Always Nourishing a Spirit of Gratitude

October 30, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Always Nourishing a Spirit of Gratitude SCOTTY SMITH  “Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things.” Psalm 103:1-4 Heavenly Father, I cannot think of a more needed and powerful form of spiritual warfare than gratitude and praise. You sent a band of worshippers into battle against three of Israel’s waring enemies—the “Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites” (2 Chronicles 20). The enemies of our heart-peace are not as obvious, but just as lethal. When we indulge a spirit of entitlement, comparison, judgmentalism, envy, fear, and ungratefulness, we’re simply giving a band of joy-assassins and attitude-poisoners free reign in our hearts. So, on this October Saturday, we take up King David’s revolutionary song of thankfulness and praise, and make it ours. Easily, in our most gospel-sane moments, we know the things for which we can be/should be grateful outnumber our whine-worthy, heart-vexing items 10 to 1 if not 100 to 1. Hallelujah, for complete forgiveness, the gift of Jesus’ righteousness, adoption as your beloved children, the Spirit of Sonship, and citizenship in heaven. Father, if we just remember and stay alive to these 5 of so many “good things” you’ve given us, surely, we’ll be able to trust you, wait upon you, abandon ourselves to you for everything else—even the most overwhelming ones. So very thankful, and Amen, in Jesus’ 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

Heart-Joy and Invested-Living

October 29, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Heart-Joy and Invested-Living SCOTTY SMITH “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” Hab. 2:14 “I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb… And they were shouting with a great roar, “Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!” Rev. 7:9-10 Lord Jesus, we long for the Day when the “great roar” of your redeemed, beloved, and gathered Bride will be louder than any concert, sporting event, thunderstorm we have ever heard. Oh, the heart-joy and sensory-overload that will be. On that Day, the earth will be (not might be), filled (not sprinkled) with your glory. And—hallelujah, we will be perfected by your grace. All sin, brokenness, sickness, and death will be gone forever. Every notion we’ve ever about how wonderful heaven “might be,” will seem silly compared to how magnificent it will be. Eden will be known as a pencil sketch of the wonders of the life we will enjoy with you in the new heaven and new earth. This isn’t a sentimental notion, but our Gospel-certainty. History has more than meaning; it has you reigning over the Kings of the earth, actively redeeming your every-nation Bride, and working in all things for our good. Jesus, should you give us 3 more months, years, or decades, may they be more preoccupied with you, and more invested in life on mission. So very Amen we pray (and shout), in your loving 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

Jesus’ Breath-Giving Generosity and Breath-Taking Beauty

October 28, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Jesus' Breath-Giving Generosity and Breath-Taking Beauty SCOTTY SMITH “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.” Psalm 27:4 Lord Jesus, I have asked you for many things in life, and I will continue to do so. For you are a most generous Savior, powerful King, and loving Bridegroom. You know our needs before we ask; and you give—even when our prayers are an odd mixture of grace-heartedness, selfishness and unbelief. Hallelujah, and thank you. As I get older, however, I have a growing desire simply to see more of your beauty, Jesus. Ever since you first revealed yourself to me, I’ve known you to be true, and so very good. But now—perhaps because of all the “ugly” in the world, I intensely crave a greater revelation of your unparalleled loveliness. You faithfully give me air to breath only a daily basis. But take my breath away with a heart-sighting of your matchless splendor, radiance, and beauty, Jesus. It’s no mere experience I long for… I truly long for more of you, Jesus. Heal the eyes of my heart, Jesus—the astigmatism, cataracts, the myopia. Burn from my memory all the wrong, unworthy, distorted images I’ve had of you. I long for the Day when we will see you as you are, Lord Jesus, and we will be made like you (1 John 3:1-3). Here’s the biggest AMEN I can possibly offer.   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

Repentance Opens the Floodgates to Times of Refreshing

October 27, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Repentance Opens the Floodgates to Times of Refreshing SCOTTY SMITH “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.” Acts 3:19-20 Heavenly Father, what a revolutionary notion: Through our repentance, you bring “times of refreshing,” not moments of groveling and seasons of shame. Repentance isn’t us making promises to you, but you making this grand declaration to us. “Jesus is enough!” Thank you for hiding our lives in Christ and declaring Jesus to be our “righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). Truly, Gospel-repentance is a perpetual crying “Uncle!” that we might cry “Abba!” all the louder. It’s coming to the end of ourselves, that we might come alive to more of you. It’s owning and grieving the ways we love poorly, humbling ourselves before those we’ve hurt, and seeking to understand their pain and our failure. Sin always sabotages love and intimacy. So, we enter this Wednesday, turning from our bankruptcy to your riches. Precisely because there is “now therefore no condemnation” hanging over us (Rom. 8:1), there is now therefore plenty of conviction. The more we see of Jesus, the more we realize we’re not as loving as you intend, for the only thing that counts is “faith expressing itself in love” (Gal. 5:6). We collapse upon Jesus, and surrender to your Spirit. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ glorious and all-sufficient 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

Belonging to Jesus

October 26, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Belonging to Jesus SCOTTY SMITH   “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your hearts on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” Col. 3:1-4 Lord Jesus, without you, we just drift our way through life from mirage to mirage, through side roads and back ally’s, all leading to disappointment and dead ends. But, hallelujah, the Gospel isn’t merely our map, it’s also our motivation, vehicle, and fuel that will get us safely Home. In reality, you are our Home, Jesus. You are our destination and delight, our current oasis and final country, our greatest need and our deepest longing, our perfect righteousness, and our eternal peace. No one, and nothing else, is worthy of our heart’s affection, adoration, and allegiance—only you. In a world of multiple distractions, don’t just be our North Star or Big Dipper. Be our entire cosmos. You have the whole world in your hand, and you have every bit of us in your heart. Keep us childlike, unselfish, and kind—in a culture of “me, mine, and meanness.” Gentle us with your grace, compel us with your love, and fill us with your compassion—all the way Home. So very Amen we pray, in your magnificent, matchless, 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

No Longer Slaves and Orphans – Now Children and Heirs

October 25, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH No Longer Slaves and Orphans – Now Children and Heirs SCOTTY SMITH “In love, he (God) predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Eph. 1:5-6 Jesus speaking: “I will not leave you as orphans.” John 14:18  “You are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Gal. 4:7 Heavenly Father, it is an incomparable joy to begin our work-week remembering, relishing, and resting in our “sonship.” Even before you created the world, you made an irrepressible commitment to adopt a family to love—as numerous as stars, sand, and dust. You didn’t have to, but you were overwhelming glad to. Hallelujah! The plan was easy, but the cost was incalculable. Father, you only have one “begotten” Son, Jesus; but sharing your joy and celebrating your plan, Jesus came into our world to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. Hallelujah! We’re not choice, we’re chosen. We don’t have potential; we have grave need. You didn’t give us a 2nd chance; you gave us the 2nd Adam—Jesus. By his perfect life and substitutionary death, we are now known, loved, and enriched beyond all calculation and imagination. Hallelujah! No longer slaves to sin and death and no longer spiritual orphans, you now love each of your children as much as you love Jesus—astonishing. And we are co-heirs with Jesus of everything—as though we ourselves were the first-born son. Hallelujah! Father, by the “spirit of sonship”—God the Holy Spirit, continue to make our “sonship” more precious and real, than anything and everything else. In Jesus’ name we pray—with awe and gratitude.       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