Tag Archives: love

Why I Believe

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Why I Believe

The reason I believe.

I believe because of this indestructible, life-giving love.

It’s curious; I received Love, then I met Him. God loved me first, but I come to understand His love as I do it.

Imagine being healed. That’s amazing. But what is even more miraculous is being made capable of doing it.

I could dismiss being healed as a fluke or by attributing it to another cause, but to be able to do it (love) consistently is evidence and removes any doubt.

Jesus’s words are true,
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
— Acts 20:35

Because He loved me, now I can love with this indestructible, life-giving love, even toward those who are hateful toward me—utterly amazing, because I know how selfish I am.

It’s like a superpower.

I readily admit that I do it imperfectly, but His love is sanctifying. As He loves me, as I love others and I love Him, I’m being sanctified and my love is being perfected.

It’s a love that may start rough but still accomplishes its purpose (life), is being perfected as it continues, and it never ends.

“Love never fails.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:8

Hallelujah.

This is my experience. This is my testimony.

This is one of many reasons for my faith.

I’ve been told that this is my subjective experience and does not point to any objective reality.

I do not deny that it is my subjective experience. We may both know my wife, but my experience of her does not match your experience of her—subjective. We all experience a person subjectively, that doesn’t make them any less objective and real.

I can no more deny the person of Love than I can the love of my life.

God is love.

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
— 1 John 4:7-8

Growing in love: learning more and more of His love for me, and loving others more and more—these things working in tandem—has been for me the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

#perfectourlove #love #testimony

P.S. Thank you, Pastor Jones, for being the vessel I received Christ and His love through.

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #13 – A Smile

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #13 - A Smile

In Week 13 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for a smile.

We’ve been working with some students to prepare for a cybersecurity competition.

I noticed that one of our kids stopped coming to the meetings.

So, I went to their class and asked for them by name.

They come to the door with a blank stare—a palpable hardness.

I say, “Hey, I’ve missed you at the meetings. Do you want to go to the competition?”

Something in their face shifts for a second and they say, “Yeah, but I didn’t think I was good enough.”

I responded, “That’s why I’m here, because you’re one of my best”, and handed them the registration form.

Then, there was that shift again but this time it gave way to a brief smile. As though to hide it, they looked down at the form.

“You’re going to bring this back to me tomorrow?” I asked.

They nodded affirmatively and then walked back into class.

The child that walked away was different than the one that came to the door, and I’m grateful.

#52WoG

The Real Battle Is Our Desire

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Real Battle Is Desire

I prayed and asked,

“Jesus lived without sin, but how?”

I believe the divine response was,

“because He desired nothing besides the Father.”

Jesus was fully God and fully man. And, though He was fully man, His singular desire for the Father kept Him in perfect obedience to the Father and in harmony with His divine nature.

We who have received His divine nature can—by His grace: His nature, His power, and His guidance—walk in obedience to the Father as He did.

But why don’t we walk perfectly in obedience? Why do we repeatedly fall into sin?

Meet your opponent: your desire.

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”
— James 1:14-15

What did Jesus have that allowed Him to walk in perfect obedience that we should also diligently strive for?

A singular, undivided, uncompromising desire for God alone. We should desire nothing besides God.

But, what does that look like?

Imagine a circle representing the Kingdom of God, and imagine within that circle another circle representing the life of Jesus Christ. Now include another intersecting circle representing the life of Peter.

When Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ this is represented by the part of Peter’s circle that intersects with the Kingdom of God. But when he attempts to convince Jesus not to die, this represents the part of Peter’s circle that is outside the Kingdom of God.

All the while, all of Jesus is within the Kingdom, including how He must die, and He rebukes Peter for tempting Him to go outside the circle of God’s Kingdom (His will), which is sin.

One of the biggest takeaways should be even though Peter was coming from an undoubtedly genuine place of care and kindness for someone he loved, it was ultimately evil because Peter’s desire was misplaced, and if followed, would have damned us all—just like the original Adam.

This is what God is dealing with me on. He has brought me to a point in my walk where my goal is to desire nothing besides God.

Lord, make me a man after Your own heart!

Does this mean I don’t love my family, my brothers and sisters in Christ, or you?

Remember the earlier Scripture from James 1:14-15? Read the very next verses:

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”
— James 1:16-17

When God is our sole desire, we love what is in and we love from within God.

“If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.”
— 1 John 4:20-21

That’s loving what’s in God.

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
— Matthew 5:44-45

And, that’s loving from within God.

