UCB Word For Today

Benjamin Franklin, who was a printer, wrote an epitaph for his grave. And even though it never ended up on his tombstone, it has been passed down in history for its cleverness and wisdom. ‘The body of Benjamin Franklin, printer; (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out, and script [stripped] of its lettering and gilding), lies here, food for worms. But the work shall not be lost, for it will, as he believed, appear once more, in a new & more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author.’ What a wonderful way to describe what’s going to happen to us someday. The apostle Paul used seeds as a metaphor: ‘But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined’ (vv. 35-38 NIV). A pastor explains: ‘When you plant your garden, you may toss a kernel of corn into the furrow and cover it. When it comes out of the ground, it will still be corn; it will be the same in essence. But what comes out of the ground is not the kernel. It’s the whole stalk. It’s much bigger, much better, and much more impressive.’ And your new resurrection body will be as superior to your old body as the stalk is superior to the seed; it will be a body specifically designed for everlasting life.© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

The Bible talks about heaven over five hundred times, with details about our eternal home. Shortly before He returned to heaven, Jesus comforted His disciples by saying, ‘In My Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you. And…I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also’ (vv. 2-3 NKJV). The Greek term translated ‘place’ in verse 2 is ‘topos’, which refers to a specific and locatable place. Heaven is a real, physical place, where we will one day live with Jesus and our redeemed loved ones. And God has set inside each of our hearts a hunger for heaven (see Ecclesiastes 3:11). During World War II, Franklin Roosevelt had a difficult time travelling among the troops because of his disability, so his wife, Eleanor, took his place. She actually became a favourite of the soldiers. She sent cables and letters back to the president, serving as his eyes and ears. On one trip to the Pacific, she invested an evening in chatting with a group of soldiers, and afterward told her husband they had only one thought on their minds – the longing to finish the battle so they could return home. That’s how God’s redeemed children feel about heaven. We’re deployed on planet Earth, but our assignment is only temporary. The psalmist said, ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever’ (Psalm 23:6 NKJV). That’s what we are anticipating, isn’t it? Living in the house of the Lord forever. © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

If you’re wondering, ‘How can I be sure God is willing to heal me?’, read this: ‘And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed…and they came to him from every quarter’ (Mark 1:40-42, 45 KJV). Not only is God willing to heal us, but He responds to our sickness and suffering with compassion. ‘He departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion towards them, and he healed their sick’ (Matthew 14:13-14 KJV). One day two blind men were sitting on the roadside when they heard that Jesus was passing by. Immediately they cried out: ‘“Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.”…And Jesus…said, “What will ye that I shall do unto you?” They say unto him, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.” So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him’ (Matthew 20:30, 32-34 KJV). Has Christ’s power diminished? No. Does He have less compassion towards His redeemed children today than He had for the multitude back then? No. So, come to Him with confidence, praying and believing for your healing. © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

A pastor writes: ‘Around the turn of the twentieth century, a pioneering psychologist named Alfred Adler proposed the counterintuitive theory of compensation. Adler believed that perceived disadvantages often prove to be disguised advantages because they force us to develop attitudes and abilities that would have otherwise gone undiscovered. And it’s only as we compensate for those disadvantages that our greatest gifts are revealed. Seventy per cent of the art students that Adler studied had optical anomalies. He observed that some of history’s greatest composers, Mozart and Beethoven among them, had degenerative traces in their ears. He cited a…wide variety of vocations, of those who leveraged their weakness by discovering new strengths. Adler concluded that perceived disadvantages, such as birth defects, physical ailments, and poverty, can be springboards to success. And that success is not achieved in spite of those perceived disadvantages. It’s achieved because of them…In one study of small-business owners…35 per cent of them [self-identified as having dyslexia]…That disadvantage forced this group of entrepreneurs to cultivate different skill sets. Some of them became more proficient at oral communication because reading was so difficult. Others learned to rely on well-developed social skills to compensate for the challenges they faced in the classroom. And all of them cultivated a work ethic that might have remained dormant if reading had come easy for them…Our greatest advantages may actually be hidden in our greatest disadvantages, if we learn to leverage them.’ That’s sufficient reason to praise God for your perceived disadvantages and challenges. © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Designer clothes brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren are recognised by their designs and by their trademarks. These trademarks make them immensely visible and identifiable. Sometimes workers in certain industries are identified by their attire, such as a surgeon who wears scrubs, or a policeman who wears a uniform, or a judge who wears robes. And Jesus has given to us something as irrefutable evidence that we are close to God – a test whereby you can evaluate your own spiritual growth. In fact, so amazing is this trademark that He said it would be the foremost declaration of your faith. Jesus said it like this: ‘A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ (vv. 34-35 NKJV). Francis Schaeffer, the great Christian apologist, said, ‘Love is the final apologetic. It is the defence for which there is no defence.’ When a woman is pregnant with a child, there comes a point where we say that she is ‘showing’. The life growing inside her begins to grow and show on the outside. Likewise, the Bible says, ‘The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us’ (Romans 5:5 KJV). And John writes, ‘Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another’ (1 John 4:11 NKJV). Love; it’s the ultimate test of your discipleship. © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.