Tag Archives: kingdom

What I Trust God For

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What I Trust God For

“If He slay me, why would I trust Him?”

I am participating in an international BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) that is going through a lesson called “The People of Promise: Exile & Return”. It explores a number of prophetic books such as Ezekiel, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi that cover God’s faithfulness to His people both through His judgment and exile for their idolatry and sin, and in His rescue and restoration of Israel for His namesake and commitment to His promises.

The timing of this lesson is impeccable. It is giving me exactly what I need for the season I’m in personally and where we find ourselves culturally.

We’re in Daniel 6, the lead up to the infamous “Daniel in the Lion’s Den” account, and I’m wrestling with how Daniel responds throughout the ordeal. From today’s widely held view of “faith” and what a practitioner could expect from God for their “faithfulness”, God would be seen as having failed to come through at a number of critical junctures. Many modern-day “believers” would doubt their faith and be tempted to abandon it if they found themselves in Daniel’s predicament—including yours truly, because I have been tempted by far less. Daniel’s reality clashes with our religious expectations.

Daniel 6:3-4: “Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom…”

Religious mantra: “God will grant me favor and success…”
Reality: Daniel’s promotion results in a plot to destroy him. (Daniel 6:3-4)

Religious mantra: “No weapon formed against me shall prosper…”
Reality: Daniel’s adversaries succeed in passing an immutable law that will condemn him to death. (Daniel 6:6-9)

Religious mantra: “I have been faithful, so God will prevent bad things from happening to me and will not allow this injustice…”
Reality: Daniel is tried, convicted, and condemned to death because of his faithfulness. (Daniel 6:11-17)

Yes, Daniel is ultimately delivered in Daniel 6:19-22, but that’s not the point.

The point is that Daniel, like the three Hebrew men in the fiery furnace ordeal, did not abandon their faith at the points it seemed that God did not come through for them. They, instead, were prepared to die for their faith.

And there have been many saints who were not delivered and have died for their faith.

This prompts a question for me: if they are not trusting God to live, what are they trusting God for? Because without life, what’s the point?

Scripture answers with a paradox:

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to death.”
— Revelation 12:11

And the Spirit clarifies:

“For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world.”
— 1 John 2:16

For these verses to make sense, we have to answer another question: how can you love your life to death? To love is to nurture, right? So, wouldn’t loving your life result in more life? Loving your life to death doesn’t make any sense… unless there’s another, different life that we’re killing by loving this one.

According to 1 John 2:16, what we call life is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

But there is another, different life.

That life is pointed to in God’s command to Adam,
“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
— Genesis 2:17

Adam ate of it.

And we did die.

“…through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned…”
— Romans 5:12

This prompted me to ask, “Since we still ‘live’, how did we ‘die’? What life did we lose?”

If you’re born dead (which we all are who were born after Adam), and have never known any other life, this is a nonsensical question because there is nothing else (at least that you are aware of).

But since I have believed Jesus, I should have received a new life, right? Have I? If so, understanding what I have now should help me understand what was lost.

I prayed for weeks, seeking God for understanding concerning this. I sought to remember whether there was anything different between before and after I believed Jesus.

Then it hit me: I could remember nothing.

My life before believing Jesus was characterized by nothingness. Sure, there was activity, relationships, and even deep emotional experiences, but these were externalities—outward stimuli attempting to fill an inner void. I remember the emptiness and restlessness, especially in the silence when the activity came to an end.

My prior life was one of an empty automaton reacting to what was happening around me: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. My confidence, identity, meaning, and purpose were built upon things that were here today and then gone tomorrow as though they never were. They were pursuits that kept me groping in the dark.

Then one day, God commanded light to shine out of darkness and shone in my heart the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and I became alive. It was both instant and gradual.

Nothing better describes what happened to me when I believed Christ than God creating order (kosmos) where there was previously none (chaos).

In the same way carbon is the basis of organic life, God’s order is the basis of spiritual life. My new life, while fledgling, was increasingly being characterized by that order.

There is now something inward working outward. Where I was previously powerless to resist the external influences of the world, there is now capacity and power to exert control over my own spirit, then over my environment.

Hallelujah!

