April 7. Bob Gass. Bob preached his first sermon when he was 13, and he entered full-time ministry at the age of 18. He worked as a pastor, a guest speaker, and an evangelist before beginning his career as an author.
In 1994, at age 50, Bob produced the first edition of “The Word for You Today,” a daily devotional that now appears in print, on radio, on television, and on digital platforms.
Bob and his wife Debby built a transition home for orphans in Romania—the Village of Hope. It keeps orphans off the streets and out of over-crowded state-run orphanages and places them into homes with loving families.
Our potential is not determined by whether we see it, but whether we seize it.
At one in the morning, Bob Gass got a phone call from a friend. It was a friend he’d reached out to for advice and encouragement, and the caller had a word from the Lord.
Bob had been emotionally drained. He’d sunk to the lowest point in the darkest period of his life. He’d overextended himself, crashed, and gone up in emotional flames.
To keep up with the massive weight of commitments he’d taken on, he’d gotten addicted to chemicals, and the strain on his marriage had reached its breaking-point. A divorce he didn’t want. Things couldn’t get much worse.
It certainly wasn’t the life Bob had envisioned when he’d immigrated to America from Ireland to become a preacher. He wanted to preach the gospel and live for Christ. Now he wasn’t sure how God was ever going to be able to use him.
So Bob took a two-year hiatus from ministry. He went to godly men and asked for prayer, guidance, and encouragement. And—of course—God answered.
The friend called in the middle of the night with this core message: “The battle in your life is not over your past. It’s not even over your present,” (where Bob was currently living—defeated). “The battle in your life is over your future.”
It hit Bob like a sledgehammer. Satan was trying to destroy his future by stopping him from fulfilling God’s plans today. The revelation seemed like an out-of-body experience.
Something rose up within his spirit and latched onto the promise from God’s Word: “I will not die, but live, and tell the works of the LORD,” (Psalm 118: 17, NASB).
After that night, everything changed, and Bob’s been declaring the works of the Lord ever since.
Eventually Bob entered a new phase of ministry through writing. He published 3,500 copies of a booklet containing daily devotionals he’d written entitled The Word for You Today. Those 3,500 booklets initiated a mailing list of 600,000 readers, who wanted to receive more devotionals regularly.
The ministry grew until The Word for You Today reaches approximately 7.6 million people in 17 languages through print, Facebook, emails, and other digital means.
What if Bob Gass—at his lowest point—had decided that God was through using him? The truth is, Bob’s personal failures allowed him to connect with people in a profound and personal way. When Bob didn’t know why God would choose to use him, and he gave God all the credit for his success, his faith revived.
He often prayed: “Lord if You don’t help me do this, I’m sunk.” And he wrote several years ahead of schedule, so his devotionals would reach multitudes after his death.
God wasn’t finished with Bob, yet, and his faithful words still speak to hearts who need a ‘word for today.’ Bob once said “It’s up to you to take authority over Satan’s lies. Your potential doesn’t change because you don’t believe it.”
What might the devil be telling you to destroy your future usefulness for His service? Our potential is not determined by whether we see it, but whether we seize it.
BDN Obituaries. “Robert ‘Bob’ Gass.” BDNMaine. June 13, 2019. https://obituaries.bangordailynews.co .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9lFiWuY2Fg, UBC TV Interview with Bob Gass hosted by Gary Hoovliet, posted November 17, 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZS4aXfX93M A Tribute to Bob Gass, The Dove TV June 28, 2019.
https://vision.org.au/blog/2019/07/03/remembering-bob-gass/ Phil Edwards, Chief Executive Officer, Vision Christian Media, article—Remembering Bob Gass.
https://www.bobgass.com/ Bob Gass Ministries Website
Story read by Chuck Stecker
Story written by: Toni M Babcock, https://www.facebook.com/toni.babcock.1