Our longings for satisfaction get frustrated in discontent. Our longings for significance get frustrated by our own inadequacies. J. R. R. Tolkien diagnoses the roots of our longing: “We all long for [Eden], and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most humane, is still soaked with a sen

God’s purpose to expand his presence to fill the earth is not based on the adequacy of his servants, but on the promise of God’s presence with those servants. Despite the prevalence of sin, God’s own plan and presence guarantees the expansion of that temple presence to the ends of the earth.

However, God’s image in us is restored through worship. Through Jesus Christ, the perfect image of God (Col 1:15), we worship him and “are being transformed into the same image (eikōn), from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18). Worship transforms us increasingly to reflect and represent God’s presence more clearly as his image and icon.

Often the demands of ministering to people expose our inadequacies, and we become depressed since their needs exceed our resources. However, these excessive demands remind us that we are only icons. We are not the answer! We are created as icons through which the glories of God’s presence shine. Jesus Christ is the perfect image and icon of God (Co

Our mission is not fulfilled because of the adequacy of our financial and intellectual resources, but our mission is guaranteed by the supernatural resources of a God who promises his presence to fulfill that mission.

Jesus glorified God by making disciples who kept God’s word. The mark of these disciples was obedience. Similarly, we glorify God by our mission in making disciples who keep God’s word.

God made us for himself as his images in the Garden-temple in Eden (Gen 1–2). God’s presence gives life and purpose in Eden, so we should not wonder that “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him.”

We sacrifice for what satisfies. The soul-satisfying riches in the presence of God propel us out of our comfort zones, calling us out of the warm confines of our beds to our knees in early-morning prayer and meditation on God’s Word. Only these soul-satisfying riches can sustain us in the rigors of God’s calling on our lives as we move out to procl

Like soldiers on the field, Christians must know their commander’s intent. In order to fulfill our commander’s intent in the changing and challenging situations of our lives, we must take time to form a compelling biblical picture of it. The Bible articulates our commander’s intent by painting a picture of our “mission accomplished” in Revelation 2