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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY



What You Need in the Wilderness (2)
‘…He led them on safely, so that they did not fear…’

Psalms 78:53



The UCB Word for Today - 29 Aug 2015





You can be in the wilderness and still be in the centre of God’s will. ‘…He made His own people go forth like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock…He led them on safely, so…they did not fear…’ (vv 52-53 NKJV). In the wilderness you get to know God in a way you never knew Him before.


So, what else did Israel need to survive in the wilderness? Food! Someone calculated it would have taken about twenty-six wagonloads of food to feed that many Israelites every day.


The problem is there were no trains and no tracks! But they had something much better—God! For forty years He delivered manna, ‘the perfect food’, to the doors of their tents. The supply was according to each family’s individual need—and God never missed a day.

So if the economy has you feeling anxious and wondering whether or not God can take care of you—this is the word for you today! God may not give you everything you want, but He will give you everything you need. The God we serve doesn’t suffer from lack or limitation! The Psalmist said, ‘I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging for bread’ (Psalms 37:25 NKJV).

The old country preacher got it right when he said, ‘Where He leads me I will follow; what He feeds me I will swallow.’ Think of it: for forty years Israel never missed a meal or went without. And their God is your God, so put your trust in Him today and stop worrying!



Ecc 7-9, 2 Cor 6

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY



What You Need in the Wilderness (3)
‘…He brought you water out of hard rock.’

Deuteronomy 8:15
The UCB Word for Today - 30 Aug 2015




What else do you need in the wilderness? Water! You can live without food for about forty days, but without water you’ll die much faster. It’s the same in the spiritual realm; you can get by in life without a lot of things, but you won’t make it without God. In the wilderness God was teaching His people a lesson He wanted them to remember when they arrived in the Promised Land: ‘Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord…Who brought you out of…slavery.


He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.



He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you’ (vv 12-16 NIV). Note the words ‘that it might go well with you’. In spite of what you’re going through today, God has great blessings in store for you. But in order to handle them properly you must learn humility, develop a heart of gratitude, and never forget that He alone is the source of every good thing you’ll ever have. Then God added this P.S.: ‘If you ever forget…you will surely be destroyed’ (v19 NIV). That’s how serious He is about making sure you depend on Him each day.





Luke 16:16-31, Ps 89-90

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY



What You Need in the Wilderness (4)
‘…And there was none feeble among His tribes.’

Psalms 105:37
The UCB Word for Today - 31 Aug 2015




Notice something else Israel enjoyed in the wilderness: divine health. Think of the health issues you’d expect among two million people walking through endless desert with no doctor or hospital in sight.


Yet from the youngest to the oldest, ‘He…brought them out…and there was none feeble among His tribes.’ That’s because they lived on a diet provided by God Himself. Their troubles began when they complained and wanted to go back to the food they ate as slaves in Egypt.



Hello! There’s an important lesson here for those who live on fast foods that promote ailments like heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Imagine pouring five pounds of sugar into the fuel tank of your car and complaining that it won’t run properly. Now, when health problems run in your family, or economic circumstances force you to eat less than ideal food, God understands and you can go to Him with confidence, believing, ‘…the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up…’ (James 5:15 NKJV).




But when the choice is between exercising wisdom in order to have good health or exercising faith in order to be healed, your choice is clear. When Israel entered the Promised Land, God told them, ‘…serve the Lord…and He will bless your bread and your water…take sickness away from the midst of you…[and] fulfil the number of your days’ (Exodus 23:25-26 NKJV).



Then He gave them dietary laws to live by that set them apart from the surrounding nations. Question: How many of us fail to ‘fulfil the number of [our] days’ and the assignment God gives us, because we refuse to exercise discipline when it comes to our diet? Think about it!




Ecc 10-12, 2 Cor 7

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L

[MrsS]

Thank you Sir. My sentiments exactly.

We Christian act in foolishness sometimes and then use faith to get out of it.
if we used wisdom as given by God on the leading of the Holy Spirit, it would have been way easier.
But like the children of Israel, we always choose the long route! May God help us.

[ebankole]

TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


WELCOME TO THE MONTH OF SEP ....1


What You Need in the Wilderness (5)
‘Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace…’

When you find yourself in the wilderness, what’s the one thing you need more than anything else? God! That’s why the Lord told Moses to build the tabernacle and He used it as a teaching tool to show His people that: 1) He wants to meet with us regularly.


The word ‘tabernacle’ means ‘tent of meeting’. God wants you to spend time with Him. He wants you to get to know Him. Because when you do, you’ll worry less and trust Him more. The Bible says, ‘Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace…’ It’s important to listen to God’s Word being taught, to meet with other believers, and be encouraged by their testimonies.



But at some point you’ve got to stop trading in second-hand information and get ‘up close and personal’ with God. James writes, ‘Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…’ (James 4:8 NKJV). 2) God wants to be at the centre of our lives. When Israel set up camp each night, the twelve tribes pitched their tents in formation surrounding the tabernacle, where God’s presence dwelt.




