Brandon Fisher @Disciplemaker84

In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” He doesn’t say, “Blessed are those who are dragged into righteousness,” or those who are occasionally interested. No, He says hunger produces pursuit. If you found a starving man and fed him, and told him, “Meet me here every day and you’ll never go hungry again,” you wouldn’t have to remind him. You wouldn’t have to beg him. You wouldn’t have to drag him there, his hunger would make him show up. And the same is true spiritually. If a man is truly hungry for Jesus, if he’s been changed, if he’s been awakened, you won’t have to chase him down every Sunday, every group, every gathering. Hunger shows up. So if there’s no desire, no consistency, no pursuit… the question isn’t, “Where have you been?” The real question is, “What are you hungry for?”

Many professing Christians do not proclaim Christ because they have lost confidence in the power of the gospel to do what Scripture says it can. It's ironic that we confess with our mouths that it was powerful enough to save us, yet often live with our silence as if it cannot save anyone else.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. The way up in God's kingdom is down. The path to exaltation is humility. The people who spend their lives promoting themselves eventually discover that God is committed to humbling them.

Marriage problems are often worship problems. What is broken horizontally is frequently revealing what is broken vertically.

Some days ministry looks less like victory and more like faithfulness. It's simply getting up, trusting God with what you can't control, and refusing to quit. Daily Assignment... "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."

If you post on social media primarily to get attention, constant affirmation, or to defend yourself before others, it may be revealing that your heart is looking to people for identity, validation, or vindication in ways that ultimately belong to God. The danger is not social media itself, but the motive underneath it. Jesus warned in The Gospel of Mathew 6:1 about doing things “to be seen by others”. Paul said in Galatians 1:10, “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ”. Sometimes we don’t post because we want to serve, encourage, or edify. Sometimes we post because we want applause, sympathy, we want to control the narrative, to prove we were right, or we want people to feel bad for us. And if we’re honest, social media can easily become a digital courtroom where we constantly defend ourselves before strangers instead of resting in the fact that God knows the truth. There’s a difference between us using a platform, and needing a platform. One can be ministry and the other can quietly become bondage. A healthy question for us to ask before posting is “Would I still be at peace if this got ignored, misunderstood, or brought me no praise at all?” Because real maturity in Christ slowly teaches us that not every misunderstanding needs a response, not every attack deserves a defense, and not every thought needs an audience! “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

Serving Jesus with a heart void of joy eventually becomes an unhealthy offering. God does not delight in our drudgery. He is pleased when we delight in Him and serve in gladness.

Pride is subtle and insidious, it rarely shows up loud; it hides in the small, overlooked corners of the heart. It’s the need to always be right, the resistance to admit weakness, the quiet voice that says, “You don’t need to apologize, they started it,” or worse, “Just let it go, it’ll blow over.” And sometimes it even wears the mask of humor, laughing things off, cracking jokes, keeping things light, not because everything’s okay, but because it keeps anyone from looking close enough to see that something’s not. Pride deflects instead of owning. It shifts blame instead of taking responsibility. It minimizes what was said, softens what was done, and reframes the narrative just enough to stay justified. It dodges hard conversations, avoids eye contact with conviction, and builds a case for self-preservation rather than surrender. It would rather protect an image than pursue transformation. It keeps apologies vague or absent. It convinces us silence is maturity when it’s really avoidance. It numbs conviction with excuses and calls it peace. It distances us from others while quietly hardening us within. And all the while, it resists the very grace we claim to need. Humility doesn’t come naturally, it has to be chosen. It looks like honesty when it’s uncomfortable, confession when it costs something, and repentance when no one’s forcing it. It’s tearing down the mask, stepping into the light, and agreeing with God about what’s really there.

When you run from what God is trying to deal with in you, you don’t escape the problem, you multiply it.

“Serving God is not a matter of location; it is a matter of obedience.” - Ruth Ripken

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” - Galatians 2:20 I died with Him. I live through Him. And I am loved by Him.

