[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

How to win life’s battles (6)

‘Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord.’
2 Chronicles 20:21 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 22 FEB 2020

Sixth, thank God in advance. Imagine standing on a mountaintop looking across a valley towards a mountain on the other side.

A big battle is about to take place down below. On one mountain, three enemy nations are poised and waiting to devastate Israel.

The Israelites are on your mountain, and their leader Jehoshaphat tells them, ‘Here’s God’s battle plan. All of those who sing in the choir, I want you out front.’

So the army goes marching into battle with the choir on the front line singing praises to God. Did the plan work? Yes.

The opposing armies got confused and ended up killing each other – and all God’s people had to do was divide up the plunder! Why did God do it this way?

As a visual object lesson to teach us to praise Him in faith even before the victory takes place. When you pray, ‘Lord, I know I have problems, but I thank You in advance because there’s no situation You can’t take care of,’ three things happen:

1) Your atmosphere changes. You no longer feel afraid because you have the assurance of God’s presence.

2) Your attitude changes. You begin to say, ‘Lord, this may be too big for me, but it’s not too big for You.’

3) Your approach changes. Instead of speaking words of doubt, you start speaking words of faith.

And because your faith honours God, He honours your faith and the battle begins to turn in your favour. And here’s another important key to victory: don’t just praise God for a while and then quit; keep praising Him until your breakthrough comes.

Leviticus 17-18, Matthew 27:27-50

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Are you asking God for a child?

‘For this child I prayed, and the Lord…granted me my petition.’
1 Samuel 1:27 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 23 FEB 2020

Hannah wanted to be a mother so badly that ‘she…prayed to the Lord and wept’ (v. 10 NKJV). In fact, she made a vow to God, pledging that if He gave her a son, she would ‘give him to the Lord all the days of his life’ (v. 11 NKJV).

And it happened. The Bible says, ‘It came to pass in the process of time that Hannah…bore a son’ (v. 20 NKJV).

The same thing happened to Ruth: ‘Boaz begot Obed by Ruth’ (Matthew 1:5 NKJV). Ruth was a penniless widow when God introduced her to Boaz, the owner of the field in which she was gleaning.

She was a Gentile and he was a Jew, and by law they were forbidden to marry. But God removed the barrier that stood in their way, and from their union came a little boy called Obed.

He was a progenitor to King David, and eventually to our blessed Lord Jesus. God said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of all flesh.

Is there anything too hard for Me?’ (Jeremiah 32:27 NKJV). And in case you’re not sure of the answer, here it is: ‘Lord…You…made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm.

There is nothing too hard for You’ (v. 17 NKJV). Today if you’re asking God for a child, stand on these Scriptures and believe Him: ‘Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass…Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him’ (Psalm 37:4-5, 7 NKJV).

Luke 3:20-38, Psalm 20-22

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

God will vindicate you

‘Vindication will come from me.’
Isaiah 54:17 NLT

The UCB Word for Today - 24 FEB 2020

Have you been falsely accused? So was Jesus.

They called Him a glutton, a drunkard, and a friend of low-life sinners. They accused the apostle Paul of being a madman, a fool, and a babbler.

The Bible calls Satan the ‘father of lies’ (John 8:44 NIV 2011 Edition). And when you’re committed to doing God’s will, he will attack you – and use people to do it.

Don’t get discouraged and don’t despair. God will vindicate you. His Word says, ‘No weapon turned against you will succeed.

You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me.’

If you insist on retaliating, God will back off and leave you to it. But when you put the situation into His hands, the test can result in a testimony to His goodness and grace in your life.

So instead of wasting time complaining, pray: ‘Let your favour shine on your servant. In your unfailing love, rescue me.

Don’t let me be disgraced…Lord…I call out to you for help. Let the wicked be disgraced…Silence their lying lips – those proud and arrogant lips that accuse the godly.

How great is the goodness you have stored up for those who fear you. You lavish it on those who come to you for protection, blessing them before the watching world.

You hide them in the shelter of your presence, safe from those who conspire against them. You shelter them in your presence, far from accusing tongues’ (Psalm 31:16-20 NLT).

Simply pray, ‘Father, I put this situation into Your hands today. Vindicate me.’

Leviticus 19-20, Matthew 27:51-66

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Depend completely on God

‘Our competence comes from God. He has made us competent.’
2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 25 FEB 2020

Jesus told His disciples, ‘Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak’ (Matthew 26:41 NKJV).

What did He mean by that? He meant that without the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit, which He’d just told them they’d soon receive, they weren’t equal to the challenges they were about to face.

