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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Free from religious bondage

‘Christ has truly set us free…make sure that you stay free.’
Galatians 5:1 NLT

The UCB Word for Today - 07 Nov 2018

Some of us find it hard to give ourselves permission to think, say, or enjoy certain things because we fear others will disapprove. We live by their convictions instead of our own.

There’s no bondage like religious bondage! A Christian author writes: ‘The church I grew up in taught that we couldn’t go to the movies or a soccer match (mixing with the world), or ladies wear makeup.

Our standard answer to most of these issues was, “We were taught differently!”’ Such is the reasoning of a conscience raised in the school of tradition.

Paul came down hard on the Galatians for trying to police people’s lives and forcing them to live by Jewish traditions instead of the Gospel of grace. He wrote, ‘Make sure…you stay free…don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law’ (v. 1 NLT).

Train yourself to worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. In reality, what upsets some religious folks is that you can do certain things they can’t – because they can’t give themselves permission to enjoy their freedom in Christ (see Galatians 2:4).

Now, we’re not condoning sin or unscriptural practices. But if you don’t move when the light is green, you’ll spend your life waiting for ‘the right moment’ or ‘a time when most people will understand’ before you move forward.

And you’ll end your life looking back with regret. Don’t let that happen to you.

‘Christ has truly set us free…make sure that you stay free.’

Ezekiel 14-15, Hebrews 10

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

You must know your life’s purpose

‘For we are…created…for good works.’
Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 08 Nov 2018

The Bible says God ‘creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing’ (MSG). Before you decide on a career or what you’ll devote your life to, seek God for guidance.

Nothing can take the place of knowing His will. If you don’t know it, you’re likely to spend your life doing the wrong things.

And even if you’re well-paid, you’ll experience an emptiness and lack of fulfilment within. Austrian psychiatrist Viktor Frankl, a Nazi death camp survivor, said: ‘Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life…a concrete assignment that demands fulfilment.

Therein he cannot be replaced…everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity.’ God created you for a specific purpose.

Your responsibility (and your joy) is to identify it. Here are four questions to ask yourself when it comes to identifying your life’s purpose:

1) What am I searching for? All of us have a strong desire in our hearts; something that speaks to our deepest thoughts, longings, and feelings; something that sets our souls on fire.

2) Why was I created? Think about your unique mix of abilities, the relationships and resources available to you, your personal history, and the opportunities around you. These are all directional signposts.

3) Do I believe in my potential? One leadership expert says, ‘No one can consistently act in a manner that is inconsistent with the way he or she sees themselves.’

4) When should I start? The answer to that question is ‘Now!’

Ezekiel 16-17, Hebrews 11

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Turn to God’s Word!

‘My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.’
Psalm 89:34 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 09 Nov 2018

Medical experts say that every one of us will experience depression in some form during our lifetime. A large portion of the population wakes up each day in a cloud of gloom.

You may be one of them. A popular children’s book is called Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Alexander falls asleep with gum in his mouth, and finds it in his hair upon waking. His breakfast cereal box lacks a toy in the bottom, and he can’t impress his teacher despite his best efforts.

He resolves several times to move to Australia. Unfortunately, geographical cures don’t work.

You don’t solve the problem; you just relocate it. So what can you do?

Turn to the one source of strength, hope, and encouragement that never fails – God’s living Word. God says, ‘My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.’

If you’re feeling down today, here are some Scriptures you can stand on: ‘He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions’ (Psalm 107:20 NKJV). ‘I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living’ (Psalm 27:13 NKJV).

‘In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, for You will answer me’ (Psalm 86:7 NKJV). ‘Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear’ (Isaiah 59:1 NKJV).

‘I will go in the strength of the Lord God’ (Psalm 71:16 NKJV).

Ezekiel 18-19, Hebrews 12

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Your today is connected to your tomorrow!

‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.’
Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 10 Nov 2018

What you are doing right now might seem insignificant and unrewarding, but it could be preparing you for something God wants to do through you in the future. The Bible says, ‘It is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure’ (Philippians 2:13 NKJV).

There’s a saying: ‘Nothing is lost in God’s economy,’ and it’s true. When Daniel Webster started out as a lawyer he took a case for a fee of just twenty dollars.

The case turned out to be a very difficult one, and in preparing for it he had to make a trip to Boston, which cost him more than twenty dollars. But he determined to do a thorough job and win the case, which he did.

