How Do I Know If I’m Really Saved?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - How Do I Know If I'm Really Saved?

๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐–๐ž ๐“๐ž๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐‘๐ž๐š๐ฅ ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐…๐š๐ค๐ž? ๐‡๐จ๐ฐ ๐ƒ๐จ ๐–๐ž ๐Š๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐–๐ž’๐ซ๐ž ๐’๐š๐ฏ๐ž๐?โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Some time ago, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that our desireโ€”what we wantโ€”is the test of whether we have God’s heart.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Our desire indicates our salvation and status as God’s children.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
The children of God desire God.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
We may have many battles, but this is the war: ๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐จ๐ง๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐†๐จ๐.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
The Holy Spirit is again providing a fuller picture of what that means.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
It began with an observation in The Parable of The Ten Talents or Minas recorded in Matthew 25 and Luke 19. The account in Luke includes a curious detail not found in Matthew: the bookends of Luke 19:14 and Luke 19:27.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Before and after the master charges the servants with their work, gives them the necessary resources, and evaluates them, we find these two verses:โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Luke 19:14โฃโฃโฃ
โ€œ๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ค๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ด ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ข ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ข๐˜ง๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ, โ€˜๐˜ž๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ถ๐˜ด.โ€™โ€โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Luke 19:27โฃโฃโฃ
โ€œโ€˜๐˜‰๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ฎ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ.โ€™โ€โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
What the Holy Spirit set ablaze in my heart about both verses is the people’s rejection of the master’s kingship.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
So what does it truly look like to desire God?โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
The true indication of whether I desire God is whether I want Jesus as King.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
๐Ž๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ง๐ญ, ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ฌ๐ก๐ž๐ž๐ฉ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ ๐จ๐š๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ž๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ž๐.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
The litmus test of whether I’m truly saved is whether I am eager for Jesus to be my King and want Him to rule over me.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
1 Corinthians 12:3โฃโฃโฃ
โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ธ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜š๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜Ž๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ๐˜ด ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜š๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ต.โ€โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
The phrase โ€œ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฆ๐˜น๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜š๐˜ฑ๐˜ช๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ตโ€ is not just about saying the words. It’s about a posture of adoration and submission.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
The heart posture is the chief thing, and I think we would do well to take counsel from the thief on the cross that all our theology must harmonize with.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Luke 23:42โฃโฃโฃ
โ€œ๐˜›๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ด๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜‘๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ด, ‘๐˜“๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ, ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฃ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ.’โ€โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Cultural Christianity, easy believism, and dead orthodoxy (all products of the industrial church) readily embrace a far away, father-like God to whom we can respond only emotionally. But where it gets real and contentious is when God demands the throneโ€”even more so when He comes as a real person to assert those demands.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
God and His kingdom are ๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ž๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐š๐›๐ฅ๐ž. He is King, represented in the person of Jesus Christ. To accept Him as Father but not as King is not to accept Him at all.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
1 John 2:23โฃโฃโฃ
“Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
The right posture of the heart is ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž ๐š๐ฌ ๐จ๐›๐ž๐๐ข๐ž๐ง๐œ๐žโ€”two sides of the same coin, such that our obedience indicates whether we have any real love at all.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
John 14:15โฃโฃโฃ
โ€œIf you love Me, keep My commandments.”โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Itโ€™s not enough to adore Him,โฃโฃโฃ
Nor even to do His works (Matthew 7:22),โฃโฃโฃ
But to want toโ€”because you love Him as King.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
If we truly see Jesus for who He is, we will want Him to reign.โฃโฃโฃ
๐–๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐‡๐ข๐ฆ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ข๐ ๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐ž๐š๐ง๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ž๐ž ๐‰๐ž๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
If thatโ€™s youโ€”๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐†๐จ๐! You’re a real one.โฃโฃโฃ
Thatโ€™s the work of the Holy Spirit, making you Godโ€™s child through faith in Jesus Christ.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
If thatโ€™s not you, but youโ€™re convicted reading thisโ€”๐ฉ๐ซ๐š๐ข๐ฌ๐ž ๐†๐จ๐!โฃโฃโฃ
Being aware that you don’t have a heart that wants Jesus to reign, and ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ต, is also the work of the Holy Spirit, drawing you to become Godโ€™s child through faith in Jesus Christ.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Even if you don’t have that heart, you can pray for it with confidenceโ€”because ๐†๐จ๐ ๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ก๐š๐ฏ๐ž ๐ข๐ญ.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
Luke 12:32โฃโฃโฃ
โ€œ๐˜‹๐˜ฐ ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ง๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ณ, ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ฐ๐˜ค๐˜ฌ, ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ช๐˜ด ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ณ ๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ถ๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜จ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฎ.โ€โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
๐ƒ๐ž๐ฌ๐ข๐ซ๐ž ๐†๐จ๐: ๐ฐ๐š๐ง๐ญ ๐‰๐ž๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ž ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ.โฃโฃโฃ
โฃโฃโฃ
#DoYouWantJesusAsKing #TheRealBattleIsDesire #desire #kingship #spiritualwarfare #perfectourlove