It wasn’t a matter of His doubting their devotion and willingness to serve Him; He just knew they couldn’t do it by themselves. And you can’t either.

So the sooner you stop trying, the better off you’ll be! God isn’t looking for educated, sophisticated, well-meaning flesh, or any other kind of ‘flesh’, for that matter.

He will only bless you when you acknowledge your total dependence on Him. That means praying and leaning on Him before you start, and continuing to pray and lean on Him until you reach the finish line.

It also means that if God doesn’t send you and you insist on going, or if He tells you to do something and you try to accomplish it in your own strength, you’ll surely fail. And what’s more, He will allow you to keep failing until you reach the place where you can say like Paul: ‘Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

He has made us competent.’ It’s when we reach the end of our resources that God’s power kicks in.

So the word for you today is: instead of leaning on your own strength and resources, depend wholly and solely on God.

Leviticus 21-22, Matthew 28

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

God’s recovery plan for you

‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.’
1 Samuel 30:8 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 26 FEB 2020

God’s Word promises that whatever you are addicted to today, you can be set free from. And there’s more!

You can get back what you’ve lost, or something even better. How?

By doing what David did when the Amalekite armies destroyed his home and took his family captive:

1) He turned to God for strength to deal with his problem. ‘David strengthened himself in the Lord his God’ (v. 6 NKJV).

Face it; if you could have solved the problem by yourself, you’d already have done it, right? Don’t feel bad about that, feel good.

Acknowledging that you are powerless is the first step to victory. ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV 2011 Edition).

Now, acknowledging that you’re powerless isn’t the same thing as giving in to hopelessness. It means acknowledging that you can’t, God can, and that He will when you surrender the problem to Him.

2) God gave David a plan to deal with his problem. ‘Pursue, for you will surely overtake them and without fail recover all.’

Armed with God’s strength and His plan, David went after the enemy and kept attacking until he recovered everything that had been stolen from him. And God wants to do that for you too.

He promised, ‘I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten’ (Joel 2:25 KJV). When you turn to God, He can give you more joy and success in the years ahead than in all the years behind you.

That’s His recovery plan for you!

Leviticus 23-24, Mark 1:1-22

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Reading the Bible will change your life

‘The entrance of Your words gives light.’
Psalm 119:130 NKJV

The UCB Word for Today - 27 FEB 2020

In December 2005, Brian Hardin says God told him to podcast the Bible. Hardin writes: ‘On New Year’s Eve when I read my first podcast…I said, “I’m Brian…I have no broadcast experience.

I really don’t know what I’m doing, but I plan to read through the Bible this year. If you get this, here’s my email address.”

I expected about five people to sign up. On New Year’s Day 2006, I had 257 responses, and by June the daily audio Bible had been downloaded 200,000 times.

Now, following our sixth anniversary, it’s been downloaded more than 51 million times and is still one of the top podcasts on iTunes. With more than 1.5 million downloads monthly, the daily audio Bible is one of the most listened to podcasts in the world.

We’ve become a vast online family that prays and hears the Bible together. When somebody calls or goes into the online prayer line with a request, thousands of people pray for that person…

We receive an endless stream of emails from disenfranchised believers who have found the place appealing…Separated couples who had nothing left to do but sign divorce papers…

started listening to the Bible and found their marriages restored. I can tell you many stories of people who were hopeless –

I mean suicidally hopeless – who found comfort in God’s Word and were restored. The Bible has a voice, and if given a chance to speak – in context – it will create amazing things in your heart.

The Bible can transform even the most tangled life. I know. It radically changed mine.’

Bottom line: reading the Bible will change your life.

Leviticus 25, Mark 1:23-45

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Are you praying for an unsaved loved one?

‘He is patient…not wanting anyone to perish.’
2 Peter 3:9 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 28 FEB 2020

If you’re praying for an unsaved loved one, here is a Bible promise you can stand on today: ‘He is patient…not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ Remove the word ‘everyone’ and insert the name of your loved one.

As long as there’s life, there’s hope! The last miracle Jesus worked was saving a thief who hung on a cross beside Him: ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise’ (Luke 23:43 KJV).

In the words of the hymnist, Annie Johnson Flint: ‘His love has no limits, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus – He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.’ No matter how far gone your loved one may be, God’s grace and mercy can still reach them – so keep praying for them.

Listen: ‘The arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear’ (Isaiah 59:1 NIV 2011 Edition). Jesus said, ‘No one can come to me unless the Father…draws them’ (John 6:44 NIV 2011 Edition).

