More Than a “Peaceful Easy Feeling”

January 16, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH More Than a "Peaceful Easy Feeling" SCOTTY SMITH “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” Jn.16:33 Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us hope, not hype. Until you “make all things right,” we live in a world of all-things-broken. And that’s really okay, if we know You, and your ultimate purpose for the world. Today, we use familiar words to direct our hearts heavenward and neighbor-ward. Known as the “Serenity Prayer,” it’s really a Gospel Prayer—a prayer of grace, perspective, and peace. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” – Lord Jesus, acceptance of things (and people) we can’t change isn’t acquiescence; it’s wisdom and freedom. It’s not shrugging our shoulders in resignation; it’s lifting our hands to you in worship and waiting. “Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time.” – Grant us grace to be present in the moment—not worrying about tomorrow, regretting yesterday, but loving well today. “Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.” – You haven’t promised us “nirvana” in this world; but you have promised us yourself in the middle of our hardships and heartaches. Because of your sufferings on the cross, all evil, suffering, and hardships have an expiration date. Hallelujah! “Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will.” – Lord Jesus, you are committed to “make all things right” (Rev. 21:5) no matter what we do. But our “serenity” and hope will grow, if we surrender to you and your sovereign will; and they will shrink if we coddle our fears and ignore the riches of your grace. “That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.” – There is “joy in the journey” Home, but this place isn’t Home yet. Until that Day, deepen our intimacy with you, our love for our neighbors, and kindness towards all. So very Amen we pray, in your tender and triumphant name.     Wish you had roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2020 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

Spirit-Groaning and Trust-Filled Waiting

January 15, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Spirit-Groaning and Trust-Filled Waiting SCOTTY SMITH “We who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly…” Rom. 8:32 Lord Jesus, we live with a relentless ache for peace. In the past several months, this ache has been fertilized with the “messes” in this world and the Spirit of hope. As Paul said, we “groan eagerly.” Though we’ve found eternal peace in the Gospel, the DNA we carry from the Garden of Eden, and the promises you have made about our coming life in the new heaven and new earth, make it hard to wait. We’re not good at waiting, Jesus. We’re like children demanding 3 o’clock snacks before a 5 o’clock-supper. We don’t want celery, we want chocolate. Cravings and aches take over. Longings morph into a sense of entitlement, and entitlement becomes angry demandingness. When we want relief more than we want you, we make bad choices. Help us, Jesus. As we begin this pandemic-marred, post-impeachment, pre-inauguration weekend… on this January 15th Friday, in this very moment, you are the Prince of Peace, the King of calm, the Lord of serenity. You’re not the anxious one, we are. Until the Day of all things new and beautiful, fill and free our hearts with your peace, Jesus. Replace our demandingness with gratefulness. Don’t decrease our good groaning, but increase our trust-filled waiting. So very Amen we pray, in your tender and triumphant name.   Wish you had roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2020 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

When Our Heart-Cares Are Many

January 14, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH When Our Heart-Cares Are Many SCOTTY SMITH When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. Ps. 94:19 Heavenly Father, our pile of heart-cares will never be greater than your supply of grace-consolations. As our Father of mercy and God of all comfort (2 Cor. 1:3)), you know exactly what we need, and you gladly meet our needs (Heb. 4:16). To affirm with King David, “your consolations cheer my soul,” is like saying oxygen “cheers” our lungs, living-water “cheers” our heaven-thirst, and the Gospel “cheers” our salvation-hunger. You’re not our cheerleader; you’re our everything. You don’t merely “pep” or prop us up; you always bring us back to Gospel-sanity. Thank you for the consolation of knowing You will complete your Story to your glory, in your time on your dime. Life is much less random than it feels right now. “Crazy” is episodic; sovereignty is always happening. When we get lost in the weeds of our fears, you shatter the darkness with the North Star of our hope. Jesus is “the bright Morning Star” (Rev. 22:16), leading us into the Day of all-things-new. “Light and life to all he brings; Ris’n with healing in His wings.” On this Thursday, we choose resting in you, over rusting in our worry. We choose to believe the Gospel, rather than all the other groundless, graceless, Christ-ignoring narratives, vying and lying to us. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ wonderful and merciful name. Wish you had roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2020 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

