Category Archives: Faith

1/7/25 MondayMatters: Desire What You Desire

1/7/25 MondayMatters: Desire What You Desire

Here’s the video    https://youtu.be/I_hSAFyzsxg?si=2D9OckFRxhgta8i5

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” I don’t think God gives us everything we want. I think He helps us to want what He wants. That is my desire for 2025, to desire what God desires for me to desire. Here are 5 things. For the text go to branchesblog.com and check FB and Instagram each day for a related thought. And like and subscribe if you desire. 😂

  1. Desire to be closer to God. There is a level of intimacy with Him that only comes from intense desire. “As the deer pants for the water, by soul desires you.”
  2. Desire to hunger for righteousness. I want to be a better man this year, I want to be righteous. Jesus promised, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.”
  3. Desire to love the Word of God. I love reading and studying my Bible. I want to love it more. “How sweet is the Word of God, like honey to my lips.” Psalm 119:103
  4. Desire to pray. Not just do it. Not go through the motions. Not pray because we ought to. But love spending time in my knees, in my prayer closet, bowed before God. “Lord, teach us to pray.” And to love it.
  5. Desire to be an example of Jesus to those around me. “It’s my desire, to be like Jesus. It’s my desire to be like Him, His Spirit fill me. His love o’erwhlem me. In deed and word, to be like Christ.”

The good news is that God’s desire is to give you the desires of your heart when you desire to desire what He desires for you.

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11/25/24  MondayMatters: Inertia

11/25/24 MondayMatters: Inertia

Momentum is a magnificent word. I believe more things are accomplished because of momentum or not accomplished because of a lack of momentum than anything else. If you desire to have a fantastic 2025 then creating momentum now is crucial. Here is a much too long description of, and invitation to, starting a great 2025… Continue Reading

11/18/24 MondayMatters: When Helping Hurts

11/18/24 MondayMatters: When Helping Hurts

Have you ever been caught in one of those situations where your efforts to help were turned against you and everything was worse instead of better? What do you do when your best efforts are misunderstood, rejected, and used as a club to batter you with? It happens to the best of us. Here are… Continue Reading

The Importance of Being Tribal

The Importance of Being Tribal

A friend of mine passed away this week. I don’t know if friend is the right word. He was a few years older. We had not seen or even spoken to one another in at least ten years. We were not in the same circles at all, but he was a member of one of… Continue Reading

4/22/24 MondayMatters: Surprised By Shame

4/22/24 MondayMatters: Surprised By Shame

Have you ever been surprised, shocked or sandbagged by some negative thought, some moment of discouragement, depression, or fear that just nearly overwhelmed you? Maybe it was anxiety, maybe obsessive thoughts about hurt, maybe shame; those thoughts that the devil will use to defeat us. They come like a thief, to steal, kill, and destroy.… Continue Reading

Divide and Conquer

Divide and Conquer

Divide and Conquer (warning, may be my longest blog ever.)  2 Chronicles 20:15 — “Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.”  I had a conversation with a young mother on Easter Sunday morning. She was distraught. Her baby was very sick, but her… Continue Reading

3/13/24   Lent   Psalm 79   IFTTT

3/13/24 Lent Psalm 79 IFTTT

3/13/24 Lent Psalm 79 IFTTT  The history of the children of Israel has always been an “If this then that” relationship. God designed it that way, at least from His side. “If you keep my commandments, you will be blessed.” “If you call on my Name I will answer.” “If you bow down before Me,… Continue Reading

2/23/24   Lent  Psalm 60    No Pain, No Gain

2/23/24 Lent Psalm 60 No Pain, No Gain

2/23/24        Lent       Psalm 60  Remember this is Lent, a season that Christians have traditionally “tried” to identify with the passion and pain of Jesus as He made His way through the last weeks of His earthly, pre-resurrected ministry and life. We give something up. We fast. We take on an added spiritual discipline, in part,… Continue Reading