July 20, 2025

How Do I Know If I’m Really Saved?

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐂𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐤𝐞? 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐨 𝐖𝐞 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐝?⁣⁣⁣
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Some time ago, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that our desire—what we want—is the test of whether we have God’s heart.⁣⁣⁣
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Our desire indicates our salvation and status as God’s children.⁣⁣⁣
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The children of God desire God.⁣⁣⁣
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We may have many battles, but this is the war: 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝.⁣⁣⁣
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The Holy Spirit is again providing a fuller picture of what that means.⁣⁣⁣
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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.⁣⁣⁣
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Before and after the master charges the servants with their work, gives them the necessary resources, and evaluates them, we find these two verses:⁣⁣⁣
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Luke 19:14⁣⁣⁣
“𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘮, 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, ‘𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘴.’”⁣⁣⁣
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Luke 19:27⁣⁣⁣
“‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦.’”⁣⁣⁣
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What the Holy Spirit set ablaze in my heart about both verses is the people’s rejection of the master’s kingship.⁣⁣⁣
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So what does it truly look like to desire God?⁣⁣⁣
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The true indication of whether I desire God is whether I want Jesus as King.⁣⁣⁣
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𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.⁣⁣⁣
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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.⁣⁣⁣
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1 Corinthians 12:3⁣⁣⁣
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵.”⁣⁣⁣
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The phrase “𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵” is not just about saying the words. It’s about a posture of adoration and submission.⁣⁣⁣
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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.⁣⁣⁣
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Luke 23:42⁣⁣⁣
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, ‘𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮.’”⁣⁣⁣
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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 throne—even more so when He comes as a real person to assert those demands.⁣⁣⁣
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God and His kingdom are 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 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.⁣⁣⁣
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1 John 2:23⁣⁣⁣
“Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”⁣⁣⁣
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The right posture of the heart is 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞—two sides of the same coin, such that our obedience indicates whether we have any real love at all.⁣⁣⁣
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John 14:15⁣⁣⁣
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”⁣⁣⁣
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It’s not enough to adore Him,⁣⁣⁣
Nor even to do His works (Matthew 7:22),⁣⁣⁣
But to want to—because you love Him as King.⁣⁣⁣
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If we truly see Jesus for who He is, we will want Him to reign.⁣⁣⁣
𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬.⁣⁣⁣
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If that’s you—𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝! You’re a real one.⁣⁣⁣
That’s the work of the Holy Spirit, making you God’s child through faith in Jesus Christ.⁣⁣⁣
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If that’s not you, but you’re convicted reading this—𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝!⁣⁣⁣
Being aware that you don’t have a heart that wants Jesus to reign, and 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘵, is also the work of the Holy Spirit, drawing you to become God’s child through faith in Jesus Christ.⁣⁣⁣
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Even if you don’t have that heart, you can pray for it with confidence—because 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭.⁣⁣⁣
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Luke 12:32⁣⁣⁣
“𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮.”⁣⁣⁣
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𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝: 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.⁣⁣⁣
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#DoYouWantJesusAsKing #TheRealBattleIsDesire #desire #kingship #spiritualwarfare #perfectourlove

March 30, 2025

The Danger Of Any Other Desire

The road to hell is paved with “there’s nothing wrong with…”

How many times have you heard that?

Countless.

How many times have you heard “desire nothing besides God”?

Maybe a few.

Take the narrow road.

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
— Matthew 7:13-14

They say, “There’s nothing wrong with money, it’s the love of money…”

Why then does Jesus refer to money as “unrighteous” mammon in Luke 16:9 and 11?

Why then does Peter refer to money as “filthy lucre” in 1 Peter 5:2?

Why then does Jesus warn us against the “deceitfulness of riches” in Matthew 13:22 and Mark 4:19?

Whatever we set our hearts on moves it.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
— Luke 12:34

Money is not inert.

Money is part of a system. It’s currency.

