UCB Word For Today

• Know the ‘season’ you’re in

  One key to fulfilling your destiny is realising what season you’re in. If you don’t, you will feel exasperated and disappointed. For example, in some seasons learning to follow is more important than learning to lead. In some seasons handling failure offers more value than handling success. One of the biggest errors we make is concentrating all our energy on the next season, rather than enjoying the season we’re in, maximising it, and gleaning its lessons. God wants to get you where He wants you to go even more than you want to get there. So, enjoy the journey, and understand that God will get you there when you’re ready. Your present frustration will give you a reason for future celebration if you stay the course long enough. God is developing emotional endurance inside you. The key to emotional endurance is going through high levels of disappointment that break us down so God can build us back up with a holy confidence. Can you imagine how David felt as he watched his brothers go off to war while he stayed home to tend a flock of sheep? But his day was coming. And yours is too. While you wait, don’t bypass God’s plans by taking shortcuts. God is setting you up. But the bigger the opportunity, the longer it takes. The reason we get irritated is because we think big without thinking long. Reconsider your timeline, and be encouraged when it takes longer than you estimated. That means God wants to do something considerably more than all you can ask or imagine (see Ephesians 3:20). © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• You will never be perfect enough (2)

  Author Dorothy Littell Greco writes: ‘For some perfectionists, the fear of making a mistake results in a sort of paralysis, causing us to agonise over every decision…To help you discern if [perfectionism] has crept into your life…consider the following questions: a) Are you comfortable asking for help or only offering it? b) Are you able to receive appropriate criticism without getting defensive? c) Do you have a nagging belief that you are falling short of some illusive standard? d) Do you harshly critique yourself? e) Are you able to experience joy? An absence of joy might be one of the best indicators [of] perfectionism. It slowly squeezes the joy out of life by reducing creativity, accentuating mistakes, and making us slaves of success.’ The truth is, no matter how hard we struggle, we can never be perfect enough to satisfy the sin debt against us. And we don’t have to be! ‘Christ gave himself…for our sins as one sacrifice for all time and then sat down in the place of highest honour at God’s right hand…For by that one offering he made forever perfect in the sight of God all those whom he is making holy’ (vv. 12, 14 TLB). Notice: when God makes you perfect, it’s going to be for forever, and once you get your head wrapped around that truth, it will change your life. Gigi Graham Tchividjian says, ‘We don’t have to be perfect to be a blessing. We are asked only to be real, trusting in His perfection to cover our imperfection, knowing that one day we will finally be all that Christ saved us for and wants us to be.’© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• You will never be perfect enough (1)

  A perfectionist seeks to achieve nothing less than perfection. Dorothy Littell Greco writes: ‘I’ve been a perfectionist for as long as I can remember…I had to get A’s, had to win, and had to please everyone. Every mistake or perceived failure unleashed a torrent of self-condemnation…Perfectionism often [comes from] insecurity and a faulty understanding of grace. During the first few years…parents are meant to communicate through their words and actions that we’re…lovable, even though we do nothing to earn that love…But not all of us were the beneficiaries of such parenting. Many of our needs were met with frustration or even anger, which we interpreted as, “There’s something wrong with me.” When that’s the case, over time, shame creeps in…[and] distorts our understanding of our self-worth. The voice of perfectionism increased when I started following Jesus. I feared being judged and…excluded, [which] motivated me to prove my worth to my fellow Christians. Though I believed, theoretically, that I was saved by grace, I lived as if I had purchased salvation on credit and was accruing an enormous debt. I [lived] as if Jesus would tear up our “salvation contract” the moment I made a mistake. As I began to understand that pride and a fear of mankind were driving my perfectionism, I confessed this as sin…[and] the chokehold started to loosen. Like the Samaritan woman at the well, I needed Jesus to break in and tenderly reorient me to his living water.’ Remember, you don’t have to be perfect to be a blessing to others – you just have to be real!© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• What will we do in heaven?

  If you are a purpose-driven person, the thought of spending eternity doing little, or nothing, will have no appeal to you. But that’s not the case. When we get to heaven, God is not going to say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you can take the rest of eternity off.’ No, He will say, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things’ (Matthew 25:21 NKJV). There will be ‘many things’ for us to do. We already know that we will be ruling with Christ over this restored earth during His millennial reign (see Revelation 20:6). And Revelation 22:3 says, ‘His servants shall serve Him’ (NKJV). God will not only have a place for each of us, but a plan. The reason heaven will not be boring is because God is not boring! The psalmist said, ‘In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore’ (Psalm 16:11 KJV). Since we will be in God’s presence, everything we do will bring joy and satisfaction. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has placed eternity in our hearts. That means that God has created within us a space that cannot be satisfied with anything but heaven. We can never comprehend all that God has prepared for us in our heavenly home. And we can’t recreate heaven on earth. But when we opt to prepare for our eternal home that is waiting for us, our earthly focus shifts towards living a life that pleases and honours God and brings others to Him. © 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

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• 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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