Maybe the Single-Most Encouraging Verse in the Bible

November 6, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Maybe the Single-Most Encouraging Verse in the Bible SCOTTY SMITH   He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making all things new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Rev. 21:5 Lord Jesus, no other verse in the entire Bible is more pregnant with hope, filled with encouragement, and liberating-when-understood than this one. By your Holy Spirit, help us to grasp even a small portion of what you promise in these words. First of all, continue to convince us the throne of heaven is presently and fully occupied, and that it is a throne of grace. All of history, and every chapter in our stories, is being written by the hand of providence—not random circumstance or evil happenstance. The permanent ink of your saving grace guarantees our Father never exaggerated with his promises. Everything broken, evil, and sinful has an expiration date. You are presently making “all things new”—not, all new things. We are in a story of redemption, not re-do or replacement. Creation is groaning with the hope-laced pain of full-term childbirth (Romans 8:22-25)—waiting for the Day when we will see you as you are, Lord Jesus, and will be made like you (1 John 3:1-3). Because these words are “trustworthy and true”—not similes and metaphors, free us to worship you with abandon, love boldly, and invest our time, talents, and treasures in the things that will last. Hallelujah, what a Savior you are. Hallelujah, what a salvation you we have. So very Amen we, shout and pray.     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

What a Father We Have

November 5, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH What a Father We Have SCOTTY SMITH “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also our through Christ our comfort overflows.” 2 Cor. 1:3-5   Heavenly Father, names matter a whole lot. The first name we were given is the one on our birth certificate, chosen for us by our parents. Some of us acquired endearing nicknames we still wear with joy, (or with a cringe). But the name that is most inviting, timely, and precious to us today is the name you chose for yourself in this passage. Thank you, Father. Thank you than you want us to know you as “the Father of compassion and God of all comfort.” It’s not a nickname, it’s a that-nails-it-name. We know this to be true because of the Gospel. Our most eternal need was met, once and for all, by the gift of your Son, Jesus. By the sufferings of Christ, we now have your favor permanently resting on us. Hallelujah! Your compassion is incomparable, your comfort inexhaustible. But that was just the beginning of getting to know you as such an amazingly kind and grace-full God. In every area of our lives, you want us to experience you as our “Father of compassion and God of all comfort”—in old heart wounds, and current crucibles; in the things that cause us fear, and those which fuel our shame; in the vulnerability of getting older, and the challenges that face our children. Hallelujah, and thank you. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ 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

What Is On Jesus’ Prayer List?

November 4, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH What Is On Jesus' Prayer List? SCOTTY SMITH “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:20-21 Lord Jesus, we are so grateful you constantly care, advocate, and pray for us. For surely, all your prayers will eventually be fulfilled in a most profound and beautiful way. You don’t pray for our uniformity, but unity—for our great diversity as your Bride to become an aromatic bouquet of grace. Though this will only be fully realized when you return, right now, you call us to demonstrate the reconciling power of the Gospel to the watching world. Only your love, and the power of the Holy Spirit, can turn our hostility into hospitality, our meanness into kindness, our striving against each other into serving one another. Only the Gospel can retrofit the walls that divide us into bridges that heal us. Open the heavens and pour out your Spirit on us, Lord Jesus. We are desperate for revival. Humble us, and gentle us. Forgive us for not working harder at loving each other as you love us, forgiving each other as you forgive us, and accepting one another as you accept us. Nothing can justify or normalize our prejudices, bigotry, and tribalism. 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

Served with So Much Love

November 3, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Served with So Much Love SCOTTY SMITH Served with So Much Love “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Isa. 55:1-2 Heavenly Father, on a retreat this week with friends, we’ve been enjoying the daily delight of incredible chef-prepared meals—served with kindness, creativity, and joy.  The experience has brought to life these words from Isaiah. You are outrageously good and generous to us, and we are incredibly needy and foolish. You call us to a perpetual feast of truth, mercy, grace, and love—an exquisite banquet we could never afford. But we often live our lives, running to the “refreshment stand” in a movie theater, willing to pay 15 dollars for a bucket of over-salty popcorn, season like that so we’ll pay 7 ½ dollars for a cup of carbonated, caffeinated sugar. The satisfaction is quick and temporal. A crash soon follows, along with a trip to the dentist. Father, this illustration is actually more tragic than silly. “Listen, listen to me...” you cry out to us. We are hard of hearing and stubborn. We are surrounded by carnival barkers and carpetbaggers promising us instant relief, when we really need eternal delight—the cuisine you give us in Jesus. Like the woman at the well (John 4), make the living water Jesus freely gives, our primary source of thirst-satisfaction. And may the manna of the Gospel be our “richest fare” bringing the deepest delight. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ near and satisfying 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

Gratitude Is a Discipline That Becomes a Delight

November 2, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Gratitude Is a Discipline That Becomes a Delight SCOTTY SMITH “Give thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Eph. 5:20 Heavenly Father, thank you for only commanding things that deepen our knowledge of you, and joy in you. The command to give thanks is a perfect example. We have copious reasons to be and stay grateful. In fact, on this first Tuesday of November, we want to get a jumpstart on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you for granting us 100% forgiveness, robing us in Jesus’ righteousness, and hiding our lives in Christ You can’t love us more, and you’ll never love us less. That good news shrinks all other bad news. Thank you for sovereignly ruling over all things all the time. Nothing is more certain than your commitment to complete your work in us, and finish making all things new. Though we question your timing, the Gospel reassures of your heart. Thank you for technicolor leaf-blasts, trout that bite, and non-posing friends. Thank you for Romans 8, a cornucopia of salads, and chocolate-pumpkin brownies. Thank you that Alzheimer’s and Covid, mental illness and addiction, prodigal wandering and family disappointments don’t get the last word. Because the Gospel is true, we can vex less and repent quicker, fear less and trust more, sleep deeper and laugh louder. Father, thank you for the near Day of wiped tears and redeemed sorrows, no more sin in our hearts, and your glory covering the earth. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ merciful and mighty 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

Living Captivated with Jesus

November 1, 2021 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Living Captivated with Jesus SCOTTY SMITH   “Thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. 2 Cor. 2:14-15 Heavenly Father, what an amazing description of the essence of the Christian life. We are to live as glad captives in Jesus’ “triumphal procession,” all the way into the new heaven and new earth. Jesus has triumphed over sin, death, evil, and us. “Conquered” and saved by his life, cross, and resurrection, we are now smitten with Jesus’ beauty, magnificence, and love. We are no longer our own; we are his… Hallelujah! May the “sweet perfume” of the Gospel, and the life-giving aroma of Jesus be increasingly released through us, to your glory. Father, keep us in the posture of humility, dependence, and gentleness; for that’s when we most smell like Jesus. Free us to love well—wherever we are and whomever we’re with. Jesus’ Kingdom has come, and it will come in fullness. We can risk waiting. We can live non-defensively. We can love extravagantly. Keep us believing Jesus can change anyone, anytime, anywhere. May the Gospel be the only offensive thing about us—a stumbling stone and rock of offense to the proud, but a sanctuary of grace and eternal life to those who are being saved (Isa. 8:14; 1 Pet. 2:4-8). 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