In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul reveals four ways in which Satan works like a master counterfeiter. First, he supplies a counterfeit saviour: ‘For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.’ So though there are cults that preach Jesus, they do not preach the Christ of Christianity. Second, Satan presents counterfeit servants: ‘For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ…So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds’ (vv. 13, 15 ESV). Third, Satan brings counterfeit saints: Paul identifies these false brethren as those who seem like your brother or sister on the outside but are secretly your enemy on the inside (see Galatians 2:4). Further, Satan offers us a counterfeit salvation: ‘But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed’ (Galatians 1:8 ESV). It’s not necessarily that Christians pretend to be children of the devil, but instead that the ungodly frequently appear to be righteous. God can distinguish a sinner from a saint, and you’re going to discover both inside the church just as you will outside it. And that’s a good thing because constant exposure to Bible preaching is what changes people. Jesus never claimed that the church was perfect, and neither should we. Our awareness of these truths shouldn’t make us self-righteous and judgmental. Rather, it should make us paramedics of God’s grace and mercy and cause us to be more fully committed to Christ.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

When you were young and said a bad word, your parents may have threatened to wash your mouth out with soap. Well, if fear is a dirty word, then faith in God’s unconditional love for you is like soap! Too many put the cart before the horse. We believe that God accepts us based on the degree of our love for Him rather than on the degree of His love for us. The Bible says, ‘We love Him because He first loved us’ (v. 19 NKJV). God’s love for you is not based upon your performance but Christ’s performance on your behalf. When you put your trust in Christ, God sees you ‘in Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:17) from that moment forward. Do you want to know how God sees you at this moment and every other moment? ‘As He [Jesus] is, so are we in this world’ (1 John 4:17 NKJV). Does that mean you can disobey God and get away with it? Not a chance! ‘For whom the Lord loves He chastens…Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it’ (Hebrews 12:6, 11 NKJV). But God’s correction is not rejection! It’s proof of His unconditional, unlimited, unwavering, undeserved, and unearned love for you. God doesn’t love you more on those days when you’re victorious and less on those days when you’re defeated. His love for you doesn’t vary or vacillate. Knowing that truth will boost your faith and take your fear down a notch!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Following God means finishing what He has called you to do. Not everyone who starts out well finishes well. Occasionally we’re shocked and saddened to learn that a leader has been brought down by a moral or a financial problem. Paul writes, ‘Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you’ (Colossians 4:14 KJV). Later, he writes, ‘Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world’ (2 Timothy 4:10 KJV). There are three forces arrayed against you, and they never let up: the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world will try to pour you into its mould, your fleshly nature will try to drag you down, and the devil will use every trick in the book to defeat you. Paul was aware of these three forces when he said, ‘My life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus’ (Acts 20:24 NLT). So, make up your mind to complete the assignment God has given you and enjoy every minute of it. How can you finish strong? ‘By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises’ (2 Peter 1:3-5 NLT).

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Dealing with crucifixion, Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. He felt intense emotions. ‘Being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground’ (Luke 22:44 NKJV). So strong were these emotions that He prayed for the cup of crucifixion to pass. But that night, Jesus broke the domination of emotions by obedience to the will of His Father, saying, ‘Not My will, but Yours, be done’ (v. 42 NKJV). Not only can emotions be ruled by obedience, but they will obey faith. Emotions will do what we, in faith, order them to do. David said, ‘Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name’ (Psalm 103:1 KJV). David ordered his soul, the centre of his emotions, to bless the Lord. He believed his soul and everything in him would do what he commanded. Feelings can be transformed from drama to blessing. Paul believed that negative emotions can be put off, and positive emotions can be put on. ‘Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy’ (Ephesians 4:22-24 NLT). Again he writes, ‘Let the peace of God rule in your hearts’ (Colossians 3:15 NKJV). It is clear from the Scriptures that emotions can be governed, and the will can respond to God’s power and faith rather than the drama of emotions.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Jesus demonstrated compassion wherever He went. He taught that we must care for ‘the least’ among us (Matthew 25:40). The New Testament church continued His ‘brand’ by doing away with racism and lots of other ‘isms’. ‘There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female…you are all one in Christ Jesus’ (Galatians 3:28 NKJV). Following Christ means showing compassion to everyone, whether you like them or not. You’re called to practise compassion where you work and where you live. Jean Henri Dunant couldn’t endure the sound of soldiers crying on a battlefield after they had been wounded, so this Swiss philanthropist said he would dedicate his life to helping them in Jesus’ name. As a result, he started the Red Cross in the 1860s. Every time you see it, you see a thumbprint of Jesus. A Lutheran pastor in Germany named Theodor Fliedner taught a group of mainly peasant women to nurse the ill. This led to a development of hospitals all over Europe and inspired Florence Nightingale to give her life to tend the sick. Father Damien, a Belgian priest, worked in Hawaii in the nineteenth century and established a place where lepers could be loved and tended to. Each week he would tell them, ‘God loves you lepers.’ And then, one week, he stood up and said, ‘God loves us lepers.’ He died from leprosy. Jesus said of every unwarranted act of kindness shown towards someone, including those who don’t deserve it, ‘you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:40 NKJV).

