Tag Archives: faith

One More

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - One More

Something that struck me today as we were reflecting on the last utterances of Jesus from the cross…

There’s no indication that the Man had eaten.

He’s likely dizzy from the blood loss of the scourging alone. ¹

He struggles to carry the implement of His torture, weighing upwards of 175 lbs (79kg), for more than 650 yards (600m). ²

When He finally gets to the hill, He’s rewarded with nails driven through His flesh to fix Him to the cross. ³

He’s struggling to breath from the asphyxiation the cross was designed to produce.

He’s being humiliated, openly mocked even by both of the thieves He’s being crucified between. ⁴

But somewhere along the way, one thief has a change of heart. ⁵

Bloodied, beaten and dying, what does our Lord think?

One more.

Hallelujah.

In His state, Jesus makes the time for a thief, a “convicted felon” as someone put it today, to accept his repentance and to assure his salvation because the condemned man simply believed Jesus was a King not of this world. (Luke 23:39)

Jesus makes time for him in the midst of all He was going through to minister to him and say, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” ⁶

To His dying breath, Jesus used every ounce of strength He had to do His Father’s will.

This illuminates John 13:1,
“[…] Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.” -John 13:1

He loved them to end with everything that He had -love that reconciled them to the Father.

That’s the standard.

This is a Perfect Picture of what it looks like to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. ⁷

My Lord and My God.

What excuse do I possibly have for not loving to the very end, especially since I “have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin”?! (Hebrews 12:4)

The calling is indeed high. So, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:12)

When I am tired, hard-pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and beat down ⁸, by His grace I aim to be like my Savior and think, “One more.”

¹ Matthew 27:26, John 19:1
² Matthew 27:29
³ John 20:25
⁴ Matthew 27:44
⁵ Luke 23:38-42
⁶ Luke 23:43
⁷ Deuteronomy 6:5, Mark 12:29-31
⁸ 2 Corinthians 4:7

Perfect Our Love Triangle

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Perfect Our Love Triangle

A weapon is not any good if you don’t know how to use it.

I’ve previously shared what I refer to as the Perfect Our Love Triangle.

It emphasizes the Father’s love for us and Jesus’s love for the Father which results in Jesus’ love for us.

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” -John 15:9

The aim is to be conformed to Jesus’ image and reflect His example by focusing on God’s love for us that allows us to love God with all our heart, mind and soul, which results in us loving others -who God loves in the way that He loves.

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” -1 John 4:10-11

How did God love us?

He spared no expense, to the extent of willingly suffering, being humiliated and allowing us to kill Him, for the purposes of saving us from what’s hurting us, to remove everything that’s separating us (which is the same as what’s hurting us -sin)and reconcile us to Himself that we may be together and have life abundantly and safely in Him.

I heard a great quote last night from Dr. Andy Brown, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Starkville,

“Jesus loved lavishly in so many ways. The cross is the greatest, most unimaginable expression of love we’ve ever seen. But, He would have gone farther.”

And, God does.

“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” -Romans 8:32

So, how am I to love others?

To focus on God’s love for me, to stand firmly in the love of God by loving Him with everything I am and have, and to spare no expense to draw others into that love, seeking to destroy everything that is between me and them, that we may be together and have life abundantly and safely in Him.

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.” -Ephesians 5:1–2

When do I use this?

The Sunday School answer is “always” and that is correct but what does that look like practically in real life.

I take instruction from a recent fight with my wife. A useful cue is anger.

Whenever, I feel anger or an unpleasant emotion toward someone, it should trigger remembrance of this triangle.

First, remebering God’s love for me in that Jesus has paid for all sin -not for mine only but for the whole world (1 John 2:2).

I don’t (and shouldn’t) have to make them pay (Matthew 18:21-25).

That switches my approach from debt collection to compassion, and instead of dealing with someone on the basis of what I believe I’m owed, I can deal with them on the basis of what I can give which is admonishment and edification about how we can more effectively walk together in a way that does not cause offense and that produces more love.