We often live in a church culture drawn toward feast and play, while Jesus Christ calls His people to seasons of fast and pray. Comfort can dull hunger. Entertainment can distract devotion. Abundance can weaken dependence. When the church is full of everything but desperate for nothing, we risk becoming stagnant and self-satisfied. Christ did not model a life centered on excess, but on communion with the Father, self-denial, prayer, and wholehearted obedience.

If you don’t have a pastor who is willing to confront error in your life out of fear of losing your approval, then you do not have a shepherd, you have a hireling. Yeah, but preacher… what if I lose them? If they leave because of truth, you never truly had them, you only had their attendance, their approval, or their convenience. The most loving thing a pastor can do is not tell people what they want to hear, but tell them what they desperately need to hear. Truth may sting, but silence can destroy. A shepherd is not called to keep people by compromise, but to feed people by conviction. We are not commanded to build crowds by flattery, but to make disciples by truth. Sometimes faithful shepherding means risking a Galatians 4:16 response: “Have I become your enemy because I told you the truth?” Paul was willing to be misunderstood if it meant they might be restored. If truth makes them walk away, then their loyalty was never to Christ, it was to comfort. Better to lose people because you were faithful than keep them because you were false. A real pastor does not measure success by applause, but by faithfulness.

Marriage is a living display of the gospel. It is more than companionship, romance, or shared responsibility, it is a sacred picture of Christ and His church found in Ephesians 5. It calls us to lay ourselves on the altar of self-denial and serve our spouse, not merely when it is easy, but especially when it is costly. God demonstrated His love toward us in this: while we were still sinners, Romans 5:8 says Christ died for us. He did not wait until we were “nailing it.” He did not wait until we had improved, matured, or become lovely enough to earn His affection. He loved us in our rebellion, pursued us in our brokenness, and gave Himself while we were undeserving. In the same way, love in marriage is most clearly displayed not when your spouse is performing perfectly, but when they are struggling, failing, disappointing, or falling short. Anyone can show affection when everything is smooth. But gospel love shines brightest in the tension, in the offense, in the inconvenience, in the moments when forgiveness is costly and patience is tested. That does not mean ignoring sin, enabling abuse, or pretending wounds are not real. It means choosing the posture of Christ truthful, gracious, patient, forgiving, and sacrificial. Your spouse’s shortcomings often become the altar upon which selfishness is slain. Marriage teaches us that love is not proven in ease, but in endurance. Not in being served, but in serving. Not in getting our way, but in giving ourselves away. When a husband loves a difficult wife with gentleness, or a wife loves a failing husband with grace, the world catches a glimpse of Jesus. Because the deepest question in marriage is not, “Are they deserving today?” It is, “Will I love like Christ today?”

Suffering is often the classroom where sanctification is taught.

I am convinced that one of the most overlooked glories that will make eternity sweet is the final eradication of every distraction from our communion with God no more wandering thoughts, no more divided affections, no more competing loves just uninterrupted, unhindered fellowship with Him forever. Heaven will be sweet not just because we see God, but because nothing will ever disconnect from Him again.

The gospel does not tell you that you were created for a moment… it tells you that you were created for eternity, and how you spend this momentary life in service to the King… echoes into eternity.

If someone wasn’t present to strengthen you when it was hard, you may want to be careful how much weight you give to their voice when it’s time to evaluate you.

“Why do you seek the living One among the dead?” Many of us today are still looking for life in dead places. The hearts of men are all searching for life, yet in our fallen condition we keep digging in graves, hoping to find it. We search for satisfaction in things that cannot satisfy. We look for meaning in what is meaningless and for joy in what is fleeting. We search for life among what is lifeless, and in doing so, we often bypass what is eternal to chase what is temporary. The question that was asked of the women on Resurrection Morning is still being asked of us today... "Why do you seek the living One among the dead?" Life is not found where death lives. It is found in the risen Jesus the One who conquered death and gives life to all who come to Him.

Many people are worshiping a God they call Jesus… claiming a religion they call Christianity. But the Jesus they are worshiping is not the Jesus of the Bible. It is a god of their own making— a version they’ve shaped… redefined… and made comfortable. And the Christianity they claim is Christianity in name only. Because at the end of the day… their god is self, and their religion is whatever the man in the mirror approves.