The Ways We Avoid the Rest Jesus Freely Gives

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Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH The Ways We Avoid the Rest Jesus Freely Gives SCOTTY SMITH "Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him." (Ps.62:5) "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt.11:28)   Jesus, you know everything about us—our beauty and our brokenness. Including our weariness, heartaches, and burdens. Though we're tempted to minimize or maximize, blame or excuse, wilt and withdraw—but you'll have none of it. Thank you. You don't want us to try harder, but to try trusting—to stop resisting your firm resolve to make us lie down in green pastures. Where can green pastures of restoration and refreshment be found? Anywhere you are, Jesus, anywhere you grow the grass of your kindness, grace, and loving heart. Sometimes that looks like a few burden bearing friends, whose welcome and prayers become a meadow of your mercy. Sometimes it happens while we're sitting in the same chair—but we travel light-years from abiding in resentment to a fresh abiding in your love. Sometimes we find the green pastures of your rest and kindness, quite literally, in actual green pastures of nature, creation, and beauty. Jesus, take us to green pastures of our choosing—even today. What are our rest-needs?   Rest from giving people more power over our hearts than we give you, Jesus. Rest from taking on more than you intend—physically, spiritually, emotionally. Rest from over-thinking situations and from under-believing the Gospel. Rest from thinking people have to change before we can be at peace and happy. Rest from looking more at our fears and "what if's?" than your occupied throne.   Jesus, we gladly exchange our "heavy-laden-ness" for your rest, peace, and freedom. Though we resist, keep making us lie down in green pastures of your choosing. 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.

Experiencing More, Or Experiencing Afresh, How Jesus Loves Us

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Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Experiencing More, Or Experiencing Afresh, How Jesus Loves Us SCOTTY SMITH Jesus, you have loved us—and still do, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love you have drawn us to yourself (Jer. 31:3). We know, believe, and rely on the love you have for us, Jesus (1Jn.4:16).   Dear Jesus, you loved us before the world began—before we showed any promise, or made promises we would inevitably break. You never looked to what we could do for you, but only at what you would do for us. Hallelujah, and thank you. Your life of perfect obedience, and your death of perfect surrender, are now counted as ours. We are legally, fully, and forever yours. You secured for us no condemnation for our sins and no separation from your love. This is why we can count on your love being unwavering and unfailing. We can't intensify nor diminish it—though our experience of your love certainly ebbs and flows. Why is that so, Jesus? You are faithful, but our emotions are as fickle and variable as the weather. You never leave us, but we are prone to drift, wander, or run into seasons of unguarded and under-nourished hearts (Prov.4:23; Isa.55:1-3). This can lead to temporary Gospel-amnesia (Like the younger son, Lk.15:11-24), or the heart disease of legalism and self-righteousness (Like the older son Lk.15:25-32). Thank you for always pursuing us, Jesus, no matter the state and GPS of our hearts. Your love is the one constant in our lives. You will cease to be God before your affection for us will wane or fail, be exhausted or withdrawn. You don't love us to the degree we feel it, but we do want to feel your love, Jesus—to be smitten, undone, overwhelmed, and compelled by your incomparable affection (Eph.3:14-19). 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.

First, could this be the key to living a more confident faith?

This FREE ebook will help you apply the gospel more effectively to your everyday life

View in browser Dear First,   Church planter Jeff Vanderstelt argues that you need to become "gospel fluent." Gospel fluency means thinking about your life through the gospel and rehearsing it to yourself and others. Only when you immerse yourself in its truths will you start to see how everything in your life, from the mundane to the magnificent, is transformed by the hope of the gospel.    We're delighted to offer the Gospel Fluency: Speaking the Truths of Jesus into the Everyday Stuff of Life ebook to you for FREE today. Click on this link to get instant access to a resource that will help you apply the gospel more confidently to every area of your life. Click to Access Free eBook I pray this book helps you develop a more confident belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ and equips you to help others do the same.   Blessings in Christ,   Michael Graham Program Director for The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics The Gospel Coalition, PO Box #1637, Columbia, MO 65205 Unsubscribe

Labels, Names, Brands, Appellations… They Matter

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Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Labels, Names, Brands, Appellations… They Matter SCOTTY SMITH "I have called you by name, you are mine" (Isa.43:1). "I know you by name" (Ex.33:17). "Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, because I am making you the ancestor of many nations" (Gen.17:6). One Day every knee in heaven and on earth will bow at Jesus' name (Phil.2:10).   Lord Jesus, these Scriptures remind us that nothing is more central to our identity than the name(s) by which we live. Our world, shame, evil—even we ourselves, brand us with names shape, cripple, and imprison us. We are grateful to know you as the Lord of redeeming and re-naming. Whether or not there's literally a new name you'll give us in heaven, it's enough to know you now call us, "Mine", "Beloved", "Desired." Free us to live by these grace-fueled names and appellations. And heal us of the names that have diss-graced, debased, and demeaned us. Indeed, free us from every destructive, anti-Gospel label we have ever received in life. Just as importantly, help us address one another the ways you speak to us, Jesus—with kindness and grace, healing and hope. Convict us quickly and deeply when we label, brand, and intentionally harm others with weaponized words and mercy-void names. It's the devil who robs, kills, and destroys—and when possible, he will use our words to accomplish his damnable deeds. Lastly and most importantly, Jesus, your name is the name we love to hear more than any other. Your name isn't just the assembly of 5 letters, it is the bottomless ocean of truth, goodness, and beauty. We long for the Day when we will join everyone and everything above, on, and below the earth in declaring your glory and grace (Rev.4-5). Hasten that Day, Jesus. 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.

