Archives by: Gary Hoag

Fasting Day 17 of 40 | Third Monday of Lent

“The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you. So, he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.” 1 Kings 19:7-8

After Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel he fled into the wilderness. There he was told to eat twice to get strength from food and then have solitude. Henri Nouwen speaks to this topic.

“In solitude we can slowly unmask the illusion of our possessiveness and discover in the center of our own self that we are not what we can conquer, but what is given to us… It is in this solitude that we discover that being is more important than having, and that we are worth more than the result of our efforts. In solitude we discover that our life is not a possession to be defended but a gift to be shared… In solitude we become aware that our worth is not the same as our usefulness.”

Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) in Show Me The Way: Reading for Each Day of Lent (New York: Crossroad, 1992) p. 53.

Imagine the victory of Elijah. He could define himself by defeating 450 false prophets. No! His value was far greater than that. And so is yours! Think about how much Jesus loves you to journey to the cross for you.

Jesus, thank you for your matchless love for me. Amen.

You feasted yesterday as the journey is long. Sit in solitude today for at least seven minutes.

This is an aspect part of prayer for you to learn in Lent.

What does He say to you about your worth? Your usefulness? Just listen. Journal what you hear so you do not forget.

And a “Happy Birthday” shout out to my son, Samuel David Hoag. He turns 30 today!

For the kingdom of God you are unspeakably useful. Your victories are too many to count. But your worth to Jesus and to your family far outweigh all that. We love you.

Happy Birthday Sam! I see how you live your life as a gift to be shared. Stay the course.

Feast Day 3 of 7 | Third Sunday of Lent

“At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.” Deuteronomy 15:1

In the Old Testament Law, the command to cancel debts every seven years linked to helping the people reset their lives and not oppress each other. This is justice in practice. God supplies for all. Sometimes people get help from others in crisis. Sometimes people help others.

In the world, it goes the opposite. People hoard for themselves and aim to get rich. They idolize comfort and self-preservation. Sadly, most Christians live this way. God calls it injustice as all they have belongs to Him and came to them to accomplish His agenda, not theirs.

One of my favorite monks, Bernard of Clairvaux, writes. “O wretched slaves of Mammon, you cannot glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ while you trust in treasures laid up on earth: you cannot taste and see how gracious the Lord is, while you are hungering for gold.”

Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) in On Loving God, excerpt from Chapter 4, “Of those who find comfort in the recollection of God or are fittest for His love.”

What are you hungering for today?

What are you hungering for? It’s a feast day so that means I am hungering for a bison burger.

Seriously, you cannot say the cross of Christ if you have treasures stored up on earth. Why? You cannot fathom the generosity of God if you act as though riches will sustain you. Why, you have not experienced His matchless care firsthand. Jesus can see your finances right now. What would He say to you? Hear and obey.

Jesus, help me let go of earthly riches so I can hold onto You. Amen.

It’s a feast day! Celebrate the cross by making a gift from your assets.

Want to stretch yourself? Set a lifetime goal to storing up a certain amount of treasure in heaven. Keep track. See what happens.

Fasting Day 16 of 40 | Third Saturday of Lent

“Then Moses entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.” Exodus 24:18

Though Moses could retreat to the mountain for forty days and nights, how should the rest of us observe fasting when we receive guests?

Benedict of Nursia answers this question in his rule. “Let the divine law be read in the presence of a guest, that he may be edified; and after this let all courtesy be shown him. For hospitality’s sake the superior may break his fast, unless by chance it be a fast-day of obligation, the which cannot be violated: but let the brethren continue to observe their custom of fasting. Let the abbot serve water for the guests’ hands; and let both the abbot and also the whole community wash all the guests’ feet: and the washing finished let them say this versicle: “We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst of Thy temple.” And above all let care be scrupulously shown in receiving the poor and strangers; for in them specially is Christ received.”

Benedict of Nursia (c. 480-547) in The Rule of St. Benedict, trans. by W.K. Lowther Clarke (London: SPCK, 1931), p. 24.

Notice the focus. Break the fast when necessary to show hospitality guests, the poor, and strangers. Read the Word of God, feed them, and wash their feet. That means give them your best and not leftovers. Serve and receive guests as if you are receiving Christ into your home.

Jesus, help me welcome all guests as if I am welcoming You. Amen.

How do you welcome guests, the poor, and strangers into your life? Your schedule? Your home? Talk to those with whom you live about how you might generously welcome guests as if you are welcoming Christ.

Fasting Day 15 of 40 | Third Friday of Lent

“Where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.” Luke 4:2

In his Homily of Salvation, Thomas Cranmer writes. “For even the devils know and believe that Christ was born of a virgin; that He fasted forty days and forty nights without meat and drink; that He wrought all kind of miracles, declaring Himself very God: they believe also that Christ for our sakes suffered most painful death, to redeem us from eternal death, and that He rose again from death the third day: they believe that He ascended into heaven, and that He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, and at the last end of this world shall come again, and judge both the quick and the dead. These articles of our faith the devils believe, and so they believe all things that be written in the New and Old Testaments to be true: and yet for all this faith they be but devils, remaining still in their damnable estate, lacking the very true Christian faith. For the right and true Christian faith is, not only to believe that holy Scriptures and all the foresaid articles of our faith are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence in God’s merciful promises, to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ: whereof doth follow a loving heart to obey his commandments.”

