[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Read the fine print

‘Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?’
Amos 3:3 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 03 APRIL 2020

When it comes to forming relationships, read the fine print. Somewhere in the fine print of meeting, dating, and interacting with someone, it warned you, albeit ever-so-slightly, that they were going to be a certain way.

The red flags were always there, even though they started out as a lovely shade of pink. You saw how quickly he got angry.

You knew she was always late when you picked her up. He invariably went into a panic checking every line item on the restaurant bill.

She never failed to flirt with the waiter – and anyone else who looked her way. You noticed, but you didn’t listen to the little voice inside of you.

Poet Maya Angelou said, ‘When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time!’ Before you order something, read the fine print to make sure you can afford the payments.

Maybe the fine print became obvious when you saw how he interacted with his family – or didn’t! Maybe it was in the way his eyes lingered on every woman who walked by.

Or in the phone calls she took out of earshot when you were around. Chances are you saw it, but you didn’t pay attention.

You overlooked the temper tantrums, the possessiveness, the jealousy, and lack of integrity, thinking you could change them, or that they’d change for you. Now you know better.

There’s a reason the Bible asks, ‘Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?’ Yes, the God who gives ‘beauty for ashes’ can change your partner’s heart (see Isaiah 61:3).

But if you’re dating or considering a long-term relationship, pray about it and read the fine print.

Joshua 4-6, John 1:1-28

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Has your spouse been unfaithful?

‘I am like a broken vessel.’
Psalm 31:12 KJV

The UCB Word for Today - 04 APRIL 2020

When your spouse breaks your marriage vows, it can break your heart. And after the initial shock wears off, your driving desire can be to hurt them in return.

So what should you do instead?
1) Take time to process your emotions. A quick, ‘I forgive you’, or just sweeping things under the rug, will sabotage any hope of rebuilding a strong relationship.

2) If your spouse is a habitual betrayer who wants to live as he or she pleases, God’s Word gives you the right to be set free from them. But don’t move too quickly.

Ask yourself if work and family pressures may have caused you to neglect each other. Did you inadvertently open a door for the enemy?

These are hard questions – but they must be answered, because the decision you make is one you will live with for the rest of your life. You may not believe it right now, but God can make a good marriage out of a bad mess.

Yes, it will take time – trust can only be rebuilt slowly. And that means:

a) Learning to be sensitive to one another.
b) Acknowledging that your spouse may need detailed accountability, and you may have to go the extra mile to rebuild the trust that was lost. But it can happen.

‘The righteous cry out…the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit’ (Psalm 34:17-18 NKJV).

God can turn your situation around. If you’ll work with Him – He’ll work with you.

Joshua 7-9, John 1:29-51

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Remove the label of ‘impossible’

‘With men it is impossible, but not with God.'
Mark 10:27 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 05 APRIL 2020

When you label something as being ‘impossible’, three things happen:

1) By giving in to the fear of failure you kill your own faith and motivation.
2) You risk settling for less than God wants you to have.
3) By excluding God from the equation you cut yourself off from the greatest power in the universe.

When oil prices went through the roof in the 1970s, car manufacturers were ordered to build more fuel-efficient cars. One manufacturer asked a group of senior engineers to drastically reduce the weight of the cars they were designing.

They worked on the problem and searched for solutions, but they finally concluded that making lighter cars couldn’t be done, would be too expensive, and would present too many safety concerns. What was the car manufacturers’ solution?

They gave the problem to a group of less experienced engineers, and the new group found ways to reduce the weight of the companies’ cars by hundreds of pounds. Why?

Because they believed solving the problem was possible – and it was. Every time you remove the label of impossible from a task, and include God in it, you raise your potential from ‘average’ to ‘off-the-charts’.

George Bernard Shaw said, ‘Some men see things as they are and say, “Why?” I dream of things that never were and say, “Why not?”’

Jesus said, ‘With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.’ In the natural world, you may not be able to accomplish it.

But when you step into the realm of the supernatural, God adds His ‘super’ to your ‘natural’, and what seems impossible becomes possible.

Luke 6:27-49, Psalm 35-36

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

A word for single parents

‘He gives the childless woman a family, making her a happy mother.’
Psalm 113:9 NLT

The UCB Word for Today - 06 APRIL 2020

Imagine the agony a single parent goes through when they are required by a court order to send their child for an extended visit with the other parent. Yes, it’s necessary and it’s fair, but it can be painful.

