UCB Word For Today

Holy Communion Jul 10, 2026 121 Here are three reasons you need to partake of Holy Communion: 1) To make you grace-minded. No one will ever stand in heaven and say, ‘Look what Jesus and I have accomplished.’ If you had to pay one penny of your debt of sin, it would make you a co-redeemer with Christ. What an offence to the cross! (See Ephesians 2:8-9.) Hymnist Horatio Spafford wrote: ‘My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious though

Reprogramme and renew your mind Jul 9, 2026 123 Neuroscientists tell us that every sound, every experience, every conscious thought, and every subconscious dream is recorded and literally engraved on our external hard drive, the cerebral cortex. Now juxtapose that with this: ‘Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2:5 NKJV). Simply put: the mind of Christ is the Word of God. After all, Jesus is ‘the Word’ (John 1:1

God loves and accepts you Jul 8, 2026 115 Jimmy Wayne never knew his father, and his mother spent more time in prison than out. When Jimmy was twelve, his mother was released from jail and took up with a troublemaker. They loaded him into the back seat of their car, and for a year that was his home. Then one day, they dumped him at a Pensacola, Florida, bus station and drove off. He had no home, no future, and no provision. While wanderin

More responsibility calls for more prayer Jul 7, 2026 123 In the early days of America, a stranger asked how he might identify George Washington among those present at Congress. He was told, ‘You can easily distinguish him when Congress goes to prayer. Washington is the gentleman who kneels down.’ Washington was known as a man who prayed. When the fate of the new nation hung in the balance at Valley Forge, he frequently found rest and relief in prayer. O

Have you prayed about it? Jul 6, 2026 113 From the beginning of the Bible to its conclusion we see absolute evidence that God answers prayer. Things that we think are impossible, God does when people pray! When we pray, we align ourselves with the purposes of God and tap into the power of the Almighty. Because we pray, God works through us in ways He wouldn’t otherwise. God has made certain things dependent upon prayer, things that will n

How to have a good day Jul 5, 2026 121 In Western culture, we think of a day beginning when the sun comes up. But the creation account says: ‘The evening and the morning were the first day’ (Genesis 1:5 NKJV). Each day began with evening. Author Eugene Peterson noted that in this way, the biblical writers help us to remember: ‘Everything doesn’t depend on me. I go to sleep; God goes to work. It’s His day. The world keeps spinning, tide

Exercise patience Jul 4, 2026 121 Patience, from the biblical perspective, embodies these four things: 1) Confidence in God’s unfailing love and faithfulness to us: ‘His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness’ (Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV). 2) Confidence that He will keep His promises to us: ‘There has not failed one word…which He promised’ (1 Kings 8:56 NKJV). 3) Confidence that He has everythi

Before you get married Jul 3, 2026 123 Here are three things you should be clear about before you commit to a lifetime relationship in marriage (if you’re not in this situation yourself, perhaps you could use these points to guide your prayers for others): 1) Does your partner have a strong relationship with Christ? ‘Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?’ (Amos 3:3 NLT). To stay together, you must walk in step

With God’s help, you’ll succeed Jul 2, 2026 129 Some of the world’s greatest achievers went through life with physical disabilities and overcame incredible adversities. Sir Walter Scott was disabled. John Bunyan, author of The Pilgrim’s Progress, was imprisoned. George Washington, America’s first president, almost froze and starved to death in the snows of Valley Forge. Abraham Lincoln played a critical part in ending the scourge of slavery in

Spiritual pathways (6) Jul 1, 2026 125 The contemplative pathway. If you relate to God best through the contemplative pathway, you love large blocks of quietness and uninterrupted time alone. It is very likely that when you were a child, your parents would tell you to go outside and play with other kids more. Reflection comes naturally to you. You often feel like an observer in life. Here are some Scriptures you easily identify with: ‘

Spiritual pathways (5) Jun 30, 2026 119 The activist pathway. When you’re on this spiritual pathway, you have a high level of energy. This may be one of your favourite Scriptures: ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might.’ But one of the dangers of relating to God best through the activist pathway is that a big chunk of your motivation can be self-fulfilment and self-satisfaction. Hence Paul wrote: ‘Since you are so eager