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) in his Homily of Salvation, in Miscellaneous Writings and Letters of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, ed. by John Edmund Cox (Cambridge: University Press, 1846), p. 133.

In Lent we take hold of “true Christian faith.” It calls us to obey. For years, I did not obey Jesus related to many things. But fasting, prayer, and giving teach me to obey. They show me that only obedience leads to life. I figure it out only as I live it out. May the same be true for you.

Jesus, forgive me for believing while failing to obey You. Amen.

Do you believe but fail to obey in any ways? Journal with the Holy Spirit.

For example, related to money, I largely ignored the teachings of Jesus for years. I stored up treasures in the wrong place, and in so doing, I missed out on the life He desired for me.

Only through giving did I discover my role and take hold of life. But the giving must come from a heart of love.

As we find ourselves in the heart of Lent, this post by Cranmer aims to get our attention. It aims to make sure the disciplines produce in us a loving heart to obey his commandments.

Pray with me for this, for everyone reading this to develop a loving heart to obey His commandments.

Fasting Day 14 of 40 | Third Thursday of Lent

“After His suffering, He presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.’” Acts 1:3

After His resurrection, Jesus proved that His suffering defeated death by appearing to many over forty days. He also announced that His life inaugurated the kingdom of God. But it did not take long for people to start doubting. Early in the second century, Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of John the apostle of Jesus, wrote this in To the Magnesians.

“I want to protect you from being snagged by the fish hooks of worthless ideas. You should be fully convinced of the birth and suffering and resurrection that occurred in the time of the governor Pontius Pilate. These things were truly and certainly done by Jesus Christ, our hope. From this hope may none of you ever turn away.”

Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-c.107) in To the Magnesians 11.1 in The Apostolic Fathers I, ed. by Bart D. Ehrman (LCL 24; Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003).

Watch out for fish hooks of worthless ideas! The world is filled with them. They pull us away from Jesus, who is only idea worth making the object of our hope. Where do you place your hope? The world tells us to put it in money. Part of the reason we practice giving during Lent is to demonstrate where we place our hope.

Jesus, help me grow in giving and keep my hope in You. Amen.

Take time to assess your giving this past year. Make a list. Some do this to prepare to pay taxes. Sit with the Holy Spirit and your list. Ask how might you grow your giving during Lent and after to make known the kingdom of God to the world? And to keep your hope in Jesus.

Fasting Day 13 of 40 | Third Wednesday of Lent

“Your clothes did not wear out, and your feet did not swell during these forty years.” Deuteronomy 8:4

During the time of testing in the wilderness God sustained His people with manna and their clothing and shoes did not wear out.

Dallas Willard comments on this in The Divine Conspiracy. He writes. “It is significant that not only were needs for food in the desert met by the direct action of God, but also needs for clothing and shoes. The Israelites wore the same shoes and clothing, continuously renewed by God, for forty years (Deut. 8:4). That was a fundamental part of the training they received in kingdom living.”

Dallas Willard (1935-2013) in The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1998) p. 197.

That’s what Lent is for: training for kingdom living. We block forty days to give, pray, and fast so God can teach us things for life after Lent.

Think about our need for training. The world fills us with fear of the future. This limits our giving. We struggle to find solitude to have space for prayer. And the world tells us to appease our desires, which is the opposite of fasting. All the world offers leaves us unsatisfied and needy. But like He sustained His people for forty years, when we give, pray, and fast over forty days, He trains us to trust in His faithful care.

God, teach me to trust you to sustain and satisfy me. Amen.

As we start week three of Lent, think about which of the three disciplines you find it most hard to practice in Lent. Ask God for help. And talk to a trusted person and ask how they make practice that discipline to learn.

Fasting Day 12 of 40 | Second Tuesday of Lent

“Hazael went to meet Elisha, taking with him as a gift forty camel loads of all the finest wares of Damascus. He went in and stood before him, and said, “Your son Ben-Hadad king of Aram has sent me to ask, ‘Will I recover from this illness?’” 2 Kings 8:9

Hazael arrives with an extraordinary display – forty camel loads of wares – for Elisha, but he lacked ordinary morals. While the prophet proclaimed the king would recover, he also wept because he saw how Hazael would murder Ben-Hadad and do great harm to God’s people.

Some might appear generous and even participate in Lent but lack morals on the inside. In Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton speaks about this.

“Men (I felt) might fast forty days for the sake of hearing a blackbird sing. Men might go through fire to find a cowslip. Yet these lovers of beauty could not even keep sober for the blackbird. They would not go through common Christian marriage by way of recompense to the cowslip. Surely one might pay for extraordinary joy in ordinary morals.”

G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) in Orthodoxy (Grand Rapids: CCEL), p. 37.

