Archives by: Gary Hoag

I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:11

“The word “remember” is one of the most repeated and significant words in the whole Bible. To remember something is quite different than memorizing something… To remember something is to reattach to it in practical ways. Memorization is a brain activity; remembering requires soul-level engagement…

I like how the English Standard Version translates this text… This “storing up” comes from the Deuteronomy 6:4-9 every day—all the time—when I lay down—when I rise up—when I walk along the road—Word of God way of life…

Note the purpose listed in Psalm 119:11: “that I might not sin against you.” In this instance, the Hebrew word for sin means, “missing the mark.” We tend to read this in a behavioral and moralistic framework (i.e., we hide God’s Word in our hearts to keep us from misbehaving).

There is a better framing.

We hide God’s Word in our hearts so we might hit the bullseye of the target for our lives. We hide God’s Word in our hearts so our lives will be filled with joy and resplendent with the glory of God. We hide God’s Word in our hearts because this is the one in whose image we are created and for whose purposes we are crafted.”

J.D Walt in “Learning to Rememberize the Word of God” The Seedbed Daily Text on 9 January 2020. J.D. Walt is a dear friend. I read this regularly. Click here to subscribe.

Want to hit the bullseye of the target for your life?

Don’t store up treasures on earth, though that is precisely how the world measures success. Store up the Word of God in your heart. As J.D. puts it, this is more than memorizing Scripture, it’s having soul-level engagement with it.

When we store up treasures on earth, our heart always follows them. When we store up the Word in our hearts, it changes how we think and act. One byproduct is that we grow in generosity. We fulfill the purposes for which we were created.

As the year gets going, and as we think about the word ‘remember’ as it relates to our living, giving, serving, and loving, perhaps take a pause as the week begins. Consider what you are doing to store up the Word of God in your heart.

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:8-10

“This is, precisely, how we deposit treasures in heaven on a daily, hourly basis. Not only can we have complete protection and security of our treasures in this way, but our life as a whole, our living, also now comes into proper alignment with reality. Our souls are now suited to deal with things because we see clearly. Our treasure focuses our heart. “Your heart will be where what you treasure is,” Jesus tells us (Matthew 6:21). Remember that our heart is our will, or our spirit: the center of our being from which our life flows. It is what gives orientation to everything we do. A heart rightly directed therefore brings health and wholeness to the entire personality.”

Dallas Willard in The Divine Conspiracy: Discovering Our Hidden Life in God (New York: HarperCollins Ebooks) 206.

We had a great Christmas yesterday. We played games, ate food, and spent the day together. We only exchanged a few gifts but the thoughtfulness linked to them showed deep love.

Professor Willard urges us to remember that our heart is our will, it gives orientation to everything we do, and it follows where we put the treasures we possess.

What I appreciated afresh in this reading was the notion that our daily doing good deposits real-time treasures in heaven. This reminder helps our hearts stay focused and brings us good health.

Feeling distracted or discouraged? Storing up treasures in heaven is not so much about making big gifts. It’s about persevering to do small good deeds daily.

This means all of us can do it. Generosity is not the size of our gifts but the posture of our hearts. And its nurtured not by holding on to treasure but by putting it to work.

Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. John 15:20a

“Why would God tell those whom He calls, that following Him will lead to persecution, trial, and tribulation? What if God knows something about this road of suffering that we don’t? What if it’s actually in the middle of suffering where He is nearest, where we come to know Him most intimately? If persecution, trial, and tribulation lead to those things, aren’t they worth it?

In God’s mysterious providence, I don’t know why it works this way, but I do know we can trust the Lord and experience His tender mercies even amid suffering. Don’t get me wrong, I am seduced by comfort and a quiet life as much as anyone, but I want to desire more of God regardless of what comes with it…

The way of the world looks easier, but it’s a fountain of unquenched desire. The way of Jesus looks harder, but it’s an ocean of joy and peace.”

