UCB Word For Today

With the national coffers depleted from a series of costly wars, King Frederick William III of Prussia found his nation seriously short of funds as it attempted to rebuild. He refused to capitulate to his enemies and couldn’t face disappointing his people. He asked the women of Prussia to bring their gold and silver jewellery to be melted down and used in exchange for the things the nation desperately needed. As each woman brought her jewellery, she was given a ‘decoration’ of iron as a symbol of the king’s gratitude. On it was inscribed the words: ‘I gave gold for iron, 1813.’ The women came to prize their gifts from the king more than their former jewels! Their decorations were proof they had sacrificed for their king. In fact, it became highly unfashionable in early nineteenth-century Prussia for women to wear jewellery but very fashionable to wear a cross of iron. It was from this that the Order of the Iron Cross was established. There are two sides to the Christian life: blessing and sacrifice. Paul said: ‘Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord’ (Philippians 3:8 NLT). Jesus spelled out the cost of discipleship: ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me’ (Matthew 16:24 NKJV). The hymnist wrote: ‘“Take up thy cross and follow me,” I hear my blessed Saviour call. How can I make a lesser sacrifice when Jesus gave his all?’

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

Here’s something we don’t think about enough – but should! How you treat those you are in relationship with influences the relationship you have with God. Jesus spelled it out clearly: ‘If you bring your gift to the altar [if you serve in the church, pay particular attention here!], 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’ (vv. 23-24 NKJV). Jesus commands the offender, even if the offence was unintentional, to take the initiative in healing and restoring the relationship. That calls for true humility. Max Lucado writes: ‘You may find this hard to believe, but not everyone likes the preacher. There are times when I misstep or misspeak and incur the displeasure of a parishioner. In the early years of my ministry, when I got wind of someone’s unhappiness, I dismissed the problem. “If he doesn’t bring it to me, then I have no hand in the matter.” But then I read Jesus’ words…Jesus commands the offender to take the initiative. I find that passage to be quite unpleasant. Even so, I have tried to apply it to my fragile friendships. “Bob,” I have enquired, “have I said something to upset you?” “Mary, there seems to be tension between us. Are we okay?” Without fail, the step has resulted in restoration. Never in my four decades of ministry has this practical teaching failed to achieve its goal. When Scripture is mixed with obedience, a healing elixir results.’ So the word for today is – try for reconciliation.

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

Here are two more things you need to know about your calling. 1) The anointing is for each one of us. In Bible times, anointing oil was poured only on the heads of prophets, priests, and kings, symbolising God’s presence rested on them in a special way. But the anointing is not confined to those in ministry; it’s for everyone – including you! It doesn’t matter whether you’re a teacher, a doctor, or a lawyer. From the top of the organisational chart to the bottom, God wants to anoint you to do whatever it is you’re called to do. If you need legal help, you certainly want a solicitor who has been to law school, but you also want a solicitor who is anointed by God. If you need surgery, you certainly want a doctor who has been to medical school, but you also want a doctor whose hands are anointed by God. The anointing of God knows no limits when it comes to position or portfolio. The apostle John writes: ‘You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.’ 2) We must seek to please God in all that we do. ‘Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV). The key word is whatever. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing; do it to the glory of God. Oswald Chambers said, ‘It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God, but we do not. We have to be exceptional in ordinary things.’ And when we are, we put a smile on God’s face.

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

God got Israel out of Egypt in one day, but it took forty years to get the shame of Egypt out of Israel. It happened at a place called Gilgal, 381 miles north-east of Egypt. The Israelites thought like slaves and acted like slaves. After all, it’s tough to break the cycle after four hundred years of slavery. Technically, the Israelites were set free at the exodus. But it wasn’t until they reached Gilgal that they finally left the past in the past. ‘Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the shame of your slavery in Egypt.”’ For some of us, it takes years to bring closure to our feelings of condemnation and get the past out of the present. The good news is, God can still roll away the shame of your past. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1 NKJV). Note the word ‘now’. Full forgiveness is our present-tense reality. Right here. Right now. If you are in Christ, you’re no longer defined by what you’ve done wrong; you’re defined by what Christ has done right on your behalf. You are a new creation, but sometimes it takes time for your new nature to become second nature. Jesus came to put the past in its place – in the past. You need to leave it there. How do you do that? By seeing yourself as God sees you – righteous (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). Instead of seeing yourself as clothed in shame, begin to see yourself as God sees you: clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

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

Set aside the question of to what extent you are capable of experiencing God’s presence in your current spiritual condition. Set aside your past failures and your future worries. If you are a redeemed child of God, His Holy Spirit lives within you. Jesus said, ‘“He who believes in Me…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive’ (John 7:38-39 NKJV). The Holy Spirit within you is flowing all the time, welling up within you, quenching your unsatisfied desires, and overflowing to refresh those around you. His intention and desire are to work through you all the time, in every place. Remember that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one. So when we speak of God working in your life, Jesus being in your heart, or your body being the temple of the Holy Spirit, it’s the same thing. Author John Ortberg tells of a friend whose five-year-old daughter said, ‘I know Jesus lives in my heart, because when I put my hand on it, I can feel Him walking around in there.’ Some people seem to have that kind of inner radar for detecting the presence of God. Just as certain musicians have perfect pitch, they have an ear for discerning God’s voice. Telling them how to look for God would be like telling a fish how to look for water – where else would they live? Bottom line – just as God’s presence lives in you, you can consciously live in God’s presence every moment.

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