[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Saved by grace alone

‘By grace you have been saved through faith.’
Ephesians 2:8 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 10 AUG 2020

In a sense there were two prodigal sons, and both grew up in a religious culture that praised rule keepers and punished rule breakers. Notice how this chapter begins: ‘All the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him…And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners”…So He spoke this parable to them’ (Luke 15:1-3 NKJV).

Here Jesus is talking to two different groups:

1) Rule breakers like the Prodigal Son, who know it’s only through God’s grace that we are saved.
2) Rule keepers like the older brother, who think they can earn or contribute to salvation by doing good works. And that makes rule keepers judgmental towards rule breakers.

The older brother refused to attend his brother’s homecoming party. Why?

Listen: ‘Father, unlike him, I have served you and kept your commandments. This is not right or fair’ (see Luke 15:29).

Sound familiar? Here’s what the father told him: ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours’ (v. 31 NKJV).

Observe the word ‘son’. Jesus was teaching that we’re saved by ‘relationship’, not ‘rule keeping’. The older brother thought his father’s acceptance depended on his performance.

Yes, there’s a place in God’s kingdom for performance. Your rewards in heaven are based upon your performance on earth.

But your redemption depends on Christ’s performance only: ‘By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast’ (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV). Yes, God will challenge, chastise, and cleanse you in order to change you into the person He wants you to be.

But you are saved by grace alone.

Job 36-37, 1 Corinthians 9

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Forgive and move on (1)

‘Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on.’
Philippians 3:13-14 NIVUK

The UCB Word for Today - 11 AUG 2020

The greater the offence, the harder it is to forgive – but you must. Because whatever you refuse to forgive and let go of, you carry with you.

And it will be like an albatross around your neck. Has someone abused you, cheated on you, lied about you, fired you, or otherwise mistreated you?

Have you failed yourself? Are you asking, ‘How can I get beyond my past mistakes and become successful again?’

Whatever your particular hurt, the solution isn’t feeding it or denying it. You have to forgive and let it go, or you will continue to hurt yourself.

Someone said that choosing not to forgive somebody is like eating poison and expecting the other person to die. In order to move forward, you have to ‘let go’ and be at peace with the past.

Paul could easily have allowed the memory of the Christians he put to death before meeting Christ to destroy him and rob him of his destiny. But he refused to do it.

Instead he wrote: ‘Dear brothers [and sisters], I am still not all that I should be, but I am bringing all my energies to bear on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God is calling us up to heaven because of what Christ Jesus did for us’ (vv.13-14 TLB). And here’s one more Scripture: ‘If you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’ (Mark 11:25 NIV).

So the word for today is – ‘Forgive and move on.’

Job 38-40, 1 Corinthians 10:1-17

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Forgive and move on (2)

‘No one who…looks back is fit for service.’
Luke 9:62 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 12 AUG 2020

If you’re wise, you’ll do four things:
1) Focus on the road ahead.

By looking in the rear-view mirror instead of at what’s ahead, you’ll miss the next turn and end up in a ditch. Focus on the fact that you survived, and that you’ve learned from your experience.

God kept you around for a reason; find it and pour your life into it.

2) Stop looking for easy answers. Visit any bookshop and you’ll find shelves lined with titles promising ten easy steps to financial achievement, five trouble-free keys to success, or twelve simple strategies for health, wealth, and fulfilment in life.

Sorry, it doesn’t work that way. Life is hard, and deep inside we know all those simplistic approaches don’t work.

But the fact that your life is difficult doesn’t mean you’re on the wrong path. As the old country preacher said, ‘If you don’t come face to face with the devil sometimes, you must be going in the same direction he is.’

3) Stay on your path – not everybody will go with you. Some of your closest friends are people who will never change, and they don’t like those who do.

Your decision to change doesn’t mean they will do the same. Nevertheless, you must be committed to growing, expanding your knowledge and experience, and moving to the next level in life.

4) Believe in yourself – God does! When someone tells you you’ll never amount to anything, smile and keep going.

God alone knows your potential, and if you’re willing to trust Him and work hard, He’ll help you to fulfil it. In the final analysis, success is an argument your enemies and critics can’t refute.

Job 41-42, 1 Corinthians 10:18-33

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Press through and touch Jesus

‘As many as had afflictions pressed [through]…to touch Him.’
Mark 3:10 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 13 AUG 2020

Jesus healed a woman who had suffered twelve years from a condition society discreetly referred to as ‘an issue of blood’. And medical science had no cure. Observe how her miracle took place.