Unforgiveness Is Just TOO Expensive

January 13, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Unforgiveness Is Just TOO Expensive SCOTTY SMITH Then Peter came up and said to him [Jesus], “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.“ Matt. 18:21-22 Lord Jesus, we’re living in climate of taking offense and recording wrongs; hair-trigger anger and get-even revenge. Friends, families, and neighbors have signs in their yards and caps on their heads declaring allegiances and boundaries. Have mercy on us, Lord Jesus, have mercy. Who needs international enemies when we can be destroyed from within? Jesus, we come to you today for seventy-times-seven grace. We humble ourselves before you. This side of heaven, some relationships won’t be healed, but they don’t have to stay toxic. None of us can afford the price tag of choosing not to forgive from our hearts. By your Holy Spirit, reignite the glorious reality of the full and free forgiveness we have from you. May we never forget it, under-believe it, or take our forgiveness for granted. Tragically, we suffer from gospel-amnesia and grace-dementia. We are to forgive others as you’ve forgiven us, Jesus. It’s as simple, messy, and as costly as that. We’re not to be doormats to be walked on, but the doorway to stories of mercy, grace, and redemption. You’ve promised to finance our choice to love with the riches of the Gospel. The toxins of bitterness, resentment, and unforgiveness are too deadly to store in our heart-pantry. May the wonder of our forgiveness be 10,000 times more real than our most broken relationships. Help us, Jesus. So very Amen we pray in your liberating and healing name.   Wish you had roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2020 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

Owning Our Anxieties and Growing in Peace

January 12, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Owning Our Anxieties and Growing in Peace SCOTTY SMITH Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:6-7 Heavenly Father, thank you for the freedom to own our anxieties. Worries and fears aren’t something to be ashamed of, but to steward well—to bring to you. So here we come—confident of your welcome, dependent on your grace, grateful for your love. What are our requests? There are many things we’d love changed right now—in our country, in our families, in our own stories. But more than changed circumstances, we want what you actually promise in this passage. Father, we want your peace to “guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” We don’t want to tie our peace to our circumstances, but to our Savior. We’re tired of sifting through the narratives of what’s really going on in America and the world. Only you know what you’re sovereignly up to—in the courts of heaven and the halls of Congress, among the nations of the world and in the minutia of the moment. Deepen our trust, and increase our peace. What thanksgiving do we offer today? Thank you for an empty tomb and occupied throne. Thank you for hiding our lives in Christ and burying our sins in the sea. Thank you for not watching passively, but working actively in all things for your glory, and our good. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ great and grace-full name.   Wish you had roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2020 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

Here’s to As Jesus-Exlating of a Week as Possible

January 11, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Here's to As Jesus-Exlating of a Week as Possible SCOTTY SMITH Dear friends, not just in America, but in the world, this is going to be a significant week. Narrators and naysayers, pundits and “prophets for profit” will all vie for our attention and emotion. They will compete for what Jesus alone deserves. Therefore, let’s fix our gaze and fill our hearts with Jesus—fearing no man, exalting our true King. Revelation 1:5 – All praise be to “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Lord Jesus, we enter this week with many feelings, but totally yours, Hallelujah… You are the “faithful witness”—the incarnation of truth and fulfiller of all God’s promises. May we hear and heed your voice above all others this week, and forever. You are “the firstborn from the dead”—our resurrected Savior, perfect righteousness, and merciful High Priest. May the good news of the Gospel be more compelling to us this week than any theory, conspiracy, or commentary. You are “the ruler of the kings of the earth”—our reigning King and sovereign God. No premier, potentate, or president has died for us, only you. No other ruler can bring the favor of God, defeat all evil, and make all things new, only you, Jesus.. Revelation 1:6 – To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.” Lord Jesus, you love us as no one else ever could. You gave your life to give us our freedom. And now we are servants in your everlasting, unshakable Kingdom—a “priestly people,” offering your mercy and grace to all. Today, and in the coming weeks, may we live and love, to your glory, Lord Jesus. You are worthy. You alone are worthy. With our whole being, we sing to you, Lord Jesus: ”Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon the throne. Hark, how the heav’nly anthems drowns all music but its own! Awake, my soul and sing, of Him Who died for thee. And hail Him as thy matchless King thru all eternity” Hallelujah, what a Savior, you are, Jesus. Hallelujah, what a salvation you have freely given us. May the music of the Gospel drown out all “music but its own,” in these coming weeks. So very Amen we pray, in your tender and triumphant name. Wish you had roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2020 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe