Don’t Ignore the Grace-bombs, Abba-gifts, and Spirit-kisses

February 10, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Don't Ignore the Grace-bombs, Abba-gifts, and Spirit-kisses SCOTTY SMITH “I commend the enjoyment of life because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.” Eccles. 8:15   Heavenly Father, thank you for being honest about what we are to expect life to “feel” like between the resurrection and return of Jesus. As we head towards the Day of all things new, we still inhabit a cosmos of all things broken. Life “under the sun” is shorthand for a life of the “already and not yet.” Jesus’ kingdom has already arrived in part, but not yet fully as it will be. Beauty and brokenness, magnificence and messiness, floral bouquet and blood-drawing thorns will co-exist and co-mingle until Jesus returns. The same relationship that yields moments of unspeakable joy and deep intimacy still generates very speakable irritation and canyon-wide disconnect. This shouldn’t shock us, but we must steward the tension carefully—bringing the wisdom and riches of the Gospel to bare on a daily basis. Yet, Father, through all the raptures and ruptures on our journey Home—in our highs and lows, during our most Gospel-sane moments and the stretches in which Gospel-amnesia takes over—on the days we are most like Jesus and the days we are most like unconverted, nap-less, whiny 4-year-olds… in all of it, you intend enjoyment and gladness to be our traveling companions all the way Home. Little Abba-gifts we didn’t see coming show up at the front door of our hearts. Unexpected “grace-bombs” dropped on us from heaven at just the right time. Out-of-season daffodils, Spirit-kisses from the Scriptures, a meal with friends that whispers the soon arrival of wedding feast of the Lamb… thank you Father. Pain-free, disappointment-void, all-brokenness-gone days will fill our eternity. Until then, we already have everything we actually need in Jesus. The not yet is gonna get here right on time. 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

Jesus Pursues You Today, and Will Tomorrow Too

February 9, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Jesus Pursues You Today, and Will Tomorrow Too SCOTTY SMITH “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Rev. 3:20   Lord Jesus, you spoke these words to those you love and cherish, not to a bunch of strangers, “seekers,” or non-believers. How do we get so busy, religious, shamed, or satisfied with lesser things that we don’t realize when we’re no longer enjoying rich, intimate, heart-flourishing fellowship with you? That knock, that blessed knock on the door of our hearts… it’s not that you’re lonely and cold, and you certainly do not need our permission to enter any door. Astonishing… you really desire fellowship with us—individually, and as whole church families. Thank you for constantly pursuing us, Jesus. Thank you for always initiating fellowship, communion, and nourishment with us. Though we’d never presume to call you “friend,” you call us your friends (John 15:15)—more so, your Bride (Eph. 5:25-27). We believe, help us in our unbelief. Though you could kick down the door, climb through a window, or come in through the “crawl space”—you knock on the portal of our heart each day. Daily mercies, Gospel-manna, living water, your very self… that’s what you freely give us. Ignore your knock? It’d be better for us to ignore “the knock” of our physical hunger and thirst. Patient, persistent Jesus, you’re not calling us to “make you Lord,” for you’re already Lord of heaven and earth. You’ve made us yours by your life, death, and resurrection. You love us as no one else ever could or would. Convicted, humbled, and grateful, we welcome you today. 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 Humbling and Troubling Aspects of Forgiveness

February 8, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH The Humbling and Troubling Aspects of Forgiveness SCOTTY SMITH Let’s ponder and pray the main themes of Jesus’ story about the Unmerciful Servant (Matt. 18:21-35). “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold (a debt that would take a servant 200,000 years to pay) was brought to him… The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go…” Dear Jesus, the first part of this story is our favorite part, for it highlights the colossal forgiveness we have received from you in the Gospel. All of our sins—past, present, future are forgiven—sins of thought, word and deed. But they weren’t just “waved off.” Our debt was canceled because it was paid in full by you. It will take our hearts being glorified to understand and feel the astonishing reality of the forgiveness we already have. But here’s the part of the story that befuddles, troubles, and bothers us. “When that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins (a debt payable in several months). He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded… The master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant’… Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” Jesus, we don’t really see ourselves carrying a “200,000-year sin-debt.” And we certainly don’t see ourselves as violent, wicked, and demanding as the unmerciful servant. But you’re the one who told the story, not us. Your diagnosis, accounting, and mercy-math are far more accurate than ours. Here’s what we do understand. You command, implore, warn, and woo us to, “forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matt. 18:35). To help us better understand, you gave us a broken, beloved sister we will know only in heaven: “Her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love” (Luke 7:47). Jesus, thank you for forgiving us and loving us. Help us understand our call to forgive others isn’t “letting someone off the hook”; it’s showing you much love. 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 We Fail to Love Jesus As He Deserves

