Archives by: Gary Hoag

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. Psalm 125:1

“The more you abandon to God the care of all temporal things the more He will take care to provide for all your wants. But if on the contrary you try to supply all your needs Providence will allow you to continue to do just that, and then it may very well happen that even necessity will be lacking to you. For God will reprove you for your lack of faith in reliance on self.”

Jean-Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Gratitude.

When we have needs, we must trust in God rather than ourselves to sort them. He whose reliance on self will find a fruitless existence, but the one who depends on God’s providence will have his or her needs supplied.

Where are you on this matter? Whom do you trust to supply your needs and wants? The answer reveals where you place your trust. We cannot be generous unless we abandon to God the care of all things.

IF this seems difficult, start with a step. Trust God for orange juice or coffee. For something small, and see what He can do. As I convene with the world in Cape Town, my highest prayer is that all learn to trust in Him.

He’s good and faithful. His love endures forever. Those who trust in His love, His kindness, His provision, are not shaken, but rather endure with stability and abundance because of His goodness and generosity.

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:15-16

“Would that I could exhaust myself in acts of thanksgiving and gratitude towards this Divine Heart, for the great favor He shows us, in deigning to accept our help to make Him known, loved and honored; He reserves infinite blessings for all those who devote themselves to this work.”

Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Gratitude.

Today is the GTP board meeting. It happens in anticipation of the arrival of the regional facilitators and special guests from around the world. But I have much work to do today. There are funding needs and reports to finish, etc… but God is telling me this morning to be thankful.

He’s beckoning me to rest in His peace and exhaust myself in thanking Him in gratitude for the great things He has done and is doing. Perhaps you are like me? Or like Martha instead of Mary in the Scriptures? You wrestle to rest and celebrate when there is work to be done. This is my challenge often.

God help me. He’s telling me to pause. To exhaust myself in His goodness and love, His blessings and favor. For example to rejoice in the news media coverage of Palmful of Maize. View it here. So, with much to do today, I resolve to start my day by worshipping Him in gratitude. Join me.

Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.” Joshua 3:5

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within Thy wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee.
From the malignant enemy defend me.
In the hour of my death, call me,
And bid me come to Thee,
That, with Thy Saints, I may praise Thee,
For ever and ever.

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) Anima Christi.

Today’s Scripture was on my mind yesterday as the GTP board arrived to Cape Town from around the world. We must consecrate ourselves to invite God to work among us. Anima Christi is a prayer of consecration that I am praying today for each of us here in South Africa, and for Daily Meditation readers around the world.

May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ sanctify us, save us, inebriate us, wash us, strengthen us, hear us, hide us, defend us and call us to Himself so that we may praise Him forever. Amen.

This line sticks with me today, as this global movement was started by Dan Busby whom the Lord recently called home: “In the hour of my death, call me, and bid me come to Thee, that, with Thy Saints, I may praise Thee, for ever and ever.” Join the celebration of his life which I will host on 21 October 2022. Click here to register.

One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, at three o’clock in the afternoon. And a man lame from birth was being carried in. People would lay him daily at the gate of the temple called the Beautiful Gate so that he could ask for alms from those entering the temple. Acts 3:1-2

“If we should be saved and become saints, we ought always to sit at the gates of the divine mercy to beg and pray for, as an alms, all that we need.”

Alphonsus Maria de Liguori (1696-1787) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.

Alphonsus got me thinking about the scene in today’s Scripture with this quote.

He’s right. Like the lame man in the text. We must see ourselves as helpless and imagine ourselves at the gate where our Lord dwells, asking for alms, all that we need. And, once we receive all that we need, we must in gratitude, give generously to all in need.

On this Lord’s day, let us pause to give thanks for the fact that when we were helpless, we got help because of divine mercy. And let us help others generously. Click here to view learn about the Palmful of Maize effort among the poor in Malawi.

This clip is what the national news station said about this vision spreading across Malawi. In their words, it’s breaking down the dependency syndrome. In so doing we are building disciples together.

If you want to give alms to help the work of GTP lifting up the poor in Malawi, click here to give. Even as God has helped you, give to help others in Jesus name.

