UCB Word For Today

More than a hundred years ago, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, spoke prophetically when he said, ‘The chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, heaven without hell.’ That’s as true now as it was then. Paul exhorted the leaders of the Ephesian church to declare, ‘The whole counsel of God.’ He said: ‘Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears’ (vv. 28-31 NKJV). On the eve of his execution, Paul passed the baton to his successor Timothy with these words: ‘Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine…they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables…be watchful…fulfil your ministry’ (2 Timothy 4:2-5 NKJV).

The Bible says, ‘A tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And…the tongue is a flame of fire’ (vv. 5-6 NLT). People living in hot climates know the danger of ravaging bushfires driven by desert winds and can readily identify with these words: ‘See how great a forest a little fire kindles!’ (v. 5 NKJV). A single spark from a match has started many massive fires. Spreading faster and farther than we might ever imagine, that kind of fire destroys homes and businesses worth millions of pounds, leaving a scorched landscape and devastated lives. Similarly, how many reputations have been ruined by a careless word? The impact of our words spreads far and fast, especially in our digital age. A word tweeted anywhere can be retweeted all over the world in seconds. Like a fire, that word can get out of control and do irreparable damage. Hence James wrote: ‘No man can tame the tongue’ (v. 8 NKJV). But God can. ‘The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV). The Holy Spirit can take a tongue that peddles gossip and turn it into one that brings glory to God. He can take a tongue that spews bitterness and turn it into one that speaks blessing. Gossip is saying something behind someone’s back that you would never say to that person’s face. Flattery is saying something to someone’s face that you would never say behind the person’s back. And both are wrong. So let’s join the psalmist in praying: ‘May these words of my mouth…be pleasing in your sight, LORD’ (Psalm 19:14 NIV).

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

The Bible says: ‘If we could control our tongues, we…could also control ourselves in every other way. We can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth’ (vv. 2-3 NLT). If you’ve ever bridled a horse, you know the bridle that slips over the horse’s head and behind its ears has a ‘bit’, a metal bar that goes in its mouth and lies on top of its tongue. When the rider wants the horse to stop, he pulls back on the reins and the bit presses down on its tongue. The rider who controls the horse’s tongue can actually control the horse’s whole body – steer it to the right or left, and bring it to a stop with a simple pull of the reins. Likewise, your tongue needs to come under the control of the Holy Spirit. A horse can’t bridle itself; the one who masters it puts on the bridle. Try as you might, you can’t control your tongue through your own efforts. Haven’t you said things you wish you could take back? Haven’t you caused trouble for yourself and others by some of the things you’ve said? And haven’t you said things that, in hindsight, you can’t believe actually came out of your mouth? The trouble is that what you say does not originate in your mouth but in your heart: ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks’ (Matthew 12:34 NKJV). So having a Spirit-controlled tongue is the result of being Spirit-filled and having a heart committed to doing God’s will in every circumstance.

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

There is a saying in baseball: ‘Three strikes and you’re out.’ We tend to play life the same way. We give people two or three chances, but no more. But God never gives up on us. It’s not in His nature. When Peter asked Jesus how many times he should forgive his brother, Jesus set the gold standard. Peter answered his own question by saying, ‘Seven times.’ But Jesus ups the ante to seventy times seven (see v. 22 NLT). Then He ups the ante even more with a story of a master who forgave his servant a 10,000-talent debt. Let’s do a currency exchange. One talent totalled 180 months’ wages – that’s fifteen years! And that’s just one talent. So a 10,000-talent debt totalled 150,000 years of wages. Using today’s average life expectancy, it would have taken his servant 2,232 lifetimes to pay off the debt. Of course, the average life expectancy in the first century was less than half of what it is now, so it would have taken twice as many lifetimes to pay off the debt. But instead of years, let’s put this debt into pounds. Using a minimum wage of £12.21, let’s take a nine-to-five job, Monday through Friday. That’s an annual income of over £25,000. That might not seem like much, but when you multiply it by 150,000 years, it totals £3,750,000,000. (Three commas means billions.) Now here’s the thing: by virtue of what Christ accomplished on the cross, your sin debt – past, present, and future – is paid in full. That’s a truth you can be confident in and stand on.

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

Several men went on a mission trip to Haiti where they met a nineteen-year-old young man who loved Christ deeply. So they invited him to visit them in America and paid for his trip. The young Haitian felt as if he were in another world. He’d never slept between sheets, had three meals a day, used indoor plumbing, or tasted a hamburger. When it was time to return to Haiti, they asked him for his impressions of what he’d experienced, and he replied: ‘I have really enjoyed my time here with you. But I am also very glad to be going home. You have so much in America that I’m beginning to lose my grip on my day-to-day dependency on Christ.’ Paul spoke of a time of trouble in Asia in which he was ‘crushed and overwhelmed’ (2 Corinthians 1:8 NLT). Then he wrote: ‘As a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God’ (v. 9 NLT). And God wants to bring you to that place also. Yes, He wants you to use the gifts and resources He has provided, but His desire is that you rely completely on Him. Only then can He provide everything He desires to give you, because then you will be open, ready, and mature enough to receive it. ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear [reverence, respect, obey] the LORD’ (Proverbs 3:5-7 NLT).

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