“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
— 1 John 4:4

“…he who rules his spirit [is better] than he who takes a city”
— Proverbs 16:32

God’s order goes by another name: dominion.

It is part of God’s first command to mankind:
“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion…”
— Genesis 1:28

We are given a dominion that is dependent upon and that is gladly subject to God’s sovereign rule.

This is the beginning of life.

Sin cut that lifeline—the source of our dominion and His order upon which it depends.

We, and everything that was subject to us, fell from God’s order and are now in rebellion against it, a descent into disorder.

This is the beginning of death.

With that descent into disorder (chaos / nothingness) we lost ourselves. We no longer related to things, including ourselves, on the basis of the absolute and steadfast position of God, our relationship to reality is now relative to fleeting and unreliable things in this world.

Losing ourselves is evidenced by God asking, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

With our outlook now corrupted by sin, the response was shame.

“So [Adam] said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’”
— Genesis 3:10

To which God asked, “Who told you that you were naked?” from which we can safely infer that God was not the one who told Adam he was lacking anything. God tells us who we are. But Satan seeks to undermine that by telling us what we are not.

Their conscience is seared and no longer operates based on an intrinsic awareness of God’s order. They have believed a lie, heeded the voice of another, and became its slaves—subjects of the kingdom of darkness, and died being devoid of God’s order.

But, God.

“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

The Son gives life, in part, by restoring God’s order and with it, dominion.

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
— Matthew 4:17

Because, life begins with God’s order.

I attest that when I believed Jesus, according to John 3:16, I received a new inner life. I was again given dominion as His order continues to advance on every inch of my heart until it’s all unified and subject to the glorious liberty of His incorruptible rule.

It is reordering everything—how I think about everything, including myself, on the basis of God. As an example, I now think less in terms of self-esteem and more in terms of Christ-esteem (Galatians 2:20).

In the same way that a seed germinates is a biological process, this reordering is a progressive spiritual process that brings forth life.

This consciousness of God that is based on believing and receiving what Christ reveals is called faith and its outworking is fruit.

A notable difference between my prior life and now is fruit. My prior life was desolate and I had no fruit to show for it, but now I see budding growth regularly.

God commanded,

“Be fruitful…”
“Have dominion…”
— Genesis 1:28

The fruit is His Kingdom.
Love is its sap—the lifeblood of the Kingdom, the greatest commandment, the more excellent way—His order established in us through Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus wages a good warfare and victoriously redeems all of creation, retaking what was lost to sin, restores our dominion under His rule and is established as King of kings and Lord of lords. (Colossians 1:19-20, Romans 8:19-21, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 19:16)

His dominion begins in my heart. (Luke 17:20-21)

I am being strengthened in the inner man by His order. (2 Corinthians 4:16)

He gives His people a kingdom that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 2:44, Luke 12:32)

Life can get really hard, but with Him, the incorruptible Seed, at the center, I am hard-pressed but not crushed, and in every circumstance I can say, “It is well with my soul.”

This is life.

So often, I have come to God for an outcome—for Him to do my will, when He has given me everything I need to do His.

“as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
— 2 Peter 1:3-4

I repent. I denounce my kingdom and submit to His.

“Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
— Matthew 6:10

Not only that, but I often cry out to God to do something for me, when He has already given me resources and leaves it up to me (gives me dominion) to decide how I will make Him a profit. (Exodus 14:15-16, Matthew 25:14-30)

But best of all, I have received the sweet Communion of the Holy Spirit together with the Father, the Son and the constellation of the saints.

I am no longer empty. I am never alone. Thank you, Jesus!

“Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
— John 14:23

Hearing God’s voice,
Being loved by Him,
Being fathered by Him,
Being with Him,
Knowing Him through Christ.
There is nothing better. (Galatians 4:6, Philippians 3:8)

The Son gives life, in part, by restoring God’s order. The Son gives life fully through the knowledge of God.

This is eternal life.

From this basis I can wage a good warfare and bring His order to the world—love—rather than the world acting upon me in my inner man.

We receive the inner fortitude of an eternal, indestructible kingdom that becomes the base from which we live as more than conquerors and will overcome everything, even death. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

Returning to my original question: “If they are not trusting God to live, what are they trusting God for? Because without life, what’s the point?”