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38

“Be steadfast, Christian giver: give what you may receive, sow what you may reap, scatter what you may gather. Fear not to spend, sigh not over the doubtfulness of the gain. Your substance grows when it is wisely dispensed. Set your heart on the profits due to mercy, and traffic in eternal gains. Your Recompenser wishes you to be munificent, and He who gives that you may have, commands you to spend, saying, “Give, and it shall be given to you.” You must thankfully embrace the conditions of this promise. For although you have nothing that you did not receive, yet you cannot fail to have what you give.'”

Leo the Great (c.400-461) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.

The conditions of the promise are clear. We must be people who give, sow, scatter the resources God has supplied to us without fear or sighing knowing that the Recompenser will sort our reward.

Soak in the truth that we must give what we have, and give that we may have.

Then practice it, understanding the conditions of this promise. Please make a gift to GTP today. Please understand the connection. We are empowering national workers to do this in the poorest places and it’s transforming communities.

Soon our video of Malawi will be available. You will see for yourself.

When people give what they have and that they may have, it causes renewal, revival, and recompense. This is not to become prosperous or wealthy but to gain true riches that can only be gained through obedience and sharing.

What are you waiting for? Give what you have, that you may have. Use the measure of what God has given you.

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Mark 10:46-52

“The best remedy for dryness of spirit, is to picture ourselves as beggars in the presence of God and the saints, and like a beggar, to go first to one saint, then to another, to ask a spiritual alms of them with the same earnestness as a poor fellow in the streets would ask an alms of us.”

Philip Neri (1515-1595) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.

I needed this post today. GTP has real needs, but I am realizing that more than staff or funding, I need deeper depth of insight. I need the remedy Neri speaks about. Perhaps you can relate?

Imagine if we everyone cared about gathering spiritual riches with the zeal that a beggar seeks alms, and with the zeal of Bartimaeus in today’s Scripture. We would be rich indeed.

May God help us, like Bartimaeus who was blind, have eyes to see Jesus for who He is and what He can do for us that no one else can do, regardless of the circumstances.

While six GTP staff have arrived in Cape Town (pictured above), we have other staff, regional facilitators, board members, and special guests awaiting passports, visas, and negative Covid tests.

Rather than worry or fear, I choose today to trust Jesus to have mercy on us, to teach us patience, and give us eyes to see His hand at work and His perfect plan unfold.

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Revelation 3:17-18

“You therefore, who are rich and wealthy, buy for yourself of Christ gold tried by fire; that you may be pure gold, with your filth burnt out as if by fire, if you are purged by almsgiving and righteous works. Buy for yourself white raiment, that you who had been naked according to Adam, and were before frightful and unseemly, may be clothed with the white garment of Christ.'”

Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200-258) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.

In modern times, with uncertainty in the global economic situation, we commonly hear the exhortation to buy gold. This implies putting the money you possess in the safest possible earthly investment that will not go down in value.

That word picture applied in antiquity as well. It came from Jesus in His letter to Laodicea recorded by John in Revelation. To hold wealth was equated with blindness, to buy gold was to put it in the right place.

Cyprian spells it out further in his ancient sermon to the early church. He maps how to buy gold: almsgiving and righteous works. And most interesting to me today is the purpose clause in the Scripture in the Greek. Why do this?

It actually has three parts. Firstly, so you can become rich. The generosity actually makes you rich, providing you with white clothes. This points to purity of faith that has been proven by actions.

Secondly, generosity helps cover your nakedness. You don’t hear this often. Our Lord sees everything. Don’t be exposed as naked of righteous acts. You are “covered” with Christ when you live, give, serve, and love generously.

Thirdly, generosity provides the giver with salve for the eyes to see. As you do it, you have the ability over time to be able to see rightly. To have the clear vision for what needs to be done. You only get it through giving.

So, give to the poor, not in a manner that creates dependency, but to build them up as disciples. Do this and you will buy gold, become rich, get covered by Christ, and have clear vision. Give to GTP. Join our work lifting up the poor.

Remember the exhortation to buy gold comes to us from Christ Himself. He’s not forcing us but inviting us. Those who hear and obey find the life they are looking for, the life they always wanted. Buy gold today.

But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you. Luke 11:41

“Satisfaction consists in the cutting off of the causes of the sin. Thus, fasting is the proper antidote to lust; prayer to pride, to envy, anger and sloth; alms to covetousness.”

Richard of Chichester (1197-1253) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.

