On December 18, 1933, a curious ad appeared in a Canton, Ohio, newspaper: ‘Man Who Felt Depression’s Sting to Help 75 Unfortunate Families. Anonymous Giver Known only as “B. Virdot”, posts $750 to Spread Christmas Cheer.’ All the reader had to do was describe their plight in a letter and mail it care of ‘general delivery’. The appeals poured in. Oddly, no one knew a ‘B. Virdot’, and people wondered if such a person even existed. Then within a week, cheques began arriving in homes all over the area. Most were modest, about five dollars, and all were signed ‘B. Virdot’. Throughout the ensuing years as the story was told, the identity of the philanthropist remained unknown. Then in 2008, long after his death, his grandson opened a tattered black suitcase collecting dust in his parent’s attic. That’s when they found the letters dated December 1933, along with 150 cancelled cheques. Turns out that B. Virdot was really Samuel J. Stone, and the pseudonym was a hybrid of Barbara, Virginia, and Dorothy, the names of his daughters. Interestingly, there was nothing privileged about Sam Stone. He was fifteen when his family emigrated from Romania and settled in a Pittsburgh ghetto. Sam’s father hid his shoes so he couldn’t go to school, forcing him and his six siblings to roll cigars in the attic. Eventually, Sam left home to work on a barge and then in a coal mine. By the time the Great Depression hit he owned a small chain of clothing stores, and lived in relative comfort. Nevertheless, he had a heart for others – and his actions proved it. Can that be said about you?

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

A pastor writes: ‘Poll after poll has found that most people’s number one fear is speaking in public. Death ranks number two. That means some people would rather die than speak in public. Why? It’s the fear of looking foolish…But faith is the willingness to look foolish. Noah looked foolish building an ark in the desert. Sarah looked foolish buying maternity clothes at ninety. The Israelites looked foolish marching around Jericho blowing trumpets. David looked foolish attacking Goliath with a slingshot…The wise men looked foolish following yonder star. Peter looked foolish stepping out of the boat in the middle of the lake. And Jesus looked foolish hanging half naked on the cross. But that’s the essence of faith. And the results speak for themselves. Noah was saved from the flood. Sarah gave birth to Isaac. The walls of Jericho came tumbling down. David defeated Goliath…The wise men found the Messiah. Peter walked on water. And Jesus rose from the dead…The greatest breakthroughs, miracles, and turning points in Scripture can be traced back to someone who was willing to look foolish.’ Why? Read this Scripture: ‘“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts”’ (Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV). So here is your choice: live by earthly thoughts and ways and be accepted by people, or live by heavenly thoughts and ways and be accepted by God. When you see it from that perspective, your choice is clear.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

There is a time to be cautious and a time to throw caution to the wind. And it takes discernment to know the difference. If you’re waiting for perfect conditions before seizing an opportunity, you will be hesitating until you die. The Bible says, ‘He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.’ More often than not, the only thing between you and the fulfilment of your dream is an excuse: ‘I’m too busy…I don’t have enough money…I’m unqualified…I’m not ready yet…I have lots of problems.’ News flash: no one is ever ready. Immediately before Christ’s first miracle, he shows a hint of hesitation: ‘My time has not yet come’ (John 2:4 NLT). But Jesus had a mother who loved Him enough to persuade Him. In his book Jump In!, Mark Burnett writes about his path to TV-producer prominence. Burnett created hit shows like Survivor and The Apprentice. He writes: ‘Nothing will ever be…perfect, and nothing can be totally planned. The best you can hope for is to be about half certain of your plan and know that you and the team you’ve assembled are willing to work hard enough to overcome the inevitable problems as they arrive.’ Note the words ‘the best you can hope for is to be about half certain’. That’s a pretty good paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 11. So, don’t ‘observe the wind’, and don’t ‘regard the clouds’. After you have prayed and prepared, it’s time to trust God and take action.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Here is what Paul said about Epaphras, a disciple so obscure you probably don’t recognise his name: ‘Epaphras…is…always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God…he has a great zeal for you’ (vv. 12-13 NKJV). James writes, ‘Pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much’ (James 5:16 NKJV). To be fervent is to be passionate! Bishop Joseph Hall, a seventeenth-century Anglican minister, was once imprisoned in the Tower of London for his faith. He lived his final years on a farm in the country writing devotional classics. Here is what he remarked about prayer: ‘An arrow, if it be drawn up but a little way, goes not far; but if it be pulled up to the head, flies swiftly and pierces deep. Prayer, if it be only dribbled forth from careless lips, falls at our feet. It is the strength of [discharge] and strong desire that sends it to heaven, and makes it pierce the clouds. It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are; nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be; nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be; nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be; nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be; nor the divinity of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be – which God cares for. Fervency of spirit is that which availeth much.’ The Lord answers the prayers of those who pray passionately. So, get serious about prayer and give yourself fully to it!