Michael Blue in Free to Follow: Discover the Riches of a Surrendered Life (Thirsty Land Press: Austin, 2020) 118.

Today is Christmas.

Really, it is for us in two ways. I got this book in the mail that I was privileged to endorse. Opening the package was a celebration. Buy it. Read it. It’s a winner.

And, by God’s grace, our son, Sammy, and his wife, Emily, recovered from COVID. So, Jenni and I will finally get together with them and our daughter, Sophie, and her husband, Peter, today.

The presents have waited patiently under the tree.

What interesting times these are! We are seduced by comfort, as my friend Michael puts it. Yet, everything the world offers will never quench the deepest desires of our hearts.

Jesus invites us to take an alternative path, and calls us to remember the cost. We will likely be persecuted. How’s that for an invitation?

But Michael notices keenly that this path satisfies and leads to peace and joy. Want to discover the riches of a surrendered life?

Desire more of God regardless of what comes with it. Echoing our Lord Jesus, Michael reminds us that it will cost us everything, but the gain will be incalculable.

Generosity is taking this countercultural path and inviting everyone you know to come and die with you.

Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it. 2 Corinthians 8:24

“My spirit longed to be instrumental in strengthening their faith, by giving them not only instances from the word of God, of His willingness and ability to help all those who rely upon Him, but to show them by proofs, that He is the same in our day.

I well knew that the Word of God ought to be enough, and it was, by grace, enough to me ; but still, I considered that I ought to lend a helping hand to my brethren, if by any means, by this visible proof to the unchangeable faithfulness of the Lord, I might strengthen their hands in God; for I remembered what a great blessing my own soul had received through the Lord’s dealings with his servant A. H. Franke, who, in dependance upon the living God alone, established an immense Orphan-House, which I had seen many times with my own eyes.

I, therefore, judged myself bound to be the servant of the Church of Christ, in the particular point on which I had obtained mercy: namely, in being able to take God by His Word and to rely upon it.”

George Müller in A Narrative of Some of the Lord’s Dealings with George Müller (London: J. Nisbet & Sons, 1860) 145.

Why would the Apostle Paul want the Corinthians to demonstrate proof of their love and trust in God? When we see “visible proof” in others, it inspires us to “take God by His Word and to rely upon it.”

Most people demonstrate by their actions that their trust is in money rather than God.

It’s interesting to learn in church history the names of largely unknown people in inspired famous saints. Now we know why Müller was willing to depend on God; he saw A. H. Franke do it.

Who is watching you? Will your “visible proof” inspire them to depend on God? 

Müller touched over 10,000 orphans in his life. Some would say that’s unfathomable or impossible generosity. He would say it was only possible because he relied on God and served as a conduit of blessing.

Will we?

Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Psalm 25:6

“To be grateful for the good things that happen in our lives is easy, but to be grateful for all of our lives—the good as well as the bad, the moments of joy as well as the moments of sorrow, the successes as well as the failures, the rewards as well as the rejections—that requires hard spiritual work.

Still, we are only truly grateful people when we can say thank you to all that has brought us to the present moment. As long as we keep dividing our lives between events and people we would like to remember and those we would rather forget, we cannot claim the fullness of our beings as a gift of God to be grateful for.

Let’s not be afraid to look at everything that has brought us to where we are now and trust that we will soon see in it the guiding hand of a loving God.”

Henri Nouwen in Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (New York: HarperCollins, 1997) reading for 12 January entitled, “The Spiritual Work of Gratitude.”

This is an easy post to read and hard one to practice. But I think Nouwen is right. It requires hard spiritual work to remember with gratitude the good and the bad. When we do, we see the mercy and love of God at work through it all.

To remember only the good is denial at best and detrimental at worst. It stunts our growth. I am learning more about myself as I reflect on my failures. There I also discover more about our generous, merciful, and loving God.

