tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90333333886085771182024-03-18T07:25:39.331-07:00bluebookblogReflections on life and faithJim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.comBlogger1017125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-82725749747810273492024-03-18T07:25:00.000-07:002024-03-18T07:25:06.366-07:00humble us<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">O Lord, our God, forgive us when our pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness keep us from turning to you in humble obedience
and dependence.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Forgive us when we get
too full of ourselves and too big for our britches to realize that apart from you,
we can do nothing.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Forgive us when we
fall in love with our own opinions and observations and stop listening to your
voice and seeking your face.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Forgive us
when we begin to think that we can handle this life on our own, or make things
happen for ourselves.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Humble us, O God, and remind us of who we are and
of who you are, so that we might, once again, return to you with our whole
hearts in prayer and self-surrender.</span></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-62777086284726260722024-03-16T09:19:00.000-07:002024-03-18T07:05:22.720-07:00pruning<p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 107%;">More </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 107%;">is not always better, especially when you are talking about the spiritual
life. When it comes to life with God, quality
always seems to be more important than quantity. Jesus knew that, which is where the whole
idea of </span><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 107%;">pruning</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 107%;"> comes in. (John 15:1-2) </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Pruning
is about decreasing quantity in order to increase quality.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">It is about making space for beauty.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Pruning is the difference between growing a
hundred good roses, as opposed to growing twenty-five great ones.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Thus, the act of pruning is about God cutting
away the old and lifeless parts of us in order to bring about more beautiful
fruit.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Which means that when God prunes us,
it is to make us a more beautiful expression and reflection of his goodness,
love, and creativity.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">The word for </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">prune</i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">, in the Greek, is </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">kathairō</i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">,
which also means </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">to cleanse or to purge.</i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">It is a necessary part of growth, both for a plant and for a heart and
soul.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">A thing can only grow if there is room to do so.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Space must be made.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Pruning is about making that space.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 107%;">The saints of old understood this. They often referred to this stage of the spiritual growth process as <i>purgation.</i></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; line-height: 107%;"> It is one part of a three-fold pattern: <i>purgation,
illumination, and union. </i>Thus, the soul must first be purged of the
many things occupying it, in order to make room for something more beautiful to
come about. The old state of being might
have been okay for a time, or for a season, but in order for a new season to begin,
the old must be done away with. Autumn leaves must fall to the ground before the leaves of spring can arrive. And so it is with a soul.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">The great part is that we are not solely
responsible for this pruning, it is in the hands of the Gardener.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">He knows just how and where to do it, and he
has very gentle hands.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">He also has a vision
of the beauty he is making room for.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">All
we need to do is to trust him, to be open and receptive and responsive to his
divine touch.</span></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-55018328102922916442024-03-07T13:11:00.000-08:002024-03-07T13:21:43.769-08:00a pure heart<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: large;">In the life of the Spirit, we see through the eyes
of the heart. Therefore, if our hearts
are not pure and clean, our seeing is twisted and distorted. The mess within us skews our vision and keeps
us from seeing things—our world, ourselves, and our God—as they really are.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">That’s
why the words of this ancient prayer are so important: “Create in me a pure
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:10)</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">It’s also why Jesus tells us: “Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they will see God.” (Mt. 5:8) For only when our hearts
are pure, will our eyes be clear enough to see him accurately.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Thus,
a daily purifying is necessary.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">“Cleanse
me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” (Ps. 51:7)</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Each day we must confess and repent.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Each day we must turn from our sinful,
broken, and self-consumed ways of being and seeing, and ask God, once again, to
create in us a pure heart.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">He is the
only one who can do that.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">We can’t clean
it up ourselves.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">God is the only one who
can rid us of all that distorts, hinders, and deforms us, so that we can be
made clean, whole, and new.</span></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-84550331898434931452024-02-25T07:24:00.000-08:002024-02-25T07:25:33.760-08:00shhh<p><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My heart is not lifted up, O Lord, my eyes are not
raised too high. I do not occupy myself
with great matters, or things too wonderful for me. But I have stilled and quieted my soul, like
a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now
and forevermore. (Psalm 131:1-3)</span></i></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Hush
now, my child; quiet your heart and your soul.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Simply be with me in silence.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Empty yourself of all else and rest in my loving embrace, like a weaned
child with its mother.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Rest in the
depths of my delight and affection. That's what prayer is all about.</span></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-76031819728195857532024-02-19T08:07:00.000-08:002024-02-19T08:07:07.644-08:00it's time<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“The
time has come. The kingdom of God is at
hand. Repent and believe the good news.”
