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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Stay in the game till it’s over

‘The LORD is the strength of my life.’
Psalm 27:1 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 03 July 2019

Author Jon Gordon says: ‘There was a time [as children] when we jumped from the jungle gym and went on roller coaster rides. No goal was unattainable.

Then [when we grew up] the doubters dissuaded us from going after our dreams…“You’re crazy…it’s too hard…play it safe…dreams weren’t meant for people like us.” They instilled their insecurities in us…and with so many people saying we can’t…and so few saying we can, we let fear into our lives.

We’re so scared of losing what we have that we don’t go after what we want. We hold on so tightly to the status quo that we never experience what could be…I call this “playing to lose”.

We see it in sports. When a team has the lead, they start thinking about how not to lose instead of how to win.

They play safe and scared while the other team takes chances, plays without fear, and wins. David said, “The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

Living a life [of faith] means overcoming fear and adopting a “play to win” mindset…one that says even if you do fail you won’t give up or let your dreams die.

Success isn’t automatically given to us, it’s pursued with all the energy and sweat we can muster. Obstacles and struggles are part of life…they make us appreciate success.

If everything came easy we’d never know how it feels to succeed. Obstacles were meant to be overcome.

Fear was meant to be conquered. Success was meant to be achieved.

They’re part of life, and those who succeed refuse to give up till the game is over.’

2 Chronicles 25-27, Acts 27:1-26

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

‘Living for others’

‘Honour one another above yourselves.’
Romans 12:10 NIVUK

The UCB Word for Today - 04 July 2019

As you approach the latter years of your life, you realise that it’s not just what you do that matters, but what you do for others.

The most miserable people on earth are those who hate, hinder, and hurt others, while the happiest are those who spend their lives helping others. The degree to which you’re helpful is the degree to which you’re happy – it’s that simple.

Poet John Albert Holmes said, ‘It’s well to remember that the entire population of the universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others.’ So, what are you doing for others?

How good are you at letting someone else take credit for what gets accomplished? Paul writes, ‘Honour one another above yourselves.’

Next time somebody shares their accomplishments, pay attention to your need to jump in and tell them something as good or better about yourself. When you do that, you minimise their joy, create distance between you, and everybody loses.

Instead, bite your tongue, look at them and say, ‘That’s wonderful; tell me more.’ And mean it!

When you treat people this way two things happen:
1) The other person enjoys your company because they sense you’re really ‘there’ for them, instead of sitting on the edge of your seat waiting your turn to speak.
2) They feel that instead of competing with them, you care about their success.

Consequently your relationships grow stronger because you no longer need to grab all the attention and glory. It’s called ‘living for others’.

2 Chronicles 28-29, Acts 27:27-44

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Forgetting and reaching forward

‘Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.’
Philippians 3:13 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 05 July 2019

As long as you’re holding on to the past, you’ll never be able to take hold of the future. The past can be an unbearably heavy burden when you try to carry it.

The way to let go of it is to stop thinking about it. Get it off your mind and out of your conversation.

Satan will constantly remind you of your past because he wants you to remain stuck in it. But you don’t have to.

You can choose your own thoughts. You say, ‘I can’t help thinking about it.’

Yes, you can! Before he met Christ, Paul destroyed churches and put Christians to death.

Now he was going back into some of those same towns, and who was waiting for him there? Widows.

Orphans. People whose lives he’d devastated. Had Paul not been able to move beyond that, he’d never have fulfilled his God-given assignment.

Now, Paul didn’t suffer from amnesia; he could remember the actual events. But knowing God had forgiven him, and that he’d forgiven himself, he chose to forget the past.

‘But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead.’ Note the words, ‘but one thing I do’. When you decide to forget, God will enable you to do it and give you the grace and peace to move on.

Indeed, He will make you stronger and wiser as a result of it. If you’re struggling with guilt, condemnation, shame, blame, or regret about your past, let God forgive you, set you free, and enable you to move forward.

2 Chronicles 30-31, Acts 28

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Understanding your desires (1)

‘He shall give you the desires of your heart.’
Psalm 37:4 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 06 July 2019

Your capacity to desire certain things is a gift from God; it’s a powerful motivator. Picture two kids taking swimming lessons.

One does it because he watched the Olympic Games and wants to win a gold medal when he grows up. The other takes lessons because his dad said he had to.