The goal is union rather than intersection—for God to be our whole desire, with nothing outside.

This is a picture of perfection, and the means of acquiring it: the heart God gives—Christ’s heart—that desires God alone.

The real battle is desire, and the stakes couldn’t be higher—our endless, unhindered enjoyment of God starting right now.

#perfectourlove #spiritualwarfare #TheRealBattle #desire

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #12 – A Confession

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #12 – A Confession

In Week 12 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for a confession.

Today, I attended the Men’s Lunch that is held on Thursdays at New Horizons Christian Fellowship at 1010 Victory Lane in Starkville.

It was one of the most beautiful times of Communion I’ve experienced this year, and it all began with a brother being real and opening our discussion with, “I struggle…”

James 5:16 says,

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

I don’t often see “confession” in our gatherings. Instead, we fall into churchiness and deflect or pretend that we’ve got it all together. In so doing we become guilty of what the Apostle Paul warns against in 2 Timothy 3:5 “having a form of godliness, but denying its power.”

Imagine being sick, going to the hospital, and talking about how bad someone else’s illness is. I’ll never get well doing that. We give up the power available to us when we do that. But all it takes is one person sick and desperate enough to cry out for help to change everything.

There is power in confession, there is power in prayer, there is power in His presence and He is present among His people.

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”
– Matthew 18:20

It is no coincidence that Matthew 18:20, quoted just above, is in the context of forgiveness. Hallelujah.

This brother’s confession released what God had already pre-ordained for this moment through brethren God had already prepared for this moment.

I can’t speak for the brother who confessed about whether he was healed.

But, I was.

I’m grateful.

#52WoG

Making A Divided Heart Whole

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Making A Divided Heart Whole

My heart’s divided.

My head is all over the place.

This problem. That problem. I’m pulled in a thousand different directions.

It’s hard to concentrate. I constantly jump from one thing to the other.

It’s difficult to stay on task because attacks are coming in from every side and each one feels like an existential threat, all the while I’m looking for THE problem to solve that will solve many, if not all, of the rest.

What’s the thing, if achieved, that will secure me, that will remove the terror of death and give me peace?

Sudden ruin is the anxiety of my heart.

To defeat a demon, you must make it take shape by uncovering its name.

What, exactly, am I afraid of?

I’m afraid of:

Someone dear to me languishing and dying in poverty and my having done nothing to improve their situation.

Losing my job.

Losing my clients.

Not having enough money to pay for our house, our cars, our bills, our streaming services, our debt, to keep the lights on and to have enough left over to enjoy any semblance of life such as eating out and taking an occasional trip for a change of scenery.

The discontent of others.

The disapproval of others.

Being unworthy of respect because I failed to achieve financial success.

Being alone.

I cast the demon out by bringing it into captivity of Christ.

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.”
— Matthew 12:28-29

I accept Christ as King who is stronger than my enemy.

“[…] on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
— Matthew 16:18

I then die to this world to be released from being acted upon as its subject and am raised up to sit with Christ who reigns in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6) and acts upon it—the government of Hell shall not prevail against the government of Heaven.

I accept the loss of all the things of this world and no longer work for them.

You can’t scare a dead man with death.

“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”
— Philippians 3:8

And I focus on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

I focus exclusively on gaining His character to be a vessel of His work—the blessed Oneness of all things in the Communion of God through Christ. And I trust Him for the rest.

“And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”
— Luke 12:29-31

The irony is, while I’ve been anxious, He’s been doing this all along. Imagine the joy and peace I could have enjoyed if I had trusted Him all this time instead of worrying and fretting?

I confess this sin and repent. Additionally, I die to the world and accept whatever loss comes with that. If in the course of following Christ it dies, it dies. I will not allow it to make me turn back.

“Remember Lot’s wife.”
— Luke 17:32

I will work with a heart committed to fostering Communion and bringing everything in my sphere onto the mat—into the order of God’s government so that they may experience His wonderful kingdom.

So, however small my sphere starts, the question is how does my love for God and what have I learned of Christ about how to govern inform how I use what’s in my hand at this moment to provide for my sphere and bring it into His kingdom order for the purposes of glorifying His wonderful name and drawing all men unto Him in Communion?

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.

Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?

And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
— Luke 16:10-13

I want the true riches.

Practically, the way I provide for my sphere may look the same as any one else earning a living, but the reason and my reaction to the results will be drastically different, leading to drastically different outcomes—even materially, but especially spiritually.