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

True worship calls for being less self-conscious and self-absorbed and more God-conscious and God-absorbed. After watching him dance before the Lord, David’s wife gave him an earful: ‘How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!’ (v. 20 NIV). To which David replied, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me…he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel – I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become…undignified…humiliated in my own eyes’ (vv. 21-22 NIV). David provides us with a picture of pure worship. Worship is undressing. It’s taking off the things in which we find our identity and security outside our relationship with Christ. It’s a reminder that our own righteousness is like filthy rags in the sight of God. Worship is not about what we can do for God but what God has done for us. He has loved us, saved us, and clothed us in the righteousness of Christ. It’s the truth that inspired hymnist Charles Wesley to write, ‘O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise.’ The Bible says we can praise God in nine different ways: speaking, shouting, singing, clapping our hands, playing musical instruments, raising our hands before the Lord, kneeling, lying prostrate in His presence, and dancing before Him. David said, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth’ (Psalm 34:1 NKJV). And he tells us why. ‘I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears’ (v. 4 NKJV). So, the word for today is – worship with abandon.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

In 2 Samuel 6, David had just been crowned king of Israel. He had defeated the Philistines and recaptured Zion. Now he is bringing the ark of the covenant, the ultimate symbol of God’s presence among His people, back to Jerusalem. After years of living without it, the sight of it overwhelmed David with joy, causing him to strip off his kingly robes and dance before the ark with abandon wearing nothing but a loincloth. Yet, when you get excited about God, don’t expect everybody to get excited with you or understand your excitement. David’s wife, Michal, was such a person. The Bible tells us two things about her. 1) ‘Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart’ (v. 16 NKJV). 2) ‘Therefore Michal…had no children to the day of her death’ (v. 23 NKJV). Seemingly, worship is foolish, isn’t it? Singing to somebody you can’t see. Lifting up your hands to somebody you can’t touch. Or, in David’s case, failing to act with kingly dignity and decorum. An old proverb says, ‘Those who hear not the music think the dancer is mad.’ That’s what is going on in this story. David hears the music and worships God with abandon. Michal doesn’t and forfeits what she longs for most. Don’t miss the point here. When you discount the critics and naysayers and decide to worship God with all your heart, you begin to thrive spiritually. When you don’t, you end up spiritually barren.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