One single mum described her feelings this way: ‘I feel an incredible sense of loss. The loneliness immediately starts to set in, I worry constantly about their safety, but I resist the urge to call every hour to see how they’re doing.

And when they do call me to tell me how much fun they’re having, I grieve over the fact that they’re having a life completely separate from my own. My only consolation is knowing that they’re coming home soon.

But I’m haunted by the fear that they won’t want to come home to me.’ For the single parent who identifies with this hurting mother, there’s a way to get through the painful days of waiting.

Instead of seeing this time alone as a period of isolation and deprivation, view it as an opportunity to recharge your batteries and reinvigorate your spirit. Spend time with friends.

Read your Bible and pray. Return to a hobby you’ve set aside.

Fill your day with things that are impossible amid the responsibility of childcare, recognising that your children will benefit when you do. They’ll return to a re-energised you, instead of one coming off weeks of depression.

God says, ‘My grace is all you need’ (2 Corinthians 12:9 NLT). Today draw on His grace.

Joshua 10-12, John 2

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Go to your ‘God place’

‘Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.’
Genesis 19:27 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 07 APRIL 2020

Abraham had a special place where he met with God. So did Daniel, when his life was threatened: ‘In his upper room…he knelt…three times that day…and prayed and gave thanks before…God, as was his custom’ (Daniel 6:10 NKJV).

Jesus, too, had a special place: ‘Before daylight, He…departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed’ (Mark 1:35 NKJV). Here’s an idea: establish a ‘God place’ in your life.

When problems and pressures threaten to overwhelm you, go to your God place. When you need guidance, go to your God place.

Hymnist William Walford penned these time-honoured words: ‘Sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer!

That calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father’s throne make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief; and oft escaped the tempter’s snare, by thy return, sweet hour of prayer!’

In the words of Henry Ward Beecher: ‘Wherever you have seen God pass, mark that spot, and go sit in that window again.’ Your God place can be anywhere, but it should be somewhere.

After you’ve been there a while, a kind of aura will surround it. You’ll create memories of intimate times with God.

It will become your sanctuary, which simply means ‘a place of refuge and safety’. David wrote, ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty’ (Psalm 91:1 KJV).

Call it your God place, your secret place, your sanctuary, or whatever, but establish such a place in your life.

Joshua 13-15, John 3:1-21

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

The importance of the cross (1)

‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Galatians 6:14 KJV

The UCB Word for Today - 08 APRIL 2020

It’s interesting that in the Bible Jesus doesn’t ask us to remember His birth or His resurrection, although we know we should, but He tells us to remember His death. When He instituted the Lord’s Supper, He said, ‘This do in remembrance of me’ (Luke 22:19 KJV).

Paul said, ‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ The cross, like the gallows and the electric chair, is an instrument of death.

So why glory in it? Because of what took place there.

When Jesus said, ‘It is finished,’ all your sins from the cradle to the grave were paid for. So the cross is God’s first and last word when it comes to salvation.

It’s His first word because Jesus was ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’ (Revelation 13:8 KJV). And the cross is God’s last word about salvation, for in heaven they will sing, ‘Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation’ (Revelation 5:9 KJV).

There is no ‘plan B’ for salvation. The only road that goes to heaven goes through Calvary.

You can’t bypass the cross or go around it if you want to be saved. The Bible says, ‘Without shedding of blood [there] is no remission [for sin]’ (Hebrews 9:22 KJV).

As you look at the cross today, you’ll see the curse of sin, the cost of sin, and the cure for sin. And as you look at the cross, remind yourself: ‘He did it for me.’

Joshua 16-18, John 3:22-36

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

The importance of the cross (2)

‘But we preach Christ crucified.’
1 Corinthians 1:23 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 09 APRIL 2020

Paul writes: ‘For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God’ (vv. 22-24 NKJV). There’s no Jewish way to be saved, or Gentile way to be saved.

There’s only one way to be saved – that’s the way of the cross! We all have the same need. We need to know what’s right and do what’s right.

We need the wisdom to know what to do, and we need the power to do it. And Christ offers us both through the cross.

In his early ministry, when Billy Graham preached to a great crowd in Dallas, Texas, there was very little response to his message. As he was leaving the platform, an old man told him, ‘Your message was good, but you didn’t preach the cross.’