They are trusting God to live. God is life, and that’s the point.

This is what Daniel trusted God for:
not for prosperity,
not for protection,
nor for a pardon from problems,
but for God’s perfect way and His presence.

That is worth dying for.

They, through faith, understood that to be without God is to be dead already. Their earnest desire is to never be without Him—in this current age or the age to come. (Matthew 10:28)

Job in the midst of tremendous suffering communicates our ultimate hope:

“For I know that my Redeemer lives,
And He shall stand at last on the earth;
And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,
That in my flesh I shall see God,
Whom I shall see for myself,
And my eyes shall behold, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!”
— Job 19:25-27

Lord, I want this to be what I trust You for: You, alone.

In my darkest hour, may I also be able to say like the titans of faith,

“Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.”
— Job 13:15

Amen.

#WhatITrustGodFor #Suffering #Faith #PerfectOurLove

52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #13 – A Smile

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness #13 - A Smile

In Week 13 of 52 Weeks Of Gratefulness, I give thanks to God for a smile.

We’ve been working with some students to prepare for a cybersecurity competition.

I noticed that one of our kids stopped coming to the meetings.

So, I went to their class and asked for them by name.

They come to the door with a blank stare—a palpable hardness.

I say, “Hey, I’ve missed you at the meetings. Do you want to go to the competition?”

Something in their face shifts for a second and they say, “Yeah, but I didn’t think I was good enough.”

I responded, “That’s why I’m here, because you’re one of my best”, and handed them the registration form.

Then, there was that shift again but this time it gave way to a brief smile. As though to hide it, they looked down at the form.

“You’re going to bring this back to me tomorrow?” I asked.

They nodded affirmatively and then walked back into class.

The child that walked away was different than the one that came to the door, and I’m grateful.

#52WoG

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:

“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

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

The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand

How is the one sitting on the throne of your life doing? How is that government working for you?

If you’re weary of unjust, oppressive, and ineffective government, and are yearning for a better homeland—a government of righteousness, with the peace, harmony, and wellness that results—the good news is “the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

My previous king constantly led me to death and disappointment. He was corrupt and an unwitting vassal of another kingdom.

I’m referring to my former self.

But now, I couldn’t be more pleased with Jesus, my Savior and King.

He leads me well.

“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.”
– 2 Corinthians 2:14

The triumph He always leads us to is experiencing the kingdom of God more.

I commend Him to you.

Denounce your government, and defect to Christ: Repent.

Know this: it’s not easy. It is the hardest thing you will ever do.

Defection will make you an enemy of the state. It costs everything, but His kingdom is unquestionably worth it.

Overthrow Idols

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Overthrow Idols

We are cruel, oppressive, incompetent rulers on the throne of our lives (we are cruel and oppressive because of our incompetence).

A heart ready for heaven knows this, vacates the throne, offers it to Jesus because it sees He alone is qualified and it violently overthrows anything that even suggests to take His rightful place.

“You are not [oppressed] by us (Christ’s ambassadors), but you are [oppressed] by your own affections.”
—2 Corinthians 6:12

I can’t help but think about the thief on the cross who initially mocked Jesus but was eventually emptied. The Holy Spirit brought him to a place of recognizing that he justly deserved his condemnation as a rebel against the State and recognized that Jesus was rightful King of a Kingdom where he wanted to be,

“Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.” —Luke 23:42

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’” —Luke 23:43

That is ALL that is required to be saved, for the Holy Spirit to open my eyes, to bring me to a place where I confess my rebellion against God and my need for Jesus, God’s Christ, the blessed and only Potentate, who alone can reconcile me to God and restore God’s wonderful kingdom order to my life and all of creation.

I believe God timed Christ’s incarnation when He did because the Romans had it right. That’s how sin should be treated: as rebellion against the Kingdom, it should be violently confronted, purged, exposed, humiliated and killed without mercy.