Which kid do you think is likely to make it to the Olympics? In Genesis we read: ‘Jacob served seven [more] years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her’ (Genesis 29:20 NIV 2011 Edition).

What kind of person would see seven years’ hard work as a mere few days? Someone working towards his or her dream! Jesus told the story of a man with a ‘got-to-have-it’ desire.

When he discovered treasure buried in a field, he ‘went and sold all he had and bought that field’ (Matthew 13:44 NIV 2011 Edition). Similarly, the people who listened to Jesus were so drawn to His peace, courage, and wisdom that they thought, ‘I must have what He has.’

Do our desires sometimes lead us astray? For sure! In order to be able to trust them, you must do two things:

1) Desire a relationship with God above all else. ‘Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.’
2) Make sure your desires are in harmony with His will. ‘I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart’ (Psalm 40:8 NKJV).

When you centre your life around God and His Word, you can trust ‘the desires of your heart’. And God will give them to you!

2 Chronicles 32-33, Romans 1

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


Understanding your desires (2)

07 JULY 2019
‘Serve the LORD with gladness.’
Psalm 100:2 NKJV
To grow in your relationship with God, you must move from the ‘should’ to the ‘want to’ category. The most basic assessment we have for any experience or event is what psychologist Jonathan Haidt calls our ‘like-o-meter’. Your like-o-meter was running the day you were born.

For example, taste receptors in babies are pretty well developed, so their like-o-meter usually involves what goes into their mouths: ‘I like it – gotta have more,’ or ‘I hate it – get it out of here.’ As you continue to grow, everything in life registers on your like-o-meter without your even having to think about it.


Every sound you hear, every conversation you’re part of, every bite you eat, rates positively or negatively on your scale. And people also register on your like-o-meter.


During the briefest conversations you’ll find yourself drawn towards certain people. Something within you says, ‘I like this person. I’m enjoying this conversation.’ It’s always going on.


So here’s a question to consider: do you like God? That may sound like a strange question, but if you don’t like spending time with Him, you won’t do it.


And you need to be honest about it, because you can’t pull the wool over God’s eyes. In Scripture the Christian life is compared to a twenty-six-mile marathon.

At mile marker twenty-three it doesn’t matter whether you think you should finish, you’ll only do it because you want to. In other words, your ‘want-to’ keeps you going when your ‘should’ finds it easier to quit.

The psalmist said, ‘Serve the Lord with gladness’ because nothing else will enable you to go the distance.


Luke 12:32-59, Psalm 70-71

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Understanding your desires (3)

08 JULY 2019
‘Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good.’
Psalm 34:8 NKJV

When the Bible tells you what you ought to do, you can take it in two different ways: the ought of obligation or the ought of opportunity.

The first kind refers to your duty. You ought to pay your taxes, you ought to keep your dog on a lead, you ought to take your driver’s test. The second kind gives you life.

You ought to take a break, you ought to see the world, you ought to taste this cake. The ‘oughts’ of Jesus’ message are mainly the oughts of opportunity.

And as you become more aware of this, you may start feeling guilty because your desire for God doesn’t run deep enough. The problem is, you can’t make yourself desire God more by simply telling yourself you should.

But He is so gracious and patient in wanting you to want Him, that He is willing to work with this kind of honesty. That’s why His Word says, ‘Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.’ The word ‘taste’ is an invitation from a confident chef.

You don’t have to commit to eating the whole enchilada; just try a taste and if you don’t like it you can skip the rest. The chef is convinced if he can just get you to take that first bite, you’re going to want the whole thing.

The truth is that the more you read God’s Word and pray, the more rewarding it becomes and the more you are drawn to it. Yes, it begins as a discipline. But when you stick with it, it becomes a delight.

2 Chronicles 34-36, Romand 2

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


Understanding your desires (4)

09 JULY 2019
‘Take up [your] cross and follow me.’
Mark 8:34 NIV

God is a desire-creating, desire-satisfying God. Birds want to fly because God created them to do it. Dolphins want to swim because God created them with an instinct to swim. God doesn’t plant wrong desires in us. When Adam first saw Eve, he discovered he had a strong desire for her.

Where did that desire come from? God. God actually delights in fulfilling your desires. Now, some of your desires get distorted by sin and need to be cleansed, purified, and retrained.