Billy went to his room, wept, and resolved, ‘There will never be a sermon that I preach unless the cross is central.’ Starting that day, God used him to win more people to Christ than almost any other preacher in history.

There’s just enough ego in each of us to want to ‘contribute’ to our salvation by doing good works. But we cannot.

Hymnist Robert Lowry wrote: ‘What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know; nothing but the blood of Jesus.’

Joshua 19-21, John 4:1-30

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

The importance of the cross (3)

‘The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.’
1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 10 APRIL 2020

God dying on the cross for our sins sounds like ‘foolishness’ to some people. Their philosophy is ‘If I cannot understand it, I won’t accept it.’

That’s where they get it wrong. Salvation comes through faith alone. ‘Unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven’ (Matthew 18:3 NKJV).

Simple, childlike faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross is all that’s required. The story is told of a student whose professor gave him zero on a test.

Upset, he said, ‘I don’t deserve this grade.’ The professor smiled and quipped, ‘I agree, but zero is the lowest grade I can give.’ That’s how God feels about our wisdom.

‘The wisdom of this world is foolishness with God’ (1 Corinthians 3:19 NKJV). One day a man stood on the roof of his house during a flood, and prayed, ‘God, please save me.’ Soon a rowboat came by and offered to take him to safety.

But he said, ‘No, God will take care of me.’ The waters kept coming up until they were almost at his waist.

Suddenly a helicopter appeared overhead and a rope ladder was lowered down. ‘Oh no, God will take care of me.’ Soon after that the man drowned.

When he stood before God, he said, ‘Why didn’t you save me?’ God responded, ‘I sent you a rowboat and a helicopter.

What else did you want?’ At the cross, God did everything required to save you. All you have to do is trust in Christ and receive the gift of eternal life.

Joshua 22-24, John 4:31-54

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

The importance of the cross (4)

‘Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord; so what wisdom do they have?’
Jeremiah 8:9 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 11 APRIL 2020

You will never understand the message of the cross, or receive the benefits of salvation that come from the cross, until you first kneel at the cross and receive Jesus Christ as your personal saviour. The story is told of a great preacher who was touring Italy.

A friend told him to go to a certain village and see a painting of the crucifixion of Christ. ‘What is it like?’ he asked.

His friend said, ‘Never mind what it is like. I want you to see it. Please promise me you will.’ He replied, ‘I will.’

He went to the village and visited the chapel where the painting was. The old caretaker said, ‘You’ve come to see the painting, haven’t you?’

He said, ‘Why, yes I have.’ The caretaker responded, ‘Follow me.’

The great preacher was not prepared for what he was about to see. Instead of a beautiful masterpiece, the painting seemed all out of proportion and didn’t make sense.

‘I don’t understand this painting,’ he said. The caretaker replied, ‘Come closer.’ He did. The caretaker said, ‘Get lower.’ He did.

Finally, as he was kneeling at the foot of the cross, he looked up and saw the power and beauty of the painting and was reduced to tears. It’s only when you lay aside your pride, your preconceived notions, and your intellectual approach, and humble yourself, that the message of the cross transforms you.

‘For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV).

Judges 1-3, John 5:1-30

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

The importance of the cross (5)

‘I have been crucified with Christ.’
Galatians 2:20 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 12 APRIL 2020

The cross must become a vital part of your everyday life. Why?

Because you have three relentless enemies you must overcome each day: sin, Satan, self. How do you overcome them?

By living the crucified life. Paul writes, ‘I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.’ You say, ‘It’s too difficult to live a Christian life!’

No, it’s not difficult…it’s impossible. The only way is to let the power and person of Christ live through you.

That’s why Paul wrote, ‘God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world’ (Galatians 6:14 NKJV). After years in a Russian labour camp, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn became so depressed that he wanted to die.

Laying his shovel down, he walked over to a bench and sat down, knowing that any moment a guard could come by and use that shovel to beat him to death. It was then that a fellow inmate took a stick, and in the sand at Solzhenitsyn’s feet traced out the sign of the cross.

As he stared at it, his entire perspective shifted. Realising the cross represented the greatest power in the universe, he slowly got up, picked up his shovel, and went back to work under the sign of the cross.

And you must do that too. Each day, remind yourself: ‘Jesus died for me.

I died with Him. When I die to me, He lives in me.

When He lives in me, I can live for Him.’ That’s the secret of a victorious Christian life.

Luke 7:1-30, Psalm 37-39