Tag Archives: perseverance

I Don’t Have To Be Happy About It

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - I Don't Have To Be Happy About It

Sometimes I feel bad for being beat to hell, for being sad, and not being happy about it.

It feels like if I were just better—if I were more holy, if I were more thankful, if I were less selfish—the pain shouldn’t affect me, that I should be happy and able to carry on as though I’m not in pain.

But, I am so thankful for the moments of humanity in the Bible, especially that of Jesus,

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour.

Father, glorify your name.”
— John 12:27-28

“My soul is troubled…” This is so deeply helpful to me. It, and passages like it, show me that I can register the full range of human emotions and still honor God.

The key, Jesus demonstrates, is loving God, desiring His Kingdom and concentrating on God’s glory—not allowing the feeling to make me put down my cross or cause me to deviate from the path of Calvary—dying and living again for the reconciliation of everything in my sphere.

I don’t have to be happy, but I can be honest and honor. I can carry on doing the things that are profitable for the purpose I am sent.

In that, there’s help, there’s rest, and there’s always joy.

“Father, glorify Your name.”

#sometimesithurts #buttheresalwaysjoy

Sometimes It Hurts

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Sometimes It Hurts

Sometimes it hurts.

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
— John 16:33

Christianity is not some magic protection against misfortune, being mistreated or things going wrong. And, I can’t do enough good things to prevent bad things from happening to me.

Jesus called John the Baptist “the greatest one born of woman” (Matthew 11:11).

Not a good one, the greatest.

He’s walking in his calling. He’s innocent, having done nothing wrong.

Yet he’s sitting in prison, about to be murdered by having his head cut off.

In this account in Matthew 11, John the Baptist sends two of his disciples to Jesus.

Does Jesus respond to John the Baptist’s wrongful imprisonment by some heavenly miracle to release him?

No.

Not in this case, at least. (Acts 12:5-16, 16:25-34)

How does Jesus respond?

“Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.'”
– Matthew 11:4-5

What is Jesus doing?

He assures him.

In other words, Jesus tells John, “Your hope in Me is not in vain.”

Jesus is fortifying John’s soul.

A vicious lie, a half-truth at best, often peddled by the industrial church and Cultural Christianity is “Everything will be alright,” as to say, “Things will eventually work out the way I want them to in this life.”

We’ve been deceived to believe that our heavenly conversion exempts us from the earthly consequences of sin being in the world. (John 16:33)

But, disaster, hardship, violence, injustice and suffering can and does befall believers as it does people throughout the whole world. (Romans 8:22)

At this very moment there are believers who are:

losing their jobs,
not able to keep the lights on,
losing their homes,
terminally ill,
disabled,
suffering abuse,
persecuted,
hungry,
in prison,
grieving,
dying
…

And, it may not be resolved on this side of heaven.

Suggesting otherwise is a complete denial of people’s suffering or implies that they are somehow doing Christianity wrong!

But Christianity is not about denying pain, escaping reality, or pretending everything is fine.

It’s not a coping mechanism or an exercise in cognitive dissonance. It’s real power. (2 Timothy 1:7, 3:5)

Sometimes there’s simply seasons of suffering.

God is completely able to change any circumstance.

But, He may choose not to. (Daniel 3:16-18)

What we can always be assured of is His purposes will be achieved.

And, His purposes are good. (Romans 8:28)

And, you, your suffering and everything concerning you are accounted for in His good purposes. (Matthew 10:30)

Regarding seasons of suffering, a part of God’s good purposes is making your soul able to weather them all. (Matthew 7:24-26)

A part of His good purpose is to make you like His Son-steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. (Philippians 1:6, 1 Corinthians 15:58)

That’s all well and good, but back to John, what good is a steadfast spirit or assurances when I’m about to get my head chopped off?!

If there’s not anything beyond the here and now, it means nothing.

But, if what we believe of Jesus is true, it means everything.

And, it is on this point where the sheep and goats are divided. (John 10:26-27)

Goats may follow up to a point as long as they’re getting what they want.

But, sheep follow to the end. (Revelation 2:10)

Here is where true faith is revealed, or the lack thereof which is not for condemnation but is an opportunity for reevaluation and repentance. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

In the darkness of the eleventh hour is where we’re confronted with what we truly believe and who we will ultimately serve. (Luke 22:61, John 21:15-19)

Here is what Jesus says in His eleventh hour,

“Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?
But for this purpose I came to this hour.
Father, glorify Your name.
Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.'”
– John 12:27-28

Suffering is not only allowed sometimes to test and to steel us, but it is in the darkness of the eleventh hour where we can shine the brightest, giving glory to God.

