Ambrose of Milan: Near

The Lord is near. Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:5-7

“The Lord is near, have no anxiety. The Lord is always near to all who call upon His help with sincerity, true faith, sure hope, and perfect love. He knows what you need, even before you ask Him. He is always ready to come to the aid of all His faithful servants in every need. There is no reason for us to be in a state of great anxiety when evils threaten; we must remember that God is very near us as our protector.”

Ambrose of Milan (c. 339-397) in Philippians as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 685.

God has opened the door for GTP to work in Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Ukraine, and Moldova. The team includes two couples working with our partner, Mission Eurasia, and many national workers in key cities.

Dr. Michael Cherenkov and his wife, Nina, will travel from 19 June to 19 July. I will travel from 16 June to 7 July, and my wife will join me from 23 June to 7 July.

In Czechia and Slovakia, my GTP program work with Gabriel Hakulín of 4D Ministries aims to offer training to equip national workers build trust and grow local giving to strengthen organizational capacities.

For Ukraine, we have been invited to bring hope and help. The hope can be summed up in one word: Flourish. Our partners have already translated the Flourish devotional into Ukrainian and Russian.

We want to give them a vision for flourishing in relationship to Jesus Christ despite the chaos in their present and the uncertainty of their future.

Our help will take two forms: advice and aid. God is forming an alliance of ministries in the former Soviet Union who want to follow consistent standards together. GTP has been invited to contribute as part of the alliance.

We will speak and have meetings or deliver aid in Ternopil, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Saltivka before heading to Chişinău, Moldova, to encourage God’s servants and refugees.

We said yes to this opportunity for service because we believe God wants us to go and because He is near. He is our protector. And we are confident He will meet our needs through His people and meet their needs through us.

The travel expenses and relief work calls for around $26,000 on short notice. God has supplied about half the funds. Pray for Him to provide the rest and consider your role. To contribute, click here to make a gift to GTP.

This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down. 2 Corinthians 13:10

“There was nothing more capacious than the heart of Paul, for he loved all the faithful with an intimate love as any lover could have for a loved one, his love not being divided and lessened but remaining whole and entire for each of them. And what marvel is it that his love for the faithful was such, since his heart embraced unbelievers, too, throughout the whole world.”

John Chrysostom (347-407) in 2 Corinthians 13 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 368.

Capacious. What a great word to describe Paul’s heart. We might say in modern terms that a generous person has a big heart. But how do we get one?

Chyrsostom offers us a clue. Our love must not be divided or lessened.

I was chatting with my Pinehurst Bible Study brothers yesterday after breakfast. We discussed how the global church seems distracted by social issues.

When that happens, it divides and lessens our love. Don’t let it happen to you.

God, give us capacious hearts, with deep love neither divided nor lessened by any factors around us so that our service is both faithful and generous. Amen.   

For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36:9

“Now real and true life is none other than the Father, who is the fountain of life and who pours forth heavenly gifts on all creatures through the Son in the Holy Spirit, and the good things of eternal life are faithfully promised to us men also, because of His love for us.”

Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386) in Catechetical 18 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 331.

I’m safely home from Wisconsin. One memory that sticks with me is the many springs I saw (like the one pictured above). Abundant fountains bubbling up and sharing the gift of cool, clear water.

What Cyril brings to my attention is that the Father is the fountain. He’s the Source of all life, all gifts, all good things. They come to us by the Spirit because of His great love for us.

Here’s the significance of this for our generosity. If we are not connected to the Father, we will not experience life, not enjoy gifts, and have no resources for generosity. We must maintain this connection above all else.

What are you doing to maintain your connection to the Fountain (to the Father)?

But God gives all the more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:6

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, teach me.

From all pride and its effects, deliver me, Jesus.
From coveting greatness for its own sake or to excess, deliver me, Jesus.
From contempt of You and Your law, deliver me, Jesus.
From a puffed-up self-image, deliver me, Jesus.
From claiming to be a self-made man, deliver me, Jesus.
From ingratitude for Your gifts, deliver me, Jesus.
From thinking that I have earned Your gifts by my effort alone, deliver me, Jesus.
From boasting of having what I do not have, deliver me, Jesus.
From excusing my faults while judging others, deliver me, Jesus.
From wishing to be the sole possessor of the skills I have, deliver me, Jesus.
From setting myself before others, deliver me, Jesus.