The reason.

This is how I focus—remembering the Treasure I seek: God alone.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.”
— Matthew 5:8

This is how a divided heart is made whole.

#anxiety #love #perfectourlove #GoodWorks

Stay On The Mat

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Stay On The Mat

Love (noun – what it is): God’s government.

Love (verb – how it works): Obedience to God’s government that presents a space where the recipient of love experiences God’s kingdom.

I refer to that “space” as “the mat” and my goal is to meet people there.

The mat is love.

While these are not exhaustive lists (I hope to expound on this later), what is on that mat is joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

And what is NOT on the mat is bitterness, evil speaking, malice (Ephesians 4:31), selfishness, envy, unforgiveness, sexual immorality, (Romans 1:29-31) and things that may surprise you like truth that is not spoken in love.

This is deeply helpful to me. It helps me, at any moment, to orient myself spiritually and answer God’s first question to man, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

Love is obedience to God’s government that presents a space where the recipient of love experiences God’s kingdom.

My goal is “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” To make it real by presenting a space where others can experience it—the mat of love.

My goal is to stay on the mat.

#perfectourlove #heartwords #love

Why Get Up?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Why Get Up?

It’s a struggle to get out of bed many mornings, to push past the darkness.

So, why do it?

Hope.

I have good reason to expect the day when the darkness will cease because the Son has come.

So, with eager expectation I move; walking by faith that allows me to maintain the fight even though my feelings suggest that I’m failing.

I’m fueled by the pleasure of seeing God’s kingdom order come to everything—both the process and the product—to this day and the day it will be fully consummated.

I do it because I believe the love He has for us (1 John 4:16), because I love Him, and I can’t wait for everyone to experience that when He’s King of all.

So, I make Him king of everything I can today.

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:13

#thriveday #goodworks #perfectourlove

The Unwanted Cup

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Unwanted Cup

Jesus was not afraid of the cross, He resolutely accepted it.

It was the cup that gave Him pause.

“He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’”
— Matthew 26:39

The cup of wrath—the just penalty for all sin, incomprehensibly terrifying cosmic destruction—is poured out on a single point: the Lamb.

It is an event so massive, it reconstitutes time.

We observed the spectacle of the cross over two thousand years ago.

But, the Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world.

And, it covers sin that will be committed any number of years from now, before His return.

The penalty is necessary because the Kingdom of God is perfect.

All sin must be negated. All corruption must be purged.

The equation is balanced. The problem is solved. His accounting is perfect.

Therefore, for our debts to be forgiven, someone has to pay them.

There is but one payment for sin: death. And, it is Jesus who pays it.

Who can withstand God’s wrath? Who else could die countless deaths in an instant and still survive?

God can.

It’s why a Jesus who’s just another man who had some good things to say, won’t do.

It has to be Jesus, the only begotten Son of God (begotten meaning having the same nature as whatever begot), who pays the debt. He has to be God, because God is the only one who can.

Which brings me to my ultimate point: my sin, even though it is forgiven, is not without cost.

Every sin I commit hurts Jesus. Every sin I will commit will hurt Jesus.

He dies for my sin. Every. Single. One.

No one who truly loves Him would wantonly add to His suffering.

On this point, I begin to realize the gravity of my sin.

I love Him. The last thing I want to do is hurt Him.

Help me, O God!

#gospel

I Will Not Let Fear Stop Me

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - I Will Not Let Fear Stop Me

You know what?

I’m going to stop trying to anticipate when someone might hurt me.

I’m not going to let fear of what someone might do stop me from doing what is in me to do, and what I am eager to do, which is to love fully without holding back. (2 Timothy 1:7)

If and when you hurt me, I’ll deal with it then.

I can take the hurt.

And I know I CAN because of the power of Christ that is within me—power that allowed Him to take the hurt, power that can even raise the dead. (Hebrews 12:2, Philippians 4:13)

There’s nothing you can do to me that Jesus can’t heal. In fact, all you can do is make me stronger. (Romans 8:37-39)

Here’s how “[His] perfect love casts out [my] fear.” (1 John 4:18)

I will not let fear stop me from enjoying His wonderful love.

#perfectourlove

What Is Love?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What Is Love?

Love is God’s government.

Not a government of rules and task lists,

But a government that flows from God’s heart in us received by faith in Jesus Christ,

Government that produces the approach, resources, services, security, and harmony that makes its subjects whole.

Love is God’s government that makes its subjects whole.

#love #heartwords