Our Thanks-Worthy Things > Our Whine-Worthy Stuff

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Our Thanks-Worthy Things > Our Whine-Worthy Stuff SCOTTY SMITH "Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thess. 5:18). "Give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph.5:20).   Abba, Father, gratitude, thanksgiving, praising you … there's no better way to begin this Saturday morning. It's the best form of spiritual warfare and fertilizer for contentment, so here we go. Thank you for raising us from spiritual death, hiding our lives in Jesus, and making us your beloved kids. Thank you for promising to finish your good work in us, and for working in all things for our good… "even when we don't see that you're working, that is who you are." Thank you for the constancy of your delight in us, Jesus' non-stop intercession for us, and the Spirit's 24/7 prayer-ministry inside us. Thank you for setting an expiration date on all evil, death, sickness, poverty, hunger, racism, and lovelessness… just to mention 7 of a gazillion. Thank you for friends who give us more grace than advice, more encouragement than criticism, and more loud laughter than heavy sighs. Thank you that nothing can separate us from your love, derail your plans for the entire cosmos, or delay the soon coming of Jesus. Thank you that if we knew what you know, could experience one day of our coming life in the new heaven and new earth, and could get a peak at ourselves when you make us fully like Jesus (Oh freakin' my!) … well, we wouldn't be able to contain the joy. We praise, bless, and adore you, Abba. Truly, thank you and So Very   Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.

Becoming a “Lording Under” Leader

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Becoming a "Lording Under" Leader SCOTTY SMITH   "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant." Matt. 20:25-26   Lord Jesus, you give us a chilling picture of power-hungry leadership is this passage. Like a fast-spreading virus, lording-over gets passed down the "food chain." Controlled people like to control others. The shamed shame. The stressed tend to stress others. "Not so with you," you said to your disciples. True greatness, according to you, is "lording under." Leaders getting low, very low. To use a scepter to control people only requires a bad attitude, sitting down on a throne, and barking orders. To use a towel to wash feet requires humility, a servant's heart, and getting all the way down on our knees. You immediately come to mind and heart, Jesus. Your curriculum vitae (CV) is pretty impressive: You created the entire universe (Col. 1:16; John 1:3), and sustain all things by the power of your word (Heb. 1:3) You are the ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5), and are currenting making all things new (Rev. 21:5). One Day all things in heaven and on earth will be summed up in you (Eph. 1:10). YET—so gloriously yet you took the lowest place imaginable. You didn't just stoop to wash our feet, you died to wash our hearts. Your cross is quintessential greatness, revolutionary leadership—our only hope, and the surety of our salvation. As the Lord over all things, you are the Lord who got under the weight of our sin, taking the judgment we deserve. Humbled and grateful, we go with you into our marriages, parenting, vocations, boardrooms, friending, and neighboring, as servants. So Very Amen.         Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.

Video Message from TGC Leadership on Middle East Conflict

Our work is For Them

View in browser A special note from Interim President, Sandy Willson:   The Gospel of Peace: Dispatches from a World of Conflict, has been the theme of our spring fundraising appeal at TGC. Each week, we have focused on various international stories and work TGC does to support the global church. Months ago, our team scheduled this week to highlight our efforts in Iran and the Farsi-speaking world. In light of recent events in the Middle East, our team reconsidered the timing of this week's focus. Having spent much time in prayer, we believe this gospel of peace and the struggles of our brothers and sisters in Iran need to be shared. This does not mean we condone the actions of governments or their actors. Rather, we continue to pray for peace across the region, remembering that God's love—and the gospel's advance—isn't conditional on political affiliation or national identity.  Watch a Statement From TGC Interim President Sandy Willson Hi First,   Our Christian brothers and sisters here in Iran and the Farsi-speaking world face many conflicts and challenges, enduring unimaginable hardships. The church in this region suffers daily persecution and sometimes violence. The trials are often spiritual but can also be material—the basic resources necessary to worship, minister, and disciple are often hard to come by.   Despite these obstacles, the faith of these saints remains unwavering. TGC's international work is for these believers. Would you help us encourage and strengthen them in the gospel?  Make a Secure Gift. Spread Peace. We exist to strengthen and equip the church worldwide by providing trusted resources that encourage believers to keep growing and keep preaching the gospel even amid opposition.    But we cannot do this alone. Your financial partnership has brought crucial resources and networks to the Middle Eastern church—but the work continues and the need is great. Would you join us by making a gift to accelerate the spread of the gospel in Iran, among Farsi speakers, and around the world?     Grateful for your partnership in the gospel,   Nima Alizadeh TGC Farsi Editor The Gospel Coalition, PO Box #1637, Columbia, MO 65205 Unsubscribe

