Jim Branch

just a guy

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

The Blue Book is finally available on Amazon! Tell your friends.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“How rare it is to find a soul still enough to hear God speak! The slightest murmur of our vain desires, or of a love fixed upon itself, confounds all the words of the Spirit of God.” ~Francois Fenelon

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“Let my soul take refuge from the crowding turmoil of worldly thought beneath the shadow of your wings. Let my heart, this sea of restless waves, find peace in you, O God.” -Saint Augustine

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

Lord Jesus, help me to become the me that looks like you.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

When we say “yes” to Jesus, our lives cease to be our own. He begins to live his life in and through us. It’s “no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” There’s no middle ground.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

Change begins with recognition. Recognition begins with paying attention. Prayer is about attention and affection—giving God our undivided attention and our unbridled affection.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

O Lord, help me to abide in your love more and more. Then I will be “more and more tender each day, rejoicing and all atremble with love,” overflowing with gratitude.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

Lord, help me to be a better expression of your love, your purity, your kindness, and your heart. Help me to reflect you in all I do, think, and say. Forgive me for my need to be significant in people’s lives. Help me to love them because I love you, not so that they will love me

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“Nothing can be more useful to a man than a determination, not to be hurried.” ~Henry David Thoreau

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

You lived a life of utter dependence, Lord Jesus. Why would I think that any less would be demanded of me?

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

Be careful if you’re on I-275 south just past 640. The sign that says “bump“ should say “trench.“ It’s ridiculous. If you’re going over 50 miles an hour you’re gonna regret it.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“The crowning evidence that Jesus was alive was not a vacant grave, but a spirit-filled fellowship. Not a rolled away stone, but a carried away church.” ~Clarence Jordan.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

It’s not until you’re clinging to nothing that God ends up being your everything.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

Every day is a gift from you, O Lord, help me to treat it as such.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning it’s shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2)

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say we were “the joy set before him.”

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.” ~Ps.62:1

O Lord, so many of us need to find our rest in you alone today. Would you help us to do that?

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.“ ~John 13:34-35

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

My need, O God, is so deep. Deeper than I can ever understand. But thankfully your love is deeper still.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

Do. Not. Live. In. Fear.
Live. In. Love.

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

“There are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves into his hands, and let themselves be formed by his grace.” ~Saint Ignatius

[Jim Branch @hcnarbj]

We can live our lives in fear and anger or we can live them in joy and gratitude. It’s a choice. The world is filled with amazingly wonderful people. If we stop ranting and raging and blaming for a second we might actually meet some of them. Or, better yet, become one of them.