Tag Archives: purpose

What Am I Doing?

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - What Am I Doing?

Lord, I’m overwhelmed and feel so turned around. What am I doing?

**Excuse me as I encourage myself in the Lord.

Where am I going?

The Kingdom of God, where Christ reigns, who makes God all-in-all, so that all of God’s children can dwell in safety together.

What am I doing?

Glorifying God, destroying the works of the devil, shining the light of Christ by administering the Gospel in word and deed, giving life by His Spirit, ushering all that the Lord our God will call into the glorious Sanctuary of the Kingdom of God through Christ, and teaching others to do likewise.

How am I doing it?

Obeying the heavenly vision by God’s grace —the strength He provides (heart, knowledge, power, people, resources), laying aside this world; allowing Christ to be manifest through me by dying: the emptying of myself (power, possessions, pursuits of pleasure and popularity, and my person), taking up my cross (our weapon —the ultimate implement of our struggle against sin; taking what God purposed, what Satan mean for evil, but what God is using for good to save people alive) and following Jesus to the Kingdom of God, fighting toward His beloved —my fellow disciples, walking as He walked, starting where He placed me (my garden: my marriage, my family, my work, my community) unto the uttermost parts of the world.

In summation: I am making war against every challenge to Lord Jesus’ rule, taking and securing territory for the Kingdom of God according to Christ’s example, starting with my heart and in my home.

People are the fields where this war is waged.

“The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”
—Luke 17:20-21

So, focus on eternal, life-giving connections with people to the glory of God. That’s how I take territory for the Kingdom.

My work, my marriage, my parenting, my resources —everything, are Christ’s and are merely means to facilitate advancing God’s Kingdom.

Now that the Holy Spirit has helped me get my bearings again, I can sit with these thoughts and emotions, bring them into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and evaluate what lie(s) I may have embraced that gave rise to the anxiety such as “I’m holding my own world together.”

Lies block love.

But, perfect love casts out all fear. (1 John 4:18)

I don’t have all the answers, I still have problems, but I have peace that the Good Shepherd will guide me through them all.

#perfectourlove

Placed In The Dark

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Placed In The Dark

Sometimes, God will put me in the dark to show others in the dark The Way.

“Now if we are afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effective for enduring the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or if we are comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation.” —2 Corinthians 1:6

Those with a heart ready for heaven, who love God and are called according to His purposes, glory in their suffering, rejoicing to be counted worthy to suffer for His name.

“Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.” —1 Peter 4:16

And for those, like me, who are not there yet, God uses all things, including that same suffering to get you there. Instruction in the Light and lessons in the dark facilitated by the Holy Spirit is how I’ve gotten this far.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son…” —Romans 8:28-29

“Though He [Christ] was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” ——Hebrews 5:8-9

“Why Lord?” is an excellent question, if I’m listening for His answer.

I have not already attained but I press.

#GloriousSuffering

The Goal Is Not Good But Life

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - The Goal Is Not Good But Life

The goal is not to be “good”, the goal is to be life-giving.

“And so it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
—1 Corinthians 15:45

To be sure, good is life-giving but which you set your heart on to pursue, drastically changes the outcome.

There’s a great difference between wanting to look like Dad versus wanting to be like Dad.

Because we, as Christians, often pursue presenting some perception of God’s person (“good”), rather than pursuing God’s heart and purposes (life [John 10:10]), we get religious, which results in a lot of beautiful dead things (e.g. buildings, rituals, programs, gestures, etc. [1 Corinthians 13:1-3]).

The goal is life.

If you’re thinking how only God can give life and we cannot do that, you’re on to something.

Furthermore, life is the result of God’s glory. So, the ultimate goal is God’s glory.

Both are something that ultimately only God can do [John 12:28, 1 Corinthians 12:3].

“No one can say Jesus is Lord [glorify God] except by the Holy Spirit [God]”
—1 Corinthians 12:3

We can only hope to make ourselves available for His use, which requires emptying ourselves of everything: possessions, pleasure, popularity, power and even our person.

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.”
—2 Corinthians 4:7

That’s ultimately the lesson of the Jesus’ encounter with the Rich Young Ruler [Luke 18:18-27].

The goal is not to be “good”, the goal is to be life-giving.

We cannot do it.

But, God can, through us.

“But [Jesus] said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.'”
—Luke 18:27

Rather than just signaling virtue and having an appearance of righteousness (paying tithes, going to church, being a “good person”, etc.), seek God’s heart to produce life in others.