This is what Jesus refers to when He says, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’ We must say no to desires that would keep us from living in the flow of God’s Spirit. We must always be ready to sacrifice a lesser desire for the sake of living a greater life.

On the other hand, nothing makes a human being more vulnerable to temptation than a joyless life. If God removed all your desires you wouldn’t be human.


A slab of cement doesn’t have to worry about weeds growing on it, but it will also never be a garden. God’s plan is that every time we experience an authentic desire – a God-implanted desire – we come to understand more deeply what a good God He is.

We learn how He has wired us and what He wants us to do in life, and as a result we find ourselves loving Him more and more. That’s why the Bible says, ‘Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!’ (Psalm 34:8 NKJV).

Ezra 1-2, Romans 3

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Keep running. Keep looking to Jesus
10 JULY 2019

‘Let us run…keeping our eyes on Jesus.’
Hebrews 12:1-2 NLT

Glenn Cunningham was born on a Kansas farm and educated in a one-room schoolhouse. He and his brother were responsible for keeping the school’s fire going. One morning as the boys poured kerosene on the live coals to get the fire started before school, the stove blew sky-high. Glenn rushed towards the door, then realised his brother had fallen and wasn’t moving.

He went back to help, suffering terrible burns in the process. In the end his brother died and Glenn was hospitalised with severe burns on his legs. The tragedy seemed to mark an end to his dream of running track. Still, he was determined to walk again – which the doctors said wouldn’t happen, but he did.

Then he began to run. Through many periods of discouragement and disappointment he kept running and getting faster. He mastered the mile. Eventually he set his sights on the international record for his distance and broke it!

Then he went on to set a new world record. What kept him running? He said it was thinking about his brother. When you feel discouraged and want to quit, think about Jesus: ‘Let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.


We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honour beside God’s throne. Think of all…he endured…then you won’t become weary and give up’ (vv. 1-3 NLT).

Ezra 3-5, Romans 4

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Be wise; don’t compare!

11 JULY 2019
‘But they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves amongst themselves, are not wise.’
2 Corinthians 10:12 KJV

Jesus said: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.


I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.” And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other’ (Luke 18:10-14 NKJV).


Whereas the Pharisee thought of himself as the best-dressed man in town, God saw his garments of self-righteousness as ‘filthy rags’ and rejected him (see Isaiah 64:6). An unknown poet wrote: ‘I dreamed death came the other night and heaven’s gates swung wide.


With kindly grace an angel ushered me inside. And there to my astonishment stood folks I’d known on earth; some I’d judged and labelled as unfit or of little worth. Indignant words rose to my lips but never were set free; for every face showed stunned surprise – no one expected me!’ We are all saved by grace, not works (see Titus 3:5).

We don’t get into heaven based on our performance, but on Christ’s performance on the cross. That being true, don’t try to lift yourself up by putting someone else down. Don’t assume that you have the right to judge their character, heart motives, or spirituality. When you do that, the Bible says you are ‘not wise’.


Ezra 6-8, Romans 5

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Deal with the stress in your life
12 JULY 2019

‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’
Exodus 33:14 NKJV

Is life overwhelming you? You’re not alone. Moses, one of the greatest leaders in history, got so stressed out with the responsibilities he was carrying that he wanted to die.


You say, ‘Surely that wasn’t God’s will for him.’ You’re right. But it’s not enough to know God’s will, you’ve got to do things God’s way. Moses was working from early morning until late at night, six days a week, with no holidays and no time off.

He was eating on the run, planning appointments, meeting deadlines, and seeing everybody who wanted to see him. And the people close to Moses were either too busy to notice, or too needy themselves to care that he was suffering from exhaustion.


But his father-in-law Jethro noticed it and said, ‘The thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away…this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone’ (Exodus 18:17-18 KJV). Fortunately, Moses found the answer.

And it was in two parts: 1) Delegate the work to qualified people and trust them to do it. The essence of good leadership is not about trying to do everything yourself, but getting it done through others.


Or as nineteenth-century evangelist D.L. Moody said, ‘Instead of trying to do the work of ten people, get ten people to do the work.’ 2) Draw on God’s strength rather than your own.

God told Moses, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ The word ‘rest’ means ‘inner peace, well-being, security, and confidence’. And God’s will is for you to live that way.

Ezra 9-10, Romans 6