UCB Word For Today UCB

When you encounter someone who tries to ‘cut you down to size’, remind yourself they are probably trying to cut you down to their size. So, what should you do? Love them, but don’t be overly influenced by what they say. As a rule, instead of staying where you’re tolerated, go where you’re appreciated! The Japanese bonsai tree is tiny, growing only about eighteen inches tall. To create a bonsai, a young sapling is pulled from the soil. Then the taproot and some of the feeder shoots are tied off. Thus, the growth of the bonsai tree is deliberately stunted. By contrast, the California sequoia tree grows large. For example, the General Sherman in California’s Sequoia National Park stands 275 feet and measures 100 feet in circumference at its trunk. If felled, it would provide enough lumber to build over 30 five-room homes! The sequoia begins life as a small seed, no bigger than the bonsai seed. So, what makes the difference? The sequoia sapling is allowed to be nourished in the rich California soil and sunshine. Now, neither the bonsai nor the sequoia has a choice in determining how large it will become – but you do! For instance, you can’t go through life blaming others – including your parents – for what they may or may not have done in the past. So, here are your options: Stay where you are and suffer, or move to a rich, fertile, nourishing environment where you can grow. Is that always easy? No. But if you believe what Jesus said – ‘My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life’ (John 10:10 NLT) – you will be willing to do it.

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

Failure doesn’t mean you will never succeed; it just means it may take a bit longer. John Wayne coined a great line in the movie The Train Robbers. He said, ‘You’re going to spend the rest of your life getting up one more time than you’re knocked down, so you’d better start getting used to it.’ That’s what success is – getting up one time more than you were knocked down. You have no idea how close you may be to what you want to achieve. But if you give up, you will never know – plus you guarantee that you will never get there. Author Ben Stein said, ‘The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated. It is finished when it surrenders.’ Time magazine conducted a survey among people who had lost their jobs. Everyone expected them to be crestfallen and disheartened, but they found them to be extremely resilient. Why? The survey showed that people who had lost jobs and found new ones were better prepared to deal with adversity than those who had been with the same company for years without ever having had to deal with unemployment. When you have experienced failure, you’re actually in a better position to achieve success than people who have not. When you fail and fail again – and keep bouncing back and learning from your failures – you’re building character, strength, tenacity, experience, and wisdom. And people who develop these qualities are capable of sustaining their successes, unlike those for whom good things come too early and too easily. As long as you don’t give up, you’re in a good position. So the word for today is – ‘Stand firm. Let nothing move you.’

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

Don’t allow what’s wrong with you to keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. With their feet locked in stocks, their backs lacerated with whips, and the unjust contempt of society heaped upon them, the Bible says, ‘At midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God.’ They decided to stop focusing on what was wrong with their circumstances and start focusing on what is right with God. They could have complained, but they made a choice to worship God despite their external circumstances. And that is often the most challenging and crucial choice we can make. It’s similar to hitting the refresh key on your computer. Doing so restores the joy of your salvation, recalibrates your spirit, and renews your mind. And it empowers you to discover something good to praise God about, even when everything seems to be going wrong. Is it simple? Definitely not. But one of the purest forms of worship is praising God when you don’t want to. ‘Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name’ (Hebrews 13:15 NKJV). Note the words ‘sacrifice of praise’. And it’s a sacrifice that moves God and brings results: ‘Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed’ (Acts 16:26 NKJV). When you’re in a situation with no way out, praise opens doors. When you’re shackled by lack and limitation, praise breaks chains. So, worship your way through it.

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

Dad, here are two Bible ingredients for blessing your children and grandchildren: 1) The power of prayer. In Scripture, a father’s blessing included an open-eyed prayer to God for his children. Isaac, who was a farmer, said to his son, ‘May God give you heaven’s dew and earth’s richness – an abundance of grain and new wine’ (Genesis 27:28 NIV). Have your children ever heard you talk to God about them? Perhaps they have heard you say harsh words like, ‘How could you be so stupid? Don’t you ever think? You will never amount to anything!’ If so, apologise today and ask for their forgiveness. Let them hear you invoke God’s richest blessing over each of their lives. A father’s prayer of blessing over his family is a powerful thing – it’s life changing! 2) The vision of a glorious future. The Bible says, ‘When there’s no vision, the people get out of control’ (Proverbs 29:18 CEB). School counsellors tell us that many of their students lack vision. Why? Because they see nothing ahead for them except economic gloom, unemployment, and hard times. They need somebody to believe in them and their future…to believe they can succeed and live happy lives…that the best is still ahead for them. Isaac didn’t wait for his boys to devise their own vision for the future. He prayed openly for their future success, their rise to prominence, and for respect and favour with family and society. Your kids don’t need you to manipulate them; they need you to motivate them. And you do that by blessing them!

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

In Scripture, the word confession is comprised of two Greek words: homo, meaning ‘the same’, and logeo, meaning ‘to speak’. Therefore, confessing your sin to God means saying the same thing about it as He does. It means calling a spade a spade – not a gardening tool! Nowhere does the Bible refer to our sins as mistakes, bad judgements, and slips. However, it clearly says God forgives our sin: ‘I…am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins’ (Isaiah 43:25 NKJV). So let’s be clear. 1) Confessing isn’t about apologising. Saying you’re sorry is appropriate and necessary at times. But you could never be sorry enough to deserve or earn God’s forgiveness. Confessing is agreeing with God about the nature, extent, and offensiveness of your transgressions. 2) Confessing isn’t about feelings. Some of us plunge into remorse, guilt, and depression over our sins. And when such feelings lead to confession, that’s good. But even when we don’t feel these emotions, our confession is just as genuine and effective. 3) Confessing isn’t complaining. Making a laundry list of your sins and telling God how terrible you are is more akin to complaining than confessing. Coming clean with God and agreeing with His evaluation of your sin is what He wants from you. Then, like David, you can say, ‘I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt…And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.’ So, confess your sins to God – then start acting like someone who has been forgiven!

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

If you want God to restore you and make you ‘strong, firm and steadfast’, meditate prayerfully on these four Scriptures, and look for ways to put them into practice each day: 1) ‘Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time’ (v. 6 NIV). 2) ‘Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you’ (v. 7 NIV). 3) ‘Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour’ (v. 8 NIV). 4) ‘Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings’ (v. 9 NIV). Now, here is the result God promises when you walk in the truth of these four Scriptures: ‘And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast’ (v. 10 NIV). Note two important phrases here: ‘The God of all grace.’ Whatever you fear and whatever you have to face, God will give you the grace to handle it. ‘After you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong.’ If you are going through a season of stress, God has promised that it will lead to a season of strengthening. So when you pray, ‘Lord, take me out of this,’ He may answer, ‘No, I will take you through it and make you “firm and steadfast”.’

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