Seek God on how to allow God to give life through you.

So… how’s your garden? [Genesis 2:15]

One Day

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - 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

My New Found Freedom In Slavery To Christ

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - My New Found Freedom In Slavery To Christ

I am beginning to experience a wonderful new found freedom as a slave of Christ.

I have been in the bondage of worry, thinking that I have to take care of things, I have to make ends meet, I have to make a way, I have to do this, I have to do that to hold everything together, which is true if I’m building my own house.

But, Christ provides for His house.

When I forsake all as following Christ demands, abandoning my own ambitions for my own house and instead serve Him and His house, when His purposes are my pursuit **first** (πρῶτον – “chiefly” or “above all” as in Matthew 6:33, which means everything that follows is subordinate, whatever is 2nd, 3rd, 4th will not violate what is 1st), I find that I can have complete confidence that He will provide everything I need, including the grace needed to glorify God in hard times (2 Corinthians 12:8-9, Philippians 4:11-13).

Because, God’s glory is the goal and He will have it (John 12:28).

If I am truly in His house, the glory of the Father is my goal as is my Master’s, Christ.

His glory **is** increasingly becoming the singular goal of my life, and in this new stage of my walk with Christ, I am consistently seeing His perfect provision even though I serve imperfectly!

He is so faithful.

But it started with dying, beginning with dying to my own identity and my own ambition. You can’t serve two masters.

To enjoy this freedom and the peace that comes with it, I have to forsake all.

And, please do not confuse this as me saying I don’t have to work. A heart that loves compels action to prosper what it loves. I work and in many cases the job I do every day does not change, but what does change is who my work is in service to.

I am not saying I do not have to work.

What I am saying is, I don’t have to worry.

Christ provides for His house.

He will provide everything I need, including the grace needed to glorify God in hard times.

I only need to love Him and do what love does.

This is so freeing.

And, it results in better work too.

The challenge is not allowing myself to be seduced back into the clutches of my old master.

Please pray for me.

See: Matthew 6:24-33
#perfectourlove #work

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

Jesus Goes Hard

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Jesus Goes Hard

This is me some days.

A lot of days, actually.

Struggling to get myself together and out of bed because I don’t know where I’m going or if where I’m going is worth the trouble.

But, Jesus goes hard.

He’s driven.

His goals are not like our goals.

He didn’t leave heaven to acquire houses fit for the cover of “Southern Homes and Garden” or for a certain lifestyle. Jesus said,

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” – Luke 9:58

“The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28

And to the point of daily discipline, He said,

“I must be about My Father’s business.” – Luke 2:49

Jesus left heaven and got up everyday because of His love for and dedication to the Father.

But, I’m not so enraptured by a feeling of love for the Father that it propels me out of bed every morning. Many days I’m not excited. Many days I don’t feel like it.

“Lord,” I say, “I’m not there yet. Help me.”

And, He did. This is where He teaches me. Jesus says,

“Not My will, but Yours [Father] be done.” – Luke 22:42

Simply put, action in loving obedience is not a product of desire but decision. This is what Jesus demonstrates here.

I have to do, not based on what I’m feeling but based on what I’ve decided based in loving obedience to Him. His Truth and His Spirit give me that capacity. It is an appropriate application of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

But, I’m right. I’m not there yet. So, I have to “exercise myself into godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).

It’s not about daily motivation, it’s about daily discipline.

I have to do what I don’t want to do in loving obedience until it simply becomes what I do because obedience has become part of me. Thus, “exercising myself into godliness.”

I feel it’s also important to observe that Jesus did not move aimlessly. Hebrews 12:2 says that, as our example, as the one who ran the first race and set our course –as “the author and finisher of our faith”, Jesus endured pain and suffering “for the joy that was set before Him.”

Jesus was not pressing toward a thing –an achievement or an event.

Jesus was pressing toward a state, “the joy” –abiding in the pleasure of the Father.

“And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.” – John 8:29

That “abiding” is in a continuous tense, meaning, it’s not just something that will happen in the future. In Jesus’s case, it always was, it will always be and it is right now.

His pressing was not for Himself, abiding with the Father was His natural state. His pressing was for our abiding.

“Father, I desire that they also who You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” – John 17:24

So, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14).

Therefore, I seek to go forth *abiding* more so than *doing*, having God’s heart to see people loved: seeing them delivered from the death of sin, given life through the knowledge of Him by the face of Jesus Christ and that life nurtured by His manifold grace through us in service.

I seek to go forth abiding, Him being a part of everything that I do.