Years later a company approached him on short notice, asking him to undertake a case for which they were willing to pay him the largest fee he had ever received. In reviewing the case, he found it was almost identical to the one he’d researched and won nearly twenty years earlier, and for which he was paid only twenty dollars.

He took the case, and just as before, the verdict was in favour of his client. When you do only what you feel like doing or enjoy doing, you can overlook relationships and undervalue experiences essential to your future.

Your destiny is made up of seemingly insignificant moments, experiences, and encounters. Your today is connected to your tomorrow, so maximise each opportunity and relationship that comes your way.

‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.’

Ezekiel 20-21, Hebrews 13

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Be totally committed

‘I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.’
Philippians 3:8 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 11 Nov 2018

Ever hear of ‘one-way missionaries’? They purchased a one-way ticket to the mission field, and instead of packing a suitcase they packed their belongings into a coffin, knowing they would never return home.

A.W. Milne was one of them. He went to the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, knowing that head-hunters had martyred every missionary before him. But he didn’t fear for his life because he had already died to himself.

For thirty-five years he lived among them and ministered to them. When he died, the tribe buried him in the middle of their village and inscribed these words on his tombstone: When he came there was no light.

Nowhere in Scripture does God send us to safe places to do easy things. Faced with the cross, Jesus prayed the ultimate prayer of commitment: ‘Not my will, but thine, be done’ (Luke 22:42 KJV).

And today He’s asking you to be totally committed to Him. Paul wrote: ‘What things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings’ (Philippians 3:7-10 NKJV).

It’s when you’re willing to fellowship with Christ in His sufferings that you get to experience the power of His resurrection. So the word for you today is: be totally committed.

Luke 21:20-38, Psalm 116-118

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

When things seem to go wrong

‘I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.’
Genesis 40:15 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 12 Nov 2018

Joseph had lived an exemplary life. He had made a fortune for his employer and had resisted the sexual advances of his boss’s wife and stayed true to God.

But what was his reward? A prison sentence with no hope of parole.

Since when does the high road lead over a cliff? Ever since the entry of evil into the world.

And as long as Satan ‘prowls around like a roaring lion’ (1 Peter 5:8 NIV 2011 Edition), he will wreak havoc among God’s people. He will lock preachers like Paul in prisons.

He will exile pastors like John on remote islands. He will afflict the friends of Jesus, like Lazarus, with diseases.

But his strategies always backfire. The imprisoned Paul wrote the Epistles.

The banished John saw heaven. The cemetery of Lazarus became a stage upon which Christ performed one of His greatest miracles.

The prison in which they placed Joseph became his stepping-stone to the palace for which God had destined him. Looking back, he could say, ‘But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive’ (Genesis 50:20 NKJV).

So look for God’s purposes in the reversals of your life, and you’ll begin to see them as stepping-stones to blessing. ‘The Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind’ (Jeremiah 30:24 AMPC).

God will use the circumstances you are in today to strengthen you, draw you closer to Himself, and accomplish His will for your life.

Ezekiel 22-23, James 1

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Get real with God

‘Let us examine our ways…and…return to the LORD.’
Lamentations 3:40 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 13 Nov 2018

When you pray, ‘Lord, make me a better person,’ in what specific areas do you want to change, grow, and mature? In order to get real with God, you must answer these twelve questions carefully and prayerfully:

1) Am I honest and above reproach in all my financial dealings? That includes giving God a tithe of your income.

2) Do I put myself in sexually inappropriate situations, or expose myself to harmful material?

3) Do I spend enough time with my family, and would they say that I do?

4) Do I tell the truth even when it brings me hurt or criticism?

5) Do I find it easy to say, ‘I was wrong. I’m genuinely sorry,’ or do I hold grudges?

6) Am I knowingly compromising any area of my life, or refusing to face the consequences of my actions?

7) Have I formed habits that are detrimental to my health, my job, my family, or my walk with Christ?

8) Am I proud, selfish, or arrogant?

9) Have I taken credit for things that others did and should have been rewarded for?

10) Have I failed to confess something to someone who should know of my wrongdoing?

11) Have I been insensitive or abusive to my loved ones? And if I have, what am I willing to do about it?

12) Am I spending enough time in prayer and in the Scriptures? ‘Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.’