(Mark 1:15)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">O God, I sense that you are calling me
deeper and deeper into the heart of Jesus these days, to become more and more
like him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m not exactly sure what I’ve
been waiting for, but it’s time!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
time to surrender to you in a whole new/deeper way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time to know your love and affection at
levels I’ve only dreamt about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time
to take another step toward you and away from me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give me the strength and the courage and the
grace to do so.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Help me, O Lord, to not delay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time!<o:p></o:p></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-61490082477818162652024-02-17T09:05:00.000-08:002024-02-18T07:24:36.417-08:00torn to pieces<div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Come, let us return to the
Lord. He has </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">torn us to pieces but he
will heal us; </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">he has injured us but he will </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">bind up our wounds.” (Hosea 6:1)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">he has torn us to pieces</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">in order to heal us</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to make us whole by</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">tearing away the false</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">till only the true remains</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">he will do or allow</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">whatever it takes</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">to accomplish this</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">for it is done out of love</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">with surgical precision</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">sometimes healing</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">takes hurting</span></div>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-12115346393098444612024-02-09T08:04:00.000-08:002024-02-09T08:04:27.206-08:00a severe companion<p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I
am still quite anxious; I still have real attacks of anguish and sleeping is
still a real problem. But I am quite, quite aware that this pain is given to me
to purify my heart, to deepen my love for Jesus and to give Him every inch of
my being. Whereas in the past the anguish seemed quite disruptive and often
paralyzing, now I experience it a little more as a severe companion who wants
to show me the narrow road. Once I have found that road and walk safely on it,
the anguish might leave me, but right now I am trying simply to accept what the
Lord gives me and trust that He knows when, how and where to give me new peace
and new joy.” ―</span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Love, Henri </i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">by Henri Nouwen</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-76978628744109757892024-02-08T07:20:00.000-08:002024-02-08T07:20:13.295-08:00lent is coming up<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQv7bUUOjHKpC3WwUj_bRKhcgjMem4YCYxBpVrmL_MKRp7x9ltD-v-GQ1HxfI6ztNJGPKxARa-L9KyQaiUFMsWAQyimHDgwarVlPwK6fdAN9dGs4SGI7My7El_9PWH8VCBx5pUd4wZHuw/s1600/Journey+to+the+Cross+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="color: #2288bb; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-decoration-line: none;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQv7bUUOjHKpC3WwUj_bRKhcgjMem4YCYxBpVrmL_MKRp7x9ltD-v-GQ1HxfI6ztNJGPKxARa-L9KyQaiUFMsWAQyimHDgwarVlPwK6fdAN9dGs4SGI7My7El_9PWH8VCBx5pUd4wZHuw/s320/Journey+to+the+Cross+.JPG" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 1px solid rgb(238, 238, 238); box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1) 1px 1px 5px; padding: 5px; position: relative;" width="240" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b></b><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;"><b>If you are looking for a companion for Lent</b> (for yourself, your family, your friends, your staff, etc.), m</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial; font-size: 13.2px;">y Lenten devotional guide <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1532807686/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1487260514&sr=8-1&keywords=journey+to+the+cross+by+jim+branch" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Journey to the Cross</a><i> </i>is available on Amazon. Spread the word. This year, Lent begins on February 14 (Ash Wednesday).</span>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-4545250770447694982024-02-04T10:53:00.000-08:002024-02-04T10:53:06.066-08:00you prepare a table before me<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head
with oil, my cup overflows.” (Psalm 23:5)</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I have prepared this
table before you in the presence of your enemies.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is no surprise to me that you find
yourself here.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is as intentional as
it is purposeful.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I am doing a beautiful
work in you.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I will use it all—even the
work of your enemies—to invite you into a more intimate friendship with
me.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I anoint your head with oil because
you are my dearly loved and greatly honored guest.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have been saving you a place right beside
me all along.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> So, c</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">ome to my table, be with
me, and enjoy me as I enjoy you. Come to the place where your cup will always be filled to overflowing with my
goodness and my unfailing love.”</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-9070091372891731042024-01-30T11:48:00.000-08:002024-01-30T11:48:53.595-08:00the illusion of control<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“One
thing you still lack. Sell all that you
have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22)</span></i></p><p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Control is an illusion.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Which makes it absurd that we spend so much
time and energy trying to achieve it and/or maintain it.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Oh sure, we might think at times when things are going along well that we are steering
the car, but nothing could be further from the truth.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We’re merely wearing ourselves out trying to
manage, manipulate, and control that which is unmanageable, impervious, and uncontrollable.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s like one of those rides at the
amusement park where the car is on rails and the steering wheel is not even
connected to anything.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Yet we keep
turning the wheel, trying to convince ourselves that our futile efforts are somehow
influencing our direction.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why not just