To grow in generosity this year, let’s do the hard spiritual work of remembering both the good and the bad in our lives. Pause to do this. You will get out of it what you put into it. See what God may want to teach you to help you grow.

I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:12-13

“Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for the work of another believer — to pour out your life sacrificially for the ministry and faith of others? Or do you say, “I am not willing to be poured out right now, and I don’t want God to tell me how to serve Him. I want to choose the place of my own sacrifice. And I want to have certain people watching me and saying, ‘Well done.'”

It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a “doormat” under other people’s feet. God’s purpose may be to teach you to say, “I know how to be abased…” (Philippians 4:12). Are you ready to be sacrificed like that?

Are you ready to be less than a mere drop in the bucket— to be so totally insignificant that no one remembers you even if they think of those you served? Are you willing to give and be poured out until you are used up and exhausted— not seeking to be ministered to, but to minister? Some saints cannot do menial work while maintaining a saintly attitude, because they feel such service is beneath their dignity.”

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest, updated language edition, reading for 5 February.

As we start thinking about the word ‘remember’ in 2021, we find many challenges. For example, while abounding is fun, what if God calls us to be abased, that is, to a level of service where no one remembers us? Today, I want us all to remember that God sees our sacrifices and the attitude of our hearts.

Think about it. Most of the work we do is menial work. It’s not glamorous and yet good workers give their lives to it. Teachers give hours to preparation for moments of instruction. Accountants give hours to audits and minutes to deliver a financial opinion. The list of examples could go on.

Yet, the only way good work is done with and for God is if we are willing to give and be poured out in the process. Are you willing? This is generosity at its best because it reflects what Jesus did for us. He made himself nothing. And the Apostle Paul beckons us to have the same mind (Philippians 2:1-11).

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. John 10:10

“As Christianity spread, and the Church became more secularized, this realization of the costliness of grace gradually faded. The world was Christianized, and grace became its common property. It was to be had at low cost. Yet the Church of Rome did not altogether lose the earlier vision.

It is highly significant that the Church was astute enough to find room for the monastic movement, and to prevent it from lapsing into schism. Here on the outer fringe of the Church was a place where the older vision was kept alive. Here men still remembered that grace costs, that grace means following Christ.

Here they left all they had for Christ’s sake, and endeavoured daily to practise His rigorous commands. Thus monasticism became a living protest against the secularization of Christianity and the cheapening of grace. But the Church was wise enough to tolerate this protest, and to prevent it from developing to its logical conclusion.

It thus succeeded in relativizing it, even using it in order to justify the secularization of its own life. Monasticism was represented as an individual achievement which the mass of the laity could not be expected to emulate.

By thus limiting the application of the commandments of Jesus to a restricted group of specialists, the Church evolved the fatal conception of the double standard-a maximum and a minimum standard of Christian obedience. Whenever the Church was accused of being too secularized, it could always point to monasticism as an opportunity of living a higher life within the fold, and thus justify the other possibility of a lower standard of life for others.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1979) 49-50.

Grace costs. Those who pay the price experience the higher life. Don’t listen to the mainstream church. Following Christ is not just for specialists. Everyone can be a monk!

Much of Christianity today is a secular alternative to the real and rigorous experience of following Christ. It’s only found by obeying His commands.

Taking hold of it will cost us everything. But we don’t figure it out until we live it out that we only lose if you hold back. We each have a choice to make.

Today I get to have lunch out with a dear friend, Micah Kohls. Can’t wait! Cherish the times with your friends. When you do, urge each other to pursue the higher life.

In my country there will be political protests today. But what if we all lived as “living protests” as Bonhoeffer put it, against the secularization of Christianity?

The cost of grace is far greater and more generous than any sacrifice we might make. May our generosity merely demonstrate the price Christ paid.

For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not? 1 Corinthians 4:7

“There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in the life. Because it is so natural it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is; but its outworkings are tragic.

We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety; this is especially true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed.

