Living as Mercy Magnets not Worry Warts

November 25, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Living as Mercy Magnets not Worry Warts SCOTTY SMITH “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:29)   Lord Jesus, this one verse is a perfect invitation into the soon-upon-us season of Advent. While enjoying the things we love most about Thanksgiving weekend, the lights, sights, sounds of Christmas move right in—just as it should be. Holiday gatherings often underscore how much we need you. No one better understood why you came into our world than the Samaritan women you met at Jacob’s well (John 4:1–42). She was playing hide and hide some more. But you came to seek, find, and love. She expected ridicule and judgment, you gave her mercy and kindness. You met her deep thirst with a deeper love. You gave her the only water that satisfies—living water.    You do the same for us. You came into our world to set us free, not weigh us down—to grace us, not shame us—to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, not the forever of his unremitting disappointment. Hallelujah … Jesus you came to save us not condemn us (John 3:17). You took our judgment and gave us your righteousness. We cannot over-believe this is true, savor it as our treasure, and graciously extend it to others—like the Samaritan woman did. Her gratitude, humility, and kindness are so attractive to us. That’s timely, Lord. This weekend we’ve been with family and friends who remain strangers to your love, indifferent to your welcome, and clueless about your grace. Though our default mode is to stress, fear, and find some way to fix them, we want to be different. Only you can save, Jesus, and you are awesome at it. Make us magnets of your mercy, fountains of your grace-water, and more trusting of your work in the lives of people we 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 ©2023 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

When “Fudging” Isn’t Dishonest

November 24, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH When "Fudging" Isn't Dishonest SCOTTY SMITH  “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift” and “the boundless riches of Christ” 2 Cor.9:15; Eph. 3:8.   Heavenly Father, I’m grateful today for a lot, but add to my list the Apostle Paul’s use of descriptive terms, adverbs, and adjectives. Though an editor would chide him and change his manuscript—when it came to the Gospel, Paul disregarded Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style.” Throwing commas, run on sentences, paragraphing, and hyphens to the wind, Paul could not over-state or hyperbolize the greatness of your love for us in Jesus. Here are just 7 of the numberless, “boundless riches of Christ” for which we give you praise today: Full forgiveness, no condemnation, and Jesus as our righteousness. A new heart that beats for you and the things you cherish. No fear of death, citizenship in heaven, and grace until then. The guarantee one Day we will be as lovely and loving as Jesus. You as our Father, Jesus as our Bridegroom, and the Spirit within. An eternity of “all-things-new,” nothing broken, and perfect relationships. Knowing you’re working in all things for our good—no exceptions. Okay, I fudged, that was 15, not 7—but who’s counting when it comes to the numberless ways you love us? Father, as we quickly “blow by” Black Friday and head into Advent, here’s our prayer. For the rest of 2023, please take us deeper into the rest of the Gospel, the joy of being your beloved children, and the peace that passes anything humanly explainable. So Very Amen.   Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2023 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

A Day for Photographic Grace-Memory

November 23, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH A Day for Photographic Grace-Memory SCOTTY SMITH   “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and don’t forget any of his benefits” (lavished upon you). Psalm 103:1-4      Dear Jesus, we’re Cinderella with amnesia—forgetful of wonder, oblivious to our Gospel enrichment, absent-minded about every good thing we have in you. But not today—today is a day for photographic grace-memory and whole-hearted thanksgiving.  Why, of all people, should we be grateful?  “Who forgives all your sins” – When you said, “It is finished,” you meant it. Though one Day we’ll be more like you, Jesus, we’ll never be more forgiven than we are today.    “And heals all your diseases,” – Jesus, you don’t always heal on our timetable or in the exact way we pray. But you have secured perfect health for us forever. All the ways sin and death have impacted our bodies, emotions, and thinking—it’s all going to be over, healed, and made new.   Who redeems your life from the pit” – Along with rescuing us from the pits of sin, death and judgment, you also rescue us from the alligator-infested pits of pity-parties, resentment, comparison, ingratitude, and contempt… to name a few.    “And crowns you with love and compassion,” – You wore a crown of thorns that we might be crowned with your love and compassion. Your banner over us is now and only love. Your delight in us is full-throttle and non-stop. Your coming for us is more certain than our stingless-death and next breath. We are loved and we are yours and we are grateful, Jesus. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Forever! So Very Amen.   Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2023 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