let go and enjoy the ride?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why fight it?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Why not embrace it?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God is in control, and we are not.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We just need to trust him.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Following Jesus is about surrender, not
control.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And surrender always involves
an emptying.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Emptying myself of whatever
it is that I may be full of at the moment.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Because when I am too full of me, there is no room for Him.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A cup that’s already full can receive no
more; it first must be emptied.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If I am
preoccupied with myself, it is impossible to then be occupied by God.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That's probably why the rich young ruler </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">walked
away sad</i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">t’s also probably why it’s
so </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God</i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">; they have so much more
to let go of.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lord
Jesus, thank you that you are in control, and I am not.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Help me to surrender to your will and your
way, to your plans and your agendas, rather than clinging to my own.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Empty me of everything that is not you.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-27982905919008179452024-01-27T08:30:00.000-08:002024-01-27T08:30:43.351-08:00storms<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“And
when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.” (Mt. 14:32)</span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></i></p><p><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>storms</span></b></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">at
the mercy of the wind and waves</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">is
not how you intended this life to be</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">circumstances
were never meant to dictate</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">only
a deep trust in an unfailing love</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">can
give us a firm place to set our feet</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">even
when everything around us is in chaos</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“But
I have stilled and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a
weaned child is my soul within me.” (Ps. 131:2)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Let
actual circumstances be what they may, keep recognizing Jesus, maintain
complete reliance on Him.” ~Oswald Chambers</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-54011056812671175722024-01-18T07:42:00.000-08:002024-01-18T07:42:21.763-08:00dwelling<p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>“He who dwells in the
shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”</i> (Psalm 91:1)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dwelling is super important.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s because it does not just involve a physical
activity but is a state of being.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When
you dwell somewhere—or with someone—you are not just physically present, but you
are also mentally present, emotionally present, and spiritually present as
well.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The
Hebrew word for “dwell” is <i>yāša</i></span><i><span style="font-family: "Cambria",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">ḇ</span></i><span style="font-family: Cambria, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">, which </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">means
<i>to sit down</i> or <i>to reside in.</i>
Thus, dwelling is about staying.
It is about living with and in.
It is a word that’s used over a thousand times in the Old Testament, which
shows us how important it is. That’s
because who or what you dwell in determines so much about the state of your
existence. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If
you dwell in the shelter of the Most High, you will find rest in the shadow of
the Almighty.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Dwelling in God always results
in a soul at rest, regardless of your circumstances.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And a soul at rest is a soul that’s the very
best, God-breathed, version of itself.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But
if you dwell in someone or something else, you are in for a rocky ride.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You will always live at the mercy of who or
what you are dwelling in.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If I have a
tendency to dwell in my fears, anxieties, and insecurities—which I do—then it
will have a horrible effect on my quality of life, not to mention the quality
of my relationships.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But if I am able to
dwell in the shelter of the Most High, I am able to live out of his love rather
than out of my need. </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who
or what I’m choosing to dwell in at any given moment is what matters most.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But dwelling in the shelter of the Most High
does not come easily, it takes practice.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It doesn’t just happen automatically.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We must learn how to arrange and cultivate our lives in such a way that
we are continually turning and returning to our God.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Praying the words to this ancient and
beautiful prayer is a good place to start.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>“He who dwells in the shelter
of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”</i> (Psalm 91:1)</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-49581354892914043562024-01-17T08:34:00.000-08:002024-01-17T08:34:16.012-08:00the work of God<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“But this happened so that
the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:3)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are a people who continually
ask, “Why?”</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Whenever something goes
wrong—or right, for that matter—we want to understand the reason for it.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We are hell-bent on assigning blame or taking
credit, whichever it may be.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Who knows,
maybe that makes us feel more in control somehow.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The problem is that life is
not always that cut and dried.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is not
always as black and white as we want it to be.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Therefore, in the absence of a compelling cause and effect, we make up reasons
for why certain things have happened.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Someone has to take the blame when things don’t turn out the way we
think they should.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?”</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There