That’s how I should have been treated as an enemy of God’s perfect order. But, God. Thanks be to God for Jesus who not only came to restore that kingdom order but served my sentence, paid the required penalty (in order for God to be just) and took my place on that cross so that I could be with God! He didn’t have to do that. He could have just re-established His perfect order without me, but He chose to save me at an exorbitant expense that I was not worthy of. Thank you, God.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” —2 Corinthians 5:21

Now, that I, with great joy, accept Jesus as King, I should treat sin the same way the Romans treated rebels. I’ve been far too gentle with such an insidious and deadly threat to my life, the lives of everyone around me and even the order of creation.

I repent.

It’s past time to cut off hands and gouge out eyes (Matthew 18:8-9). I need to be violent with my sin and overthrow every threat to Jesus’ rule, He who is Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).

What Only Jesus Can Offer

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What Only Jesus Can Offer

Jesus offers what no one else offers: to know God.

Whereas others talked *about* God, Jesus wanted us to *know* God.

“In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.”
—Matthew 6:9
https://bible.com/bible/114/mat.6.9.NKJV

Whereas others taught theology and discussed God academically, Jesus spoke with authority from a place of personally knowing God.

“Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, ‘I do not know Him,’ I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.”
—John 8:55
https://bible.com/bible/114/jhn.8.55.NKJV

Jesus spoke from experience. He is intimately familiar with God’s goodness, His love and His power. He’s been with God as He rules perfectly in wisdom, justice and righteousness.

This is why Jesus talked the way He did saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like…”

The gospel, the good news of Jesus is that we can know God and we can be with Him TODAY.

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Because the King has come.

God is not an idea. He is a person that can be known by those whom He chooses to reveal Himself to.

The good news is that He has chosen to reveal Himself to the world through Jesus Christ.

Jesus alone can move us from an intellectual idea about God, to a real relationship with God both here and now, and in ways we cannot imagine in the life to come.

Believe Jesus and know God and be with God, now. #gospel

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.

And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.

“Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”
—John 14:21-23

Am I A Good Person?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Am I A Good Person?

People around me may applaud and praise me as being a “good” person, but am I? What does Jesus say?

You know, the hungry, the thirsty, those I do not know, the naked, the sick, those who are in prison? The people whom the Father wants to be safe and sound in His kingdom as sons and daughters, treated just as though they were His beloved Son because they are His kindred, they ARE His flesh and blood –what does *that* Jesus say about me?

Do I deal with them on the basis of how they can or cannot advance my interests?

Or, will I deal with them on the basis of having an intense intolerance for the incongruity of insufficiency, illness and imprisonment with God’s kingdom and act with a sincere desire to bring their circumstances in-line with His intent?

That’s what Jesus did, after all.

How I engage the inconvenient and disinherited is a more accurate reflection of who I am and whether I ever knew Jesus than praise from other self-promoting people who I trade favors among.

“Then He also said to him who invited Him, ‘When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.

And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.'”
—Luke 14:12-14

I have failed this test many times.

I repent.

Love seeks to remedy the inconsistencies between God’s heart and what’s happening, with whomever it’s happening, everywhere it’s happening.

“[Love] does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;”
—1 Corinthians 13:6

Love goes.

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and COMING in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
-Philippians 2:5-8

Do you have such a heart? Is the same mind in you that was in Christ Jesus? To go until there is no place that His light has not shined?

There is a lot of work to do Christians.

How “good” we are is determined by whether we share the same heart as the only One who is good, who so loved the WORLD that He sent His only begotten Son that they may not perish but have everlasting life.

A desire to see “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” EVERYWHERE determines whether we hear “Come, you blessed of my Father” (Matthew 25:34), or “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23, Matthew 25:41)

Love is the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Let love be without hypocrisy. (Romans 12:9)

Father, help me to not be deceived by my own or the world’s sense of goodness. But, give me a heart that wants above all else to see Your kingdom come.

Create in me the heart to go, as Jesus did, to bring the Gospel not only to people’s hearing but also to what’s happening in their lives, to live as He lived that I may through obedience manifest the only One that is good: God, so that I can truly proclaim as my Lord did, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”.

I ask this in service to my Master, your only begotten Son Jesus’ name.

Amen.

As Christians our constant occupation should be where to bring the Gospel, both to ears (word) and circumstances (deed), next.