It’s strange. That state, “abiding”, both results from and results in “always doing those things that please Him.”

So, if I’m not enjoying an abiding with Him, the answer is “doing those things that please Him” (loving people: making Him known, serving, etc.).

And, when I’m enjoying abiding with Him, the result is “doing those things that please Him.”

Love is “doing those things that please Him.”

Consider 1 John 4:12-13,

“No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.”

Love is “doing those things that please Him” and it is how we abide.

Love is how we experience God.

And, that’s the joy: being with God.

Love is how it is done.

Jesus goes hard for it.

Then, so will I.

So, I press.

#perfectourlove

My Mission Prompt

Understanding and articulating the mission is a continual process of clarification.

When it’s clear, it should help wherever you are to spring you into the appropriate action.

This is why instead of calling it a mission statement I prefer to call it a mission prompt. It’s not about having a statement that others will be impressed with but it’s about being prompted into action that produces desired outcomes.

I am thankful for the resources God uses to make this clearer to me. To be clear, a clear mission is His mission because He is the potter and I am the clay. He is the one that has prepared good works (before there was even a world) that I should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

Speaking of the resources God uses, while I’m thankful for experiences and the influence of godly people, the Word illuminated by His Spirit is the primary resource for me.

My mission is most influenced by a woman in Scripture: the Proverbs 31 woman.

What the Proverbs 31 woman is to her husband, is what I want to be for Christ –having a heart to prosper my Husband and His house, and to use everything at my disposal to that end.

Proverbs 31:10-31
“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.

She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.

She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.

She is like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar.

She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.

She considers a field and buys it;
From her profits she plants a vineyard.

She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.

She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.

She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.

She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.

She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.

Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.

Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.

She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.

She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her: “Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.”

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.”

Endgame

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Endgame

The endgame of the Christian faith
is not personal state, ¹
it is becoming One in Love. ²

Love draws near. ³
So, my goal is His goal, to draw near to you.

Therefore, I:
labor first to be found in Christ, ⁴
then lift Him up (which draws peoples to Him), ⁵
and make war against the sin that attempts to separate us. ⁶

Love is The Power. ⁷
Life is its product.

Personal state: peace, joy, fulfillment and other good things are byproducts of living according to His purpose. ⁸

Receiving the God of Love is the primary thing. ⁹
Love is the process. ¹⁰
Life is the proof. ¹¹

¹ Matthew 20:25-28
² John 17:20-23
³ Ephesians 2:11-13
⁴ Philippians 3:7-11
⁵ John 12:32
⁶ 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
⁷ 1 John 4:16
⁸ James 1:16-17, 1 Corinthians 12:31, 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
⁹ Proverbs 4:7, Mark 12:29-31, John 6:29
¹⁰ Matthew 22:37-40, 1 Corinthians 16:14, Romans 13:10
¹¹ John 1:4, John 10:10, Luke 6:43-44, 1 John 2:6 John 4:14

#perfectourlove

Spiritual Roots Produce Real World Fruit

Paul Luckett | Brainflurry.com - Spiritual Roots Produce Real World Fruit

I am grieved by the world. I desperately want to change it, but…

Spiritual roots produce real world fruit.

The suffering I see in the world is due to bad spiritual roots.

If I don’t get the spiritual right, all that I hope to do in the world will just produce more bad fruit.

Therefore, nothing is more important than seeking, establishing and strengthening roots into what is good and perfect.

I believe God is what is good and perfect. I believe Jesus is The Way. I believe when I focus on Him, good fruit in every area of life (government, community, enterprise, family, relationships, physical health, mental health, understanding and resources) will follow*.

*To distinguish this from false health-wealth prosperity gospel or name-it-and-claim theology, (which I hate) these are not things I believe to get but byproducts of the fruit that I produce, by the grace of God, as an effect of believing. The fruit is Love.

I cannot put effect before cause.

For now, as a sapling in Christ, I weather the storm, seeking to be a tree planted by the water, using adversity to drive my roots deeper and deeper into God, trusting Him to make me a mighty tree, that I may shelter others from the stormy blast and feed them with fruit from The Tree Of Eternal Life who’s leaf never fades and is always in season.

I am grieved by the world. I desperately want to change it, and this is how.

I seek to put down good roots and from that bear good fruit.

This is a caution to myself to not allow the pain of the world to distract me, to constantly pray and to maintain the proper order of operations.

“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. Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”
James 1:16-18

Originally posted by Paul Luckett to Facebook here.

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