In plain terms, while people may do grand things to experience rare beauty, true appreciation of good things in life calls for ordinary morals. In this case, virtues like sobriety and commitment.

Lent is an inward journey that develops morals within us. Let us sweep extraordinary displays from our lives and welcome ordinary morals.

God, develop ordinary morals in me on this Lenten journey. Amen.

Is there any part of your life where what appears on the outside is not the same as on the inside? Ponder in solitude. Ask God to work there.

Fasting Day 11 of 40 | Second Monday of Lent

“Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Jonah 3:4

God can do a lot in forty days. Jonah never dreamed that God could transform the hearts of the 120,000 people in the notoriously wicked capital of the Assyrian empire. These people could not “tell their right hand from their left” (Jonah 4:11). He underestimated God’s strength!

In Story of a Soul, Thérèse of Lisieux wrote about her forty days of fasting. “God granted me, last year, the consolation of observing the fast during Lent in all its rigor. Never had I felt so strong.”13

The paradox of the Christian journey Is that strength is found in surrender, in weakness, and in fasting. With thirty days of fasting left, I pray you observe it with rigor because the gain is unfathomable. When you fast, pray, and give with rigor during Lent, you get God in abundance. With Him comes discernment you never dreamed, peace amid peril, confidence to face any crisis, wisdom for your work, and help that multiplies hope. And that’s only the beginning.

Jonah ran the other way when God tapped him for his task. And God used a fish to get him to the right place. What does God want you to do? Don’t flee. Surrender Trust Him to give you incalculable strength.

God, exchange my surrender with your strength during Lent. Amen.

Journal on this: What does God want you to do that would only be possible with His strength at work in you?

Feast Day 2 of 7 | Second Sunday of Lent

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 2 Corinthians 11:24

Clement served as the first Bishop of Rome. Tertullian reports that the apostle Peter ordained him to service. Scholars call him the first of the Apostolic Fathers. Think of the Apostolic Fathers as the leading disciples of the first disciples. Today we learn about endurance from his first letter to the Corinthians, dated to 95 or 96. He was martyred in 99, by Emperor Trajan who had him tied to an anchor and thrown into the Black Sea.

“Through jealousy and strife Paul showed the way to the prize of endurance; seven times he was in bonds, he was exiled, he was stoned, he was a herald both in the East and in the West, he gained the noble fame of his faith, he taught righteousness to all the world, and when he had reached the limits of the West he gave his testimony before the rulers, and thus passed from the world and was taken up into the Holy Place — the greatest example of endurance.”

Clement of Rome (c. 35-99) in 1 Clement 10:5-7.

Notice that forty and seven appear in Paul’s example of endurance. Forty equates to a time of testing. Imagine the pain of getting the skin ripped off your back for Jesus Christ. Seven implies perfection and links to the number of times he was in bonds. If Paul or Clement could endure trials and even martyrdom to make Jesus Christ known, what can you endure?

Jesus Christ, help me endure all things to make You known. Amen.

With no risk, there is no reward! As you celebrate knowing Christ today, ponder what risks God wants you to take to make Jesus Christ known.

After my recent trip to China, I had a zoom meeting last night with three influential workers, my Chinese translator from USA, and two administrators from Kairos University.

We will make educational pathways available to persecuted workers in hard places. The president of Kairos, a long time friend, messaged me during the meeting, “Are you willing to go there multiple times to get this going.”

I prayed a simple prayer of surrender to the Father and heard “yes” in reply. So I messaged, “Yes, I am willing.”

And I am excited for my wife, Jenni. God has whispered to her to return to Ukraine for the fourth time during the war to teach again at the seminary in Lviv in April. I praise God for her willingness to risk for Jesus Christ.

What risks does God want you to take to make Jesus Christ known? It does not have to appear as going to a dangerous place. What if you risked by giving so generously you will have to trust Him to sustain you?

Fasting Day 10 of 40 | Second Saturday of Lent

“The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything.” Deuteronomy 2:7

The foundation for our giving, prayer, and fasting in Lent is the Word of God. Polycarp, urged the church in Philippi to return to the Word in a time when many pursued vanity and false doctrines. I think He would say the same to us today as materialism and heresy abound.

In Letter to the Philippians, Polycarp of Smyrna writes. “Wherefore, forsaking the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from the beginning; “watching unto prayer,” and persevering in fasting; beseeching in our supplications the all-seeing God to “not lead us into temptation.” As the Lord has said: “The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Polycarp of Smyrna (c. 69-155) in Letter to the Philippians 7:2, trans. By David Robert Palmer (2022 edition).

Why return to the Word, watch in prayer, and persevere in fasting? In this way, we lack nothing. In prayer and fasting we stand firm in what the Word teaches us. With these disciplines we strengthen our spirit.

Jesus, keep me from vanity and heresy as I return to the Word. Amen.

What is your discipline for Scripture reading? Did you know you can read most chapters in the Word of God in seven minutes. Try seven minutes of Scripture reading – one chapter – per day. Ask someone to join you. Hold each other accountable. Consider reading the same books and talking about what you learn and how the Word helps you.