She pressed through the crowd, ‘touched the hem of His garment’ (Matthew 9:20 NKJV), and immediately she was healed. As a result, people started talking about it and a trend began.

Four chapters later we read that they ‘brought to Him all who were sick…that they might only touch the hem of His garment. And as many as touched it were made perfectly well’ (Matthew 14:35-36 NKJV).

If you are battling affliction or addiction today, press through and touch Jesus. Keep praying and believing His Word.

Be tenacious! There’s a difference between the facts and the truth. The fact may be that your prognosis is not good.

But the truth is, ‘the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise [them] up’ (James 5:15 NKJV). You say, ‘I know people who prayed for healing and didn’t get it.’

Yes, and if they were trusting Christ as their Saviour, then they received the ultimate healing: ‘to depart and be with Christ, which is far better’ (Philippians 1:23 NKJV). When it’s our time to go, we all die of something.

But until then, God’s Word tells us that the same back that carried the cross to take away our sins, bore stripes that take away our sickness. ‘He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by…the prophet, saying: “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses”’ (Matthew 8:16-17 NKJV).

Proverbs 1-2, 1 Corinthians 11:1-16

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

When you don’t understand, trust God

‘‘The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble.’
Nahum 1:7 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 14 AUG 2020

As Louisa Stead, her husband, and their young daughter were enjoying a seaside picnic, they noticed a young boy struggling in the surf. When Mr Stead rushed to save him, he was pulled under the waves by the terrified boy, and they both drowned as Louisa and her daughter watched helplessly from the shore.

In the days of grief that followed, Louisa began to put pen to paper, and the result was a hymn known to millions: ‘’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word, just to rest upon His promise, just to know “Thus saith the Lord.”

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee, precious Jesus, Saviour, friend; and I know that Thou art with me, wilt be with me to the end.’ Trusting Jesus, Louisa went as a missionary to South Africa, where she served the Lord for the next twenty-five years.

If you’re struggling to trust God today, stand on these Scriptures:

1) ‘The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knows those who trust in Him.’

2) ‘You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You’ (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV).

3) ‘As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him’ (2 Samuel 22:31 NKJV).

4) ‘Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!’ (Psalm 31:19 NKJV).

Proverbs 3-5, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Always try to serve others

‘With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.’
Ephesians 6:7 KJV

The UCB Word for Today - 15 AUG 2020

A reporter once asked the famous American singer, Marian Anderson, to name the greatest moment in her life. She could have talked about the private concerts she gave at the White House for the Roosevelts, or her command performance for the king and queen of the United Kingdom.

Instead, she shocked the reporter by saying, ‘The greatest moment in my life was the day when I was able to go home and tell my mother that she wouldn’t have to take in washing anymore.’ We are all innately self-centred, thinking first about our own interests.

That’s why we must be ‘transformed by the renewing of [our] minds’ (Romans 12:2 NIV). Psychologists talk about natural behaviour and learned behaviour.

When you’re naturally negative, you must learn to be positive. When you’re naturally fearful, you must learn to be courageous.

When you’re naturally selfish, you must learn to be generous. God wants you to go through life looking for opportunities to bless others: ‘Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith’ (Galatians 6:10 NKJV).

And you’re not just to do it to people, you’re supposed to do it through people and unto the Lord. ‘Not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord’ (Ephesians 6:6-8 NKJV).

That means what you make happen for others, the Lord will make happen for you!

Proverbs 6-7, 1 Corinthians 12

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

It’s time to change direction

‘To win…you must deny yourselves.’
1 Corinthians 9:25 TLB

The UCB Word for Today - 16 AUG 2020

Responsibility requires us to make a living and support our family. But deep down, do you feel you’ve been ‘called’ to do something different?

It was when Jesus told His disciples to leave the security of the shore and launch out into the deep, that they landed their greatest catch of fish. Here’s a modern-day story to encourage you: Jerry Richardson faced an important decision in 1961.

In those days he played American football for the Baltimore Colts, a job that was considered glamorous and secure. But when he was turned down for the raise he requested, he felt it was time to take a risk and do what he’d always wanted to do – start his own business.

He and his family moved back to South Carolina, where an old college friend invited him to buy into a hamburger stand. Richardson took the plunge and bought Hardee’s first franchise.

He went from catching footballs to flipping hamburgers twelve hours a day. He scrubbed stoves and mopped floors.

His wages? Only $417 a month (about £320). But tired and frustrated as he was, he refused to give up.

