The Word for Today
With Bob Gass

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Forgive Because You Are Forgiven! God put His love on the line...while we were of no use whatever to Him. - Romans 5:8 TM

Telling of his experience as a Prisoner Of War, Ernest Gordon related how after work one evening a guard noticed a shovel missing. Insisting one of the prisoners had stolen it, he screamed for the guilty party to come forward. Then he prepared to kill them one by one till someone confessed. Suddenly a Scottish soldier broke rank, stood to attention and said, "I did it." The guard beat him to death on the spot. When he'd exhausted his fury the other POW's picked up their friend's body along with their tools and returned to camp. At that point the shovels were re-counted. The guard was wrong. None were missing!

What kind of person would take the blame for something he didn't do? Christ! We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for... how someone... noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put His love on the line for us by offering His son... while we were of no use whatever to Him (Ro 5:7-8 TM). Think about it, "God... piled... everything we've done wrong, on Him" (Is 53:6 TM), hence, the only "Mediator who can reconcile God and [man]... Jesus" (1 Ti 2:5 NLT). A mediator reconciles differences and negotiates agreements between two parties. At Calvary Jesus stood between God's anger and the punishment for our sins. Having lived the life we couldn't live, then taking the punishment we couldn't escape, He freely offers us redemption we couldn't afford.

Now the question is: if He so loved us, can we not love each other? Having been forgiven, can we not forgive? Having feasted at the table of mercy can we not share a few crumbs?

SoulFood Bible Readings: Ge 22:1-18, Mt 27:45-56, Ps 22, Is 53

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This message from The Word for Today came from Rhema Broadcasting Group Incorporated in association with The Vine, New Zealand. "The Word for Today"® is copyright © Bob Gass Ministries.

Used under 'limited copy' permission by:

The Word for Today
With Bob Gass

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Anybody Can Do It! Encourage one another. - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NIV

Chuck Swindoll writes:

The ski slopes were in perfect condition. I struck out on my first attempt at skiing with a positive attitude, thinking, 'I'm going to be the first person who learns to ski without falling down.' You've heard of the Elephant Man? On skis, I'm the rhinoceros man. It's doubtful anyone ever came down a ski slope more ways, or landed in more positions, or did more creative things in the air before landing.

Working with me that humiliating day was the world's most encouraging ski instructor (yes, I had an instructor!). Never once did she lose her cool, or laugh at me, or say 'You are absolutely impossible. I quit!' That dear, gracious lady helped me up more times than I can number. She repeated the same basics time and again - like she had never said them before. Even though I was colder than an explorer in the Antarctic, irritable, impatient, and under the snow more than I was on it, she kept offering words of reassurance.

That day God gave me a never-to-be-forgotten illustration of the value of encouragement. Had it not been for her spirit and her words, believe me, I would have hung 'em up and been back in the condo, warming my feet by the fire in less than an hour. What is true for a novice on the snow once a year is all the more true for people we meet every day. Harassed by demands and deadlines; bruised by worry, adversity and failure; broken by disillusionment and defeated by sin, they live somewhere between dull discouragement and sheer panic.

All of us need encouragement, and the beautiful part about encouragement is this: anybody can do it!

SoulFood Bible Readings: Job 32-34, Mk 1:1-8, Ps 55:12-23, Pr 8:19-21

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Tell your friends about The Word For Today e-mail service. If you've been encouraged by The Word for Today, then your friends will be too. NZ - Click here, UK - Click here.

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This message from The Word for Today came from Rhema Broadcasting Group Incorporated in association with The Vine, New Zealand. "The Word for Today"® is copyright © Bob Gass Ministries.

Used under 'limited copy' permission by: