Archives by: Gary Hoag

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1 Corinthians 15:10

“This is the word of St. Paul. He says, “All that I am, I am by the grace of God.” Now this sermon seems to rise above grace and being and understanding and will and all desire – so how can St. Paul’s words be true? The answer is that St. Paul’s words are true: it was needful for the grace of God to be in him, for the grace of God effected in him that the accidental in him was perfected as essence. When grace had ended and finished its work, Paul remained that which he was.”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) in “Sermon Sixty-Two” in The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, translated and edited by Maurice O’C. Walshe (New York: Crossroad, 1987) 424.

Each of us, like St. Paul, are what we are by the grace of God.

This word ‘grace’ means by the undeserving favor of God lavished on us through Jesus Christ, we are what we are. We are tools in His hand. We are conduits of His matchless love. We are messengers of divine hope. We are teachers of life-giving truth.

We are what we are because of Him. So, let us pause to worship.

Father in heaven, thanks for what you have made each of us by Your grace. Through Your Holy Spirit cause Your mercy, generosity, and love to flow through us. Make it so for me in China and readers everywhere. Hear our prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3

“To be poor in spirit, a man must be poor of all his own knowledge: not knowing anything, not God, nor creature nor himself. For this it is needful that a man should desire to know and understand nothing of the works of God. In this way a man can be poor of his own knowledge.”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) in “Sermon Sixty-Two” in The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, translated and edited by Maurice O’C. Walshe (New York: Crossroad, 1987) 423.

This post contains a profound paradox that is needful for all of us to grasp.

We must not try to figure God out. We must only trust Him. In so doing, His generosity of spirit replaces our poverty of spirit. We get the kingdom!

I have traveled halfway around the world to teach people about a God we cannot even begin to understand.

Someone said to me, “I am praying for the safety of the people you serve after you leave, Qingdao.” This is what those I will served have told me in advance.

“Gary, don’t worry about what will happen to us. Give thanks for what you will teach us. It will make what time God gives us more productive for the kingdom.” Pray with and for me that God will do His best work and convey living truth through me.

He wants to do it through you too. Surrender yourself in poverty of spirit. Watch His generosity work!

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

“Note the wondrous work that God performs in the soul, as it says, “What wonders shall come of this child?” It is needful that every tool is adequate to the work the craftsman performs, if that work is to be perfect: for man is God’s instrument, and the tool works according to the nobility of the craftsman.”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) in “Sermon Sixty-Two” in The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, translated and edited by Maurice O’C. Walshe (New York: Crossroad, 1987) 316.

It is remarkable that God works through people.

I am sure when He looks at each of us, He says, “What wonders shall come of this child?” Today we hear that it is needful that every tool is adequate for the work God has for us.

Think of the meaning of this. I am an adequate in the hand of God.

This tells me that I can do whatever He sets before me because I am but a tool in His hand. He is the Master Craftsman doing good through each of us. Doing things that He has prepared us to do.

I traveled to China today to do good work He has prepared for me. I did the next seven posts in advance because I will not have access to post until 4 February 2026.

The iconic Qingdao cityscape is pictured above in a stock photo.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10

“Now let me instruct you about virtue. Virtuous living depends in three points on the will. One thing is to resign one’s will to God, for it is needful to do fully what one then knows, whether in taking or in leaving. There are three kinds of will.

The first is sensible will, the second is rational will, the third is eternal will. The sensible will seeks guidance, so that one needs a proper teacher. The rational will means following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ and the saints, that is, so that words, deeds and way of life are alike directed to the highest end. When all this is accomplished, God will give something more in the ground of the soul, that is, an eternal will consonant with the loving commands of the Holy Ghost.

Then the soul says, ‘Lord, tell me what thy eternal will is.’ And then, if the soul has satisfied the condition we have just mentioned, and if God so pleases, the Father will speak His eternal Word into the soul.”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) in “Sermon Nine” in The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, translated and edited by Maurice O’C. Walshe (New York: Crossroad, 1987) 88.

Two days ago, surrender. Yesterday, orderly, understanding, and mindful service. Today, the path of virtue depends on resigning my sensible, rational, and eternal will to God.

I must seek guidance from God alone, walk in the footsteps of Jesus, and I figure it out as I live it out that I am here not to advance temporal but rather eternal purposes.

I think I am ready. I have had strategic meetings in Vietnam and head into China tomorrow. Are you ready for whatever next steps God has for you? Readiness links to resigning the will.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5

“Three things especially are needful in our works: to be orderly, understanding, and mindful. ‘Orderly’ I call that which corresponds in all points to the highest. ‘Understanding’ I call knowing nothing temporal that is better. ‘Mindful’ I call feeling living truth joyously present in good works.”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) in “Sermon Nine” in The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, translated and edited by Maurice O’C. Walshe (New York: Crossroad, 1987) 87.

Coming after the call to surrender yesterday, I feel I get the needful perspective for serving today: be orderly, understanding, and mindful.

By orderly, I must have my proverbial attachments in order and attach to God as highest. By understanding, I do well to detach from the temporal. And by mindful, if I am paying attention, I get to experience the living truth joyously present in my good works.

If I look closely into my heart, I see that sometimes my heart and mind can be disordered, I can lack understanding, and I can appear not at all mindful. God help me. God help other like me.

It seems to be orderly I must keep my focus on God. To grow in understanding, I must discern what God desires in every situation. And to be mindful, I must generously serve as the conduit of living truth.

This rings true for me in Asia and you too, wherever you are.

This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Matthew 3:3

“This above all else is needful: you must lay claim to nothing! Let go of yourself and let God act with you and in you as He will. This work is His, this Word is His, this birth is His, in fact every single thing that you are. For you have abandoned self and have gone out of your (soul’s) powers and their activities, and your personal nature. Therefore God must enter into your being and powers, because you have bereft yourself of all possessions, and become as a desert, as it is written, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Matt. 3:3). Let this eternal voice cry out in you as it listeth, and be as a desert in respect of yourself and all things.”

Meister Eckhart (c. 1260-1328) in “Sermon Three” in The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, translated and edited by Maurice O’C. Walshe (New York: Crossroad, 1987) 51-52.

Today I return to my word for the year – needful – in the writings of Meister Eckhart.

I have arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (pictured above) and asking God to prepare my heart for service. I feel him telling me that before I can tell others to make way for the Lord, it is needful for me to do it.

Absolute surrender is needful. It is needful to give God every portion of my being.

All of us can do this. Not just me sitting here in Asia. Before embarking on whatever is happening in your, it is needful to surrender yourself and everything to God.

Jesus, we surrender ourselves to you. Take care of everything. Amen.

In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Acts 20:35

“I shall never forget a man giving to me many years ago when I was in financial difficulties. I needed help and a business man said to me, ‘The Lord has told me to give to you, but before I do I want to show you how to give to others.’ It revolutionized my life… One of the passions of my life is to turn getters into givers.”

Selwyn Hughes in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 79-80.

What a fitting way to end this three-week exploration of this book! We have learned that the greatest form of helping people is to turn getters into givers.

How can you do this where God has placed you? It might mean teaching your children or grandchildren to give in tangible and basic ways. Can you think of others you can teach to give?

When this posts, I will still be in en route to Vietnam. Thanks for your prayers for my safe travel and spiritual growth spending time with the persecuted church and special people.

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

“Many years ago a Jewish Rabbi by the name of Moses Maimonides listed the 8 degrees of giving.

1. Giving grudgingly.
2. Giving willingly but less than one should.
3. Giving only when asked.
4. Giving what one should give without being asked.
5. Giving when the recipients know who gave but the giver doesn’t know who receives.
6. Giving when the giver knows who the recipients are but the recipients don’t know who the giver is.
7. Giving when neither the giver nor the recipient know each other.
8. When the giver helps the receiver give to others.

The last he called ‘service in the eighth degree’.”

Moses Maimonides (1135-1204) as cited by Selwyn Hughes in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 79.

Where do you see yourself on the scale? I find that lists like this challenge us and stretch us. Sit with the Holy Spirit and think of ways you can practice service up to the eighth degree.

And take a minute to pray for me. I will travel and serve in Vietnam, China, and the Philippines from 22 January to 5 February 2026 as part of my sabbatical growth to deepen my faith.

I can think of no way to grow deeper in my faith than to spend time with the persecuted church. So, when I got invited, I prayed and discerned that I should go.

This is not a GTP trip. I have had affiliate faculty status at Kairos University for a decade. I go as Professor of New Testament. I wrote a paper in 2024 which has been translated into Chinese.

It is entitled “Advice from the Apostolic Fathers on Christian Social Engagement in a Hostile World”. Click here to download it English and here for Chinese.

Pray this paper, written at the request of Chinese brothers and sisters two years ago, and my physical presence encourages those I serve. I appreciate your prayers for my safety and spiritual growth.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:24

“That which I spent, I had. That which I kept, I lost. That which I gave, I have.”

Selwyn Hughes in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 78.

Sometimes the shorter the meditation, the deeper the message. This one is a deep and profound as it gets. Would you put yourself in the had, lost, or have category?

The ‘had’ category tends toward spending. There is nothing wrong with spending on things for ordinary living. But marketers tell us that life is found in things. We must not be fooled.

The ‘lost’ category tends toward saving. These people prioritize saving money. We all need margin for uncertainty but it leads to saving for security. Such people do not grasp life because they can never save enough.

The ‘have’ category tends toward giving. These people work so they have resources to enjoy and share. They live simply so they can give generously. And they entrust their future to a faithful God.

Which one are you? Or which one do you want to be? The time to decide is today.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. 1 Timothy 6:6

“Contentment with basics equips us to resist the continuous barrage of advertising seeking to convince us that we are not able to enjoy life unless we buy some new gadget or service. Someone has said that contented people feel wealthy because they know that they already possess more than they need for daily living.”

Selwyn Hughes in Divine Mathematics: A Biblical Perspective on Investing in God’s Kingdom (Surrey, UK: CWR, 2004) 73.

While the theme of today’s post is contentment, the words “continuous barrage” struck me.

I noticed it because I invested an hour in prayer as part of a “continuous 24 hour prayer time” at our church. It had six stations: gratitude, intercession, contemplation, confession, lament, and worship.

It was a powerful time. See the photo of the six stations above.

The gratitude station from the start helped equip me to live my day and see my week from a place of peace and confidence knowing that in Christ I have everything I need to face whatever is in front of me.

The other stations touched me deeply as well. And then, upon leaving, I faced traffic.

The traffic reminded me of the continuous barrage of noise, distractions, and chaos that abounds in the world. But I have peace knowing that whatever I do and wherever I go. Christ is with me.

I pray that same contentment abounds in you – thanks to Jesus – despite the continuous barrage.