must be a reason, right?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Someone must’ve
done something to someone for this situation to have turned out this way.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">All the while, scared to death that if this
can happen to him or her, it could happen to anyone—even me.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tell me how to avoid these things happening in
my life, please!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But Jesus doesn’t appease
the crowd.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He doesn’t offer an easy
solution.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He simply tells them to trust
that in all things God is at work.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Horrible
things are going to happen in this life, things that cannot be explained by a simple
cause and effect relationship.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They are simply
the result of living in a fallen, broken world.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But know this: I am always at work.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The things that happen in this life can serve to display the work of God
if you are willing and open and receptive to them.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, the next time something
happens in your life that you don’t understand, the next time something unwanted
or unwelcomed crashes into your neatly ordered existence, do not look for
someone to blame, but hold onto the fact that God can use whatever it is to
display his work in your life and in his world.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just remember these words: </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“This happened so that the work of God
might be displayed in your life.”</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">O Lord,
my God, you are Lord and I am not.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">You
can, and will, use all the things of this life to mold and shape and transform
me into the person you dreamt me to be, even the hard things. </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Help me to trust in you.</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-62855811559361468482024-01-12T07:58:00.000-08:002024-01-12T07:59:45.858-08:00vulnerable<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: medium; line-height: 107%;">“My
grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2
Corinthians 12:9)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Vulnerability
is essential to the spiritual life.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">When
we are vulnerable, we live out of a posture of helplessness, dependency, and defenselessness.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Our guard is down, our mask is off, and our
worst foot is forward.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Vulnerability
makes us aware of just how weak and how fragile and how flawed we really are.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">But
it provides some of the richest soil for God to grow his life in us.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Vulnerability is God’s way of showing us that
we cannot manage, manipulate, and control life on our own.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">It is through our weaknesses, our flaws, our
failures, and our thorns that we experience the sufficiency of his grace.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Thus, our neediness is a place for God to display
his power and his love.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">And
yet we do whatever possible to keep from looking or feeling vulnerable.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">We mask our inadequacies, we rationalize our
failures, and we cover up our deficiencies whenever possible.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">But when we do this, we miss a great
opportunity to experience God’s grace, power, and love.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">So
let us embrace our vulnerability rather than hide it.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">For in our weakness, God does some of his
very best work.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Lord
Jesus, your grace really is sufficient for me, so I do not have to be.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Forgive me for trying to carry on the charade
that I am strong and adequate when I am really weak and inadequate.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Help my vulnerability become a place of your
strength.</span></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-36723573732347360872024-01-07T07:41:00.000-08:002024-01-07T07:41:32.199-08:00you anoint my head with oil<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">“You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head
with oil, my cup overflows.” (Psalm 23:5)</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> What a beautiful invitation! God,
our Good Shepherd, invites us to his table, the table he has prepared for us,
to join him in an intimate and soul-nourishing meal. It is a table of love, it is a table of joy,
it is a table of abundance. It is a
table where our cup constantly overflows with the goodness and life and love of
God.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
whenever we come to this table, he does something incredible.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He anoints our head with oil.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This anointing is one of great love and
affection.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">To anoint someone’s head was
a gesture of hospitality and esteem, of honor and respect.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">When someone’s head was anointed, it meant
that they were a special guest at the table.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Anointing was a symbol of joy, abundance, and refreshment of heart—which
all leads to an overflowing cup. That is the life God wants for us and with us.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately,
many of us run to other tables to try and find the life and the love and the
worth and the value that only the Lord can give.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The result of this is not abundance, but
scarcity.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Human honor and affection has
its limits; God’s does not.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So
don’t run around from table to table trying to find the love and the value that
only God can give.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Instead, come to his
table, the one he prepared for you.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Taste
of his great affection.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Receive his
fragrant anointing and allow your cup to overflow with his life and his love.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">O Lord, anoint my head with
oil today, so that I can know my true value and worth.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then I can be an instrument in inviting others
to the table that overflows with your life and your love.</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-13826988995069973132024-01-06T07:29:00.000-08:002024-01-06T07:30:15.705-08:00epiphany, 2024<p><i><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“When
they saw the </span>star,<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> they were overjoyed.
