UCB Word For Today

• Pass it on!

  Mentor Graham was so absorbed in evaluating the assignments he had given his students that he failed to notice the youthful giant who slouched into his Illinois classroom one day after school. After his eyes had adjusted to the brightness of the late afternoon sunshine, causing the husky young man to be in silhouette before him, he recognised the youth as a newcomer to the community. The lad already had a reputation for ‘whipping the living daylights’ out of all the local toughs. Graham would have been justified in thinking, ‘What does he want here? Am I in danger?’ Rather, he looked up and down the six foot, four inches of muscle and ignorance before him and offered to help the lad with his reading and studies. When the young man left the classroom an hour later, he had several books under his arm – on loan from Mentor Graham with a promise of more in the future. There is a good chance that you have never heard of Mentor Graham, right? He was a quiet man, simply willing to do his best for any student who came his way. His pupil, however, became more famous. His name? Abraham Lincoln! Graham recognised in Lincoln a hunger for knowledge and a desire to learn, and took the time to invest in him. And as a result, Lincoln helped change history. The greatest investment you can make is in people. Solomon wrote, ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding.’ And when you get it, don’t keep it to yourself – pass it on. © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• SOS prayers

  The three-digit emergency system has amazing capabilities. In most places in the UK, you need only dial those numbers to be instantly connected to a call handler. On a computer screen, the call handler instantly sees the caller’s telephone number, address (or approximate location if calling from a mobile phone), and the name under which the number is listed. A caller need not say anything once the call is made. Even rasping coughs and hysterical cries have brought a quick response. The call handler knows where the call is coming from, and help is sent immediately. Sometimes our situation is so urgent and desperate that we can’t put it into words, so we send up the SOS prayer, ‘Lord, I need your help!’ And help is on the way. ‘It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear’ (Isaiah 65:24 NKJV). Sometimes you feel the effects of something, but you don’t understand the cause and you can’t explain it. This is when the indwelling power of God’s Spirit comes to your aid: ‘The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them’ (Romans 8:26-28 NLT).© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• How your faith can produce results (4)

  If you really believed God’s Word concerning your situation, how would you act differently? Saying you believe is just the beginning; activating your faith means preparing for the answer to arrive. Ask yourself, ‘If I really expected an answer to my prayers, how would I prepare for its arrival?’ In Scripture, Jesus gave His disciples this parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man…planted in his field…when it grows, it…becomes a tree’ (Matthew 13:31-32 NIV). The farmer may sincerely believe they can produce a mustard tree, but nothing happens until they choose the location, prepare the soil, plant the seed, and continually water it. Once they do all those things, they can actively watch for its appearance. So, where do you start? 1) Pray for wisdom to make the right decisions (see James 1:5-7). 2) Plan your work, and work your plan. Aimless, passive waiting for the things to materialise without thoughtful, active involvement will prove disappointing and fruitless. God uses you as His partner. ‘We are labourers together with God’ (1 Corinthians 3:9 KJV). 3) Break your plan into small, accomplishable action steps. 4) Don’t wait for the fear to go or the faith to grow. Be prepared to take calculated, productive risks. Feel the fear and do it anyhow! 5) Start thanking God even before you can see the answer. And if you should miss the bull’s-eye, remember the Revolutionary War militia’s response: ‘Ready, aim, fire! Adjust your aim – and fire again.’ ‘[Abraham’s] faith and his actions were working together.’ And that’s still the Bible formula for success.© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• How your faith can produce results (3)

  James asks, ‘What good is it…if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds…Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says…“Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing…what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds’ (vv.14-18 NIV). A veritable ocean of faith without the appropriate action to follow it up is nothing more than an ocean of dead, useless faith. On the other hand, an ounce of faith that’s acted upon can produce an ocean of results (see Matthew 13:31-32). Action breathes life and power into your faith. The biblical prescription for faith is simple but potent. 1) You decide to believe in God’s promise and His power to make it happen – leaving the ‘how and when’ up to Him. 2) You choose to act in keeping with what you believe before you see any evidence of the results. 3) God responds to your faith by keeping His unbreakable promise. ‘Hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?’ (Numbers 23:19 KJV). God goes to work exercising His unlimited capacity to perform His Word. Jesus said, ‘Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours’ (Mark 11:24 NIV). Now – it’s up to you to claim and act on His promise. © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• How your faith can produce results (2)

  Thank God, faith isn’t reserved for deeply spiritual people. If that was the case, we would all be in trouble! The fact is that regular people from all walks of life can be faith filled. We’re inclined to think faith belongs exclusively to people like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Samuel, David, Daniel, Peter, and Paul. Now, without question, they were all faith heroes, but faith doesn’t belong solely to them. The Bible tells us, ‘God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.’ No one will miss out on heaven because he or she wasn’t given enough faith to ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved’ (see Acts 16:31). God intended that not only should we have faith but that we should live by faith. Three times the New Testament assures us ‘the just shall live by faith’ (Hebrews 10:38 NKJV). You reply, ‘Yes, but those biblical heroes had great faith; my faith is so small!’ Did you know that the apostles felt the same way? They said to Jesus, ‘Increase our faith!’ (Luke 17:5 NIV). And Jesus replied, ‘If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, “Be uprooted and planted in the sea,” and it will obey you’ (v. 6 NIV). Like so many of us, the apostles thought they needed more faith. But Jesus corrected this spiritually crippling misperception by telling them you don’t need a lorry load of faith to see amazing outcomes. ‘Faith as small as a mustard seed’ can bring about awesome results. When you put the faith you already have been given into action, Jesus said it will produce results!© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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