[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Learn to say yes or no

‘Just say a simple, “Yes, I will,” or “No, I won’t.”’
Matthew 5:37 NLT

The UCB Word for Today - 13 JAN 2021

Good negotiators understand that talking too much is a sign of insecurity and weakness. Sometimes the most potent word in any language is a simple yes or no, without further explanation or elaboration.

Most decisions eventually come to that point. In order to do that, you must be able to answer these three questions:

1) Is this decision mine alone to make? If you are the sole decision maker or the final decision maker, don’t hesitate and don’t vacillate, make the decision.

And before you do, stand on this Scripture: ‘If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him’ (James 1:5 NKJV).

2) What will happen if I put off making this decision? In most cases, things will either get better or worse for one or more party.

So weigh your decision carefully, realising that it is likely to lean in favour of the heavier weight of the argument, then decide. At this point, stand on the Scripture: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths’ (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV).

3) Does every decision have a moral and spiritual dimension? When you compromise your convictions or character for popularity or profit, you end up morally and spiritually bankrupt.

So hold to your values, base your decisions on them, and stand on this Scripture: ‘A good man [and woman] obtains favour from the Lord’ (Proverbs 12:2 NKJV).

Genesis 27-28, Matthew 8:18-34

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

The protocol for church

‘Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him and bless His name.’
Psalm 100:4 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 14 JAN 2021

One Sunday a plainly dressed, scholarly-looking man went to a church in the Netherlands and took a seat near the pulpit. A few minutes later, a lady approached the pew.

Seeing a stranger sitting in it, she curtly advised him that this was ‘her seat’. He graciously apologised, and moved to one of the pews in the back of the church reserved for the poor.

There, he joined in the service and left afterward without further incident. When the service was over, one of the woman’s friends asked her if she knew who it was she had ordered out of her pew.

‘No,’ the woman replied casually, ‘only some stranger, I suppose.’ She was shocked to learn from her friend that the stranger was King Oscar of Sweden, who was in the country visiting their queen.

There’s a lesson here for you. Whether you go to a big church or a small one, Jesus the head of the church, said, ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20 NKJV).

That means, Jesus, the King of Kings, will be present. You must recognise His presence, worship Him, and make Him your central focus.

Otherwise, you might as well join a social club or just stay home. The psalmist gives us the protocol for church: ‘Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise.

Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations’ (Psalm 100:4-5 NKJV).

Genesis 29-30, Matthew 9:1-17

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Don’t obsess over the future

‘Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.’
Matthew 6:34 TLB

The UCB Word for Today - 15 JAN 2021

The story’s told of a clock that spent a great deal of time worrying about its future, reasoning that it had to tick twice each second. ‘How much ticking might that be?’ the clock thought.

So it began to calculate that it would tick 120 times each minute, which is 7,200 times each hour. That meant in a twenty-four-hour day it would have to tick 172,800 times, and 63,072,000 times every year.

By this time the clock began to get overwhelmed and sweat profusely. Finally, it calculated that in a ten-year period it would have to tick 630,720,000 times – and at that point the clock collapsed with a nervous breakdown.

Psychologists reckon that about 95 per cent of all we worry about never happens. What about the other 5 per cent?

Four out of five times things turn out better than we anticipated, including a lot of outright blessings! In the end, only 1 per cent of all the bad we think might happen actually does, and of this it’s rarely as bad as we feared.

That’s why Jesus said, ‘Don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too.

Live one day at a time.’ The apostle Peter gives us the right perspective to live by in these words: ‘Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully’ (1 Peter 5:7 AMPC).

So the word for today is – don’t obsess over the future.


Genesis 31-32, Matthew 9:18-38

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Areas of success, areas of struggle

‘Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.’
Romans 12:6 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 16 JAN 2021

The Bible teaches that God gives each of us certain gifts, and the grace to use them. And when we are not operating in our area of giftedness, we struggle.

We need to keep that in mind when we see a great achiever, or become a great achiever ourselves. Paul spoke five languages and wrote half the New Testament, but he constantly struggled with what he refers to as a ‘thorn in the flesh’.

When he prayed and asked God to remove it, God said no. ‘My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV).

So we need grace in the areas of our gifting, and grace for the areas in which we’re not gifted at all. The story’s told of a man who went to hear a great speaker, and ended up seated beside the speaker’s wife.