So ask God to send someone across your loved one’s path who will show them the way of salvation. Above all, don’t get discouraged and give in to doubt.

Remember, it’s God’s will to save them, and when you know you’re praying in accordance with His will, you can approach Him with confidence. ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him’ (1 John 5:14-15 NIV 2011 Edition).

Leviticus 26-27, Mark 2:1-12

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Be careful who you turn to (1)

‘Pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.'
Ecclesiastes 4:10 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 29 FEB 2020

God never meant us to ‘fly solo’. We all need help and encouragement from time to time, but be careful who you turn to.

1) Don’t go to someone who can’t handle your problem. By sharing your situation with them you may experience temporary relief, but what if they’re not mature enough to handle it?

Jesus said, ‘Whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me…better…a millstone were hanged about his neck, and…he were drowned in the depth of the sea’ (Matthew 18:6 KJV).

2) It’s okay to turn to a proven friend as long as they’re spiritually mature. The Bible says, ‘A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity’ (Proverbs 17:17 KJV).

But you must know they’re a true friend. Peter writes, ‘Love covers over a multitude of sins’ (1 Peter 4:8 NIV 2011 Edition).

Someone who truly loves you will pray for you, and walk with you until you have the victory. And when you’re on the wrong path, they won’t cover up or make excuses for you – they will hold you accountable.

3) When possible, turn to a spiritual father. Paul says, ‘You might have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers’ (1 Corinthians 4:15 NKJV).

Think of a good father’s attributes. He corrects, but never condemns you.

He won’t give up on you. He evaluates you based on your best qualities rather than your worst.

Instead of reacting negatively to your failures, he recognises your potential and keeps on working with you. So ask God today for a spiritual father, and stay in regular communication with him.

Numbers 1, Mark 2:13-28

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Be careful who you turn to (2)

‘I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.’
Psalm 32:5 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 01 MAR 2020

When you are struggling with a stubborn habit or addiction, you will find strength in the right support group. And when you need help, don’t be ashamed to reach for it – but be careful to whom you confess your sins!

The psalmist wrote, ‘I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.’

One Bible teacher put it like this: ‘Never discuss what you want someone else to forget. Your words make thoughts permanent; they give life and longevity to everything discussed.

Arguments would die and conflicts would cease, except your words sustained them. Words breathe life into everything.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21 KJV). And words can wound.

“The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly” (Proverbs 18:8 KJV). You can’t stop others from talking about you, but don’t give them information you may want them to forget.

And never give unnecessary information that requires, demands, or inspires the pursuit of more questions. Be cautious when confessing your mistakes.

Your attempt to be open may be very sincere, but your mistake may loom larger in their memory than the lesson you’ve learned and are trying to share with them.

Certainly, there are times when additional information and clarification are advisable, beneficial, and even necessary, but you must be wise. Focus on your future, not your past.

And never say anything you don’t want to be repeated for the rest of your life.’

Luke 4:1-30, Psalm 23-25

[Gracemohau]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY

Lessons from God’s creatures (1)

‘My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.’
Psalm 27:8 NIV

The UCB Word for Today - 02 MAR 2020

In his book, Talking Dogs, Sam Mason discusses how God can use our pets to speak to us. Looking back on some dogs he has owned and the lessons he learned from them, he writes: ‘One such occasion was when Ranger, our eleven-pound Italian greyhound, was sitting on my lap as I relaxed in the recliner.

I noticed that familiar, endearing little tilt of the head, as he looked me directly in the face. I found myself wondering what his purpose was.

A second later, I warmed to the pleasure of divine inspiration, as the explanation flowed into my stream of thought. Ranger was seeking my face!

You see, dogs become students of their owners. Their comprehension of spoken human language is limited to a handful of words.

Their capacity to understand a creature of far greater intellect is restricted. So they study our movements: facial expressions, hand gestures, and other body language.

Likewise, we have limited understanding of our Master. So how do we “seek the face” of Someone who is so far our superior?

The Lord reveals Himself through His Word. That’s where our pursuit begins.

How sad that so few professing Christians read and study the Bible on any regular basis. But beyond the Scriptures, there are other ways to seek God’s face.

Pay attention to the ways of God as the Holy Spirit moves upon your heart during church services. Learn from His interventions in your life and those of your fellow believers.

Behind His works are His ways! Determine to become a student of the Master at every opportunity.’

Numbers 2, Mark 3:1-19