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?⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Our desire indicates our salvation and status as God’s children.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
The children of God desire God.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
We may have many battles, but this is the war: 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
The Holy Spirit is again providing a fuller picture of what that means.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Before and after the master charges the servants with their work, gives them the necessary resources, and evaluates them, we find these two verses:⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.’”⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Luke 19:27⁣⁣⁣
“‘𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘦.’”⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
What the Holy Spirit set ablaze in my heart about both verses is the people’s rejection of the master’s kingship.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
So what does it truly look like to desire God?⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
The true indication of whether I desire God is whether I want Jesus as King.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.”⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Luke 23:42⁣⁣⁣
“𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴, ‘𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮.’”⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
1 John 2:23⁣⁣⁣
“Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
John 14:15⁣⁣⁣
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
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.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Even if you don’t have that heart, you can pray for it with confidence—because 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
Luke 12:32⁣⁣⁣
“𝘋𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮.”⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝: 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮.⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
#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

August 12, 2024

What We Really Want Is Counterintuitive

What is good and satisfying is counterintuitive.

Can I be real for a moment?

I never want to go and visit a brother or sister, but I leave with such joy.

I never want to pick up the phone and talk with a beloved, but I’m always glad I did.

I never want to be bothered with what other people are struggling with. I’ve got my own problems. But, service gives me life.

The inclination when I’m tired or dejected is to do something for myself: to take “me time”, to largely abandon consideration of others and to attempt to gratify myself by eating something tasty, binge watching TV, etcetera, etcetera.

More often than not, it leaves me emptier than I was before.

But urgings of the Holy Spirit that, in my flesh, I thought would have been burdensome, in truth, turn out to be the very things that energize me!

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”
— 1 John 5:3

This is not something that naturally occurs to me. I only come to the knowledge of this truth when I obey.

A wonderful example of this is in John 4 where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. He’s tired and hungry. His disciples go and buy food. They bring it to Him, urging Jesus to eat but He was so excited by sharing Life, His response was, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” — John 4:34

This is what I glean from this:

Am I hungry? Is my soul weary and need refreshment?

To be filled, I’ve got to eat and Jesus shows that eating is obedience.

Eating is to do the will of God and to participate in His work.

That’s fulfilling.

This is not apparent to the natural man. I must trust and obey, exercising myself into godliness (1 Timothy 4:7).

That’s where I will find the rest and refreshment that my soul truly desires.

August 31, 2023

One Day

NOT:

One day, I will have:
that car,
that house,
or that body,
1 John 2:15-17

BUT:

One day, I will see God:
my Redeemer,
the Lover of my soul,
in the Great Assembly of His beloved,
Job 19:25-27, John 17:20-26

AND:

When I love:
I see Him now,
in the mirror of love,
now dimly but then, face to face.
1 Corinthians 13:12

“Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” -1 Corinthians 13:12

I will not only know God but all those that are known by Him in Christ.

Oh, how wonderfully glorious!

I believe God made known and brought near through Jesus Christ.
My earnest hope and expectation is to be with Him and His.
I am assured through love. 1 John 3:14, 4:18

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

To know God, to dwell with the beloved in the unity of the Spirit through the fellowship of Christ, to see His kingdom come everywhere in my sphere is what I labor to attain in some measure now and to enjoy fully, unrestrained, without hindrance or opposition at His coming.

This is the desire of my heart that directs the work of my hands, not the things of this world.

This is my “One Day.”

#oneday

Paul Luckett

Proceed with caution. Visibility is limited.

Tag Archives: desire

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

What We Really Want Is Counterintuitive

One Day