UCB Word For Today

In his classic book called Prayer, Dr O. Hallesby wrote: ‘Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only those who are helpless can truly pray…Prayer therefore consists simply in telling God day by day in what ways we feel helpless. We are moved to pray every time the Spirit of God…emphasises anew to us our helplessness, and we realise how impotent we are by nature to believe, to love, to hope, to serve, to sacrifice, to suffer, to read the Bible, to pray, and to struggle against our sinful desires.’ Now let’s be clear: feeling helpless is different from feeling hopeless or worthless; it’s simply acknowledging our total dependence on God. Jesus said, ‘Without Me you can do nothing’ (John 15:5 NKJV). God will never give you an assignment that does not require His input, His favour, and His enabling grace. Every action of God in your life is designed to increase, not decrease, your dependence on Him. If you can do it without God, you should stop and ask yourself, ‘Is this truly of God?’ Paul wrote: ‘We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us’ (2 Corinthians 3:4-6 NLT). David enjoyed all the privileges of being a king, yet he wrote: ‘I am poor and needy; yet the LORD thinks upon me. You are my help and my deliverer’ (Psalm 40:17 NKJV). So, the word for today is – never, ever, lose your sense of dependence on God.

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

After David killed Goliath, four other men, including his nephew Jonathan, killed giants that rose up against the Israelites. ‘In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot – twenty-four in all. He was also descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him’ (2 Samuel 21:20-21 NIV). David had raised the bar. Witnessing the defeat of what others had previously deemed impossible gave them the strength to overcome their own giants. Until 1954, no one had ever run a mile in under four minutes, and most people assumed it was virtually impossible. But on 6th May 1954, at an Oxford University track meet, Roger Bannister completed the distance in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. He had slain the giant. Two months later, Australian John Landy broke Bannister’s record, proving that the four-minute mile was as much a psychological as a physical barrier. In the first half of the twentieth century, many people attempted to climb Mount Everest and failed. It was the unconquerable giant in the world of mountain climbers. On 29th May 1953, Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, were the first humans to reach the summit. Since then, over a thousand climbers, ranging from age sixteen to sixty, have completed the expedition. David, Bannister, and Hillary all conquered giants of their day and inspired others to match and excel in their feats. You do yourself and others a disservice when you run from your giant. You need to stop being afraid to tackle hard tasks and remind yourself, ‘If God did it before, He can do it again, and if He did it for others, He can do it for me.’

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

In 1985 Tim Burke saw his boyhood dream come true when the Montreal Expos baseball team took him on as a pitcher, giving him an annual salary of $600,000. (Back then, that was big money for a player.) After four years in the minor leagues, he was finally given a chance to play in the big leagues. And he quickly proved his worth by setting a record for the most relief appearances by any rookie pitcher. Along the way, however, Tim and his wife, Christine, adopted four children who needed additional support – two daughters from South Korea, a disabled son from Guatemala, and another son from Vietnam. All of the children were born with very serious illnesses or defects, and neither Tim nor Christine was prepared for the tremendous demands such a family would bring. And with the gruelling schedule of major-league baseball demands, Tim was seldom around to help. After searching his soul and deciding on his life’s true priorities, Tim did something that amazed everyone – he gave up his dream career in major league baseball. When reporters asked him to explain this unbelievable decision, he simply said, ‘Baseball is going to do just fine without me. But I’m the only father my children have.’ Heroes are in short supply these days. And Tim Burke is one of them. Dad, you can be another one. Most investments in life involve risk and can lead to regret. But you will never regret a moment of the love, time, and effort you invest in your children. So, be a father. (And if you don’t have children, why not pray for fathers who you know.)

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

The Bible likens the Christian life to a marathon. The writer of the book of Hebrews said: ‘Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured’ (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV). Paul wrote to the Philippian believers: ‘There is one thing I always do. Forgetting the past and straining towards what is ahead, I keep trying to reach the goal and get the prize for which God called me’ (Philippians 3:13-14 NCV). Chances are you aren’t at the starting line, nor are you at the finishing tape. You’re somewhere in the middle. When running a race, the start is always filled with such enthusiasm and energy. And the finish holds such promise as we run the final stretch and reach our goal. But the middle of the race – when we are long past the start and not sure how far away the finish might be – is what often tests us. That’s why the prophet Habakkuk wrote: ‘O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years!’ It’s in ‘the midst’ or the middle of the race that we need encouragement, that we need our second wind, and that we need to refocus on the prize that awaits us. Those who have run before us have passed the baton through the centuries, from generation to generation – without dropping it. What are you to do? Take the baton, run, and keep running!

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

God is the giver of dreams. ‘For God does speak…in a dream, in a vision…when deep sleep falls on people’ (vv. 14-15 NIV). Unless you want to spend the rest of your life being unfulfilled and uninspired, take your dream out of the closet and blow the dust off. It’s easy to get caught up in the ‘have tos’ of life – working; caring for children, spouses, and ageing parents; taking care of homes, etc. But you must believe that you can resurrect your life and your dreams and believe you have the ability to tap into the enthusiasm you once felt for life. You must have the courage to face the disappointments of the past, take a good look at how you got off the path, and see where you are headed. Then you have to silence the voice in your head that says: ‘This is all there is. Who are you to want more from life? You can’t do it; it’s too late for you.’ We give up on our dreams because we think that’s what grown-ups are supposed to do. But as we mature, we realise that reaching for our dreams is what makes us feel alive. The truth is that with love, prayer, and great attention, your dream, like Lazarus, can be resurrected (see John 11:43). The secret of recapturing dreams is to enjoy the pursuit of the dream rather than focus on the outcome. Achievement in this case is not about position, fame, or financial compensation, but about doing what you love. That’s what Jesus promised: ‘I am come that they might have life, and…have it more abundantly’ (John 10:10 KJV).

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