During the speech, the man noticed that the great speaker had monogrammed socks. Intrigued by this, he looked closer and saw that instead of the usual two or three initials were the letters ‘TGIF’.

When the speech was over he complimented the speaker, then turned to the speaker’s wife and said, ‘How come your husband’s socks say, “TGIF: Thank Goodness It’s Friday?”’

She replied, ‘Oh, that’s not what those letters mean; the monograms are there to help him get dressed. They stand for Toes Go In First.’

As long as you live you will soar in some areas and struggle in others. And you will find that God’s grace is sufficient for any challenge you face.

And that’s the word for today.

Genesis 33-35, Matthew 10:1-16

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

You can begin your life over again

‘For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.’
Proverbs 23:7 KJV

The UCB Word for Today - 17 JAN 2021

It was a long hard road that took the Chandler family out of the cotton fields and out of poverty in Mississippi. All nine children have memories of the sharecroppers’ cabin and having nothing to wear or to eat.

But today, all nine are college graduates! Here’s their inspiring story. Their parents borrowed two dollars to buy a bus ticket for their son Cleveland, who worked his way through school, and became Chairman of the Economics Department at Howard University.

Luther went to the University of Omaha, and became the public service employee manager for Kansas City. He helped his brother James get to Omaha, and then to Yale for graduate work.

James, in turn, helped Herman, who is now a technical manager in Dallas. Donald works in Minneapolis.

The children also helped themselves – picking cotton, pulling corn, digging potatoes. Fortson went to Morehouse College in Atlanta, and became a Baptist minister in Colorado.

Princess earned an M.A. from Indiana University, and became a schoolteacher. Gloria is also a school teacher.

Bessie has an M.A. and is a dietician at a veterans’ hospital. Then in 1984, all the children got together and bought a home for their parents.

The Bible says, ‘For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.’ If you convince yourself that you can’t, or allow others to convince you of that, then you won’t.

But if you believe that by God’s grace you can, then you will! If the Chandlers can do it, you can do it too.

Forget what has happened in the past! Every day God gives you the choice to begin your life over again.

Luke 1:39-56, Psalms 7-9

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Keep persevering and you’ll win

‘The Lord GOD will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.’
Isaiah 50:7 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 18 JAN 2021

Prize fighter James Corbett was once asked: ‘What’s the most important thing for a man to do to become a champion?’ He replied, ‘Fight one more round.’

Successful people have different talents, but they all have these qualities: perseverance, tenacity, and stick-to-it-iveness. Thomas Grey wrote seventy-five drafts of ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’ before he was satisfied with his poetic masterpiece.

S.N. Behrman, the American playwright, wrote plays for eleven years before he sold a single one. Somerset Maugham earned only five hundred dollars in his first ten years as a writer.

While working full time in a factory, Enrico Caruso studied voice for twelve years before becoming a successful performer. George Gershwin composed almost one hundred melodies before he sold his first one – for five dollars.

There’s an important lesson for you in each of these stories: if your dream doesn’t come true immediately, don’t get discouraged. Continue to pursue your craft and develop your talent.

Study and learn. Grow by experience. Keep working. Victory goes to the man or woman who is willing to ‘fight one more round’.

When you quit, God can do no more for you. But when you persevere, He will come to your aid.

Note what His Word says: ‘The Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.’ When does God promise to help you?

When you set your face like a flint.

Genesis 36-38, Matthew 10:17-42

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Temptation (1)

‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.’
1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 19 JAN 2021

Is there a particular temptation that’s constantly meeting and beating you at every turn? God has made a way for you to turn temptation into triumph.

Satan is called ‘the tempter’, and he knows which temptations you succumb to most easily. But Paul writes: ‘No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man.’

Jesus Himself was ‘in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15 NKJV). And here’s the reason: ‘In that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted’ (Hebrews 2:18 NKJV).

Many young Christians think that when they get saved they no longer have to face temptation. No, when you get saved you will face more temptation than when you were lost.

The same wind that blew at your back on your way to hell will blow in your face on your way to heaven. Temptation never takes a holiday.

And if you take a holiday, it will go with you. It will hit you when you feel strongest, knock you down and kick you when you feel weakest.

That’s why the Bible says, ‘Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall’ (1 Corinthians 10:12 NKJV). What’s the answer?