Every man, woman, boy and girl could stand in the door of their tent and see God in their midst. Could the message be clearer? When your deepest affections and greatest ambitions are centred around Christ, your life will take an upward swing. ‘…delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart’ (Psalms 37:4 NIV). The formula for thriving in the wilderness is: centre your life on Christ and soak yourself in His Word!Song




Song 1-3, 2 Cor 8

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY


What You Need in the Wilderness (6)



‘…You are to receive the offering for Me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.’

Exodus 25:2
The UCB Word for Today - 2 Sep 2015



God’s people already possessed everything necessary to build the tabernacle. So Moses went to God for the plan, and to the people for the resources.


And that’s still how it works! Pastor, don’t come up with a plan of your own, or one you got from somebody else, and then ask God to underwrite it. Ask God for His plan, because that’s the only one He will bless.




And don’t feel intimidated about going to the people and asking them to give. Perhaps you’re reluctant to talk about finances because some people in church complain and say, ‘All the pastor ever talks about is money.’ Of course, if they’re right, you need to get back into balance. But generally speaking, people need clear biblical teaching on giving; to see it as a privilege and an opportunity to go into partnership with God. Over and over the Bible refers to giving as ‘sowing’. And when you sow, you should expect to reap.



The law of giving is like the law of gravity; it never fails. God said, ‘As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest…will never cease’ (Genesis 8:22 NIV). Observe how it works: first you sow your seed, then there’s a time of waiting, and finally you get to reap. Money can be a touchy subject; it can stir up resistance and resentment.



But God promised that when you sow generously, you will reap generously (2 Corinthians 9:6). Now, either God told the truth or He didn’t. And you need to find out whether or not it’s true. The only way to do that is to try it and see for yourself.




Song 4-5, 2 Cor 9

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY




Today, Let’s Remember That!
‘…Remember the Lord your God…’




Deuteronomy 8:18
The UCB Word for Today - 3 Sep 2015



On March 3, 1863, anguished by the ravages of civil war, Abraham Lincoln declared a Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day: ‘Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognise the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord…We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven.




We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God.




We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us! It behoves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.’ God warned Israel: ‘When…your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied…you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant…’ (Deuteronomy 8:13, 18 NKJV). Today, let’s remember that!



Song 6-8, 2 Cor 10

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY



Practise Soul Care
‘He restores my soul…’

Psalms 23:3
The UCB Word for Today - 4 Sep 2015



David said, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul…’ (vv 1-3 NKJV).



Today car engines are computerised. A light on your dashboard will let you know something’s wrong and that it’s time for a checkup. Your soul will do that too. But you’ve got to pay attention to the signals! Don’t wait until you have a spiritual, moral, emotional or relational breakdown before you stop and pay attention.


When your soul’s thirst is not quenched and its needs are not met, it will seek relief some other way, often a way that will hurt you. You must know when to say ‘when’. Most of us don’t take breaks that enable us to ‘restore our souls’.


We’re ensnared by guilt, as if stopping would somehow be irresponsible. Or we fear losing ground because we took a minute for ourselves. One of the hardest things in life to achieve is not success, but a sense of balance. So in all your goal-setting and ‘go-getting’, don’t forget your soul. Even God rested (Genesis 2:2).




And if He did, then you need to also. The power of rest is that it allows you to enjoy the journey of life and not just the destination. Indeed, if you don’t learn to walk in the park by choice, you may end up in the hospital by necessity. When God ‘makes you lie down in green pastures’, enjoy them. When He ‘leads you beside the still waters’, it’s to refresh and restore you.


So practise soul care!


s 1-2, 2 Cor 11

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TODAY'S WORD FOR TODAY





Turn the Other Cheek
‘…If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.’

Matthew 5:39
The UCB Word for Today - 5 Sep 2015




There are two ways you can respond to negative criticism. If there’s truth in it, humbly accept it and grow through it.



If not, practise what Jesus taught: ‘You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say…If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also’ (vv 38-39 NLT). Sometimes a person’s criticism may actually have nothing to do with you at all; they simply feel cheated by life. And rather than take control of their heart’s dreams, they go around trying to squelch other people’s dreams in an attempt to drag them down to their own level of despair.



And while it’s tempting to want to retaliate and point out their weaknesses and failures, that’s not the example Jesus set for you. Nor is it the high road you are called to take. ‘Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable.



Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone’ (Romans 12:17-18 NLT). What does it mean to turn the other cheek? It means don’t let your critics get under your skin. Simply listen to them, thank them, and take their criticism with a grain of salt.



Save your time and energies for those you trust, those who love you enough to tell you the truth even when it hurts. Someone has said, ‘You owe nothing to a critic!’ Actually, you do. Jesus said, ‘…Pray for those who persecute you!’ (Matthew 5:44 NLT).




Is 3-4, 2 Cor 12