February 7, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH When We Fail to Love Jesus As He Deserves SCOTTY SMITH   “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep.” John 21:16   Lord Jesus, this was no “normal” chat between you and Peter. It was a demonstration of the only love better than life; a celebration of the restorative reach and riches of the Gospel; a grace-ing of our shamed-filled hearts when we fail you miserably. Peter blew it big time—in fact, big time times 3. After your arrest in Gethsemane, he denied he even knew you. But after your resurrection, you made it very clear you always knew Peter. You knew his weaknesses when you first called him… just like you know ours. You didn’t withdraw your love from Peter. You asked him three times, “Do you love me?” No question is more humbling, exposing, centering, and transforming. It is an onramp to redemption and restoration—an onramp we must take. Do we love you, Jesus? You know everything. You know when like Peter (and Moses, Aaron, Abraham, Jacob, Samson, King David—even Peter’s fellow apostles, James and John, who came to you with their mom seeking self-glory (Matt. 20:20-28)… you know the many ways our thoughts, words, and actions demonstrate our failure to love you. We grieve it, own it, repent—and would despair if the Gospel wasn’t true. Your grace doesn’t minimize the costly impact of our sin. Your grace demonstrates the costly wonder of the Gospel. We can’t undo are failures, Jesus. But we can (and must) rest in what you’ve done for us—and will do in and through us as we move forward. We love you only because you first loved us, and still love us. Show us how to love you in the aftermath of our choices and the forever-math of your 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

Animation, Tears, Kindness, and the Gospel

February 6, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Animation, Tears, Kindness, and the Gospel SCOTTY SMITH “Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, for he (Jesus) is kind to the ungrateful and the evil” (Luke 6:35). “Resentment kills a fool” (Job 5:2). “Your kindness will reward you, but your cruelty will destroy you” (Prov. 11:17).   Dear Jesus, the tears came unexpectedly, twice. All I was looking for was something to have on as the backdrop to my afternoon power nap. It look innocent enough, so I hit the button and “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse” filled my TV screen and heart. Sixty-eight minutes (I watched it twice) of animated kindness. generated a good bit of heart water and replaced my nap. Why? What did that story tap into, Jesus? I think your Word makes it pretty clear, and our cultural moment underscores the need. Jesus, we are most like you when we are kind, not when we are calling down fire or turning over tables. Watching four unlikely companions (a boy, mole, fox, and horse) offer presence and kindness to each other—each marked by some unvoiced story of displacement, hurt, shame, or fear… it just melted my heart and made me so thankful for you, Jesus, and the revolutionary power of the Gospel. Repaying evil (real, not imaginary) with goodness; giving blessing rather than cursing (when cursing would be quite understandable); loving others (including the ill-deserving) as you love us, Jesus… this is the not-easy—but true, good, and beautiful life to which you have called us. Apart from your cross, it mocks our sensibilities. Thankfully, we live under your cross, not apart from it. 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 Keys and Key to Everything

February 5, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH The Keys and Key to Everything SCOTTY SMITH   “I (Jesus) am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave”(and of everything else).  Rev. 1:18   Lord Jesus, I’ve seriously thought about buying one (several) of those little finder-chips to put on my key fob, so I can locate it with my iPhone. Fortunately, you don’t lose stuff—neither us for eternity, nor anything else. You gave the apostle John these three peace-anchoring words—“I have the keys,” at a time when it looked like peace, hope, and the future, were all about to get permanently lost. Hallelujah, the keys that matter most aren’t in the hand of a teenager, chance, evil, or any man or empire. The keys to “death and the grave,” history and hope are securely in your hand—just like we are, and just as “unsnatchable” (John 10:28-30). We don’t have to fear getting older, the next global “whatever,” implosion of our life-long dreams, spy balloons, or personal catastrophes. You have the keys, Jesus, because you are the key—the source, sum, substance, sustainer, “song,” and Savior of all. “All authority in heaven and on earth” belong to you (Matt. 28:18). The implications of these affirmations are measureless, fear-sabotaging, and hope-fueling. History is your storyboard of redemption and restoration. You have the keys, Jesus… along with the steering wheel, GPS, chosen route, and perfectly timed arrival date. Forgive us for whining like 4-year-olds in the back seat. “Are we there yet?” You aren’t slow to keep your promises, but merciful—redeeming more and more, all the way into the new heaven and new earth. 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