Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'Bob Gass'.
-
FAITH - A Word for Saturday - 2 August 2014 "THE MESSAGE...DID NOT BENEFIT THEM, BECAUSE IT WAS NOT MIXED WITH FAITH." Hebrews 4:2 AMP YOUR FAITH IS A CATALYST A catalyst facilitates change; it makes things happen! For example, Alka-Seltzer without water has no effervescence, flour without yeast produces no bread, seeds without sunshine means no flowers, blue without yellow means no green, an egg without sperm means no baby, a spark without air produces no flame. Faith makes God's Word work in your life. Without it nothing happens. Talking about the Israelites, Paul said, "When the good news of deliverance...came to them...the message...did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith." One author says: "Without specific catalysts certain results can never be achieved. To make spiritual progress it's not enough to read the Bible or listen to sermons. The activating ingredient to understanding is faith. After we hear God's message we must act act on it. Maybe you're experiencing bitterness or anger because of a failed relationship and God told you to put those emotions behind you, but you lack the will to do it. Let me encourage you, trust God's Word and act in faith. His promises will bloom in your life once you activate your faith. "Faith" is not intellectual assent, or paying lip service to what you read in God's Word. It's acting on it, confident that God will do what He promised. There's a difference between faith and trust. You may believe a chair will hold you, but only when you sit down and put your full weight on it are you trusting it. Are you getting the idea..?
-
A WORD for Friday by Benjamin Franklin - 1 August 2014 "A TREE IS KNOWN BY ITS FRUIT." Matthew 12:33 NKJV THE ROOT AND THE FRUIT In a letter to George Whitefield, a leader of the Great Awakening, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "I can only show my gratitude for those mercies from God, by a readiness to help his other children and my brethren. For I do not think that thanks and compliments, though repeated weekly, can discharge our real obligations to each other, and much less those to our Creator. You will see in this my notion of good works, that I am far from expecting to merit heaven by them. By heaven we understand a state of happiness, infinite in degree, and eternal in duration. I can do nothing to deserve such rewards...The faith you mention has certainly its use in the world. I do not desire to see it diminished, nor would I endeavor to lessen it in any man. But I wish it were more productive of good works than I have generally seen it; I mean real good works; works of kindness, charity, mercy, and public spirit; not holiday-keeping, sermon-reading or hearing; performing church ceremonies, or making long prayers filled with flatteries and compliments...! The worship of God is a duty; the hearing and reading of sermons may be useful; but if men rest in hearing and praying, as too many do, it is as if a tree should value itself for being watered and putting forth leaves, though it never produce any fruit." In aiming to declare that salvation is by grace and not works, never forget that saving faith always produces good works..! Faith is the root of salvation; but deeds of generosity and kindness are the fruit of salvation-- and "a tree is known buy it fruit."
-
A Word for Wednesday, 30 July 2014 "IF YOUR GIFT IS TO ENCOURAGE OTHERS, BE ENCOURAGING." Romans 12:8 NLT ENCOURAGEMENT--IT'S A POWERFUL THING Many a man and woman who quit would have kept going if they had just received a word of encouragement from someone. Encouragement is so vital that the Scriptures rank it up there with gifts like teaching and leadership (See Romans 12:6-8). Here are two stories that illustrate the power of encouragement. Story one: Not long ago the world watched as three gray whales, icebound off Point Barrow, Alaska, floated battered and bloody, gasping for breath at a hole of the ice. The whales' only hope was to be somehow transported five miles past the icepack to the open sea. Rescuers began cutting a string of breathing holes about twenty yards apart in the six-inch-thick ice. For eight days they painstakingly coaxed the whales from one hole to the next, mile after mile. Along the way one of the trio vanished and was presumed dead. But finally, with the help of Russian icebreakers, the other two whales, Puto and Siku, swam to freedom. Story two: Jackie Robinson was the first black player in the U.S. to play major league baseball. While breaking baseball's color barrier, he faced jeering crowds in every stadium. Playing one day in his home stadium in Brooklyn, he made an error and his own fans began to boo him. As he stood, humiliated, at second base, "Pee Wee" Reese came over and stood next to him. He put his arm around Robinson and they faced the crowd together. The fans grew quiet; the game continued. Robinson later said that arm around his shoulder saved his career! Encouragement--it's a powerful thing. So, who can you encourage today..? May Almighty God bless everyone here on Dinar Vets with Encouragement, Faithfulness, and Provision...! RON
-
A WORD for Tuesday - 29 July 2014 "HE WILL REWARD EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO WHAT HE HAS DONE." - Matt 16:27 NIV IT'S UP TO YOU The Bible says, "For the Son of Man is going to come in His Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." Let's be clear: how you live now will determine what happens to you after you die. The choices continue to matter throughout eternity. Your eternal destination is determined by what you believe, but your eternal reward is the result of how you behave. If you believe that and live accordingly, it will change how you think about life, how you think about God, indeed what you do one minute from now. God wants you to know that the positive consequences of your actions today can change your eternal prospects in astounding and wonderful ways, and He doesn't want you to waste another minute. You don't have to worry what awaits you on the other side of your last heartbeat. Others don't decide that--you do! When the truth of this hits you, you'll say, "I can't believe I've prepared for my children's future and my own retirement, but not given a thought to my real future!" One man put it like this: "I've always thought about finishing well. Now it turns out that death is just the starting gate." The truth is that you can't do anything about your past, but starting right now you can change your future--one choice, one day, one act at a time. It's up to you...!