The word for you today is: get real with God!

Ezekiel 24-26, James 2

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Understanding your child

‘You know exactly how I was made.’
Psalm 139:15 MSG

The UCB Word for Today - 14 Nov 2018

The psalmist wrote: ‘You know me inside and out…you know exactly how I was made, bit by bit…Like an open book…all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day’ (vv. 14-16 MSG). God has already determined your child’s potential; now it’s up to you to help him or her discover and develop it.

You’ll see it in their temperament, their gifts, and their interests. Resist the temptation to treat all your children the same way; they’re different!

Cain was a farmer and his brother Abel was a shepherd. Jacob and Esau were twins, yet they couldn’t have been more different.

And how about the Prodigal Son who left home and became a ‘party animal’, while his older brother stayed home and became self-righteous and judgemental? You must love each of your children unconditionally, but develop them individually.

Who are they? What do they like? What do they succeed at? How do they handle change? How do they behave when they’re alone?

Start listening to what your children value, what they fear, and what they need. Make sure they’re anchored spiritually in God’s Word.

Don’t force them to go the way you wish you’d gone. Help them discover their own identity, and become their biggest backer.

If that means putting your own dreams on hold for a while, do it. You’ll never regret it.

Your children are your future; your very essence will live on in them. And one more thing: the trees we grow today produce the fruit we eat tomorrow.

So pray and ask God to help you understand your child.

Ezekiel 27-29, James 3

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

The winning attitude

‘You armed me with strength for battle.’
Psalm 18:39 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 15 Nov 2018

Each of us is fighting a battle of some kind, but not all of us are winning. Those who win come in many different varieties but they all have one thing in common: a faith that refuses to quit!

Nobody had more struggles in life than David, and he understood the importance of maintaining the right perspective. He said, ‘You armed me with strength for battle.’

The grace you receive from God will always be equal to the challenges you face. Always!

Did you know that Lord Nelson, England’s famous hero of the sea, suffered from seasickness all his life? Yet this man who sank Napoleon’s fleet refused to let his personal struggles rob him of his destiny.

He not only learned to live with his weakness, but to conquer it every day. All of us have our battlegrounds.

And while nobody pins a medal on us for winning, nothing can diminish the satisfaction of knowing we didn’t quit, or the joy of knowing we overcame by God’s strength. Whose strength? God’s!

‘You armed me with strength for battle.’ The story’s told of a little boy who lost his right hand in an accident. When the doctor questioned him about his handicap, he replied, ‘I don’t have a handicap; I just don’t have a right hand!’

Later the doctor discovered the boy had gone on to become one of the leading scorers on his high school basketball team. His philosophy in life was: it’s not what you’ve lost but what you have left that counts!

That’s the winning attitude, and with God’s help you can develop it.

Ezekiel 30-32, James 4

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Giant-killers (1)

‘So David conquered the Philistine giant.’
1 Samuel 17:50 TLB

The UCB Word for Today - 16 Nov 2018

First Samuel chapter 17 is the backdrop for the story of David and Goliath. The shepherd slays the warrior. The boy conquers the giant.

God gives David victory over his giant, to inspire us to confront our own giants. Giants can be tangible or intangible: the things we can’t overcome because, seduced by fear, we think we can’t.

They can also be unattainable goals, unfinished projects, or unfulfilled dreams – the ‘loose ends’ of life that keep us mired in mediocrity. A giant is anything or anybody keeping you from being or doing what God wants you to be or do.

Giants can be internal or external, real or imagined, physical or emotional. A giant could be an attitude, a habit, a belief, a philosophy, or a memory.

It could be a person who stands between you and God; between who you are and who God wants you to be; between where you are and where God wants you to go; between what you believe and what God wants you to believe. Giants have one goal – to stop your progress and prevent you from reaching your destiny.

But giant-killers see victory in the shadow of defeat! They perceive every fight as a test where the challenge is to turn a negative into a positive.

Conflict is accepted and resistance is expected. To them conflict is growth, and overcoming an enemy is the prerequisite to promotion.

Giants can expose our hidden strengths, be a measuring stick for our growth, and feed our confidence in God. Giant-killers see opportunity in opposition, potential in problems, and victory in the shadow of defeat.

And with God’s help you can become a giant-killer.

Ezekiel 33-34, James 5