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother </span>Mary,<span style="font-size: 12pt;"> and they
bowed down and worshiped him. Then they
opened their treasures to him and presented him gifts of gold and of incense
and of myrrh.” Matthew (2:10-11)</span></span></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Did
you ever wonder why the Magi and the shepherds were able to notice God showing
up in the world, and the kings and rulers and leaders were not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it because the people in positions of
power and influence were just too busy to notice?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were they too consumed with their own
kingdoms to pay attention to God’s?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Were
they too distracted by what they were up to, to care about what God was up to?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I guess the moral of the story is: Don’t
get so consumed with your life and your world and your struggles that you lose
sight of your God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is the surest way to
miss what he is up to.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lord
Jesus, epiphany is all about seeing you.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Help us to do just that.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Help us
to live our lives in such a way that when you do show up, we notice, we
worship, and we open our treasures to you.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-85941325253764993662024-01-05T08:18:00.000-08:002024-01-05T08:18:00.619-08:00the yes of the soul<p><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God </span><i>affirms</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><i> us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge--a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete." </i>(</span></span><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2 Corinthians 1:20-22, MSG)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There
is a </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">yes </i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">deep in your soul, planted there by Love.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is in this place that you are invited to
live.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is a place of beautiful
harmony, deep resonance, and holy communion.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is where the yes of your soul meets the yes of its Maker.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Live in that yes today.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lord
Jesus, help me to find the yes of my soul and live in it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-88308603387815378512024-01-01T06:38:00.000-08:002024-01-01T07:04:57.264-08:00a new year's prayer, 2024 edition<p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s been a crazy year.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lots and lots of emptying: physical, spiritual,
relational, and vocational. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for always meeting me where
I am and always leading me where I need to be.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It hasn’t always been fun, but it has always been good.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s my New Year’s Prayer,
2024 edition:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me, O Lord, for not
being all you made me to be.</span></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me for being about
me rather than about you.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me for being driven
by need rather than by love.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me for trying to be
the point rather than making you the point.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me when I have let
my fears and insecurities get the best of me.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me when I have been
a wounder rather than a healer.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me when I have allowed,
mood, whim, and circumstance to determine my life.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Forgive me when I’ve sought
the praise of others before I’ve sought you.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Make me more like you, Lord
Jesus, in this new year.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Empty me of everything that
is not you.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And fill me with your wholeness,
your life, and your love.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fill me with your kindness,
your goodness, and your humility.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Make me into the husband,
father, grandfather, friend, servant, and man you want me to be.</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is my New Year’s
Prayer.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What's yours?</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-53319111660678716582023-12-31T08:28:00.000-08:002023-12-31T08:31:55.958-08:00embracing the new<p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I am the Lord; that is my
name!</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I will not give my glory to
another, or my praise to idols.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">See, the
former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring
into being I announce them to you.” (Isaiah 42:8-9)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">We can’t embrace the new,
without letting go of the old.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Will we?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lord Jesus, give us the courage and the strength and the grace to let go of the
old, so that we might be able to embrace the new.</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-26289010382107804112023-12-30T07:13:00.000-08:002023-12-30T07:13:13.648-08:00god alone<p><a name="_Hlk154823168"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him. He alone is my
rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.” (Psalm 62:5-6)</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Until my sense of well-being depends on </span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">God
alone</i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">, I will always be at the mercy of mood, whim, and circumstance.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">He alone is my rock and fortress.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">He alone will allow my soul to find rest and
peace.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">He alone is my hope.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">If my hope is in anyone or anything else, I am
in for a rocky ride.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: Book Antiqua, serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What
is your sense of well-being dependent upon these days? What would it look like to put your </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">trust</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> in God alone?</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a name="_Hlk154823198"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">“Trust in him, O people, pour out your
hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:8)</span></a></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-56204649404178361612023-12-22T13:43:00.000-08:002023-12-22T14:02:52.869-08:00an advent journey<p></p><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Game<br /></span></b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Years ago, some friends and I
had committed to work a weekend at a Young Life camp in western North Carolina.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The weekend, however, also was the time when Tennessee
was supposed to play Miami in the 1986 Sugar Bowl.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Miami was ranked second in the nation and was
a significant favorite to win, but we still wanted to watch the game, nonetheless,
holding out hope that Tennessee might be able to pull off the upset.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Being the year 1986, coupled
with the fact that there was no television reception at the camp, our only
option was to ask a friend in Asheville to tape the game for us and drive the
tape up to camp after it was over, which he gladly agreed to do.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">After our responsibilities
for the evening were finished, we headed up to the room and eagerly awaited the
arrival of the tape.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">At about 1:00 AM
our friend finally showed up and handed us the tape only saying the words,
“Don’t stop watching.”</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He knew we did
not want to know who won the game before we watched it, but also didn’t want us
to get so discouraged at some point that we might fail to watch all the way to
the end.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The game started out just
like everyone predicted.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Miami took the
opening kickoff and drove straight down the field in dominant fashion, scoring
on a touchdown pass from Vinny Testaverde to Michael Irvin.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It looked like we were in for a long night,
but we held out hope due to the words of our friend who had seen how the game
ended.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Needless to say, we watched the
game to the very end and were delighted as Tennessee dominated the rest of the
game in route to a 35-7 victory.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But I
always wondered whether we would have kept watching if our friend hadn’t given
us that glimmer of hope.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s what the season of
Advent is all about: A loving and powerful God, who knew how the story ended,
telling his people to watch and wait in hope and not lose heart, regardless of
how bad things might look at the moment.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus was coming.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><b style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Season<br /></b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It has been a long, hard,
heavy Advent season for me this year; a season that has left my soul and my spirit
with a definite limp.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I cannot remember
a time when I have been so aware of my flaws and my failures, my frailty and my
feebleness, my inadequacy and my brokenness, my vulnerability and my sin.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It has not been fun, but it has been
transforming.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God’s Spirit has been
incredibly active and wonderfully present within me: speaking and showing,
revealing and stirring, growing and forming, molding and changing me more into
the man he dreamt me to be.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And while it
hasn’t been easy or pleasant, it has been beautiful.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">God did what God does—he showed up in the
midst of my mess.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The highlight of which
was a dream I had a couple of weeks ago.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span><b>The
Dream<br /></b></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I was in a home.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A warm and comfortable home that was very
familiar to me, but not my own.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In this
home lived a family: a father, a son, and a daughter.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They were very familiar to me as well, and I
felt welcomed there, peaceful and safe and loved.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I walked around in the house, I noticed a
stairwell leading up to the door of an attic room.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I wondered what was up there but passed by
and continued to walk around.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Eventually, I passed the stairwell again and stopped to gaze up at the
door at the top of the stairs.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">A desire
arose deep within me to know what was behind that door, almost like it was
offering me some kind of secret invitation.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, I decided to venture up the steps and see what was there.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I ascended the staircase, I noticed the
daughter behind me, at the bottom of the stairs, smiling.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I turned and asked her what was behind the
door and if it was her room, but she just kept smiling.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I opened the door and
stepped into the most beautiful room I had ever seen.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was a fire in the fireplace, a
beautiful sitting area, and even a prayer space with candles, kneelers, and a wooden
cross at the center. </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The walls were
lined with bookcases full of books that were just begging to be read.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The room was so bright and so spacious, with
big windows and a high ceiling, so that light came streaming in from every
direction.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And as I walked around and took
in the beauty, I said to myself, “This is the most perfect room I’ve ever
seen.”<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s when I noticed the
family standing in the doorway.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They
were all beaming with joy.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s when I
realized that they had built this room for me and were just waiting for me to
notice the stairwell and the door, so that I would be curious enough to climb
the stairs and see what they had made for me.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">As I woke, all the sadness
and heaviness were gone.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Instead, I was
filled with an overwhelming sense of peace and joy and contentment. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><b style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The Passage<br /></span></b><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Do not let your hearts be
troubled. Trust in God; trust also in
me. In my Father’s house are many rooms;
if it were not so, I would have told you.