-
A Powerful WORD for Sunday - 27 July 2014 "WHOEVER DESIRES TO BECOME GREAT AMONG YOU SHALL BE YOUR SERVANT." - Mark 10:43 NKJV SIMPLY SERVING (2 OF 3) Pilate had an opportunity to acquit Jesus of any wrongdoing, but instead he called for a basin and washed his hands of the entire matter. His attitude was, "I'm not getting involved." And a lot of people have that same attitude - But not Jesus...! The night before His death He called for a basin of water and washed His disciples' feet. He taught them: "Whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant" (Mark 10:43 NKJV). Peter objected because foot-washing was a duty designated to the lowest servant in Middle Eastern households, and he considered it beneath Christ's dignity. Catherine Marshall writes: 'We, the disciples, are to be the servants.' I want to insist along with Peter. But Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me' (John 13:8 NKJV). This is a stunning and stupendous thought. Unless I can believe in this much love for me, unless I can and will accept Him by faith as my servant as well as my God, unless I can truly know that it's my good He seeks...then I cannot have His companionship." This is so contrary to the world's philosophy where everybody wants to lead and nobody wants to serve. But to be like Jesus is to be a servant, for that's what He called Himself. Never have goals so lofty that they blind you to the needs of those around you. Without a servant's heart, you'll be tempted to use your gift for personal gain, or to exempt yourself from areas you consider beneath you. The truth is, the only way to serve God is by serving those He loves.
-
A WORD for Saturday - 26 July 2014 "THROUGH LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER." Gal 5:13 NKJV SIMPLY SERVING (1 of 3) Bill Wilson builds Sunday schools in some of New York City's worst areas. He has been stabbed and shot, and had team members killed. A Puerto Rican lady who could barely speak English said to him one day, "I want to do something for God, please." Bill said, "Okay, ride a different Sunday school bus every week and just love the kids." So she rode different buses--Bill has dozens of them--and loved the children. After several months she became attached to one little boy. "I don't want to change buses any more. I want to stay on this one," she told Bill. The boy came to Sunday school every week with his sister and sat on the lady's lap, but never made a sound. She would repeatedly tell him, "I love you, and Jesus loves you." One day to her amazement, he turned around and stammered, "I...love you too." Then he gave her a big hug. That was at two-thirty on a Sunday afternoon. At six-thirty that night the boy was found dead in a dumpster under a fire escape. His mother had beaten him to death and thrown his body in the trash. "I love you, and Jesus loves you." Those were some of the last words that little boy heard in his short life--from the lips of a Puerto Rican woman who could barely speak English. Bill says, "Who among us is qualified to minister? Who among us even knows what to do? Not you, not me. But I ran to an altar once and got some fire and just went from there. So did this woman who couldn't speak English.....And so can you...!" Bob Gass
-
A WORD for Friday - 25 July 2014 "GIVE ME LIFE THROUGH YOUR WORD." Ps 119:37 "THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET" Jane Johnson Struck set out on a frigid winter evening to deliver dinner to the family of a friend who had died. Snarled in traffic and juggling an already overloaded schedule, she was feeling sorry for herself--and irritated when she arrived and found nobody home. Using her cell phone to let them know she'd been there, she was dumbfounded when the answering machine kicked in and a familiar voice started singing: "Grab your coat, collect your hat, Leave your worries on the doorstep; Life can be so sweet on the sunny side of the street." It was her friend Annie, the one who died after a prolonged battle with breast cancer, leaving three kids and a grieving husband. Struck writes: "People who'd been touched by Annie's larger-than-life personality, perseverance, and testimony in the face of grueling and unfair circumstances, hadn't expected to hear her voice on the machine. Her indomitable spirit amazed me...she'd talked openly about her prognosis, yet never hesitated to give God glory for the grace and peace she experienced. She knew that life with Jesus, come what may, was a walk on the sunny side of the street." The Psalmist prayed, "Give me life through your word." Struck continues: "As I listened to Annie's voice on the machine...even in death God used her life to challenge me. I drove home pondering how He illuminates the darkest journey...how pity parties keep me from savoring life's sweetness...then asking forgiveness for my selfish attitudes. It was a powerful reminder that one day life will be complete on the sunny side of the street...in heaven, where there's no darkness, disease or death." Bob Gass