Living in Love Is More Fun Than Living in Fear

November 22, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Living in Love Is More Fun Than Living in Fear SCOTTY SMITH “We know, and we rely on God’s love for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them… There’s no fear in love. But perfect love expels fear.” 1 John 4:16-18   Heavenly Father, this passage underscores the greatness of your love, the depth of our need, and the heartbeat of the Gospel. We can truly know and fully rely on your love of us in Jesus. It’s not like thin ice we’re wise to mistrust, or the old beach chair we’re not sure can bear our weight. Your love is the greatest, most reliable constant in our lives. Hallelujah. This passage also helps us realize how close living in fear and living in love are to each other. Sometimes they inhabit the same heart, same home, and same holiday gathering. So, Abba, help us “prep” our hearts for the next few days, and not just the meal, table, and decorations. Relationships expose our need for more of the Gospel more than anything else. We can’t love anyone we fear, so help us rely on your love in our “stickiest,” most slippery, fragile relationships. Replace our anxieties with curiosity, our worry with welcome, and our guardedness with playfulness. Whoever is standing before us, may Jesus be bigger in our gaze, hearts, and the moment. Whatever culinary delights fill our holiday menu—high, mid, low, no carbs—may the greatest feast be your Fatherly kindness, extraordinary grace, and perfect 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 ©2023 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

All Dressed Up with Everywhere to Go

November 21, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH All Dressed Up with Everywhere to Go SCOTTY SMITH “As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Col. 3:12   Heavenly Father, in our most Gospel-sane moments, we know the grounds for our gratitude should easily sabotage our slide into sullenness, grumpiness, and self-pity. For starters, the three things you say about us in this one verse are truly staggering. We are your chosen, not choice people. Your grace, not our awesomeness, defines us. We are holy—set apart for you, by you—forgiven all our unrighteousness, and declared righteous in Christ. And to top it all, we are dearly loved—not “kinda-loved,” “variably-loved,” or loved with an asterisk (*) beside our name. Hallelujah, and thank you. Because these things are gloriously true, what to wear every day has nothing to do with the dew point, weather fronts, or time of the year. You’ve made our heart-garment choice easy. Compassion, Kindness, Humility, Gentleness, Patience are never out of style, and better than Gore-Tex when it’s raining “cats and dogs,” criticism and indifference, or unfairness and disappointment. They’re breathable but warm, comfortable next to the heart, and go with anything, anywhere, all the time. Packable and wrinkle-free, they only cost us our pride, selfishness, and unbelief. All metaphors and cuteness aside, Father, this is serious stuff. How we love matters—so much so, you’ve told us “the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love” (Gal. 5:6). Whether our Thanksgiving Day tradition is to wear cute matching outfits, favorite jeans-n-flannel, “Sunday-best,” or anything goes… as your dearly loved children, we want to love dearly. So underneath it all, we’ll seek to stay clothed in these precious grace-garments. So Very Amen.     Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! About Us    |     Council    |     Donate ©2023 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe

When Jesus Sets a Table

November 20, 2023 Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH When Jesus Sets a Table SCOTTY SMITH When Jesus Sets a Table     The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. Rev. 22:17   Lord Jesus, of all the commands with which you could’ve finished your written Word, we’re thankful for the one you chose. Instead of “Do more, try harder!” or “Buck up, be strong!” You went with, “Come, thirsty ones! Come, desiring ones! Come and take the free gift of the water of life.” Hallelujah, and thank you. At the beginning of this “Thanksgiving Week,” we look to you for the “living water” you alone can give, Jesus—the artesian spring of your healing grace, the life-giving libation of your mercy and love—a river “springing” up inside us for the nourishment and refreshment of others (John 4:14; 7:38) So, we bring our thirst to you. Jesus, we are thirsty to know Jesus better and better. We thirst to be filled with the Holy Spirit afresh. Slake our thirst so fully, your beauty will dazzle us and your kindness will melt us. Jesus, it is you we want and need—not a Currier and Ives table-setting, Hallmark group hug… or some idealized, idolized holiday gathering. You know exactly what this week will be like for each of us—the different expressions of “rapture and rupture.” We ask you for moments of kind merriment, spontaneous guffaws, and sweet, deep connecting. But we’re grateful you will be just as present when brokenness is evident, loneliness is underscored, and our longings for the wedding feast of the Lamb get super-charged. Thank you. Jesus, whenever you set a table, all are welcome, the bread of grace-upon-grace is always served, and living water and the best wine never run out. May it be so this week.. for us and 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 ©2023 The Gospel Coalition, All Rights Reserved. P.O. Box 170346 — Austin, TX 78717 Update Email  |  Unsubscribe