I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I
will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
(John 14:1-3)<br /></span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Immediately after I woke up
from the dream, this passage came to mind and has been my constant companion in
the days and weeks since.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus did not
want me to continue to live with a troubled heart, but with a trusting heart.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">He wanted me to know that even though things
were hard and heavy and sad right now, he was right in the middle of it doing
something good and beautiful.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I just
needed to learn to trust him.<br /></span><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></i></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Trouble</span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> has
an interesting quality about it. If we
dwell on it, it will consume us. But <i>trust</i>
has the same quality. It all depends on
what we focus on. If we focus on our
troubles, then that’s all we can think about.
Things become dark and hopeless and bleak. But if we focus on the God who is loving and
powerful and trustworthy, he will be the one that consumes our minds and hearts
instead. It all comes down to what we will
allow to consume us—our troubles or our God.
We can either be filled with guilt and shame, or with circumstances and
worries, or hurt and pain, or doubt and despair, or we can be consumed with the
life and love of God. Jesus wants so
much more for us than a troubled heart.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> The Proposal<br /></span></b><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In John 14, Jesus knew what
the disciples were facing in the days ahead and wanted to offer them (and us) words
of life and hope: “</span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I
would have told you. I am going there to
prepare a place for you. And if I go to
prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you
also may be where I am.”<br /></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Believe it or not, these
were the very words uttered at a Jewish marriage proposal in the days of Jesus.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Marriages were arranged in those days, but
the future bride and groom did have a choice.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">If the groom-to-be wanted to marry his intended bride, he would come to
her and offer her a cup of wine.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It was
his way of saying, “I choose you.”</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And
if the bride-to-be accepted the proposal, she drank the wine, thereby saying,
“And I choose you.”</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Then the future groom would
go back to his father’s house and start building a room onto that house for he
and his future bride to live.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Once the
work was done, the father of the groom would give his approval and then the
groom would head back to his betrothed’s house and bring her back to his
father’s house to start the wedding feast.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The disciples would have
fully understood the intimacy and the passion and the hope and the surety of all
that Jesus was communicating.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">They would
have recognized those very words as his proposal to them.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And that one day he would, indeed, return and
take them back to a wedding feast.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jesus
wanted to leave no doubt in their minds about the depth and breadth and passion
of his love, or that one day he would return to take them to be with him
forever.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">That’s what Advent is all
about: a hopeful, eager anticipation, even in the face of trials and
troubles.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">An admonition to not let the
troubles of this world, or of our own hearts, consume us, but to wait in
expectation for our groom to come for us, his bride, and take us back to the
place he has prepared for us, so that we might be with him in ecstatic, joyful,
loving union forever and ever.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br /><p></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-57440445354560322412023-12-19T08:03:00.000-08:002023-12-19T08:03:11.392-08:00how can i be sure of this<p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><i>“How can I be sure of this?”</i>
(Luke 1:18) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It’s a simple enough question, I suppose.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">And not terribly out of line, at least on the
surface, given the circumstances. Except when you consider that the being
standing before Zechariah was actually and angel, who had just told him that “your
prayer has been heard.”</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">It certainly
echoes the sentiments of a man who would come before Jesus years later: “Lord,
I believe.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Help me overcome my unbelief.”
(Mark 9:24)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What caused Zechariah to
doubt?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Was it that the miracle seemed
too hard to perform, given his age, or that he didn’t really believe God loved
him enough to perform it?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In other
words, did Zechariah have a hard time believing that God could answer his
prayer, or that God would answer his prayer?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Julian of Norwich once
wrote: “For some of us believe that God is all power and able to do all, and
that he is all wisdom and knows how to do all.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">But that he is all love and will do all, there we stop.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This ignorance is that which most hinders God’s
lovers.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">So, what is it for you?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What makes it hard to believe that God wants
to answer your prayers? </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">What makes it
hard for you to believe that he wants to turn your mess into a miracle?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do you believe he can?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Do you believe he will?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Just pay careful attention, because sometimes
the miracle he is performing is not the exact one we are asking him for.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Sometimes he is doing a bigger, deeper work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Forgive us, O Lord, when we
doubt the goodness of your heart and the power of your love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Give us confidence that you do, indeed, hear
our prayers and are committed to giving us the deepest desires of our hearts—yourself.</i><o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span><p></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-65047680610314505882023-12-18T07:17:00.000-08:002023-12-18T07:17:46.036-08:00low<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">“And she gave birth to her
firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in
cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.”