“My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
—1 John 3:18

That’s good.

The Only Way To Call Jesus Lord

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Only Way To Call Jesus Lord
Photo Courtesy of Zoltan Toth – Flickr

“[…] no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 12:3

Because you’ve said “Jesus is Lord,” don’t read this and think that you’re in the clear.

You do realize that calling someone “Lord” indicates that you acknowledge their authority to tell you what to do, right?

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” – Luke 6:46

Calling Jesus, “Lord” it is not about saying the words with your mouth but with your life.

Even demons recognized His title. What makes them demons was their rebelling against His will.

The line between the godly and the demonic is as simple as who’s rule you support: God’s or not. To be clear, any rule besides God’s is demonic, including yours.

But, even in that there’s grace.

“But what do you think?

A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went.

Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go.

Which of the two did the will of his father?

They said to Him, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.'”

– Matthew 21:28-32

All of us have areas in our lives that we have not given over to Christ’s lordship. We’re saying “I will not” because we’re comfortable with the demonic arrangements we’ve made for those parts of our lives.

The key to authentic faith and life in Christ is to trust Jesus. We must let God be true and believe His government produces life, while all others lead to death (whether it looks that way or not – many things that appear full of life are dying, e.g. a rose in a vase looks beautiful, it’s naturally a perennial [long living, enduring plant], but it began to die the moment it was cut – anything apart from God is dead).

When we belong to Christ, the Holy Spirit reveals areas in our hearts where Jesus is not King and one by one, with great violence, we must make war to turn them over to His rule.

It is in this process that though we formerly said, “I will not”, by the revelation of Christ and conviction of the Holy Spirit, we come to a place of repentance and obey, and in this struggle we truly say “Jesus is Lord” and can have confidence that we belong to Him.

It’s a work of the Holy Spirit.

Only Animals

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Only Animals

We are basically primates competing for food, territory and resources to reproduce.

Our sophistication is only an illusion. Without any higher view, we are no more than base animals.

As base animals, all that we do, such as organize into groups, and all that we create, such as systems of government, are in service to the aforementioned.

So, if your group didn’t create the system you find yourself confronted with, you’re in the group being competed against.

There are ultimately only two logical outcomes: recognize how our interests are better served by becoming a larger group or seek to eliminate the other group.

I am concerned that our thinking has devolved too low to achieve the former, ironic given that we are in an age where information has never been more accessible but we lack knowledge, and I wonder if we are too far removed from the reality and horrors of war to avoid the latter.

If only there were leaders that could lead us to avert disaster and guide us to avoid the path of destruction.

If only there was a Person with a higher view who provided us an Example and taught His children to govern with knowledge, wisdom and equity so that the whole world; not only all peoples but all of creation was cared for and well.

If only God were real and there were such a thing as sons of God.

“For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
Romans 8:19‭-‬21

We have fallen well short of our calling.

Repent. With me.

Originally posted by Paul Luckett to Facebook here.

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Live Like Jesus Is King

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com Live Like Jesus Is King

We’re very religious.

But, things in our world would look drastically different if Jesus were actually on the throne of our lives. “He does all things well.” -Mark 7:37

Does my thoughts look like they’re under His control?

Does my conversation reflect His perfect counsel and life giving power?

Does the order of my affairs look like He put them in order?

Does where I take residence reflect that a righteous, just, loving King resides there through me?

Do I allow His power to flow through me to make my home, workplace and community look like the Kingdom of God is coming?

Hypocrites!

We tote our bibles, go to church, do empty deeds and speak great swelling, superfluous words while people languish in the shadow of the great buildings and giant crosses we’ve erected to ourselves.

We come to religion looking for the good life, to justify ourselves, to take our ease and kick our feet up, often on the very backs of those we’re supposed to be serving.

This is not The Way.

Repent! Come from among these unbelieving apostates because their destruction is coming. (Matthew 24:45-51)

Seek the Kingdom of God beginning with it’s King.

See Jesus. Be transformed by who He is. Then, be Him in the world.

And, do not cease to make war until His Kingdom has come to every inch of our lives.

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. ” -1 John 4:17

#notwhatwho

Originally posted by Paul Luckett to Facebook here.

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