Our gifts and talents should also be turned over to Him. They should be recognized for what they are, God’s loan to us, and should never be considered in any sense our own. We have no more right to claim credit for special abilities than for blue eyes or strong muscles. “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive?”

The Christian who is alive enough to know himself even slightly will recognize the symptoms of this possession malady, and will grieve to find them in his own heart. If the longing after God is strong enough within him he will want to do something about the matter. Now, what should he do?

First of all he should put away all defense and make no attempt to excuse himself either in his own eyes or before the Lord. Whoever defends himself will have himself for his defense, and he will have no other; but let him come defenseless before the Lord and he will have for his defender no less than God Himself.

Let the inquiring Christian trample under foot every slippery trick of his deceitful heart and insist upon frank and open relations with the Lord. Then he should remember that this is holy business. No careless or casual dealings will suffice. Let him come to God in full determination to be heard.

Let him insist that God accept his all, that He take things out of his heart and Himself reign there in power… If we would indeed know God in growing intimacy we must go this way of renunciation. And if we are set upon the pursuit of God, He will sooner or later bring us to this test.”

A. W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God (Project Gutenberg, 2008) 28-30.

It’s sad to think that “this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in the life” when most societies in the world view the vice as a virtue. The world celebrates those who accumulate money and possessions.

I have a bold brother in Hong Kong, Roger Lam, who has dedicated his life to unmasking the deceitfulness of wealth. Tozer would concur and add that we must not underestimate the deceitfulness of our hearts, mine included.

All of us, must remember to avoid the possession malady, which is more potent than any pandemic, and which destroys more lives than any natural disaster. This is holy business is a test. Surrender precedes any generosity.

God does not need our money. He wants our hearts. Pause and ask the Holy Spirit: What is deceitful in my heart? How has the possession malady infected me? What are my symptoms? I am learning that renunciation marks the path to intimacy with God and people.

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. Leviticus 19:18

“Love thy neighbor.” Perhaps he rolls in riches, and thou art poor, and living in thy little cot side-by-side with his lordly mansion; thou seest every day his estates, his fine linen, and his sumptuous banquets; God has given him these gifts, covet not his wealth, and think no hard thoughts concerning him. Be content with thine own lot, if thou canst not better it, but do not look upon thy neighbor, and wish that he were as thyself. Love him, and then thou wilt not envy him.

Perhaps, on the other hand, thou art rich, and near thee reside the poor. Do not scorn to call them neighbor. Own that thou art bound to love them. The world calls them thy inferiors. In what are they inferior? They are far more thine equals than thine inferiors, for “God hath made of one blood all people that dwell upon the face of the earth.” It is thy coat which is better than theirs, but thou art by no means better than they. They are men, and what art thou more than that? Take heed that thou love thy neighbor even though he be in rags, or sunken in the depths of poverty.

But, perhaps, you say, “I cannot love my neighbors, because for all I do they return ingratitude and contempt.” So much the more room for the heroism of love. Wouldst thou be a feather-bed warrior, instead of bearing the rough fight of love? He who dares the most, shall win the most; and if rough be thy path of love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbors through thick and thin. Heap coals of fire on their heads, and if they be hard to please, seek not to please them, but to please thy Master; and remember if they spurn thy love, thy Master hath not spurned it, and thy deed is as acceptable to him as if it had been acceptable to them. Love thy neighbor, for in so doing thou art following the footsteps of Christ.”

Charles Haddon Spurgeon in Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (Grand Rapids: CCEL) morning reading for 12 March.

Today’s post spells out what sometimes happens in relationships with our neighbors.

We see their nice things so we envy them. Or, we abound with material blessings while they do not and wrongly treat them as inferiors. Sometimes we reach out in love and they return it with ingratitude or contempt, so we give up the “rough fight of love” reasoning that at least we tried.

