LIVING WITH PURPOSE

Since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” (Hebrews 6:13–14) There is one Person whose worth and honor and dignity and preciousness and greatness and beauty and reputation is more than all other values combined — ten thousand times more — namely, God himself. So, when God takes an oath, he swears by himself. If he could have gone higher, he would have gone higher. Why? To give you strong encouragement in your hope. What God is saying in swearing by himself is that it is as impossible that he will break his word of promise to bless us as it is that he will ever despise himself. God is the greatest value in the universe. There is nothing more valuable or wonderful than God. So, God swears by God. And in doing that he says: “I mean for you to have as much confidence in me as it is possible to have.” For if more were possible, Hebrews 6:13 says, he would have given us that. “Since he had no one greater by...

When you see life through a negative attitude,  you'd only achieve a fraction of what you're capable of.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10) When I am anxious about some risky new venture or meeting, I battle unbelief with one of my most often-used promises: Isaiah 41:10. The day I left for three years to study in Germany, my father called me long distance in New York and gave me the promise of this verse on the telephone. For three years, I must have quoted it to myself hundreds of times to get me through periods of tremendous stress. When the motor of my mind is in neutral, the hum of the gears is the sound of Isaiah 41:10. I love this verse. Of course, it’s not the only dagger in the arsenal my faith. When I am anxious about my ministry being useless and empty, I fight unbelief with the promise of Isaiah 55:11. “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and ...

 be utterly God-conscious and God-exalting, and God-saturated in all your observation and admiration of the wonders of the world.

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.” (Isaiah 58:13–14) It is possible to pursue God without glorifying God. If we want our quest to honor God, we must pursue him for the joy of fellowship with him. Consider the Sabbath as an illustration of this. The Lord rebukes his people for seeking their own pleasure on his holy day. “Turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day.” But what does he mean? Does he mean that we should not seek our joy on the Lord’s Day? No, because the next thing he says is, “Call the Sabbath a delight.” And in verse 14, “You shall take delight in the Lord.” So what he is criticizing is that they are delighting in their own busi...