‘But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able’ (v. 13 NKJV). Note two things: first, you will be tempted.

Second, you will never face a temptation greater than you can bear because God is faithful. He answers prayer.

Particularly the prayer Jesus told us to pray: ‘Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one’ (Matthew 6:13 NKJV).

Genesis 39-40, Matthew 11

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Temptation (2)

‘With the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.’
1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 20 JAN 2021

God’s plan for turning temptation into triumph is not to ‘endure’ temptation, but to ‘escape’ temptation. That calls for two things:

1) Don’t get into a tempting situation. Too many people are like the little boy sitting under the farmer’s apple tree.

When the farmer asked him, ‘Son, are you trying to steal my apples?’, he replied, ‘No sir, I’m trying not to.’ His problem was being under the apple tree in the first place.

Martin Luther said, ‘You can’t keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building nests in your hair.’ You can’t keep pornography off the internet, but you can avoid it by obeying God’s Word which says, ‘I will set nothing wicked before my eyes’ (Psalm 101:3 NKJV).

2) If you get into a tempting situation, get out of it quickly. The Bible never says we are to fight temptation, it says we are to flee from it.

Paul tells Timothy, ‘Flee also youthful lusts’ (2 Timothy 2:22 KJV). He warns the Corinthians, ‘Flee sexual immorality’ (1 Corinthians 6:18 NKJV).

Potiphar’s wife repeatedly tried to seduce Joseph. ‘Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, and after a while his master’s wife took notice…and said, “Come to bed with me!”’ (Genesis 39:6-7 NIV).

But Joseph fled, leaving his coat behind. God does not provide a way of escape before the temptation or after the temptation, but with the temptation.

Are you being tempted today? Pray and God will strengthen you. ‘The Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations’ (2 Peter 2:9 NKJV).

Genesis 41-42, Matthew 12:1-21

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

You are gifted by God (1)

‘The same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.’
1 Corinthians 12:11 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 21 JAN 2021

The Bible says, ‘There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit’ (v. 4 NKJV). The word ‘gifts’ comes from the Hebrew word charis, which literally means grace.

That means you cannot earn, qualify for, work for, or deserve a spiritual gift. The Holy Spirit gives them to each of us ‘individually as He wills’.

They are not something you get by study, practice, or inheritance. They are not highly developed natural talents.

They are supernatural endowments that enable you to carry out God’s will in God’s way. And you will never discover God’s way until you realise that you are not meant to serve Him by drawing on your own abilities, but by depending upon the indwelling power of His Spirit.

In a sense, you are like a glove; the Holy Spirit within you fills that glove, moves it and accomplishes through it what needs to be done. A young pastor once said to an older pastor, ‘I’m discouraged because God expects the very best from me, and as hard as I try I can’t always give it to Him.’

The older pastor said, ‘Son, God expects nothing from you but failure!’ Then he added.

‘But he has given the Holy Spirit to you so that you need not fail.’ Jesus told His disciples, ‘He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5 NKJV).

The secret to success is not just in activity, but in abiding! Your job is to learn the ways of God, and lean on the power of God.


Genesis 43-45, Matthew 12:22-50

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

You are gifted by God (2)

‘We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.’
Romans 12:6 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 22 JAN 2021

Don’t say, ‘I’m of no use to God,’ or ‘I’m not needed in the church,’ or ‘There’s no way God could use me.’ You are gifted by God!

You are called to use your gift to bless others, build up the church, and display His kingdom to a watching world. ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised’ (1 Peter 4:10-11 NIV).

Every Christian is a minister, and has a ministry. The ministry of the church is to be carried out as individual believers exercise their spiritual gifts in ministering to one another.

And to the extent that you don’t exercise your spiritual gift, you hinder the ministry of your church. And since the Holy Spirit decides which particular gift each of us receives, there’s no place for jealousy and competitiveness.

Paul writes: ‘For who makes you different from anyone else? [obviously, the answer is God!] What do you have that you did not receive?

And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?’ (1 Corinthians 4:7 NIV). Each of us is gifted differently, and each of us is gifted perfectly.

The Holy Spirit in His divine wisdom has given to each of us the precise gift, or gifts that will enable us to function most effectively in the body of Christ. So start using your gift today!

Genesis 46-48, Matthew 13:1-30