The Daily Memo

What if you stood before a firing squad and the only way to avoid death was to deny your Lord? Standing before the most powerful Jewish ruling body of the day, Stephen didn’t back down from speaking the truth about his Lord. Stephen undoubtedly felt the leaders’ anger intensify, and he knew that the penalty for speaking so-called blasphemy was stoning. Still, Stephen continued his overview of Israel’s history: he had a point to make about the…

Just after they escaped from Egypt, Moses encouraged the Israelites with those words. Perhaps he understood that our natural reaction in moments of uncertainty is to restlessly bounce between anxiety and despair. Feelings of uncertainty can result in the prefrontal cortex in your brain “shutting down”: impairing your ability to solve problems, pay attention, and stay flexible. This increases your chances of engaging in irrational behavior and makes you more…

Do you hurry through your prayer time so you can get to other things? If so, consider the values Jesus modeled when He spent time with His Father. Solitude. Though Jesus was constantly surrounded by people as He tended to their needs, His own need for seclusion was important. Often, after an intense period of ministry, He’d retreat from the crowds—and even His disciples—to pray in private. Safeguarded time. Jesus protected His time so He could rest in the,…

In 2019, Cap Dashwood and his sweet black lab companion, Chaela (“Chae” in memory of his lab who died; “la,” Dashwood’s abbreviation for “Labrador angel”), accomplished something remarkable: reaching a mountain summit each day for 365 consecutive days. Dashwood has a moving story to tell. He left home at sixteen, explaining simply, “Bad family life.” But these past wounds led him to find healing elsewhere. He explains, &ldquo…

First, the man selected a tackle box. Standing in his town’s small bait shop, he then filled a shopping cart with hooks, lures, bobbers, line, and weights. Finally, he added live bait and selected a new rod and reel. “Ever fished before?” the shop owner asked. The man said no. “Better add this,” said the owner. It was a first-aid kit. The man agreed and paid, then headed off to a day of not catching a thing—except snags on his fingers…

There are some things you will never learn on your own. You only learn them in community. To grow and develop your potential, you must learn from other people. For instance, you can only learn forgiveness in relationships. You can’t learn that on your own. You can only learn loyalty in relationships. You can only learn love in relationships. You can’t learn kindness or faithfulness or graciousness or unselfishness without others. In fact, the most important…

Collin and his wife, Jordan, wandered through the craft store, looking for a picture to hang in their home. Collin thought he’d found just the right piece and called Jordan over to see it. On the right side of the ceramic artwork was the word grace. But the left side held two long cracks. “Well, it’s broken!” Jordan said as she started looking for an unbroken one on the shelf. But then Collin said, “No. That’s the point. We’re…

As a child, Tenny felt insecure. He sought approval from his father, but he never received it. It seemed that whatever he did, whether in school or at home, it was never good enough. Even when he entered adulthood, the insecurity remained. He continually wondered, Am I good enough? Only when Tenny received Jesus as his Savior did he find the security and approval he’d long yearned for. He learned that God—having created him—loved and cherished him as His.…

The devil no doubt has a place in our theology, but is he a category we even think about in the daily events of our lives? Has it ever crossed your mind that not every thought that crosses your mind comes from you? We are being lied to all the time. Yet we never stop to say, "Wait a minute ... who else is speaking here? Where are those ideas coming from? Where are those feelings coming from?" If you read the saints from every age before the Modern Era—that pride…