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Luke writes, ‘It happened, that when He went into the house of one of the leaders of the Pharisees on the Sabbath to eat bread, they were watching Him closely’ (v. 1 NASB). That day He turned one of their most prized religious traditions on its ear by saying, ‘Whenever you give a banquet, invite people who are poor, who have disabilities, who are limping, and people who are blind; and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous’ (vv. 13-14 NASB). Anything defective was considered by the Pharisees as unsuitable to reflect the perfect holiness of God. Consequently, they allowed nothing malformed within the boundaries of the temple. Furthermore, since they believed the temple had been degraded by Rome, they believed they could honour God by treating their homes as small temples. For Jesus to tell this well-known Pharisee to intentionally invite malformed, defective human beings into his holy little temple was a deliberate slap in the face. Jesus was instructing him to place on his guest list people whose defects offended him. Jesus’ compassion came from His love for all individuals and His pain when anyone is devalued. In Scripture, we are never told that Jesus had compassion for someone because they deserved it but because they were in need. Don’t miss the point Jesus made. He promised that you will be blessed in this life and rewarded in the next one when you show kindness and compassion to those who ‘cannot repay you’. Keep this in mind when you’re tempted to overlook someone because they have a particular problem you don’t like.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Your tongue has creative power. If you doubt that, criticise someone, and observe the look on their face and their response. Now try complimenting them and observe the look on their face and their response. But let’s not just talk about the effect your words have on others but what they have on you. The Bible says when you use your tongue to do good, you ‘enjoy life and see many happy days’. Jesus gives us a powerful illustration of this: ‘Whoever says to this mountain, “Be removed and be cast into the sea,” and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says’ (Mark 11:23 NKJV). What did Jesus mean? That you can talk about your problem or talk to the great problem solver about your problem. You can complain about it or pray about it. You can discuss it from a human perspective, focusing on all its complications, or discuss it from a divine perspective, focusing on God’s power to change the circumstances. You can reinforce your sense of discouragement and despair by saying things like, ‘The problem is too big, and nothing can be done about it.’ Or you can give the problem to God and say, ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us’ (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV). When you say that, you’re not only using the creative power of God’s Word, you’re using your tongue the right way.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Your body is like an ‘earth suit’ that will eventually die and be replaced with a new, celestial, Christlike body. Paul writes, ‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels’ (2 Corinthians 4:7 KJV). The treasure, the thing that matters most, the thing that will live for eternity, is your soul. John writes, ‘Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.’ Someone has estimated that the average body contains enough phosphorous to make 800,000 match heads, enough sugar to make 60 cubes, enough salt to cover 20 spoons, and enough iron to make a three-inch nail. The rest is just dust and water. The story is told of a little boy who was taught in Sunday school, ‘For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return’ (Genesis 3:19 KJV). One day, when he was looking under the bed, his mother asked him, ‘What are you looking at?’ He replied, ‘My Sunday school teacher said that we come from dust and go back to dust. There’s somebody under my bed, and I can’t tell whether they’re coming or going!’ Seriously, since your body is temporal and your soul is eternal, you must take the long view and practise soul care. Nurture your soul daily with God’s Word. Fortify and enrich it by spending time each day with God in prayer. Discover the talents and treasures He has placed within you and invest them into the kingdom of God. Next time someone says to you, ‘Take care of yourself,’ think not only about your body but about your soul.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Satan wants to convince you your failures are so bad that they disqualify you in God’s eyes, that you’re unworthy of His love and grace, and that you should avoid God altogether. Don’t believe him. Here are three steps that lead to spiritual restoration: 1) Repent. Acknowledge your sin, renounce it, and trust in the shed blood of Jesus to forgive you. God loved you when you were a sinner, and He loves you no less as one of His redeemed children who has blown it. 2) Restitution. When your actions have hurt someone, Jesus tells you what to do: ‘If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift’ (Matthew 5:23-24 NKJV). If you want to walk in God’s blessing, follow His instructions. 3) Refocus. ‘But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV). When you focus on yourself and your failures, you’re looking in the wrong mirror. When you focus on Christ and His unfailing love and grace towards you, you’re looking in the right mirror. And you will be changed into the image you’re focusing on. And blessedly, the change agent is not you but the Holy Spirit who lives within you. He will keep working in your life to make you more and more like Jesus.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Satan is called ‘the accuser’, and he will try to keep you focused on your past. He can hurt you every day unless you accept God’s forgiveness, forgive yourself, and move forward. At the cross, Jesus bore both your sin and shame, but Satan wants you to keep carrying them. Where can you find an answer? Look at these Scriptures: 1) ‘For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind’ (v. 17 NKJV). You say, ‘But that’s in the future.’ True. But the Bible says we have already ‘tasted…the powers of the world to come’ (Hebrews 6:5 KJV) and that our lives can be like ‘days of heaven upon the earth’ (Deuteronomy 11:21 KJV). 2) ‘Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert’ (Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV). 3) ‘Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth’ (Isaiah 54:4 NKJV). You might say, ‘I can’t help but remember!’ Yes, you can! Paul, who killed and imprisoned Christians before becoming an apostle, said: ‘One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV). God can heal your memories, so let the healing begin.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.