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” -Ephesians 4:32.

I honestly didn’t mean it to be -God’s timing, but as we celebrate the Passion of Christ on this Good Friday, this is the message of the cross, God’s unsearchable love for us, Jesus’ perfect demonstration of that love and the high calling for us who believe to take up our cross and follow Him.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16.

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.” -John 15:9

“Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'” -Luke 9:23.

#perfectourlove

Men from across Starkville are coming together again in a couple…

Men from across Starkville are coming together again in a couple of weeks for our monthly Laymen…

Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, April 6, 2023.

Men from across Starkville are coming together again in a couple of weeks for our monthly Laymen Fellowship.

This month we're seeking to aid some of the smaller communities in Mississippi like Wren and Vaiden that sustained significant tornado damage but did not receive the same attention as areas like Amory and Rolling Fork.

Leadership has asked each man to come prepared to donate $25 or more to this effort. In the words of Vernon West, "Let's put feet to our prayers."

Join us.

Thursday, April 20, 2023 6:30 PM

Spring Hill M.B. Church
1692 Louisville St
Starkville, MS 39759

Yes, God established the order of the family; husbands as head of…

Yes, God established the order of the family; husbands as head of their wife and family (Ephesians…

Originally posted on Facebook on Thursday, April 6, 2023.

Yes, God established the order of the family; husbands as head of their wife and family (Ephesians 5:23).

But the position is not the point. God's glory is, through our reflecting His love and ministry (Ephesians 5:25-33).

Jesus was plain, there will be no such distinction as husband and wives in heaven (Matthew 22:28-30). We are equals spiritually as a result of the cross (Galatians 3:28).

We execute our earthly roles to bring people to that spiritual reality. Marriage and family are holy institutions of redemption, to reconcile as many people to the Father as possible (Malachi 2:15).

Insofar as our "positions" are concerned, they do not operate in the way we men often attempt to assert them, quite the opposite actually.

We do not lord over others. To lead or oversee is to get beneath. To be the greatest means to be servant of all as the Lord Jesus gives us example (Matthew 20:25-29). And since we seem so passionate about commands, we as husbands are commanded to love our wives as Christ loved the Church, giving Himself for us (Ephesians 5:25).

What Christ did made the church possible. His redemptive love established her. He showed her how to love by His example (Matthew 16:18, Hebrews 12:2).

If we have accepted the call of the ministry of husband, we should do likewise (Ephesians 5:25-28).

If we focus on the plank in our eye as husbands, we won't have to worry ourselves about the speck in our wife's eye.

She wants and is built to follow. Eve has been looking for a Man since the fall (Genesis 4:1).

That Man is Christ. Be as He is to her.

That's an order (Ephesians 5:25).

#perfectourlove

You First

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - You First

Husbands, if you want to see your wife submit, you first.

Show her how it’s done through your submission to Christ.

“To guide on a way especially by going in advance” is the definition of leadership.

Consider Jesus.

#marriage #leadership #submission #youfirst

“So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.”

John 13:12-17

Use It All

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Use It All

One of the greatest gifts given to me was from the Proverbs 31 Woman. It is the removal of the distinction between secular and spiritual -the notion that there are normal things we do (chores, business, etc.) versus things we do for God (church, ministry etc.).

The Proverbs 31 Woman demonstrates that it is the aim (the heart seen in verse Proverbs 31:11-12) that makes something spiritual and therefore it’s all spiritual. We, like she, can use everything we do to serve our Lord.

Why we do it and how we do it can all be used in His service.

It’s all spiritual. Everything can be done as a contribution to the Kingdom.

Use it all.

Biblical Women Who Lead And I Gladly Follow

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Biblical Women Who Lead And I Gladly Follow

Of the people from the Bible who have influenced my life the most, two are women.