Money pushes and pulls. When we set our eyes on money (or anything else) to desire it, we fall into the bondage of sin.

Does this mean we can’t or shouldn’t have money?

I can have anything, I just can’t want it.

THAT is why money is described as unrighteous, so that I maintain a healthy suspicion of it and avoid its allure.

It’s a lure.

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”
— 1 Corinthians 6:12

The real battle is desire.

Desire God alone and resist giving other things power over you.

I couldn’t have understood this just five years ago, because on some level, I believed that God was the means to achieve goodness and abundance.

But that is the lie.

God is everything good. There is nothing desirable beyond Him.

He IS all that I desire. (Psalm 73:25)

Everything else is a deception and leads to destruction. (James 1:16-17)

Jesus said the greatest commandment is,

“And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
— Mark 12:30

Ask, seek and knock for a heart that desires God alone.

#perfectourlove #therealbattle #desireGodalone

March 30, 2025

Victory Over Desire

The real battle is desire.

Jesus is plainly giving us the keys that unlock everything.

But we miss it because of what we want.

This frustrated Jesus. He exclaimed,

“Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.”
— John 8:43

Then, He explains,

“You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.”
— John 8:44

The real battle is desire.

Jesus continues in John 8:44 saying,

“He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”

The beginning.

Adam and Eve had everything—goodness and abundance in the presence of God. They lost it because they were deceived into wanting something else.

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.”
— Genesis 3:6

The problem is we want a lie.

And, Satan is the father of it.

But what the first Adam lost, the second Adam reclaimed through the biggest flex in history.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”
— John 14:30

In other words, Jesus was saying, there was no desire for anything else in Him for the enemy to manipulate.

Jesus desires God alone.

We lose the Truth when we want a lie.

“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

This is why the WHOLE work is believing God rather than Satan.

“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?’ Jesus answered and said to them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.'”
— John 6:28-29

What are we to believe? What Jesus says about God.

Why? So that we desire God alone.

When that’s our heart it naturally produces the work of God: being with Him.

And, how do we be with Him?

Through Communion with Him and all that belongs to Him.

So, the goal is being with Him and the means are helping others to be with Him—the ministry of reconciliation.

The main enemy that hinders that is our desire.

Any desire other than God is sin and causes division, making us an enemy of God.

“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.”
— Matthew 12:30

Through Christ we have goodness and abundance in the presence of God.

Don’t lose it by wanting a lie.

The real battle is desire.

Lord, I repent!

I want other things that hinder my enjoyment of You. Reveal them to me that I may surrender them to You.

Father, please give me Your heart—the heart of Your Son, Jesus Christ—that desires You, alone.

Signed with the authority given to me by Jesus for His business.

Amen.

#perfectourlove #therealbattle #desireGodalone

March 24, 2025

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 Him—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

March 23, 2025

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:

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

March 22, 2025

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 lie—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 deception—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”—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 me—irritation, anger, frustration, annoyance, hate—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 love—the one who I claimed to be working for—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 moment—my son—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 man—loving God which is obedience to His Word.

The way we combat the deception of our hearts is by loving God—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.”
— 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 alone—with all our heart, mind, soul and strength—He rightly orders everything else so those things that should be priorities no longer become interruptions.

#perfectourlove

March 20, 2025

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

March 14, 2025

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.

“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
— John 10:10

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
— 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.

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

The battle is one of desire—following my heart or obeying the heart He gave me—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)—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 enterprise—the Father’s business.

This is what I’m doing right now.

#love #perfectourlove

March 12, 2025

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

February 17, 2025

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

Paul Luckett

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Tag Archives: spiritual warfare

How Do I Know If I’m Really Saved?

The Danger Of Any Other Desire

Victory Over Desire

Realizing the Wonderful Work of the Wilderness

The Real Battle Is Our Desire

How Interruptions Reveal Our Heart

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #12 – A Confession

Heartstrings

Making A Divided Heart Whole

Why Get Up?