The Daily Memo

Our culture desperately tries to postpone death. Yet vitamins, exercise, and healthy diets will eventually prove futile because, as James 4:14 says, our life is “a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.” We’ll all die, but believers have no reason to fear. In fact, the apostle Paul assures us that, far from being a dreadful change, physical death actually leads believers home to be with the Lord forever (2 Cor. 5:8). Ultimately,…

God, You know my heart better than anyone. You know the dreams I have for the future, and the silent prayers I’ve prayed for years. You know what I am longing for, searching for, and waiting for. You know my dreams, but You have a plan. You make all things beautiful in their proper timing. You are faithful to keep Your promises. But so often, I forget this and grow discouraged when my situations don’t seem to change. In those moments, it’s easy to forget…

We're now 10 days into 2022. Do you have a clear vision for what God has in store for this year? If you're like me and most of us the answer would be of course not. Just look at the last couple of years and you'll understand how uncertain the next minute is. I'm not so sure there are any 100% certainties in this life. The only certainty I can point to is an eternal one with Jesus. But....... as I wrote in a recent blog, we still have the ability to…

Two stately stone lions watch over the entrance to the New York Public Library. Hewn from marble, they’ve stood there proudly since the library’s dedication in 1911. They were first nicknamed Leo Lenox and Leo Astor to honor the library’s founders. But during the Great Depression, New York’s Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia renamed them Fortitude and Patience, virtues he thought New Yorkers should demonstrate in those challenging years. The lions are still…

We feel that God is not only unconcerned with our plight, but that he is actually working against us. And sometimes, we are right… Indeed, in the seventeenth chapter of Acts, Paul gives the Athenians the stunning news that every single thing in the lives of both nations and individuals is orchestrated with this sole objective that they might seek God (vv. 26-28). This revelation requires some reflection. We are used to thinking of the great movements of history, even…

Living in this fallen world can make us question God’s goodness. We might wonder why He doesn’t always fix our problems and give us what we want. For example, when Eve listened to the serpent’s lies, she began to doubt that the Lord had made the right choice in forbidding her to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Why would He deprive her of wisdom and the enjoyment of such desirable food? Our thoughts are similar to Eve’s when we don&rsquo…

I helped my elderly dog, Wilson, out to the grass and in the process, I released the leash of our younger dog, Coach, for just a minute. As I bent to pick up Coach’s lead, he spied a bunny. Off he went, ripping the leash from my right hand and corkscrewing my ring finger in the process. I fell to the grass and cried out in pain. After returning from urgent care and learning I’d need surgery, I begged God for help. “I’m a writer! How will I type? What…

The Religious Spirit has turned discipleship into a soul-killing exercise of principles. Most folks don’t even know they can walk with God, hear his voice. He’s stigmatized counseling as a profession for sick patients, and so the wounds of our hearts never get healed. He’s taken healing away from us almost entirely, so that we sit in pews as broken people feeling guilty because we can’t live the life we’re supposed to live. And he takes warfare…

It’s far too easy to become busy for God—serving, singing, teaching, preaching, and going to the mission field. None of these things are wrong; in fact, they’re all good. But they’re often a misguided attempt to create intimacy with God. Why would believers choose artificial closeness with the Lord when He wants to give His children the real thing? One reason is that being known by God requires intense vulnerability and the humility to receive His.…