The way I aspire to live daily is inspired by the Proverbs 31 Woman who uses everything she has and does to diligently and faithfully serve her Lord’s house.

The way I preach is inspired by the Woman At The Well. “Come meet a Man who told me all things [who I have personally encountered]… Could this be the Christ?”

Their contributions, as with many women in the Bible, demand a respect, value and high view of women –a view which Scripture suggests Jesus held.

Move: The Master Makes A Perfect Piece With Our Imperfect Lines

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Move: The Master Makes A Perfect Piece With Imperfect Lines

Even when I say I’m “seeking God’s will” it can be a cop out.

I suffer from inaction sometimes and don’t move because in my flesh, my highest priority is to be safe –to avoid pain, suffering and death. I often stay put because the place I’m in seems safe enough.

Sometimes, when I say I want to know God’s (exact) will for my life, I’m often saying that what I want is a path without failure or pain.

But that is contrary to God’s will for my life.

We are conformed to the image of His Son and learn obedience through the things that we suffer. (Hebrews 5:8)

A perfect path without trial and error, is like only ever coloring by numbers when instead the Master desires to teach you to create the way He creates.

That requires my trusting the Master’s ability to teach me (heart) and my being willing to attempt to do what I currently cannot (action).

That involves striving, failure and the pain and suffering that results in.

Without the Master, we’d just make a mess.

But when we trust the Master, He redeems our foibles and failures and uses them to teach us how to make a masterpiece.

But what’s more, in His incomprehensible genius, the masterpiece He helped us create, in spite of our imperfections, is a perfect piece that He had always predestined to be part of a vastly greater and perfect design.

When we behold it, we can only help but praise, “How great thou art!”

And then, the lesson starts again.

God is not only bringing us through, He’s making us into something glorious!

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” – Romans 8:18

I have suffered from inaction and didn’t move because my highest priority was to be safe –to avoid pain, suffering and death.

But, no more.

I repent.

My highest priority is to be with God.

If we have the Father’s heart or are even seeking His heart, we are exactly where we’re supposed to be.

If we are doing what is pleasing to Him or are even moving in an attempt to be obedient to what He has revealed that is pleasing to Him (through His Word), we are doing exactly what we’re supposed to do.

The primary thing is not a specific physical place (this city or that, this job or that, this opportunity or that) nor is the primary thing a certain activity (doing this thing or that) but a heart for God put into motion.

We need only to move in any direction with a heart to please Him and He will use it to get us exactly where He wants us to be.

Father, give me a heart like Jesus that is consumed with You and the fortitude like His to put it into action. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

So, I’m lifting my eyes to the Lord, and moving based on what I know of God revealed through the life of Jesus Christ, praying that the Holy Spirit will help me know Him more accurately as I consume the Word, trusting Him to take me where I’m supposed to go, to make me into who He would have me be and to use my life for His glory as part of His masterpiece.

I’m putting a heart for God in motion, however imperfect, and trusting Him with the rest.

Faith and Works

#thriveday

Salvation Requires Pinhole Accuracy

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Salvation Requires Pinhole Accuracy
Photo Courtesy of Ronnie Dankelman – Flickr

Salvation requires pinhole accuracy. Get it wrong and we die.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is leading us to a place that requires unimaginable skill as a shepherd and leader to get us to.

He alone can lead us to this place: ¹

the only place where there is good pasture and life, ²

the place that if we don’t get to, we will perish. ³

It is through a Door that requires pinhole accuracy to navigate to.

That Door is Jesus, Himself. ²

The Door is not broad through which anything and everything can fit. ⁴

Rather the Door is very narrow. ⁴

There is an incredibly specific Jesus we must go through.

It’s not the Jesus of how we think He would be, or the one that we want Him to be, or the one of our politics, but it is the real Jesus that came in the flesh, who died for our sin, who was raised from the dead and now lives before God forevermore. ⁵

Finding that Door, let alone getting through it is impossible, it’s like getting a camel through the eye of a needle. ⁶

But, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” – Luke 18:27

The kingdom of God is at hand. Humble yourself. Repent and plead to God to help you. Expose yourself to His Word.

