The Best Final Four

April 2, 2022 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH The Best Final Four SCOTTY SMITH   “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” Col. 2:6-7   Dear Jesus, thank you for calling us to thankfulness—in many ways, it’s the most effective form of spiritual warfare. From past experience we know that gratitude is a discipline before it ignites delight—an intentional remembering before it becomes fresh rejoicing. So, we begin this April Saturday by expressing our thanks for “inexpressible gift” of the Gospel (2 Cor. 9:15). By your doing, not ours, we have been forgiven and declared righteous. We are rooted in your love and standing in your grace. You are working in all things for our good—even in the things that vex, confuse, and sadden us. Jesus, we also thank you for “creature comforts” we tend to take for granted… like clothing, shelter, a comfortable bed, and plenty of food. By your grace alone, we also enjoy “creature joys” like good friends, the beauty of creation, long walks, grandkids, water-coloring, pets, college basketball, fly-fishing, (add your “favs”). And here’s the Final Four we are MOST grateful for. 1. Jesus, you are returning to finish making all things new and beautiful. 2. On that Day, we will be totally whole and completely like you. 3. The earth will be empty of evil and filled with the glory of our God—Father, Son (you) and the Holy Spirit. 4. As your beloved every-nation Bride, we will live forever in the new heaven and new earth, enjoying the fullness of perfect peace, unfiltered joy, and perfect relationships. Hallelujah, and So VERY Amen!   Wish you had a 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

The Astonishing Servant Love of Jesus

April 1, 2022 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH The Astonishing Servant Love of Jesus SCOTTY SMITH “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43–45   Dear Jesus, the Gospel is the most counterintuitive, paradigm-shattering, heart-transforming force in history. Because of you, true greatness is now measured in terms of being a servant rather than owning the estate. Being first is no longer calculated by how many people are below us in the “org chart’” but by how low we stoop to serve others. What a most gracious Savior you are—gladly giving your life to redeem and cherish us forever. What a faithfully caring Shepherd you are—protecting, feeding, and getting us safely Home. What an incredibly powerful King you are—defeating the powers of darkness; and now, actively making all things new. What a merciful High Priest you are—perpetually interceding for us, welcoming us in our brokenness. Jesus, you are always serving us. We bow before you in wonder, love, and praise. We rise to dance before you, astonished at your compassion and affection for us. We humble ourselves before you, and purpose to follow you into the servant way. By a mighty grace-work in our hearts, may we prefer the place of sacrificial service over a platform of public acclaim. May we find great joy in helping others succeed. May we compete less and serve more. So Very Amen.   Wish you had a 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

A Heart-Garden of Grace

March 31, 2022 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH A Heart-Garden of Grace SCOTTY SMITH  “Resentment kills a fool.” (Job. 5:2); “Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” (Heb. 12:15); “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph. 4:31-32)   Lord Jesus, the commands in these Scriptures remind us that disappointments, frustrations, and offenses are inevitable in life, until your return. Thus, the need to treat resentment and bitterness like invasive weeds, a poisonous attitude, and lethal spirit. The Gospel is the only precaution, antidote, healing, and power for our vulnerable hearts. Jesus may the Gospel more defining than our pain, and much sweeter than the desire for revenge. By your Word and Spirit, and the gift of good friends, keep our hearts from becoming gardens of resentment and bushes of bitterness. Make our hearts grace-gardens. Help us when we are most weak, and when the temptation to medicate our pain foolishly feels irresistible. Instead, write stories of redemption and restoration with the pen of our hurts and the ink of your grace. Give us quick repentances when we’re too easily provoked by normal stuff in a broken world. And bring us supernatural deliverance when the attacks are contemptuous, evil—even demonic. As we have been forgiven by Abba, help us even want to forgive others. Then give us the power to do so. Jesus, replenish, then fill our hearts with your love, compassion, and kindness. So Very Amen. Wish you had a 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