No Need Is “Out of Bounds” to Jesus’ Boundless Love

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Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH No Need Is "Out of Bounds" to Jesus' Boundless Love SCOTTY SMITH "News about Jesus spread… and people began bringing to him all who were sick. Whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all." (Matt.4:24) "My love knows no bounds." Hos.14:4   Dear Lord Jesus, whatever our malady, illness, heartache, or storyline, our greatest consolation is hearing you say to us, "My love knows no bounds." Hallelujah, when it comes to your love, there are no "out of bounds." Our needs vary, and your grace is manifold and multifaceted (1Pet.4:10).  Bring it, gracious Lord—for your "love knows no bounds." Some of us are living in chronic trauma—others in chronic judgmentalism, fear, or money-love. Others are burdened with the weight and wait of parenting or "spousing." Others of us are moving from stage 1 stress to stage 4 distress. But we will not despair, Jesus we will come to you, for your "love knows no bounds." Until the Day of perfect health, we will seek to take care of ourselves—guarding our hearts (Prov.4:23), keeping a covenant with our eyes (Job 31:1), bringing you our hunger and thirst (Isa.55:1-3), obeying your command to rest and sleep (Ps.127:2), surrendering our thoughts to your Kingship (2Cor.10:5), exercising spiritually and physically (1Tim.4:8). But our hope is in your delight, Jesus—not in our discipline, for your "love knows no bounds." Whether our healing is instant, progressive, off and on, or not till heaven—you have guaranteed it, for your "love knows no bounds." We may whine now, but we will be grateful forever. Hallelujah, 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.

On the Pottery Wheel of Abba’s Grace

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Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH On the Pottery Wheel of Abba's Grace SCOTTY SMITH "This happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead… We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us." Abba kept telling me, "'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." (2 Cor.1:9; 4:7; 12:9)   Heavenly Father, forgive us for not wanting to need the Gospel, your Spirit, close friends as much as you say we do. Sabotage every attempt we make this week not to need Jesus. Though we'd rather be swaggering vessels of togetherness and competency, that's not the way of the Gospel. On the pottery-wheel of your grace, you've designed us to be jars of clay who release the aroma of power-in-weakness, and grace-through-humility. Though we have a different "this" than the Apostle Paul, you call each of us away from self-sufficieny to a life of Abba-dependence—relying on you, the God who raises the dead. Because you raised Jesus from the dead, we can trust you to bring resurrection life to every place death has brought more death. Thank you for being the "Father of mercies and the God of all comfort" (2Cor.1:3). Few of us are facing deadly perils like Paul; but many of us are living with injustices that seem unsolvable, heart-wounds that resist healing, and circumstances that threaten to squeeze the joy and hope out of us. So may Jesus increasingly be our treasure, the Gospel our delight, and your grace our sufficiency. May we boast more fully in Jesus that we might boast more freely in our weaknesses. 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.

Believing, Marinating, and Abiding in the Love of Jesus

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Heavenward SCOTTY SMITH Believing, Marinating, and Abiding in the Love of Jesus SCOTTY SMITH  "I am praying God will give you power—with all your brothers and sisters in Christ, to know the width and length and height and depth of Jesus' love" Eph.3:18. "I am my beloved's, and his desire is for me." Song of Sol. 7:10. "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now abide, marinate, and linger in my love" John 15:9   Lord Jesus, I woke up today both grateful for the greatness of your love, and aware of just how much I need your love. Our deepest longings find their origin and fulfillment in you. Our greatest brokenness finds its healing through you. Our lingering fears and foolishness find their release by you. What a wonderful, merciful Savior you are. We belong to you, Jesus—not by the merit of our efforts, or by the tears of our repentance, nor by the pledge of our faithfulness. We belong to you because you paid a price beyond measure to give us riches beyond calculation. You desire us, Jesus—not because we show promise, but because you fulfilled every promise God made on our behalf. You enjoy us—not because we are choice, but because we are chosen. You delight in us—not because we've made you proud, but because you've made us yours. You love us as much as Abba loves you, and nothing can diminish or intensify our beloved-ness. Jesus, may your love's height free us to believe the saints in heaven our more joyful than us but not more loved. May your love's depth empower us to love well in our hardest, most broken stories. May your love's width increase the reach of our embrace to include those who are different from us. May your love's length prepare us well all the way Home. Thank you, Jesus, 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.