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.โ€
โ€” Acts 20:35

Because He loved me, now I can love with this indestructible, life-giving love, even toward those who are hateful toward meโ€”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 herโ€”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.”
โ€” 1 John 4:7-8

Growing in love: learning more and more of His love for me, and loving others more and moreโ€”these things working in tandemโ€”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.

Give Me A Heart To Follow You

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Give Me A Heart To Follow You

I’m a goat at times,

too smart for my own good,

stiff-necked and belligerent,

refusing to move unless I want to, until I think it’s safe, until I know where we’re going and why.

I repent.

Lord Jesus, help me to be Your sheep that says,

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;

FOR YOU ARE WITH ME…”
โ€” Psalm 23:4

Help me follow Your voice because You love me, because I love You and because all I want is to be where You lead.

Amen.

#perfectourlove #desireGodalone #therealbattle

Realizing the Wonderful Work of the Wilderness

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Realizing the Wonderful Work of the Wilderness

Money’s tight. Somehow in my mind that has come to mean I’m a failure. As I pray, looking for a way out, God shows me this is why He led me into the wilderness: sanctification. He allows me to walk in circles to kill off the Egypt in me that would even think in those terms. I will wander until I’m perfectly content being with Him wherever I am.

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain.”
– 1 Timothy 6:6

Then, and only then, am I truly free to have other things without them having me (1 Corinthians 6:12).

Am I growing spiritually? That’s the measure.

I believe I am growing spiritually, and that it has resulted in more life in me and my relationships. That’s success.

I’m not settling though.

I am still moving toward the full consummation of His kingdom, which includes His sufficiency. But the key difference is that my desire is for Himโ€”not His sufficiency. And because I have Him, I’m satisfied wherever I am along the journey and content to wait for however He may provide (Psalm 23).

I am striving to make God all that I want. And I want all of Him in whatever form that comes.

#perfectourlove #DesiringGod #spiritualwarfare #TheRealBattle #desire

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 canโ€”by His grace: His nature, His power, and His guidanceโ€”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.”
โ€” 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 allโ€”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.”
โ€” James 1:16-17

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

“If someone says, โ€œI love God,โ€ 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.”
โ€” 1 John 4:20-21

That’s loving what’s in God.

โ€œBut 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, โ€œthat 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.”
โ€” Matthew 5:44-45

And, that’s loving from within God.

The goal is union rather than intersectionโ€”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 givesโ€”Christ’s heartโ€”that desires God alone.

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

#perfectourlove #spiritualwarfare #TheRealBattle #desire

How Interruptions Reveal Our Heart

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - How Interruptions Reveal Our Heart

When we say what the reason is for the things that we do, what comes first in our lives, and when we say things like, “We do what we do for our kids” or, “We’re keeping God first”, we often deceive ourselves. It is often a vicious lieโ€”a good face to rationalize and justify our real, selfish and evil motives; a totem to mask our idols and the demons that we serve.

The hearts we’re born with, being powerless to resist deception, become agents of deceptionโ€”a medium of the propaganda of and a means of control for the prince of the power of the air, “deceitful above all things, desperately wicked”โ€”and are therefore not to be trusted.

So, how can we discern the real reasons for the things that we do and what is actually first in our lives?

Interruptions and our reaction to them.

Interruptions and what they elicit in meโ€”irritation, anger, frustration, annoyance, hateโ€”reveal my true priorities and what I’m really seeking.

Whatever is being interrupted is a greater priority than the interruption.

I own a business. I started it to provide for my family.

One day I was picking up my son from school. He may have been in kindergarten at the time. As we were walking to the truck, my son, with a backpack almost bigger than he was, was dawdling about, walking listlessly. But I was in a rush to get to my next appointment and I yelled at him, “Would you come on here?!” I remember how that frightened him by the sudden startled look in his eyes, as the rushed spirit in me became the rushed spirit in him.

I cry writing this.

