Savor, Own, Rest

February 18, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Savor, Own, Rest SCOTTY SMITH 2 Cor. 4:7 – “We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Lord Jesus, thank you… to have you plus nothing, makes us as rich as anybody in history, for you are the archetypal, quintessential, unparalleled “treasure.” It’s truly astonishing to realize you have taken up residency in our frailty and finiteness. That’s not a sad story; it’s a glorious one—just the way you want it, designed it, and delight in it. O, the freedom this offers us. Help us treasure you more than we curse our weakness.   2 Cor. 4:8-9 – “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” Jesus, I can’t remember any season when I’ve had more friends in dire straits, difficult stories, and “from-every-side-pressure.” Fortunately, we don’t have to spin it, buck up, or be awesome. None of us is called to be a super-hero, but all of us are called to you—to savor your beauty, own our limits, and rest in your love.   2 Cor. 4:10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. To “carry around your death in our body” is to affirm your cross, not our competency, is to be our boast and trust. There will always be more needs than hours in a day; but there will never be more needs than you are good, faithful, and at work. Reveal more of yourself to us, Jesus, that more of you might be revealed through us. 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

Guarding, Giving, “Grabbing Hold”

February 17, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Guarding, Giving, "Grabbing Hold" SCOTTY SMITH   “I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezek. 36:26). “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Prov. 4:23). “My son, give me your heart” (Prov. 23:26). “Your treasure and heart will share the same address” (Paraphrase of Matt. 6:21).   Heavenly Father, thank you for a new day. We don’t presume on the next day, or even the next breath. And thank you for promising us multiple mercies and fresh grace equal to the needs of this February Friday. What is our greatest need? If we take these four verses seriously, the answer is clear. Heart-matters will always matter more than anything else. Hallelujah, you take the condition our heart so seriously, you have already performed the greatest “heart transplant” imaginable. By the Gospel, you removed our heart of stone and gave us a new heart. It’s a new heart, but it’s not a perfected heart. So like every day… today (and the whole upcoming weekend) we must:   Guard our heart. Protect, nurture, feed, focus, rest… Father, until Jesus returns, our hearts will need constant care. Nothing is more vulnerable and dangerous than an unguarded heart. There’s simply no such thing as a neutral heart.   Give you our heart. Father, this is your expression of desire for us, and your delight in us. What or who is most intensely competing for our heart’s affection and preoccupation? Show us. Free us.   Grab hold of you as our greatest heart-treasure… again and again. By the Gospel and the riches of grace, we now declare, “who do we have in heaven but you?” And in our most Gospel-sane moments, “we desire you more than anything on earth” (Ps. 73:25). 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

“Must-ness” Not “Might-ness”

February 16, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH "Must-ness" Not "Might-ness" SCOTTY SMITH  “There before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it”. Revelation 4:1-2   Lord Jesus, of all the gifts you could give your Bride-in-waiting, none is more precious, always-timely, and peace-giving than the truth, goodness, and beauty contained in Revelation 4. What value would we possibly place on these three gifts? An open-door gaze into the grandeur and worship of eternity. A clear sighting of heaven’s occupied throne—not, empty chair. An affirmation of your sovereignty over everything in every place until you return. Humbled and in awe, we offer our, “Hallelujah!” We are so glad, Jesus, you deal in “must-ness,” not “might-ness”—in Kingdom actualities, not circumstantial possibilities. There’s no trial and error in the courts of heaven; there’s just eternal plans with providentially-timed execution. We may not like the timing, but we are so glad nothing’s been left to mere chance. This isn’t fatalism, it’s “Fatherly-ness”—God our Father reigns, and God our Father loves. That is enough. This doesn’t make life easy or mystery-free, but it does make it good and worth the wait. It doesn’t mean we live stress-void, but we can live peace-full—confident that our Father will complete the good work he began in us, and in all of creation. Ongoing international crises and conflicts, upcoming surgeries and transitions, didn’t-see-that-one-coming surprises and disappointments—Jesus, help see all things by the grace-fueled light of your empty tomb and heaven’s occupied throne. 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

Leave Your Mirror for the Throne of Grace

February 15, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Leave Your Mirror for the Throne of Grace SCOTTY SMITH  “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” (Ps.68:19). “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2 Cor. 7:10)   Dear Jesus, 10,000 thanks to you, as we begin this day. You are the Savior who daily bears our burdens—daily, not just annually or “decade-ally.” We get new mercies each morning because we need them every day (Lam. 3:23-24). Of all the heavy burdens we keep throwing into our backpacks and “heart-backs”—”vain regret” may be the heaviest. It masquerades as Spirit-conviction, but it really has nothing to do with the work of the Holy Spirit. It time, it will crush us; and worse, it certainly dishonors you. “Gospel-regret,” on the other hand, will free us. Jesus, you the difference between the two. To have “Gospel-regret” is to come before you at the throne of grace. taking responsibility for the unloving things we have thought, said, and done. In that holy place we experience your kind welcome, “godly sorrow,” and the life-giving grace of repentance. It deepens our love for you, Jesus, and frees us to offer the fruit of repentance to those we have failed, hurt, or neglected. Vain regret, on the other hand, doesn’t bring us before you at all, Jesus. It simply delivers us to the nearest mirror. And there, standing before our own reflection, we get paralyzed with shame, condemnation, and self-contempt. Then we start rehearsing our excuses, blame-shifting, and making plans for face-saving penance and self-salvation. Nothing could be more vain—because it’s all about us. No wonder you call it “worldly sorrow,” and warn its path leads straight to death of heart, joy, peace, freedom, and hope. Jesus, we don’t want to experience, or give, more death by trying to carry what you bore at the cross, and now bear for us daily. We’re tired of standing in front of our mirrors, so we come falling before your throne of grace. You know our vain regrets about parenting… “spouse-ing”… old stories and new struggles… the destructive use of our tongues… the weaponizing of our hurts… the withholding of forgiveness… the waste of our time, your grace, and the depth of our unbelief. Jesus, we come to you right now, so grateful the Gospel is true. 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

Is It Possible to Be THIS Alive to Jesus’ Love?

February 14, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Is It Possible to Be THIS Alive to Jesus' Love? SCOTTY SMITH   Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Ps. 63:3–5   Lord Jesus, King David’s image of uninhibited celebration, deep satisfaction, and whole-being adoration are compelling. If reverence is giving an appropriate response to you and how you delight to be known, then David shatters our image of reverence as sitting quietly and politely with folded hands. Your love undid David, then “re-did” him. O, to know you in such a heart-thrilling, soul-satisfying, life-liberating way—or to know you again in that fashion and passion. Jesus, by the work of the Spirit, take us on a fresh journey into the geography of your great love for us—it’s width, length, height, and depth (Eph. 3:17-19). Nothing is more compelling, nothing is more transforming, nothing is more counterintuitive than your love. On a day in the year (Valentine’s Day) when we will be tempted to measure our value in terms of human romance, may your “better-than-life” love shatter all comparison, and fuel our gratitude. David danced with shame-free joy because the Ark of the Covenant was returned to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1-23). How much more so should we live (dance) with shame-free joy before you—with the empty tomb behind us, the occupied throne above us, and the wedding feast barreling towards us? Jesus, as long as we live… with full hearts, singing lips, raised hands, surrendered lives, we will praise you. 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

Beloved, Desired, and Married to Jesus

February 13, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Beloved, Desired, and Married to Jesus SCOTTY SMITH “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is for me.” Song of Sol. 7:10 Lord Jesus, on the Gregorian Calendar, tomorrow, February 14th, is Valentine’s Day—a day set aside for celebrating the gift of romantic love. From middle-school infatuation to first “real” love, through break-ups, restarts, walking down the aisle, then walking to the graveside to commit a spouse to eternity—our stories are marked by the wonders, pain, risks, and beauty of love. But all love whispers, hints, and points toward a greater love—the greatest love. On the Calendar of Grace, every day is the perfect day for remembering and reveling in the only love better than life. No human relationship, great romance, torrid love affair—even 50 years of a healthy marriage can possibly fill the place in our hearts reserved for you, Jesus. You are the ultimate Spouse—the one we always craved, whether we know it or not. Every human marriage is temporary; only our marriage to you is forever. In fact, as believers, we are already more married to you, Jesus, than we will ever be to anyone else. This is precisely why we should take our marriages so seriously, Jesus, for they are meant to show and tell how you love a most unlikely, unworthy Bride—each of us. To be able to say, “I am my beloved’s and his desire for me”—knowing you are the “beloved,” Jesus, and we are the “desired” ones—nothing compares with this state of grace, intimacy, and belovedness. It is the height, depth, width, and breadth of your love for us, Jesus (Eph. 3:14-19; Eph. 5:25-32). Until the Day you return, Jesus, may your love inhabit, shape, and fuel all other loves. 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