Spiritual pathways (4) Jun 29, 2026 116 The worship pathway. When you’re on the worship pathway, you resonate with the psalmist: ‘I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”’ Something deep inside you feels released when praise is given. Your heart opens up and you come alive. You find yourself in tears, sometimes in moments of deep joy, because God seems so close. But here are two cautions if you’re on this

Spiritual pathways (3) Jun 28, 2026 122 The serving pathway. On the serving pathway, you find God’s presence seems most tangible when you’re helping others. You identify with the words of Jesus: ‘Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these…you did it to Me’ (Matthew 25:40 NKJV). And you may find that you are uncomfortable in a setting where you don’t have a role to play or a service to perform. An example of this would be Dorcas

Spiritual pathways (2) Jun 27, 2026 118 The relational pathway. People who follow the relational pathway find that they have a deep sense of God’s presence when they are involved in significant relationships. Jesus’ words, ‘For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20 NKJV), makes perfect sense to the relational type. If you are on the relational pathway, you may feel guilty wh

Spiritual pathways (2) Jun 27, 2026 108 The relational pathway. People who follow the relational pathway find that they have a deep sense of God’s presence when they are involved in significant relationships. Jesus’ words, ‘For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them’ (Matthew 18:20 NKJV), makes perfect sense to the relational type. If you are on the relational pathway, you may feel guilty wh

Spiritual pathways (1) Jun 26, 2026 122 A spiritual pathway has to do with the way you most naturally sense God’s presence and experience spiritual growth. We all have at least one pathway that comes most easily to us. And there’s enormous freedom in identifying and embracing your spiritual pathway. It means you can focus on relating to God in that way. For the next few days, let’s look at some different spiritual pathways and see which

Permissible or beneficial? Jun 25, 2026 119 God can deliver you from anything in a single day, but you’ve got to back it up with daily discipline. If you don’t practise spiritual discipline day in and day out, your deliverance will be short-lived. You’ll fall back into whatever it was that God delivered you from. Anybody can set a life goal; the hard part is going after it every day. You get into shape one workout at a time. You get out of

Rahab: redeemed and redirected Jun 24, 2026 134 Much could be said about Rahab without mentioning her profession. She was a Canaanite. She provided cover for the spies of Joshua. She came to believe in the God of Abraham before she ever met the children of Abraham. She was spared in the destruction of her city. She married a contemporary of Joshua’s, bore a son named Boaz, had a great-grandson named Jesse, a great-great-grandson named David, an

Always acknowledge your dependence on God Jun 23, 2026 126 In his classic book called Prayer, Dr O. Hallesby wrote: ‘Prayer and helplessness are inseparable. Only those who are helpless can truly pray…Prayer therefore consists simply in telling God day by day in what ways we feel helpless. We are moved to pray every time the Spirit of God…emphasises anew to us our helplessness, and we realise how impotent we are by nature to believe, to love, to hope, to

Raise the bar Jun 22, 2026 145 After David killed Goliath, four other men, including his nephew Jonathan, killed giants that rose up against the Israelites. ‘In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot – twenty-four in all. He was also descended from Rapha. When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David’s brother, killed him’ (2 Samuel 2

Be a father Jun 21, 2026 128 In 1985 Tim Burke saw his boyhood dream come true when the Montreal Expos baseball team took him on as a pitcher, giving him an annual salary of $600,000. (Back then, that was big money for a player.) After four years in the minor leagues, he was finally given a chance to play in the big leagues. And he quickly proved his worth by setting a record for the most relief appearances by any rookie pitc

Keep running! Jun 20, 2026 115 The Bible likens the Christian life to a marathon. The writer of the book of Hebrews said: ‘Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured’ (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV). Paul wrote to the Philippian believers: ‘The

Resurrect your dream Jun 19, 2026 119 God is the giver of dreams. ‘For God does speak…in a dream, in a vision…when deep sleep falls on people’ (vv. 14-15 NIV). Unless you want to spend the rest of your life being unfulfilled and uninspired, take your dream out of the closet and blow the dust off. It’s easy to get caught up in the ‘have tos’ of life – working; caring for children, spouses, and ageing parents; taking care of homes, etc.