To remember to love our neighbor each and every day is about not responding to the situations of life in the flesh but following instead in the footsteps of Christ. To be generous is to give our neighbors not what they deserve but what everyone needs, which is what Christ gave us, love.

God’s design for our flourishing is to submit to His Lordship and follow His ways. That’s why today’s Scripture ends with “I am the Lord.” He knows that when His people treat each other with love, they show His goodness and generosity to a watching world. What will your life exhibit in 2021?

As Spurgeon concludes: “He who dares the most, shall win the most; and if rough be thy path of love, tread it boldly, still loving thy neighbors through thick and thin.” Remember to tread the path of love boldly. I dare you to dedicate yourself to generously dispensing love in 2021.

This is a good reminder for me today as I return to work and interacting with people.

I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, they will welcome you into eternal dwellings. Luke 16:9

“Very soon your life here will end; consider, then, what may be in store for you elsewhere. Today we live; tomorrow we die and are quickly forgotten. Oh, the dullness and hardness of a heart which looks only to the present instead of preparing for that which is to come! Therefore, in every deed and every thought, act as though you were to die this very day. If you had a good conscience you would not fear death very much. It is better to avoid sin than to fear death…

If you have ever seen a man die, remember that you, too, must go the same way. In the morning consider that you may not live till evening, and when evening comes do not dare to promise yourself the dawn. Be always ready, therefore, and so live that death will never take you unprepared…You can do many good works when in good health…The present is very precious…Try to live now in such a manner that at the moment of death you may be glad rather than fearful.

Learn to die to the world now, that then you may begin to live with Christ. Learn to spurn all things now, that then you may freely go to Him…Ah, foolish man, why do you plan to live long when you are not sure of living even a day? How many have been deceived and suddenly snatched away! How often have you heard of persons being killed by drownings, by fatal falls from high places, of persons dying at meals, at play, in fires, by the sword, in pestilence, or at the hands of robbers! Death is the end of everyone and the life of man quickly passes away like a shadow.

Who will remember you when you are dead? Who will pray for you? Do now, beloved, what you can, because you do not know when you will die, nor what your fate will be after death. Gather for yourself the riches of immortality while you have time. Think of nothing but your salvation. Care only for the things of God. Make friends for yourself now by honoring the saints of God, by imitating their actions, so that when you depart this life they may receive you into everlasting dwellings. Keep yourself as a stranger here on earth, a pilgrim whom its affairs do not concern at all. Keep your heart free and raise it up to God, for you have not here a lasting home.”

Thomas à Kempis in “Thoughts on Death,” chapter 23 of The Imitation of Christ.

As C.S. Lewis quoted Thomas à Kempis yesterday, I turned my attention to see what he might want us to “remember” in the times in which we find ourselves. Loud and clear, I hear him calling us to make the most of every opportunity today to make friends for eternity.

My dear friend and brother, Patrick Johnson, who serves with Generous Church, or “Saint Patrick” as I like to call him, contracted COVID. In our messaging back and forth he reminded that our lives are but a mist and a vapor. Soon we will all pass away, barring our Lord’s return.

Please pray with me for his recovery. I think God still has global generosity work cut out for him. God knows I need his help! But the reality is that all of us will die sometime. So what is the only right way to prepare for that day, which could be sooner than we think?

Each of us must remember to make friends for eternity starting today. We do this by using worldly wealth to accomplish eternal purposes. How will you use what you have to make friends for eternity starting right now? I offer two suggestions as the year starts.

Firstly, set up automatic giving from your income to your church and a portfolio of ministries that do work that God cares about. Secondly, take inventory of your assets, mark which ones you want to store up in heaven, and determine when and how you will do it. Share this with one person to hold you accountable.

By this way, should your life meet a rapid end, you will be glad rather than fearful at your last breath. And both 100 years from now and 100 million years from now, you will be thankful because you rightly prepared for your everlasting dwelling. Remember today is the only day to get prepared!