The famous pop song, “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction,” reveals that we can have everything the world offers and miss the one thing we are looking. Satisfaction is the added benefit to choosing lives of confession, fasting, and alms giving.

To clean out lust, we fast. To erase pride, envy, anger, and sloth, we pray. To address covetousness, we give to the poor. The benefit for engaging these practices comes into view as a counterintuitive bonus: we actually get satisfaction.

So fast, pray, and give alms. Give them generously to the poor and gain even more not as a handout that creates dependencies but as hand up that builds disciples. As Jesus put it, everything will be clean for you. Do it for your good and God’s glory.

We have capture video and photos to report on Palmful of Maize from Malawi. It’s been a remarkable journey traveling all over Malawi over the past week. Pray for the next leg of my journey. Heading to South Africa today.

When it’s available, I will share the video and trip report from our unforgettable experiences capturing the spread of the remarkable vision of Palmful of Maize in Malawi. With you.

With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise Him. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them. Psalm 109:30-31

“There are many poor men and poor women: set apart some one constantly to remain there: let the poor man be though but as a guard to thy house: let him be to thee wall and fence, shield and spear. Where alms are, the devil dares not approach, nor any other evil thing. Let us not overlook so great a gain.”

John Chrysostom (347-407) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.

Read today’s Scripture again.

Notice, the Lord is so close to the poor that He stands at the right hand of the needy. As I journey in my walk with the Lord, I am realizing how much I need to have a poor person around me. Why? This seems odd you may ask.

Chrysostom gets what most of us, including myself, often miss. We find Christ in the poor as He Himself taught us.

Now read today’s meditation again and this time when says “the poor man” exchange it for “Christ” and discover the secret. Want Christ as guard to thy house? Want Christ as your wall and fence? Your shield and spear?

If you do, I will point the way. Give alms to GTP to serve the poor in Malawi.

We are praying for $80,000 to spread Palmful of Maize to the remaining 16 districts of Malawi. Stay tuned for a video to show the progress in 12 of the 26 districts.

Don’t overlook such great a gain.

Let Christ be as a guard to thy house! Christ sees your giving to the poor. We know this because He receives it as gifts to Him. Hold nothing back from our Lord Jesus Christ.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.” Matthew 2:13-15

“Do not complain then of your poverty, my daughter, we only complain of that which is unwelcome, and if poverty is unwelcome to you, you are no longer poor in spirit. Do not fret under such assistance as is needful; therein lies one great grace of poverty. It were overambitious to aim at being poor without suffering any inconvenience, in other words, to have the credit of poverty and the convenience of riches. Do not be ashamed of being poor, or of asking alms. Receive what is given you with humility, and accept a refusal meekly. Frequently call to mind our lady’s journey into Egypt with her holy child, and of all the poverty, contempt and suffering they endured. If you follow their example you will indeed be rich amid your poverty.”

Francis de Sales (1567-1622) in Saints’ Quotes: Holy Quotations for Purification of the Soul, Collection on Alms.

There’s a lot in this post, and it relates to all of us in general, and my situation in Malawi in particular.

To be called out of Egypt has often been understood by scholars narrowly as deliverance from slavery. This is quite accurate, but deeper study of Egypt reveals much more. Egypt was viewed in the ancient world as the place that had everything, not the least of which was the wealth of the world.

God called His Son out of that place to become poor so we might become rich. Soak in that.

Then consider the implications for your life. Most would describe leaving comfort and luxury as unwelcome. Alternatively, those who don’t leave affluence behind miss the point of our mission on earth. We are not here to accumulate wealth or store up treasures on earth. We are to enjoy and share blessings and use wealth to make friends for eternity.

Personally, I find myself in Malawi where people experience destitute poverty.

At GTP we celebrate that the Palmful of Maize program is bringing about nationwide mindset change from scarcity (focusing on what they don’t have) to abundance (giving thanks and using faithfully and generously what they do have). In plain terms, the mindset change moves them to be “rich amid poverty.”

Meanwhile many are rich who may be reading this but are no longer poor in spirit.

I am not pointing fingers but stating a fact and praying for mindset change in all who read this. And I am not ashamed to have insufficient resources to spread Palmful of Maize to 16 more districts (or states) in Malawi. At GTP, we want more than money, we want everyone reading this to have the mindset change. Become poor so that others might be rich amid poverty.

Put to work what you have in giving. Make a gift to GTP today.