The Daily Memo

When branches are full and spilling over with big, bright fruit, we assume the tree is healthy. We may not be able to see the quality of the soil, and we probably didn’t witness the tree being fertilized or pruned. But looking at its boughs, we can see the evidence of steady growth and regular maintenance. Likewise, fruit in our spiritual life indicates health and maturity in a believer. And today’s passage lists nine traits that show up in our life when God&rsquo…

When we encounter difficulties, we might wonder why God allows those painful situations. How do we reconcile our suffering with His love for us and His power to prevent or stop it? In order to understand what’s going on, we need to consider the possible sources of adversity. A Fallen World: When sin entered the world, suffering came with it. So we might wonder why God didn’t simply make us like puppets that were unable to choose sin. But if we lacked free will, we&rsquo…

Colleen decided to take a stroll down the beach on our recent vacation to the Jersey Shore. Just a little quiet time for her to reflect on God’s goodness and enjoy the surf and the sun. I, on the other hand, slid out of my beach chair and casually headed to the gently breaking waves right in front of me. As I studied the ebb and flow of the current and tumbling tiny stones in the sand, I noticed something. But in a moment, it was gone. I asked the Lord, which I&rsquo…

We need Jesus like we need oxygen. Like we need water. Like the branch needs the vine. Jesus is not merely a figure for devotions. He is the missing essence of your existence. Whether we know it or not, we are desperate for Jesus.   To have his life, joy, love, and presence cannot be compared. To know him as he is, is to come home. A true knowledge of Jesus is our greatest need and our greatest happiness. The purpose of your being here on this planet, at this moment in,…

Every human being has some vital place in her life where she is not living in the victory she longs for, and it colors how she views herself. Every person’s personal struggle rooted in her past, be it a deep-rooted self-hatred or a pressing need to control her world, makes her desperate for God. We all have something that brings us to our knees. It isn’t something we would ever choose for ourselves or wish on anyone else, but we all have an area — or ten ;…

As reported in the news recently, four Nigerian men were discovered and rescued in Brazil after crossing the Atlantic from Africa as stowaways on a cargo ship.  The four exhausted men spent fourteen harrowing days perched inside the shallow opening above the ship’s rudder, under the stern.  They ran out of food and water ten days into the journey and had barely slept nor made a sound for fear of falling into the water or being discovered by the ship’s crew.;…

When the young prophet Samuel heard the voice of God calling to him in the night, he had the counsel from his priestly mentor, Eli, to tell him how to respond. Even so, it took them three times to realize it was God calling. Rather than ignoring the voice, or rebuking it, Samuel finally listened. In our modern, pragmatic world we often have no such mentor, so we do not understand it is God speaking to us in our heart. Having so long been out of touch with our deepest,…

Green Bank, West Virginia, is a tiny community in the rugged Appalachian Mountains. The town resembles dozens of other small towns in the area—with one major exception. None of the 142 residents have access to Wi-Fi. This is to prevent interference from Wi-Fi or cellular phone towers near the Green Bank Observatory, whose telescope is constantly trained on the sky. As a result, Green Bank is one of the most technologically quiet places in North America. Sometimes…

In 2nd Timothy 3, it’s disheartening to read this list Paul makes of what people will be like in the last days, yet it shows us that as society gets darker, we as Christians have an amazing opportunity to shine brighter. “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not…