From all vainglory, deliver me, Jesus.
From craving praise for its own sake, deliver me, Jesus.
From looking for flattery, deliver me, Jesus.
From withholding glory from You, deliver me, Jesus.
From showing off to the harm of my neighbor, deliver me, Jesus.
From presumption and false self-confidence, deliver me, Jesus.
From boastfulness, deliver me, Jesus.
From hypocrisy, deliver me, Jesus.
From the excessive need to be fashionable, deliver me, Jesus.
From obstinacy and contention, deliver me, Jesus.
From disobedience, deliver me, Jesus.

From all false humility, deliver me, Jesus.
From forfeiting my dignity as a child of God, deliver me, Jesus.
From burying the talents that You gave me, deliver me, Jesus.
From an unreasonable fear of failure, deliver me, Jesus.
From avoiding my true vocation, deliver me, Jesus.
From despair at my weakness, deliver me, Jesus.

In the ways of humility, teach me, Jesus.
To know my limits and my strengths, teach me, Jesus.
To acknowledge the depravity of my past sins, teach me, Jesus.
To acclaim You as the author of all the good I do, teach me, Jesus.
To put my confidence in You, teach me, Jesus.
To be subject to You and Your Church, teach me, Jesus.
To be subject to others for Your sake, teach me, Jesus.
To revere Your presence in others, teach me, Jesus.
To rejoice in Your gifts in others, even the gifts unseen, teach me, Jesus.

To do great things by Your help and for Your glory, strengthen me, Jesus.
To seek greatness in heavenly things and lasting virtue, strengthen me, Jesus.
To do my best even when unnoticed, strengthen me, Jesus.
To put my share of Your gifts at Your service, strengthen me, Jesus.
To be neither puffed up by honor nor downcast by shame, strengthen me, Jesus.
To do penance for my sins and those of others, strengthen me, Jesus.
Above all, to strive to love You with all my being, strengthen me, Jesus.
And to love my neighbor as myself, strengthen me, Jesus.

In Your name, I pray. Amen.

Litany of Humility by Joseph Martin Hagan.

In a break between rivers and whilst fly fishing with John Stanley on my Surrender Novena weekend with him, we paused to read this litany. It was a powerful experience for us.

Jesus delivers, teaches, and strengthens us for His generous service when we empty ourselves in humility. He gives us more grace when we come before Him with humility.

What part of this litany stood out to you? Sit with Jesus. Thank Him for bringing that to your attention. Ask Him to deliver, teach, and strengthen you, providing whatever you need.

I needed a weekend of “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!” If you do too, start by humbling yourself. God opposes the proud but lavishes to overflowing grace to humble.

I make the trek from Soldiers Grove to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this morning, and then fly back to Denver, Colorado, this afternoon. I give thanks that I have been enriched with an abundance of the grace of God.

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see Him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed Him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:1-10

“Yet Zacchaeus, hearing that the Lord Jesus was passing by, climbed a tree, for he was small in stature and could not see Him because of the crowd. He saw Christ and discovered the light. He saw Christ and gave up what was his own, though he was a man who took what belonged to others.”

Ambrose of Milan (c. 339-397) in Psalm 43 as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 279.

I am having a peaceful weekend in Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin, and continue to enjoy my book, Witness of the Saints.

Today, we read the comments of Ambrose of Milan on the interchange between Zacchaeus and Jesus. In short, discovering the light led him to change directions. He was a taker and demonstrated his repentance by becoming a giver.

“He gave up what was his own” is a powerful summary of what took place.

It matches how many scholars parse this text. The text is not saying that he gave half of his possessions to the poor and kept the other half. It implies that half reflected giving and the other half restitution for wrongs done to other.

When we discover the light we give up what is our own.

