings seem to convey events like hunting, or building. I am so thankful, I was born in an age of written language. Can you imagine if you had to receive information by looking at the wall of a cave? Ancient cuneiform texts from Sumeria appear to be our oldest samples of alphabetical writing, dating to perhaps 3,200 years before the birth of Jesus. Some experts suggest these writings were of accounting or tax records. Was the IRS around more than 5,000 years ago? Yikes!

Many of the most powerful and enlightening early written words have been handed down to us through theological or religious texts. The ancient Hebrew scriptures contain the words, "and God spoke" (Genesis 1:1, NLT) in their first chapter. What could be more wondrous that reading that the creator of life spoke to us! The Upanishads of ancient Hinduism use words to describe a spiritual relationship between humans and God and early Mesopotamian texts, from thousands of years ago use words to describe the beginning of the world. Metaphysical or spiritual words, help guide us, and I believe God uses them to communicate vital truths like love, mercy, kindness and peace.

Ancient lists on stone tablets from Assyria talk of rulers and kings - of daily court activities and momentous events like coronations or victories in battle. Interestingly, one of these lists, known as the Assyrian eponym list, details the activities of kings also found in the Hebrew Bible. Ancient Chinese philosophers, used words to describe everything from herbal cures to the planting of vegetables. The Chinese philosopher Confucius even wrote advice for relationships and marriage, nearly 2,500 years ago. Despite all of the information we do have, It seems doubtful that we can point to a specific time or period when words began. We honestly cannot say, words were first used in the year X. However, if God uses them, and one of the chief attributes of God is that he is eternal, then words have existed for eternity. Despite all we know of the beginnings of human word usage, are the words recorded in our museums, found on parchment, scraped into cave walls, and found on stone or clay tablets, really the first? Perhaps, God spoke, long before we humans began recording the sounds we