(Luke 2:7)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Talk about humble beginnings!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creator of the universe, God in the
flesh, came into the world as a newborn baby, was wrapped in cloths, and was
laid in a manger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All because there was
no room for him in the inn!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Are you
kidding me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How much lower can you
get?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet, this is how God chose to enter
his creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">It certainly tells us something about the
character of our God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it certainly
sets an example for those of us who follow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The very birth of Jesus invites us to the low places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It invites us to enter the world with a hush
rather than a flash.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It invites us to make
our home among the low rather than the high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The temptation to try and make a place for
ourselves in this world is so strong, and yet Jesus did the very opposite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he invites us to join him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which means that whenever we find that there
is no room for us, we are most likely following in his footsteps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rejoice and be glad! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Lord Jesus, the way you
chose to enter this world tells us so much about who you are, and about who you
aren’t.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Help us to have the courage and
the strength and the grace to see your example and to follow it.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></i></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-18938044894087435392023-12-09T08:50:00.000-08:002023-12-09T08:50:30.857-08:00my newest book<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQOpa3ESzkOjOAmQT982ygNQXB_D0nzYa8vtBTgDBqDJbhFoSsMHr-90TtkWhOvitta42IQEse9y9fj6tKU-xfhEhUOaMiTBDgLNck_aBc6wDyFTVzggb3cafibS3NvwheVQRABbjxvk03_A7jmVGeQ0GT1jCJpDXaA4uQgPzjB8cB4TIETNz_ewRTpmg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiQOpa3ESzkOjOAmQT982ygNQXB_D0nzYa8vtBTgDBqDJbhFoSsMHr-90TtkWhOvitta42IQEse9y9fj6tKU-xfhEhUOaMiTBDgLNck_aBc6wDyFTVzggb3cafibS3NvwheVQRABbjxvk03_A7jmVGeQ0GT1jCJpDXaA4uQgPzjB8cB4TIETNz_ewRTpmg" width="160" /></a></div><br /><div>In case you are looking for a good companion for the journey from Epiphany to Lent, this might be for you. It's the second book in the Order My Steps series. <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Season-Beholding-Journey-Epiphany-Order/dp/B0CHL7RXQ1?ref_=ast_author_dp&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5CodHPVKFBHn1xHm5r5mLQ0qtWvz44wD3fPfgI0b9ozMjO4U5R6wmw2O-k-CAr-TkitfpUn1DbtzcCCvg9zfZ-f5n1XFihvG_UK7L_t_DrkHSYUhCFbxwZ8QmmKpGYgxF1Z0DqudOcduPaYy5gEJdF5a1kJL3AnrXysRb21xW6IN8dzX9BZ3XmHLla0jteIDaoNv0m8zau0JXA0PkZi9QN1DYuFQ-1d8qmdFY4MUwtY.7lMBvWeFQsaB_s3n57l9C2Dr92In4Gk6quQjAyO2rhk&dib_tag=AUTHOR" target="_blank">Available now on Amazon</a></div>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9033333388608577118.post-85762400740437141412023-11-29T07:50:00.000-08:002023-11-29T07:50:56.402-08:00stay in the struggle<p><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">But Jacob
replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." (Genesis 32:26)</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">You’ve got to admire Jacob’s tenacity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>While most of us would probably have been saying, “Let me go, this is
exhausting, painful, and incredibly uncomfortable,” Jacob was saying, “I will not let you
go until you bless me."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth is that
most of us probably do not stay in the struggle long enough to get the
blessing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We tap out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Jacob was determined.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew this wrestling would eventually bring
a blessing, so he stayed in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And although he left with a limp, he also
left with a new name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From that moment
on, Jacob’s life would be forever changed.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Where and how are you wrestling with God these days?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">What is that struggle accomplishing in
you?</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Will you stay in the struggle long
enough to receive the blessing it holds?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">“Enable me to stay in the struggle until the
blessing arrives.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">I will allow myself to
be vulnerable.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">That very vulnerability
is my limp, but it is also my blessing.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">O Transforming One, you have wounded me, yet you have not disappointed
me.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">I am grateful for the blessing of
all my new names.</span><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;"><i>Thank you for your
presence in the beautiful struggle of daily life.”</i> (</span><i style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">Abide </i><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua", serif;">by Macrina
Wiederkehr)</span></p>Jim Branchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00304194929839617826noreply@blogger.com0