Stay positive Jun 18, 2026 133 Marcial Losada is an organisational psychologist who studies the power of positivity. He argues that we need a negative feedback loop to survive. Without midcourse corrections, we mindlessly make the same mistakes. But if you want to thrive, you also need a positive feedback loop. His studies have produced what is known as the Losada ratio: it’s the ratio of positive feedback to negative feedback

Pray about it Jun 17, 2026 115 Fanny Crosby, the noted hymn writer, said she never attempted to write a hymn without first kneeling in prayer. Given that she wrote about 8,000 songs, she was obviously a woman of prayer! Beloved hymns such as ‘Blessed Assurance’, ‘To God Be The Glory’, and ‘I Am Thine, O Lord’ were born from times of prayer. But like many creative people, she was often under pressure to meet deadlines. One time

You can outgrow the problem! Jun 16, 2026 117 Before leaving the leaders of the church at Ephesus for the last time, Paul told them: ‘The Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy’ (vv. 23-24 NKJV). There are two ways to deal with a problem: 1) Pray and believe God to remove it, like He did wi

God has more in store for you Jun 15, 2026 125 The Lord charged the church at Ephesus with having ‘left your first love’ (see Revelation 2:4) and the church of Laodicea with being ‘neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm’ (see Revelation 3:15-16). R.T. Kendall said, ‘The greatest opposition to what God wants to do next comes from those who were on the cutting edge of what God did last.’ Read the following Scriptures carefully and prayerfully: ‘Do n

You can pull down that stronghold Jun 14, 2026 128 Just as Jericho was a stronghold in Canaan, we have strongholds in our lives. Paul wrote: ‘The weapons of our warfare are…mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God’ (vv. 4-5 NKJV). A stronghold is an ‘argument’ or a ‘high thing’ that ‘exalts itself against the knowledge of God’. It is a conviction, outloo

Don’t give up; keep going! Jun 13, 2026 133 Someone said: ‘The secret of success is to be like a duck – smooth and unruffled on top, and paddling furiously underneath.’ Niccolò Paganini, the well-known nineteenth-century violinist, illustrated the truth of this. His most memorable concert was marked by ‘furious paddling under the surface’ rather than easy success. The concert was performed with a full orchestra before a packed house in Ital

Pray for a revelation of God’s love (3) Jun 12, 2026 132 Paul asked: ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?’ And the answer is nothing! Then he came up with a laundry list of worst-case scenarios, from trouble to danger and anything in between: ‘Trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword’ (NIV). When Paul wrote ‘hardship’, he was back in the Mediterranean Sea during a terrible typhoon. ‘Persecution’ pinged his

Pray for a revelation of God’s love (2) Jun 11, 2026 123 Thomas Aquinas was one of the most prolific writers and thinkers of the Middle Ages. His Summa Theologica is one of history’s most exhausting and enduring theologies. But Aquinas never finished it because of something that happened on 6th December 1273, that caused him to give up writing. ‘All that I have written seems to be like straw,’ Aquinas said, ‘compared to what has now been revealed to me.

Pray for a revelation of God’s love (1) Jun 10, 2026 127 In the realm of general relativity, an event horizon is the point of no return. It’s the point at which gravitational pull becomes so great that it’s impossible to escape. The most obvious example is the black hole – a celestial object so massive that light can only enter but never exit its gravitational field. The escape velocity of a black hole is greater than the speed of light, which is imposs

God’s answer to anxiety (1) Oct 18, 2025 116 Anxiety is the curse of the modern era, but it’s not a new trend. Throughout Scripture, Jesus talked a lot about anxiety, stress, and fear. In fact, He mentioned them repeatedly in His teachings. In Matthew 6:25-27, He said, ‘Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or…what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; the

Be guided by wisdom, not impulse Mar 26, 2025 131 If you are impulsive, you tend to lack discipline. You can be thoughtless, or insensitive to others, or driven by appetite. You may have a hard time with delayed gratification. You have a low frustration tolerance. You get bored easily. You can fly off the handle. If this describes you, here are six principles you should try to incorporate into your life: 1) Ask counsel from wise friends before pl

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