When we are asked for “a reason for the hope that is in you,” (1 Peter 3:15), it is usually in dark, difficult places.

If you can bear it, John is being glorified. Just as we are being glorified when we choose, as disciples of Christ, to commit our lives, including our suffering to God’s purposes. (John 17:22)

“The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
– Romans 8:16-17

When we commit it to Him, God achieves His glory through us. (Romans, 12:1, 2 Corinthians 4:7-11)

This is how our glory mainly appears in this life. (Matthew 5:16, 2 Corinthians 4:17, Revelation 3:8-11)

So, horrible things can happen to me, and sometimes I can and should seek deliverance from them, but whether I am delivered or not, I have to decide whether I will commit it to Him, whether I will follow Jesus to the end.

And this is the end: the whole world delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God where we will enjoy Him together without hindrance forever in complete safety because Jesus is King. (Isaiah 11, Romans 8:21, Revelation 22:3-5)

My hope is to see a glimpse of the Kingdom now, but my ultimate hope is not here. My ultimate hope is to be a part of its full consummation with you in the world to come. (Psalm 27:13, 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, Hebrews 11:16, Revelation 21)

When we confront hardships, including death, Jesus assures us as He did John the Baptist.

“Though you may not see it, the Word is true. I’m liberating the world.”

“Your work in My name is reconciling people from darkness to light.”

“Your hope in Me is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Therefore, I must strive to follow Jesus to the end, and embrace the path even when it is marked by hardship and suffering.

#sometimesithurts

Meet God In The Fire

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Meet God In The Fire

Is God not real to you?

Does God seem more like a lofty concept than a real person you can walk with through life?

Do you want to see God?

Meet Him in the fire.

“Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, ‘Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?’ They answered and said to the king, ‘True, O king.’ ‘Look!’ he answered, ‘I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.’
– Daniel 3:24-25

Fire brings God’s shape into view when, in humility, we desire Him more than we desire to escape the flames of adversity of this life through safety and comfort elsewhere.

When we abide in His love through obedience, stand firm on the hope of His appearing, and do not abandon the eternal for the temporary, He appears.

I don’t like hardship, but it is often in the midst of difficulty, at the edge of our ability—where we don’t know what, why, when, or how—that causes us to question and cry out in faith, and there He meets us.

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
– James 1:2-5

It is there, in the fire, where it gets real, where His presence is often most keenly felt, where He grants us wisdom and a grace to go on that we did not previously have. What is more real than that?

It is in the fire that God is a very real comfort for me. It’s more than head knowledge; it’s a presence like being braced by an arm to keep me from falling.

In my own words, I echo the words of the Psalmist, David, in Psalm 23:4,

“As I walk through the seemingly existential threats of this life,
You protect me from the death of separation from You,
You keep me in The Way of life.
‘You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me'”

This is the God I’ve met—and the One you can meet too—in the fire.

Broken With Purpose

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Broken With Purpose

Before Christ, I was just broken.

In many ways, I’m still broken.

But now, I’m broken this way with purpose.

Jesus uses my brokenness to heal others of the same brokenness as He heals me.

Hallelujah!

Jesus healed a man born blind so that others could see.

“And His disciples asked Him, saying, ’Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’

Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.’”
— John 9:2-3

The key is not hiding my brokenness.

“Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, ’Are we blind also?’

Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, “We see.” Therefore your sin remains.’”
— John 9:40-41

But we must confess our sins to one another before God that we may be healed.

“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.”
— James 5:16

Lord, if you show me, Imma tell it. Like the woman at the well, I will run and tell of the One who told me everything that I ever did, so they, too, can drink of this living water that You gave me and be healed.

Everything I am, Lord, including my brokenness, is for Your use.

I love You.

Amen.

Thank God For Pressure

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Thank God For Pressure

“You don’t really know what you’ve got until it’s under pressure.”

“So, I thank God for pressure.”

It’s been a difficult season.

God’s getting me right this summer.

I am being prepared for the next assignment. He’s transforming me from glory to glory, more and more into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

I shouldn’t expect promotion without preparation.