In the case of Zacchaeus, he made things right for those from which he had stolen (which follows the example set by David in 2 Samuel 12:6) and the other half or portion he gave to the poor. “He gave up what was his own.”

So, take some time today to gaze at Christ and to pray.

Father in heaven, help me discover the light like Zacchaeus. Spirit, guide me in making any necessary restitution for wrongs done. Jesus, teach me to give up what is my own. 

But if you refuse to surrender, this is what the Lord has revealed to me. Jeremiah 38:21

“The Lord has exalted me by a gift so great, so unheard of, that language is useless to describe it, and the depths of love in my heart can scarcely grasp it. I offer then all the powers of my soul in praise and thanksgiving. As I contemplate His greatness, which knows no limits, I joyfully surrender my whole life, my senses, my judgment, for my spirit rejoices in the external Godhead of that Jesus, that Savior, whom I have conceived in this world of time.”

Bede the Venerable (c. 673-735) in Luke as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 263.

I have safely made it to Soldier’s Grove, Wisconsin, to spend the weekend with my dear friend, John Stanley. He’s been a huge encouragement to me over the years and I am grateful for his support of my work with GTP.

And His wife Jamee is an absolute delight and a radiant reflection of Jesus.

Knowing I would stay in a cabin with no wi-fi, down the hill from their place, I determined that this would be a Surrender Novena weekend. As you may recall John alerted me to the Surrender Novena back in Lent.

Say: “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!” (10 times daily). Trust us. It’s life-changing.

Yesterday, we caught some trout together and enjoyed sweet fellowship. But we also did something I had never before done in my life. We visited the source of a spring fed trout stream. Check out the header photo.

That is 600 gallons per minute of cold, pure abundance flowing from the cleft in the rock.

The reason we can surrender is that God always has and always will have everything sorted. We can be generous at all times and all occasions because He, like this spring, is our abundant Provider. If we refuse, like in today’s Scripture, we lose.

Is it time for you to take a weekend to focus on surrender?

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26

“But He did not wish to give us only beautiful creatures; the truth is that to win for Himself our love, He went so far as to bestow upon us the fullness of Himself. The eternal Father went so far as to give us His only Son.”

Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) in Practice as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 247.

Yesterday, I spent time with special friends in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Tim Dittloff and Charlie Brandt. God blessed us with a great day together. Something special happened.

I grew up around the Great Lakes. For a long time, as long as I can remember, I had wanted to catch a steelhead (a lake run rainbow trout) and a lake trout. Listen to what happened yesterday.

Tim arranged the charter. We went fishing. I landed one of each of these beautiful creatures. But here’s the best part. The main fish we were targeting was salmon, either coho or king salmon.

I asked Mark Herring, of King of Kings (Christian charter boat), what fish might we catch today. He said we’d mainly see coho salmon, and possibly kings. He added that we might have a rare shot at a steelhead, and he had not seen a laker yet this year.

When fishing we would take turns as the charter had many lines in the water. We were trolling. Long story short, I caught a nice coho. I got the first fish. Then when it was my turn again, I said, “Lord, I’d love to catch a steelhead.”

God blessed me with a 29″ trophy steelhead. It was about a 20 minute battle. Charlie proclaimed, “God heard your prayer. He loves you. He gave you exactly what you asked for.”

My next two fish were coho salmon. As the limit is five fish, I said that it’d be cool if I got a lake trout. You can guess where this is going. I landed a 30″ lake trout. Tim reminded me that God was sending me a huge message with that fish.

As we made our back to Milwaukee harbor, I pondered that God gave me two gifts. They were beautiful creatures who reminded me that God is the greatest and most generous Giver who hears our prayers.

I continued to ponder. Even more than that, He gave me what I needed most, His only Son, Jesus. Thanks Father! I love you.

Take a moment and ponder beautiful creatures. Perhaps you have a dog or a cat. Remember who made that animal and then who made you, and who loves you so much He gave you Jesus!

