UCB Word For Today

Mercy is more than forgiveness, less than love, different from grace, and one with justice. Forgiveness becomes operational only when a wrong is committed, but mercy is operational at all times. Mercy leads to and produces forgiveness, but mercy is more than forgiveness. Mercy reaches out to the weak, to the needy, and to those needing protection and direction. Just as forgiveness flows out of mercy, so mercy flows out of love. Love is the source of mercy, but love is greater than mercy – it exists apart from any need or sin. Mercy offers a reprieve from punishment, but grace offers complete pardon. Mercy relieves our pain, but grace cures the disease. Mercy overlooks the mistakes, but grace forgets the mistakes. God is both merciful and just at the same time. Mercy that ignores or refuses to deal with sin is a false mercy. Justice requires that we face and deal with sin. Mercy grants us the privilege of facing and dealing with it so we might be forgiven of it. Jesus said, ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ The more mercy we exercise, the more mercy we receive from God. We are to be conduits for God’s mercy with an ever-increasing capacity to impart it to others. The person who exercises mercy is unshackled from emotional chains, freed of spiritual bondage, and liberated from the bitterness that hinders spiritual growth. Mercy flowing from God to us removes the blockages that keep us from becoming whole. And the good news is that we will never be asked to extend more mercy to others than God has extended to us.

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

Righteousness is not an optional spiritual supplement; it’s a necessity for Christian living. It’s something you must desire as much as a starving man desires food and a thirsty man desires water. Are you hungry for more of Jesus? Do you have an appetite for His Word? Do you long to experience the kingdom of God? If so, Jesus says that you will be ‘filled’. He will give you more of Himself. When you are hungry for righteousness, He will impart to you the power of a righteous life – which means keeping God’s commandments and following the leading of the Holy Spirit day by day. The Lord will give you the power to say ‘no’ to offers that are not right in His eyes. And He will give you the power to say ‘yes’ to those things that are of eternal benefit and to manifest His power in right decisions, right actions, and right words spoken at the right times, in the right situations, for the right results. The Lord will fill you with the ability to be His agent at home, at school, in your place of business, in the political arena, and in church. When you hunger and thirst for righteousness, God will satisfy you with His presence, His power, and His peace. When you deeply and truly desire more of the Lord, you will receive more of the Lord to the point of being filled to overflowing. God keeps His promises, and He will keep this one also: ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.’

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

To be ‘meek’ doesn’t mean to be a doormat or to be indecisive, timid, fearful, or spineless. It does not mean to act like a loser or a cowardly wimp. Meekness is ‘power under control’. The Bible says Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth in his day (see Numbers 12:3). Yet he was willing to go toe-to-toe with Pharaoh, to lead a grumbling people across a wilderness, and to climb a smoking, shaking mountain to meet personally with almighty God. Jesus described Himself as ‘gentle and lowly in heart’ (Matthew 11:29 NKJV). Yet He was the most courageous man who ever lived. What made Moses and Jesus meek? They manifested supreme power under control. Proverbs 16:32 (NKJV) describes this kind of power: ‘He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.’ Proverbs 25:28 (NASB) tells us the flip side of meekness: ‘Like a city that is broken into and without walls so is a person who has no self-control over his spirit.’ The meek are those who have the power to hurt but choose not to. They have knowledge to destroy someone’s reputation, but they don’t use it. They have reason to hate but refuse to act on it. Such people exhibit meekness, which is simply strength harnessed and used to do good. And those who exercise meekness walk in God’s blessing. The meek persevere until good overcomes evil, answers are found, remedies are generated, and reconciliation overcomes estrangement. And the meek sleep well at night – because their trust is in the Lord!

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

Jesus was not necessarily speaking about mourning the loss of a loved one, but that those who mourn over their sins will receive God’s comfort. When you weep over your sins and the trouble they brought to yourself and to others, you put yourself in a position to receive God’s forgiveness. True repentance does not focus on self. It’s not morbid or despairing; it doesn’t come from false humility or from wallowing in self-pity. It is acknowledging openly, plainly, and simply that you need God’s mercy and grace. As long as you delight in your sins, try to justify them, or blame others for them, you cannot be forgiven. It is only when you pray, ‘I confess that I have sinned against You in my thoughts, my words, and my actions’ that you put yourself into a position to be cleansed of your sin. The Bible says, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:8-9 NKJV). And in that is your comfort! It is God’s forgiveness that produces genuine joy and comfort in your souls. It is God’s forgiveness that heals your deep inner wounds, and that restores you to intimacy with your heavenly Father. David said: ‘I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone’ (Psalm 32:5 NLT).

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

What does it really mean to be ‘poor in spirit’? This phrase has nothing to do with finances or status. It means that you become conscious of your own spiritual emptiness – that without God, you are nothing, you have nothing, and you can do nothing of consequence or eternal benefit. To be poor in spirit means you know that all of your self-righteousness is as filthy rags and all of your self-propelled achievements are short-term and fleeting at best (see Isaiah 64:6). To be poor in spirit means that you know you need God. Why would this cause you to be ‘blessed’? Because you are open to receiving God’s free gift of salvation and allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life. You are willing to humble yourself and pray: ‘Lord Jesus, I need You. I accept You as my Saviour. I want to yield my life to Your will and do things Your way to the glory of Your Name.’ If you are poor in spirit, you are willing to declare yourself spiritually bankrupt. And in so doing, you lay down your pride of spirit, your pride of will, your pride of intellect, and your pride of heart at the feet of Jesus. If you are poor in spirit, you open yourself to God’s saving mercy and grace. Consequently, you are able to enter God’s kingdom and enjoy all of its benefits and its blessings. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’ means you can sincerely pray, ‘Lord, I acknowledge my total dependence on You.’

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