And as I think back, his little face indicated that he had something on his mind, but I missed that because, my son, someone I truly loveโ€”the one who I claimed to be working forโ€”in that moment became the interruption.

How?

Lies block love.

My heart was not guarded and I fell prey to the lying suggestions about what I should want according to this world: who I should be, what I should be doing, what I should have, and it established in my heart a new pursuit.

And just that quick, the lies supplanted what should have been my priority in that momentโ€”my sonโ€”by subtly seeding a desire for a different one. It’s that insidious.

I was made aware of it by the grace of God that allowed me to see a priority that I had allowed to become an interruption.

The guard we have against this now is the same guard there’s been since the dawn of manโ€”loving God which is obedience to His Word.

The way we combat the deception of our hearts is by loving Godโ€”by abiding in Christ, who is the living Word.

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
โ€” Hebrews 4:12

In His presence, all the shadows of our hearts are illuminated and our hidden motives are brought to light. The ultimate battle is to resist competing, deceptive and corrupting “loves” which is anything besides God. And as we seek to love God aloneโ€”with all our heart, mind, soul and strengthโ€”He rightly orders everything else so those things that should be priorities no longer become interruptions.

#perfectourlove

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #12 โ€“ A Confession

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #12 โ€“ 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

Free To Choose: My Father Will Not Let Me Fall

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Free To Choose: My Father Will Not Let Me Fall

Very often I just want God to tell me what to do, step by step so that I don’t make a mistake.

But what God wants me to do is grow in His image.

And my choices are an opportunity to exercise His life in meโ€”to love Him with my whole being: my heart, my soul and including my mind.

My Father wants me to skip, flip, run and jumpโ€”looking to Jesus as what’s possible, and to see where I can grow.

So, I will spread my wings for Him, and decisively take risks while looking to Him, trusting that He is ultimately guiding me.

We are free to choose in faith. Our Father will not let us fall.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.”
โ€” Jude 1:24-25

A Window To Our Heart

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - A Window To Our Heart

God sees our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).

We can’t (Jeremiah 17:9).

Our circumstances are often a means God uses to show us [our hearts] (Deuteronomy 8:2).

If we humble ourselves, admit our blindness, and ask God for sight (wisdom), our responses to life will show us our heartโ€”who we really are.

But that’s not the end of the story. Seeing who we really are in the mirror reveals where we’re not clean and what’s out of place so that it may be corrected (James 1:25).

No one looks in a mirror if there is no hope for improvement.

But God.

His purposes are to make us into His image (Genesis 1:26), conformed to the image of His dear Son (Romans 8:29)โ€”glorious.

He will make us to shine like the sun (Matthew 13:43).

To be clear, it’s a work God does with a life submitted to Himโ€”when in humility we see our sin in the mirror and confess it (1 John 1:9).

So I strive to be sensitive to when God holds up a mirror, including through my circumstances and my response to them. Though I often don’t like what I see, I should not hide, but in humility, confront, confess and let God do what only He can do.

He will not fail to make me beautiful (Philippians 1:6).

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
โ€” 2 Corinthians 3:18

Heartstrings

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Heartstrings

What am I supposed to be doing right now?

As a member of the body?

Where is the Head?

Jesus.

He is about the Father’s business, making God known through love.

He is being obedient to God’s government and presenting a space where God’s kingdom is experienced that they may know God.

โ€œI have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
โ€” John 10:10

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
โ€” John 17:3

In that greenhouse the Word is both communicated and experienced, and is where faith is born when it is received by the cultivation of the Holy Spirit.

Making God known through love that the whole world may be reconciled to Communion with God through Christ is the Father’s business.

It is something that has to be obeyed because I love. Which comes first, obedience or love, I do not know. Maybe they come together, they’re part of the same thing, integral to one another.

What I do know, is sometimes I will not want to, especially initially but the more I obey, the more I love.

โ€œFor I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
โ€” John 6:38

The battle is one of desireโ€”following my heart or obeying the heart He gave meโ€”it’s about making God the only thing that I want.

“I don’t want to” means my desire is misplaced. I am mindful of the things of men and not the things of God (Matthew 16:23). I overcome through obedience.

Loving obedience is THE weapon for an adulterous heart (James 4:4-7)โ€”love and obedience that is only possible through His nature and His power granted by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

So in obedience, I take a cue from the Proverbs 31 Woman. I purpose to do all in my power at all times to provide for my Lord’s house, and to perform, promote and support His enterpriseโ€”the Father’s business.

This is what I’m doing right now.

#love #perfectourlove