Even Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered (Hebrews 5:8)

It’s been rough. I don’t like it.

But, I’m thankful.

Keep Going Where?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Keep Going Where?

People often say, “Don’t give up. Keep going.”

But, “keep going” where?

My answer: to God;

To more conformed to the image of Christ, to experiencing the Kingdom of God to a greater degree by helping others to experience the Kingdom of God to a greater degree, to deeper and sweeter communion with the Beloved…

When I feel like giving up, this is why I will keep going: I am going to God, my treasure, my help now and my hope for eternity.

Glorious Suffering

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Glorious Suffering

God is teaching me about suffering.

The message given to me was:

We can do more than know about God.
We can know God.
We can be with God, now.

Now, the Word burning on my heart is:

We can make God known.

As I pressed into this, and dug to unearth the marvelous treasure of this revelation, the first means of making God known that the Spirit began to tutor me in was suffering.

It has been put on my heart to dispel several prevalent yet errant notions about suffering.

One being that because I may be suffering, that something must be wrong, that I’ve done something wrong or that I must not be in the perfect will of God.

But “living right” or “being in the will of God” does not give us a pass on suffering.

Bad things have happened and will happen to even God’s most faithful elect.

In that sin has entered the world it made it so that everyone will suffer, even the best man, the perfect man, Jesus, was not excepted.

We do not have a choice whether we will suffer, but we can choose who our suffering will serve.

It may very well be that you are suffering not because you’re not in the will of God, but precisely because you are, and He has entrusted to you the honor and privilege of making Him known through the ministry of your suffering.

Consider Job.

Not only do I hope to share how to survive these inevitable seasons of suffering, but to thrive in the midst of them, by God’s grace being plump grapes in the desert —a fig tree producing in incompatible seasons, giving life and bearing fruit abundantly for the saving of souls to the glory of His name.

In the coming days and weeks, I hope to unpack that and share what God reveals about how to suffer in a series called Glorious Suffering.

#GloriousSuffering

The Life Giving Spirit Mindset

“And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’

The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
—1 Corinthians 15:45

Being a life giving spirit -connecting people to the Source of life, rather than being just another character in a dead, empty and cannibalizing culture, that’s the mindset.

I get to give life.

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
—John 7:38

Giving life through making the Father known in word and deed, as revealed through Jesus Christ, is everything. It is life itself.

#LifeGivingSpiritMindset

What To Do When I’m Not Feeling It

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What To Do When I'm Not Feeling It

Anyone who has been married for any significant amount of time can tell you that there are days when you’re “not feeling it”.

It’s the whole reason faithfulness is a thing.

If I were “feeling it” all the time, there would be no need for faithfulness.

On those days that I’m not feeling it, I **feel** like doing something that makes me feel better, that satisfies my craving, that soothes my pain, that fills what I’m lacking…

But, I **choose** to be faithful: to continually advance that which I have committed to.

“Feel”
Sense
Senses:
Touch, Taste, Smell, Hearing, Sight

Sight

But, the just live by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

I must choose to be faithful.

#perfectourlove #thriveday

This Is Going To Hurt

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - This Is Going To Hurt

I’m going to be real.

I have oriented my life around avoiding pain.

It’s evident even in the little things.

I cling to the sheets of my bed a little longer waiting for the chill of the morning to subside.

But there is nothing that hinders growth more than avoiding pain.

When I look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, He was literally in paradise.

But, unlike me with my bed covers, He didn’t think paradise was anything to hold on to (Philippians 2:5-8).

Rather, He considered the will of His Father to be greater.

“He became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross,” Philippians 2:8 says.

Doing that demonstrates a love that’s greater than His comfort.

It also demonstrates an unwavering trust of His Father.

I imagine Jesus, my Elder Brother, loving the Father and knowing His will to be perfect, steps forward without flinching, completely willing to take on the challenge.

God the Father asks, “Who will go for us?”

Jesus, God the Son, says, “I’ll go.”

As He goes, I can imagine Him thinking,
“This is going to hurt, but this is going to be good.”

I repent.

I aspire be like Him, to love God more than my comfort, to trust His plan, to go –to cast aside comfort and take on the day, fully embracing the challenges, pain and suffering before me to grow, and to be made like Christ, fit to rule.

I go. I attack the day out of love for my Father, trusting and executing His plan, thinking,

“This is going to hurt, but this is going to be good.”