If He grants you ears to hear, the Chief Shepherd will appear.

Follow Him, alone. ⁷

He will get you there. ⁸

As a pastor, I am merely an under-shepherd and my one job is to keep your eyes on the Good Shepherd and direct you in His path. ⁹

Follow Jesus, alone. ⁷

He, alone, will get you there. ⁸

#perfectourlove

¹ John 10:7-8, Acts 4:12
² John 10:9
³ John 3:16-19
⁴ Matthew 7:14, Luke 14:13
⁵ Revelation 1:18
⁶ Luke 18:25, Matthew 16:17
⁷ Matthew 23:10
⁸ John 10:27-30
⁹ 1 Corinthians 11:1

The True Goal Of Faith In Christ

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Aim And Prize Of Faith In Christ

The aim, goal, pursuit, final destination and prize of the upward call of faith in Christ is:

to be with God.

Love is the way. ¹

Love is being consumed with God. ²

Love is doing the things that please God: obedience that flows from a heart given by Him and burning for Him. ³

Loving obedience is abiding. Abiding is being with God. ⁴

Love is how I experience God. ⁵

Love is how I be with God. ⁶

God is love, therefore Love is the ends and the means -the “Alpha and Omega” as Revelation 22:13 puts it.

This is the whole aim, to be with God. ⁷

He is the true riches. ⁸

This is why I believe Jesus says in John 4:34,

“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me”

And, now I begin to grasp John 14:28 when Jesus says,

“If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.”

I also see why Jesus was so forceful with Peter when, out of seemingly sincere concern for Jesus, Peter tried to dissuade Jesus from the path God purposed for Him to suffer. Jesus replies to Peter, “Get behind me Satan, you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” – Mark 8:33

Peter, though well meaning was still worldly and was unwittingly tempting Jesus into the comfort of the world rather than the companionship of obedience to God through taking up His cross -an implement of preparatory difficulty, suffering and death. But, above all, Jesus wanted and choose to be with the Father.

This same spirit of the rebuke of Peter is found in 1 Timothy 6:5,

“Those who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.”

We are to avoid those who make faith about being “blessed” with health, wealth and “leveling up” in this life, who would coax us into the comfort of the world and away from the companionship of obedience to God with Christ by taking up our cross.

Shortly after Jesus’s rebuke of Peter in Mark 8:33, in verse 8:36 Jesus continues, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?”

Profit.

The end result.

What does the Apostle and sanctified Peter say in 1 Peter 1:9 that the whole conclusion and the end result of our faith is?

Does he say it’s houses, cars, money, clothes or popularity?

No.

What does he say?

“receiving the end of your faith –the salvation of your souls.” – 1 Peter 1:9

And what is our salvation?

Not what, but who –Jesus Christ, God with us, who makes The Way, and who Shepherds us into fellowship with God. ⁹

The aim of Christianity is singular: to be with God.

Being with God is everything Jesus is and everything Jesus does.

So, every day and every moment of every day, the goal, pursuit, destination, aim, prize and ultimate desire is

to be with God.

Love, with God’s heart for the world, is the way. ¹⁰

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” …now through you.

Let’s set out to give Jesus through the same loving obedience that we observed in Him. In doing so we are more able to be with God.

¹ 1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13:10
² Deuteronomy 6:5, Mark 12:29-31, Psalms 69:9, John 2:17
³ Ezekiel 36:26-27, John 8:29
⁴ John 15:4-10, 1 John 2:5, 1 John 4:12
⁵ 1 John 4:13
⁶ John 15:10, 1 John 4:12
⁷ John 10:10
⁸ Genesis 15:1, Psalms 62:4-8, 84:10
⁹ John 10:7-18
¹⁰ John 3:16-17

#perfectourlove