He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all — how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32

“God has spoken so completely through His own Word that He chooses to add nothing. Although he had spoken but partially through the prophets He has now said everything in Christ. He has given us everything, His own Son…

We must then dig deeply into Christ. He is like a rich mine with many pockets containing treasures: however deep we dig we will never find their end or their limit. Indeed, in every pocket new seams of fresh riches are discovered on all sides.”

John of the Cross (1542-1591) in Ascent and Canticle as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 245.

I had safe travels to Wisconsin and will spend time with Tim Dittloff and a group of pastors today discussing ways to help congregations tap “new seams” in the area of stewardship.

Ponder the implications of “new seams” with me.

The more we study the Word, the more we locate new insights, tap new courage, and realize that we have everything we have ever needed and will ever need in Jesus Christ.

And, as John states, we discover “fresh” riches.

They may be new to us and new for others. As we dig deeply into Christ, we explore many pockets and find treasures that, when applied, help people grow to new levels of generous service.

To locate rich pockets and new seams we must deeply into Christ. Are you digging?

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 6:13-16

“Alms coldly and harshly given irritate rather than soothe. Even when we cannot give, words of kindness are as a precious balm; and when we can give, they are the salt and seasoning of our alms.”

Perpetuus of Tours in The Lives of the Saints by Alan Butler, 1894 (Global Grey edition, 2019) 8 April reading.

In visiting parts of Ukraine that have been occupied by Russian forces, you see “car cemeteries” along the road like the one pictured above. It’s hard to hold back tears. Sadly, thousands of civilians have been murdered and their cars set ablaze by invading troops. We have met some of their surviving family members or friends.

They have fled war zones. Society refers to them as IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) who used to live in places like Kharkiv, in Eastern Ukraine, where we go tomorrow.Others we will meet in Moldova next week who have fled the country, largely women and children, represent refugees of this war.

IDP’s and refugees need alms and kindness. For safety reasons, we have little cash on us. So, we plan to send aid we receive at GTP to trustworthy caregivers on the frontlines. One example is Andrey Kratsev. Watch his video here. I preach in his church tomorrow. Pray for IDP’s and other lost souls to come to Christ as I lift up Jesus.

And it’s been rewarding to start conversations for setting up a peer accountability group (like ECFA in USA) with ministry, seminary, and church workers. That will happen in time. For now, people appreciate most the ministry of presence, hearing their challenges, and then sending both alms and kindness.

To give to GTP efforts in Eastern Europe and Ukraine, click here.

And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” He said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Exodus 33:19-20

“In His greatness and inexpressible glory no one can see God and live, for the Father is beyond all comprehension. But in His love and generosity and omnipotence He allows even this to those who love Him, that is, even to see God, as the prophets foretold… By His own powers man cannot see God, yet God will be seen by men because He wills it… As those who see light are in the light sharing its brilliance, so those who see God are in God sharing His glory, and that glory gives them life. To see God is to share in life.”

Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130-202) in Against Heresies as recounted Milton Walsh in Witness of the Saints: Patristic Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2012) 217.

Remember how close Irenaeus was to our Lord. Jesus discipled John, who discipled Polycarp, who discipled Irenaeus. And notice what Irenaeus says. He echoes Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” Matthew 5:8. Because of God’s generosity and His omnipotence, or in plain terms, because He is infinitely good and wants to share it and all-powerful and willing to wield it, we can see Him, We who were dead have been made alive. We who were blind now see.

John also comments on this. “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21. Consider an implication of this for our generosity. It’s found in the last line: “To see God is to share in life.” People are trying to sort life and figure things out. Our generosity comes into view as showing them how to see God and grasp life. We do this by enjoying and sharing Him and the gifts He gives us.

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:17-19

I am flying to Wisconsin today. So excited to see Linda Maris and Brent Eggers from NCF Wisconsin, Nick Breach from Compass Finances God’s way, Tim Dittloff with Full Sail Leadership Academy and Catalyst Ministry Solutions, and John Stanley with Generosity Gameplan. These people are fellow servants in God’s kingdom and dear friends who see God. They have taken hold of life and help others grow in their grasp of it. I am hoping to bless them and be blessed by the fellowship.