A Better Gospel-Memory than Offense-Memory

March 30, 2022 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH A Better Gospel-Memory than Offense-Memory SCOTTY SMITH   “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” Luke 6:36; “Speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment without mercy awaits the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:12-13   Heavenly Father, thank you for being the Father of mercies and God of all comfort—the God of limitless patience, inexhaustible forbearance, and incomparable compassion. Instead of giving us what we deserve, you gave us Jesus—who is our perfect righteousness, everlasting peace, and greatest joy. Hallelujah, many times over! As you extend mercy to us, so you call us to do the same for others. Sometimes that feels unreasonable—even impossible, and, apart from the Gospel, it is. The instinct to slap (at least with our words) comes easier than the commitment to deal with an offense redemptively. We own being easily irritated and offended. We keep records of the ways people hurt, fail, and disappoint us, more easily than we overlook, forbear, and forgive them. Our offence-memory is often better than our Gospel-memory. Show us what mercy looks like with it seems we’re being exploited, manipulated, and “played.” You aren’t calling us to be passive doormats, but you are calling us to be active foot washers. Our cry is, “Help us, Abba, help us.” Teach us the difference between having good, healthy boundaries, and building walls with electric barbed-wire on top. Empower us for loving in the broken places. Love is costly, yet you “pick up the tab.” Father, thank you for your promise of daily mercies, sufficient grace, and more grace. So Very Amen.   Wish you had a 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 Praying Is “Wimpy”

March 29, 2022 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH When Our Praying Is "Wimpy" SCOTTY SMITH   Jesus “is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” Heb. 7:25  “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning’s too deep for words.” Rom. 8:26   Heavenly Father, on those days when our hearts struggle, our thoughts wander, and our prayers are “wimpy,” it’s a great comfort to remember the most important and effective praying is being done by Jesus for us, and the Holy Spirit in us. Because of the prayers of Jesus and the Spirit, nothing or no one can sabotage your sovereignty, warp your will, divert your decrees. It’s not about us holding on tightly, but you holding us grace-fully. We don’t have to get your attention, make a case, or convince you of anything. Father, when we come before you, we don’t have to gussy up, buck up, or ramp up our spirituality. As children with a loving Father, we come today to your occupied throne of grace. Lord Jesus, anything and everything you pray for us will come to pass. Your advocacy is our assurance; your intercession is our liberation; your prayers are our peace. What a Savior, what a salvation. Holy Spirit, thank you for faithfully praying inside us—especially in those “stretches” when we don’t know what to pray, or have little desire to pray. Your groans inside are birth pangs as Jesus is being formed in us (Gal. 4:19; Rom. 8:22-28). And as we wing our feeble prayers heavenward, you “fix” them. Hallelujah… we can rest in our restlessness. It isn’t about us being “great prayers,” but our God being a great and gracious God. So Very Amen.     Wish you had a 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

Our To Love List

March 28, 2022 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Our To Love List SCOTTY SMITH “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love.” Galatians 5:6   Heavenly Father, some of us begin this Monday with a “to do list” longer than the checkout line at Costco on December 20—a list that will mock and rock us about 1:20 this afternoon. High expectations are one thing, realistic ones are quite another. May we never forget, “We can make our plans (and we should make plans), but the LORD determines our steps.” (Prov. 16:9). Thank you for being that involved in our lives. Thank you for your steadfast, inexhaustible, peace-giving, heart-centering love. By the heartbeat of heaven, today isn’t about proving our worth, or making people happy or holy. It’s about knowing you, walking with you, and enjoying you. We won’t add an hour to our lives by stress and worry. We’ll actually take away from the people we love. Far better to do to a few things well today with a non-anxious heart, than plow through our lists—treating people like projects and problems, objects and obstacles. Help us remember, all day long (and all week), the only thing that counts is “faith expressing itself in love” (Gal. 5:6). Kindness is greater productivity, listening is more important than telling, and  Because of the gospel, our “to love lists,” must matter more to us than our “to do lists.” So Very Amen.     Wish you had a 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