The Best Plan EVER

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH The Best Plan EVER SCOTTY SMITH  "This is the plan: At the right time, he (God) will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth." Eph. 1:10   Heavenly Father, sometimes we get so busy with our plans, we forget you are the perfect planner, and "get-it-done-er." Unlike us, you don't have to make plans and then say, "Lord willing." For you are the Lord who only plans things that you will make happen. Hallelujah, a gazillion times over! Like an indelible heart-tattoo inked with grace, make this one verse from the Apostle Paul our GPS setting, present peace, and joy-fuel. You set a Day when everything will be united, peaceful, and complete in Jesus. May that Day impact the rest of our days, until Jesus returns.   What a blessed Day that will be… We will finally see Jesus and become fully like him. Wiped tears, redeemed pain, and healed everything. No more sin, death, evil, fears, hurting or hurting others. The Great Commission will become the Great Accomplishment. The earth will be filled with your glory, glorified family, and all things new.   Bring. It. On. Father. Until then, renew and deepen our love for Jesus. Help us grow in gentleness, humility, and kindness. What a beloved, cared-for, hope-secured people we are. Thank you, Father… So Very Amen we pray, in Jesus' loving and powerful name. Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.

Without Love, I Am Jack, Zip, Zilch, Squat, Nix…

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Without Love, I Am Jack, Zip, Zilch, Squat, Nix… SCOTTY SMITH "I am nothing without love." No matter the culture, moment, or language, to loveless is to be nothing: Croatian: ništa, Danish: intet, French: rien, German: nichts, Finnish: mitättömyys, Czech: nic, Dutch: niets, Spanish: nada, Italian: niente, French: rien. What does love look like?   "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable and doesn't keep a record of being wronged; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Cor. 13:4-7).   Lord Jesus, every phrase in this passage drives me to you—to be forgiven, to be gifted with your righteousness, and for power to love others as you love me. Fortunately, we're not saved to the degree we love like this, but to the degree you love us like this, which is 100%. In particular, I'm struggling with love not "keeping a record of being wronged," and love "believes all things." I know you're not calling us to have amnesia about how we've been hurt, or to pretend like things didn't happen. But you are calling us (me) to forgive from the heart. Help me, Jesus. Free me. Even if those who wronged me never own it, I want to be freer on the inside. And about the issue of love "believes all things"—bring me back to the place of assuming the best of others and situations, not the worse. I don't want to be foolishly naïve; but even less do I want to be always suspicious, overly guarded, easily cynical, and unwilling to trust. Jesus, you are always present and always at work in every situation, no exceptions. Thank you, and … So Very Amen.   Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.

Maybe We Presently “Get” about 3% of What Abba Gives Us

Heavenward. Read the latest from Scotty Smith's blog.

Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Maybe We Presently "Get" about 3% of What Abba Gives Us SCOTTY SMITH "Everything I have is yours." Luke 15:31   Dear Abba, five compelling words—"Everything I have is yours." Compelling and enticing, curiosity-fueling and memory-triggering—for instance, in the 100's of weddings I have officiated, nervous and naïve couples speak these words to each other as a part of their covenant vows: "With all that I am, and with all that I have, I honor you." In other words, "I will withhold nothing in our marriage. Everything I have and am, I now give to you." On the other end of the spectrum—the dark part of the spectrum, Satan lied to Jesus with similar words. "See all these kingdoms and their splendor, I'll give all of it to you, if you will bow down and worship me" (Matt.4:9). What a lie and what a liar he is… they weren't his to give, and he had no clue to whom he was speaking. But Father—glorious, generous, loving Abba, it is you who speaks these words to us. "Everything I have is yours—we who are as foolish and broken as the younger son, and as insolent and clueless as the elder son (Luke 15:11-32). In the Gospel you constantly say to us: "I give you myself. Nothing will separate you from my love, exhaust my grace, or deplete my mercies. I greatly delight in you, will quiet you with my love, and will never stop rejoicing over you." (Zeph.3:14-17) "All that is mine is yours—the fullness of my forgiveness, the righteousness of my Son, a home in my heart and family, the sealing and presence of my Spirit. I rescued you from the dominion of darkness and brought you into the kingdom of my beloved Son—the New Creation (Col.1:13; 2 Cor.5:17). Your citizenship is in heaven and your new and forever name 'My Beloved.'" Father… shocking, stunning…  thank you… free us from our unbelief. So Very Amen. Wish you had a roundup of our best content? Subscribe to our weekly Update. SIGN ME UP! The Gospel Coalition  PO Box #1637    Columbia  MO  65205    You received this email because you are subscribed to Scotty Smith's Blog: Heavenward from The Gospel Coalition. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails.