UCB Word For Today

Back in the days of the great western cattle ranches in America, a little donkey would sometimes be harnessed to a wild horse and then turned loose onto the range. The wild horse would drag the donkey for miles, throwing him around like a bag of feed. In several days, however, they would return. The little donkey would be seen first, trotting back towards the ranch with his submissive steed in tow. Somewhere out in the wild, the horse would become exhausted and try to free itself of the donkey. At that moment, the donkey became the master of the two. The slow, patient, unimportant animal became the leader over the faster, more volatile, and more prized one. What made the difference? Having a steadfast purpose! And what was the donkey’s purpose? Going back home to the ranch! So no matter how many times they fought, tugged on the rope, and ended up on their backs kicking and fuming, each time the donkey got back on his feet, he would take a few more steps in the direction of the ranch. It was only a matter of time until the tired and exhausted horse decided to join him. One of the great themes of Scripture is having a steadfast purpose. Samuel told the Israelites: ‘Do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver’ (1 Samuel 12:21 NKJV). Isaiah wrote: ‘I have set My face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed’ (Isaiah 50:7 NKJV). Paul wrote: ‘Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.’

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

In late January 1956, Dr Martin Luther King, Jr received a threatening telephone call at his house. It was not the first foreboding message he’d received. But on this night, as his children and his wife lay sleeping, the weight of the Civil Rights Movement was too heavy. He decided that the risk was too great. He began to map out an exit strategy. At midnight he bowed over the kitchen table and began to pray, ‘I am afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I’ve come to the point where I can’t face it alone.’ King described what happened next. ‘I experienced the presence of the Divine as I have never experienced Him before. It seemed as though I could hear the quiet assurance of an inner voice saying: “Stand up for righteousness, stand up for truth; and God will be at your side forever.”’ When facing a daunting challenge, Dr King shifted his focus and turned to God. The Bible says: ‘When Joshua was by Jericho…he lifted his eyes…and behold, a Man stood opposite him.’ After Joshua lifted his eyes from Jericho, a divine messenger stood before him with the solution to his problem. As long as your eyes are only on your problem, you won’t see your problem solver. You must look up. ‘I will lift up my eyes to the hills – from whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD’ (Psalm 121:1-2 NKJV).

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

Here’s what you need to know about the walls of Jericho: they were immense. They wrapped around the city like a suit of armour, forty feet above the ground. They were impenetrable. Here is what you need to know about Joshua: he didn’t bring the walls down – God did. And God will do that for you too. Your Jericho is your fear, anger, bitterness, or prejudice. It’s also your insecurity about the future; your guilt about the past; and your negativity, anxiety, and proclivity to criticise, over-analyse, or compartmentalise. Your Jericho is any circumstance, attitude, or mindset that keeps you from joy, peace, or rest. Jericho blocks your way, so its walls must fall! ‘Go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess’ (Joshua 1:11 NKJV). The verb translated as ‘possess’ means ‘to occupy by driving out previous tenants and possessing in their place’. But Satan won’t leave without a fight. He will resist. He will push back. But he will not win. Why? Because God has already declared that you are the victor. ‘The LORD said to Joshua: “See! I have given Jericho into your hand.”’ God did not say, ‘Joshua, take the city.’ God said, ‘Joshua, receive the city I have taken.’ The same can be said about you and your challenge. You may say, ‘If God has done it for me, what do I have to do?’ 1) Receive your victory by faith, just as you received your salvation. 2) Speak victory. Be sure your words line up with God’s words. 3) Walk out your victory, one day at a time.

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

In ancient Jewish culture, formal education began at six years of age. Jewish boys enrolled in the local synagogue school called bet sefer, which means ‘house of the book’. By the time they graduated four years later, they had memorised the entire Torah – every jot and tittle of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy was engraved on their cerebral cortex via memorisation. There goes our excuse for not being able to remember, right? According to tradition, the rabbi would cover the students’ writing slates with honey on the first day of class. Then the rabbi would instruct his class to lick the honey off their slates while reciting Psalm 119:103: ‘How sweet are Your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ (NKJV). That was the first and perhaps most important lesson in their entire education. The rabbi wanted his students to fall in love with the Word of God. He wanted them to taste and see that the Word is good (see Psalm 34:8). Jeremiah thought so: ‘Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart’ (Jeremiah 15:16 NKJV). David said: ‘The entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple’ (Psalm 119:130 NKJV). Solomon said: ‘For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding’ (Proverbs 2:6 NKJV). When you acquire a taste for God’s Word, the Holy Spirit, who is the author of the Word, will do two things for you. First, He will reveal it to you. Second, He will remind you of it.

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

As the Jordan River swelled to a mile in width, crossing it was no small task. Especially with millions of people! God said, ‘Go over this Jordan, you and all this people’ (Joshua 1:2 NKJV). Do you think they were scared? Would you have been? ‘The feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water’ (Joshua 3:15 NKJV). It was the smallest of steps, but with God, the smallest step of faith can activate the mightiest of miracles. As they touched the water, the flow stopped as if someone had shut off the water main. Next, we read: ‘All Israel crossed over on dry ground’ (v. 17 NKJV). By performing this miracle, God wanted them to know: ‘By this you shall know that the living God is among you.’ For Joshua’s people, assurance came as they stood on dry land looking back at the Jordan. For us, assurance comes as we stand on the finished work of Christ and look back at the cross. Let the cross convince you. Be settled about God’s faithfulness. The psalmist describes a person of faith this way: ‘He is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him’ (Psalm 112:7 TLB). Life has many unanswered questions, but God’s promise to save you needn’t be one of them. ‘He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’ (Romans 8:32 NKJV). Rest in your redemption. The past is past. Your future is bright.

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

Dr George Washington Carver overcame racial prejudice and became an educator, scientist, and inventor who was honoured by the U.S. Congress. He was also a follower of Christ. And here’s what he had to say about prayer: ‘My prayers seem to be more of an attitude than anything else. I indulge in very little lip service, but ask the Great Creator silently, daily, and often many times a day to permit me to speak to Him…I ask Him…to give me wisdom, understanding, and bodily strength to do His will; hence I am asking and receiving all the time.’ Carver gave the world many inventions and was most famous for what he could do with a peanut. He stood on the truth of these Scriptures: ‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight’ (Isaiah 45:2 NKJV). ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know’ (Jeremiah 33:3 NKJV). ‘Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’ (Isaiah 41:10 NKJV). Pay particular attention to Carver’s words: ‘I am asking and receiving all the time.’ Prayer was not his last resort, but his first choice. To him, it was more than religious ritual; it was a means of constant communication with the God he loved, sometimes talking and sometimes listening, but at all times sensitive to and aware of the presence of God. And daily prayer should be that for you too.

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

Solomon wrote: ‘One standing alone can be…defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer.’ What Solomon is saying is this: ‘Be a team player.’ Deuteronomy 32 speaks of one person chasing 1,000 and two putting 10,000 to flight (v. 30). The lesson is that two working together will be ten times more effective than one going solo. Teams create synergy. The best explanation of synergy is that a hand is more effective than five fingers working independently of each other. When the press interviewed Edmund Hillary regarding the key to his success in being the first to reach the top of Mount Everest, his response was inspiring: ‘Our greatest strength on Everest in 1953 was our very strong team spirit. Individually, as mountaineers, we were not particularly expert people. We were competent climbers, but we worked together, and we were determined that someone should get to the top. All of us, of course, wanted to be that one, but it was even more important that someone in the group reached the summit. In modern-day climbing, this team spirit is not quite so common. There are many more prima donnas in the modern climbing fraternity, people who have great skills and great individualism but who may not work together as enthusiastically as we did.’ The truth is that no individual is as smart and strong as all of us are as a group. Or to put it in the words of Dr John Maxwell: ‘Teamwork makes the dream work.’ So be willing to sacrifice your personal agenda for the greater good that can be accomplished only by a team.

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

How do you start your day with God? If you’re not a ‘morning person’, don’t put pressure on yourself to have an extended time of reading Scripture and praying first thing in the morning. Frank Laubach, a modern-day master of practising the presence of God, said, ‘If you are weary of some sleepy form of devotion, probably God is as weary of it as you are.’ Instead of forcing yourself in the morning, try to arrange – as early as you can after you wake up – to have just a few minutes alone with God. Do three things: First, acknowledge your dependence on God. Second, tell Him about your concerns for the day. Third, invite God to spend the day with you. The psalmist said, ‘My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord…I will direct it to You, and I will look up.’ Then he added, ‘I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word’ (Psalm 119:147 NKJV). So how can you start your day with God? Don’t attempt to do a lot of new or heroic things. Just do the things you normally do – only do them with God. In our culture, we often talk about embracing the moment and seizing the day. But we are not meant to embrace moments; we are meant to embrace God. Moments are not always good; God is never anything but good. ‘Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!’ (Psalm 118:1 NKJV). Remind yourself that today God is with you, and that He will be good to you and for you.

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

James wrote: ‘My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful’ (James 5:10-11 NKJV). Here we are reminded to look back and be challenged and encouraged by those who went before us as we await the Lord’s coming. Look back at Hosea: his wife deserted him, but he faithfully hung in there and God restored their marriage (see Hosea 3:1-3). Look back at Daniel: he was thrown into a lions’ den for standing firm in his faith, but God delivered and promoted him (see Daniel 6:1-28). Look back at Jeremiah: he was arrested, accused of being a traitor, and thrown into a well to die (see Jeremiah 37-38). But he looked up, and God delivered him. Then there’s the roll call of the faithful listed in Hebrews eleven! Those of us who have been rejected by family members can look back to Abel (v. 4). Those who are misunderstood can look back to Noah (v. 7). Those battling a crisis of faith and who seem to be up against the impossible can look back to Abraham (vv. 8-10). If you’ve been used or abused, look back to Joseph (v. 22). Those confronted by seemingly insurmountable obstacles in life can look back to Joshua (v. 30). Those seeking to move beyond a sinful past can look back to Rahab (v. 31). So, this is the word for today: look back and be encouraged.

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

Here are three reasons you need to partake of Holy Communion: 1) To make you grace-minded. No one will ever stand in heaven and say, ‘Look what Jesus and I have accomplished.’ If you had to pay one penny of your debt of sin, it would make you a co-redeemer with Christ. What an offence to the cross! (See Ephesians 2:8-9.) Hymnist Horatio Spafford wrote: ‘My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!’ 2) To keep you sensitive to sin. ‘Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself’ (1 Corinthians 11:28-29 NKJV). You may say, ‘If I sin and take communion, does that mean I’m drinking liquid damnation?’ No, it’s the ‘manner’ in which you approach God that counts. You don’t have to avoid the communion cup; you need only confess your sin, then drink deeply with gratitude. 3) To keep you focused on Christ’s return. ‘I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God’ (Mark 14:25 NKJV). Every communion service brings you one step closer to the greatest communion service of all: the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven (see Revelation 19:7). Are you planning on being there?

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