He employed the same discipline he’d used on the football field to focus on making his restaurant more efficient, his employees the friendliest in town, and his prices affordable. Before long his business boomed.

Eventually he went on to head up one of the largest food service companies in the United States, with $3.7 billion (about £2.8 billion) a year in sales. Oh, and one more thing.

He also became an owner in the National Football League and established the Carolina Panthers franchise, which he owned for twenty-three years.

Luke 15:11-32, Psalms 84-86

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Practise visionary thinking

‘I, the LORD, make Myself known…in a vision.’
Numbers 12:6 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 17 AUG 2020

If you ask God, He will give you a vision for your life – one that will enable you to see the end goal, get excited, and move progressively towards it. When parents are exhausted with potty training, poor grades, teenage tantrums and car bumps, and you remind them that it’s only a temporary season – you are practising visionary thinking.

Visions aren’t limited to pastors, politicians, and business tycoons– they are for everybody. Visionary thinking gives you a bigger perspective.

It’s like enlarging a picture; it expands not only what you can see, but what you believe you are able to do. Visionary thinking calls for three things:

1) Learning. Be sure of what you know and value it – but never settle for it. Form new relationships, read new books, and learn new skills. Become a lifelong learner.

2) Listening. Seek out those who have expertise in areas where you don’t. Partner with people who can do things you can’t. Ask questions that enlarge your understanding and thinking, and then listen carefully and record what you hear.

3) Looking. It’s hard to see the picture while you’re inside the frame. There’s a world outside your own, so you must get outside of yourself and see it through the eyes of others.

To meet people’s needs, you must first find out how they think. That calls for humility, getting over your personal agenda, and trying to understand the other person’s point of view.

The Bible puts it this way: ‘Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others’ (Philippians 2:4 NKJV).

Proverbs 8-9, 1 Corinthians 13

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Overcoming rejection (1)

‘You are precious and honoured in my sight.’
Isaiah 43:4 NIVUK

The UCB Word for Today - 18 AUG 2020

Jesus experienced rejection: ‘He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him’ (John 1:11 NKJV). But He didn’t sit around and lick His wounds; He moved on to where people gladly received Him.

And He told His disciples, ‘Whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet’ (Matthew 10:14 NKJV). Repeated rejection tends to validate the fear that we are inadequate.

This is particularly so when it comes to the opinions of those we place value on. But the irony in operating out of the fear of rejection is that it ultimately results in the very rejection you were trying to avoid.

When people realise you hold yourself in low regard, they deal with you accordingly. You teach people how to value you by how much you value yourself.

If you never express a preference, a boundary, or any other limitation on how others interact with you, they will assume you have none, and behave towards you in that manner. Notice, even though Jesus was rejected He never responded in a way that encouraged continued rejection.

He didn’t stay where He was tolerated; He went to where He was celebrated. In other words, He went to where people recognised and received His person, His purpose, and His power.

He had God’s full acceptance; therefore, He did not fear man’s rejection. And you have God’s full acceptance too.

‘You are precious and honoured in my sight, and…I love you.’ The first step to overcoming rejection is to keep God’s opinion of you in your mind at all times.

Proverbs 10-12, 1 Corinthians 14:1-19

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Overcoming rejection (2)

‘I praise you because I am…wonderfully made.’
Psalm 139:14 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 19 AUG 2020

In order to overcome fear of rejection, you must firmly believe that God designed you physically, intellectually, and temperamentally, and gave you an assignment no one else can fulfil. Putting yourself down may seem humble, but it’s actually a form of pride because it’s causing you to reject God’s design and plan for you.

So begin to emphatically declare with the psalmist: ‘Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous – how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God’ (vv. 14-17 NLT). Where did you get the idea that you are ‘less than’?

Whether it started with critical parents, condemning clergy, unwise teachers, cruel classmates, or a verbally abusive spouse, remember that Satan is the ‘father of lies’ (John 8:44 NLT). He used someone to lie to you about your worth and potential.

Repeat: ‘It was a lie! It was a lie! It was a lie!’

Decide to reject that lie now. In other words, reject rejection!

Make a list of every God-given gift, asset, advantage, or other benefit you possess that is, or could be, a blessing to others. Don’t use worldly systems in developing your list.

Focus on character issues such as integrity, loyalty, generosity, discernment, wisdom, and patience. Think of ways you can use each one of these features to glorify God and be a blessing to others.

Proverbs 13-15, 1 Corinthians 14:20-40