In his poem ‘The Road Not Taken’, Robert Frost writes, ‘Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.’ Sadly today, the road less travelled is honesty in small things and honesty in all things. According to Psychology Today, 70 per cent of US high school students and almost half of college students admit to cheating. USA Today stated that 91 per cent of Americans lie regularly. Our culture says, ‘If you want to get ahead, you have to break a few rules.’ But the Bible warns that ‘the little foxes…spoil the vines’ (Song of Songs 2:15 KJV). Solomon is referring to little sins that whet our appetite, distort our values, and lead to bigger sins. Bible commentator Matthew Henry writes, ‘Adam’s eating forbidden fruit seemed but a little sin, but it opened the door to the greatest.’ Are you being tempted to compromise your character? Tempted to deceive classmates? Pressured to be untruthful at work? Caught up in an ‘innocent little relationship’? Evangelist Charles Finney said, ‘A person who is dishonest in little things isn’t really honest in anything.’ Unless the small, secret areas of your life are governed by your convictions, you endanger them to corruption from your compromises. One of the greatest promises made in Scripture is to those who are faithful in small things. ‘Well done…you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things’ (Matthew 25:21 NKJV). Guard your thoughts; they become your deeds. Guard your deeds; they form your character. Guard your character; it decides your destiny.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Fanny became blind at six weeks old at the hands of a fake doctor. But her grandmother Eunice resolved that Fanny would never grow up feeling disabled or deprived. Eunice devoted years to training Fanny in all kinds of things – teaching her the Bible, assisting her in exploring nature, and enabling her to develop incredible powers of memory. Fanny memorised large sections of the Bible. From that treasury of Scripture, she later produced some of the best-loved hymns we sing today. ‘Blessed Assurance’, ‘To God Be the Glory’, ‘All the Way My Saviour Leads Me’, and ‘He Hideth My Soul’. In the Bible, Timothy had a grandmother named Lois, whose prayers and example helped mould him into none other than the apostle Paul’s successor. Paul writes, ‘I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother’ (2 Timothy 1:5 NKJV). Never underestimate the influence you have as a grandparent. As you pour yourself into your grandchildren, you may be moulding servants of the Lord. If you are a grandparent, claim this promise from the Scriptures: ‘One generation shall praise Your works to another, and shall declare Your mighty acts.’ Perhaps your children have disappointed you and failed to raise your grandchildren in the ways of the Lord. Don’t be discouraged, and don’t give up. ‘I sought for a man among them who would…stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land’ (Ezekiel 22:30 NKJV). Your prayers are God’s invitation and entry point into the lives of both your children and your grandchildren. So, ‘stand in the gap’, and believe God for the salvation of your family.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

Peter writes, ‘Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith’ (vv. 8-9 NLT). The word Christ means ‘the Anointed One’. So as a Christian, you are anointed by the same Spirit that rested upon Christ. Satan tempted Christ, and he will tempt you. Satan targeted Christ because he feared His destiny; likewise, Satan has discerned your destiny, and he’s out to stop you from reaching it. When he reminds you of the failures in your past, it’s to discourage you and keep you from reaching for the future God has in mind for you. Paul wrote, ‘He chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan’ (Ephesians 1:11 NLT). This means God has chosen you to fulfil a certain purpose, He has a specific plan for your life, and He is making everything work according to that plan. Satan also knows this, and that’s why his attack against you will never let up. C.S. Lewis said, ‘There is no neutral ground in the universe; every square inch, every split second, is claimed by God, and counter-claimed by Satan.’ There is no middle ground. It is only a matter of time before you must join one side or another. And it is preferable to predetermine your position with a decisive intention than have it selected for you by passive default. So each day, when you awake, dress for battle and prepare for attack knowing that in God’s strength you will win.

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.

In Scripture, we are commanded to love everyone, not trust everyone. Jesus is our example in this. ‘Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did…many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew human nature…what mankind is really like’ (vv. 23-25 NLT 2004). These words were not spoken concerning the crowd that followed Jesus but those who claimed to be His disciples. While Jesus gave Himself to them relationally and lived life with them, He knew that they were not perfect. He understood human nature, and He did not trust Himself to them in an unbalanced way. When you place in people the trust that should only be placed in God, you set yourself up for disappointment. We can only go so far in any human relationship; beyond that, we will likely be hurt. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that some people will never hurt us, only to be disappointed when they don’t live up to those standards. There are basically two types of people. The first are users. As long as your interests line up with theirs, they are trustworthy. The second are true friends. ‘A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity’ (Proverbs 17:17 NKJV). But because of human weakness, even true friends will let you down. So here are two good rules to live by: 1) When it comes to people, ‘trust but verify’. 2) When it comes to God, ‘trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths’ (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV).

© 2024. Written by Bob and Debby Gass. Used by permission under licence from UCB International.