Stack the Stones, Change Tomorrow
How remembered promises turn into courage on the street.
A daily doxa series for the UK church: What They Gave Up, What They Gained - day 20 of 20!
We’ve walked twenty days together. The rhythm holds: we actively remember what God has promised and what He has already done—so we can fight the good fight and win. Remembering is not sentiment; it’s warfare. It stops drift. It steadies love. It makes room for justice, mercy, love, joy, and peace to break into ordinary life—on earth as it is in heaven.
Prophetic courage isn’t just about speaking out; it’s love that obeys. Grace first. Overflow, not effort.
Today’s trade
The trade: lay down amnesia and hurry; receive anchors that keep your future aligned.
Today we’re with Joshua’s stones, Samuel’s Ebenezer, Passover to Communion, David’s appointment of thanksgiving, and Paul’s final line—moments where God’s people gave up forgetfulness and gained a way to carry courage forward.
Gave up: moving on too quickly; treating miracles as moments instead of markers.
Gained: memory that forms people; practices that keep faith strong under pressure.
There is always fire on acceptable sacrifice.
Joshua’s Stones — “What do these stones mean?” (Joshua 4)
Context & date: Late Bronze Age, c. 13th century BC (date debated). Israel crosses the Jordan on dry ground into the land God promised.
Scene: riverbed mud drying on sandals; twelve men heaving wet boulders onto their shoulders.
Gave up: the urge to rush ahead and forget.
What they did: They stacked twelve stones at Gilgal so children would ask, “What do these stones mean?” and hear the story of God cutting a path through water.
How it likely felt: tired and tearful; holy pride; dust and relief in the same breath.
Felt cost: time and toil when everyone wanted tents up fast.
Gained: a visible memory that trained new generations to trust God in hard crossings.
Fire on the sacrifice: a pile of rock became a school of courage.
Samuel’s Ebenezer — “Till now the LORD has helped us” (1 Samuel 7)
Context & date: 11th century BC. After years of chaos, Israel gathers at Mizpah to repent; enemies advance.
Scene: thunder on the hills; the smell of rain; a people crying out while an army approaches.
Gave up: pride and private solutions.
What they did: Samuel prayed, offered a lamb, and set up a stone named Ebenezer—“stone of help.”
How it likely felt: fear turning into relief; a nation exhaling.
Felt cost: confession in public; laying down self-reliance.
Gained: deliverance and a marker that said, remember this help when fear returns.
Fire on the sacrifice: repentance turned into peace along the borders.
Passover → Communion — from rescue to remembrance (Exodus 12 → Luke 22; 1 Corinthians 11)
Context & date: Passover: Egypt, c. 13th century BC (date debated). Communion: Jerusalem, c. AD 30–33.
Scene: doorframes brushed with lamb’s blood; later, a small upstairs room with bread in hand and a cup shared by friends.
Gave up: treating rescue as a one-time story you outgrow.
What they did: God gave a meal that says, don’t forget. Jesus took that meal and said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”
How it likely felt: gratitude with gravity; a nation formed at a table; a new covenant launched in a room.
Felt cost: stopping to remember when life pressed on; admitting we live by mercy.
Gained: regular, tangible remembrance—mercy and joy served in bread and cup—that shapes identity under pressure.
Fire on the sacrifice: a table became strength for the road.
David Appoints Thanksgiving — rehearsing goodness on purpose (1 Chronicles 16)
Context & date: Jerusalem, 10th century BC, early in David’s reign. The ark of God comes into the city.
Scene: music rising, cymbals flashing in sun; a king setting teams, not trends.
Gave up: a leader’s right to be reactive and entertainment-driven.
What he did: David appointed Levites to thank and praise the Lord day by day, and handed out a psalm—“Give thanks to the LORD, call on His name, make known His deeds…”
How it likely felt: ordered delight; joy with structure.
Felt cost: resource and planning committed to remembering, not to optics.
Gained: a nation catechised by gratitude; love and joy made normal, not rare.
Fire on the sacrifice: scheduled thanksgiving became culture change.
Paul’s Last Line — finish with your face toward Jesus (2 Timothy 4:6–8)
Context & date: Rome, c. AD 64–67. Paul writes near the end of his life.
Scene: cold cell, parchment, a friend asked to bring a cloak; an old soldier of grace choosing his words.
Gave up: the illusion of unfinishedness and the fear of being forgotten.
What he did: He remembered God’s keeping and wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
How it likely felt: tired, clear, ready.
Felt cost: loneliness, chains, the narrowing of choices.
Gained: a crown kept by the Lord, and words that still put steel in spines.
Fire on the sacrifice: a goodbye became marching orders for generations.
Conclusion
Altars are how we keep from forgetting. Stones in a circle. A cup and a loaf. A psalm you repeat until joy feels normal again. A sentence scratched from a prison that lights a fire in you. Memory is how faith holds its ground tomorrow.
Thank you for walking this road—twenty days of costly trades that turned into deeper life. Keep stacking your stones. Keep setting your table. Keep singing your thanks. Remember, so you can fight the good fight and win.
We are bulding doxa, the encouragement app, to better remember what God has promised (prophecies) and what he has done (testimonies) so we can fight the good fight (and win).