Lord Jesus, these verses give us an all too familiar picture of leadership-culture that ignores you. Gentile rulers “lord over” those under their leadership and they have “high officials” who lord over them. The controlled look to control others. Those with micro-managing bosses look for someone else to micro-manage. It’s the domino effect of bad, insecure, grace-void leadership.

“Not so with you,” you said to your disciples. True greatness according to you is “lording under.” It’s leaders getting low, VERY low. How low? Jesus, you have always been God and you created the entire universe (Phil.2:5-11, Col.1:16; John 1:3). You sustain all things by the power of your word and demons tremble at your name (Heb.1:3, James 2:19 ) You are the ruler of the kings of the earth and everything else (Rev. 1:5). You are currently making all things new (Rev. 21:5) and one Day all things will be summed up in you (Eph. 1:10). YET so gloriously yet, you took the lowest place imaginable. God in a manger—God on the cross.

You didn’t come to “crack a whip,” but to take the whip in our place. You didn’t just stoop to wash our feet but to wash our hearts—to give us a new heart, your righteousness, and heavenly citizenship. True leadership isn’t testosterone in our blood; it’s a towel in our hands. Jesus, your cross is quintessential greatness, revolutionary leadership—our only hope and the surety of our salvation.

Humbled and grateful, we go with you into our marriages, parenting, vocations, boardrooms, friending, and neighboring as servants—not as lords. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, Paul’s story is everything a testimony should be. It’s not, “I used to be such a loser but now I am so awesome.”  Rather, “I used to build my life on self-advancement, sinking sand, empty nothings, and waterless mirages; but coming to know Jesus has changed everything. Making a name for myself has been replaced with making much of Jesus.”

You gave Paul a Gospel-informed mind, a Spirit-inflamed heart, and an eternity-invested life. Grant us this same life-transforming “trifecta,” Jesus. The things that used to consume him no longer even amused him. Knowing you claimed exclusive rights on the category “infinite value” in Paul’s life. Grant us the same, Jesus—whether we are 18 or 88.

It’s obvious, Jesus, Paul didn’t just intellectually and theologically “get” the Gospel; the Gospel “got” Paul’s whole being. You didn’t “round out” his life; you 100% rewired and revolutionized his existence. Paul didn’t live a “balanced” Christian life; he was consumed with you, Jesus. By the power of the Holy Spirit, do the same in our lives. We don’t want to love you more but love you most.

None of us wants merely to spend our lives; we want to invest our lives in knowing, adoring, and serving you, Jesus. Life is too short, heaven is too near, the Gospel is too dear to do otherwise.  So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, we are hope-setters from birth—constantly looking to someone or something to trust, make things better, and give us hope. By our “new birth” we know “horses and chariots” (Ps.20:7), cash reserves and government leaders, graceless religion and hot romance cannot/will not be enough. “Enough-ness” is 100% your domain and delight.

To set our hope on anything other than you is hope-suicide. To set our hope partially on you is a recipe for a divided heart. But to set our hope fully on you is Gospel-sanity. Jesus, either you are the Savior of the world or we are hopeless on the earth.

You give us a peace, joy, and hope that cannot be found anywhere else. You love us as no one else possibly can. You are sovereign over every place of the planet, tick of the clock, king of the earth, and chapter in our story. Your grace gets the first, middle, and last word. Because of you, Jesus, we don’t have to live by fear, regret, or anger.

So, on the 8th day of November 2026, we are thrilled to affirm your tomb has never been more empty, your throne never more occupied,  Gospel never more glorious. By past grace you saved us. By present grace you are making all things new and ruling the entire cosmos. By future grace you will eradicate all evil, make us 100% like yourself, and usher in the new heaven and new earth. Hallelujah 10,000 times over!

Jesus turn our whimpers and whines into wonder and worship. Our hope is built on nothing less, other, or more than you, your righteousness, and your grace. So Very, VERY Amen.

   Lord Jesus, we praise you for being our reigning King, loving Savior, and soon returning Bridegroom. Since nothing is impossible with you, we can trust you with every promise Abba has made, the heaviest burdens that we carry, and the intense longings you’ve written into our DNA. Though you can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, we’ll joyfully will settle for three things we can imagine, Jesus.

First: Since the world will know we are your disciples by the way we love (Jn.13:34-35), bring us into a fresh season of loving you, loving as you love us, loving holiness, and loving what you love. Jesus, bring us back to our first love for you. Give us a fresh passion to honor you with our heart, body, and soul—in our relationships, through our investments, and with the remaining days you have appointed for us.

Second: Jesus, would you gift our country with a new Great Awakening—a Gospel Awakening—a genuine Holy Spirit revival? Humble us, Lord Jesus. As a nation, we’ve been arrogant, presumptive, and mean. It’s not about us being “great again”; it’s about you being great in our midst. Don’t make us great, Jesus; make us grateful, grace-full, and godly.

Third: Jesus, I’ll cram this final request with several “asks.” Would you reignite our passion for taking the Gospel to the nations? Would you out-grow our ingrown churches? Would you make us good neighbors, mercy givers, justice lovers, and grace fountains? Because you have triumphed over the devil and death; because you are making all things new; because you will return to wipe our tears and fill the earth with your glory—we can imagine all these things Jesus. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen.

]]> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scotty-smith/jesus-who-are-we-and-where-are-you-taking-us/ Fri, 06 Nov 2026 10:33:46 +0000 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/?post_type=scotty-smith&p=686588 “Thank God! For he made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume—an aroma of grace and life. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God as a sacrifice of praise and adoration.” (Paraphrase of 2 Cor.2:14-15)   Lord Jesus, I love the perspective, encouragement, and hope this passage gives us for life in you, and in our fallen world. There’s so much going on in our world right now that that makes us anxious, unsettled, and unsure—just...]]> “Thank God! For he made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume—an aroma of grace and life. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God as a sacrifice of praise and adoration.” (Paraphrase of 2 Cor.2:14-15)

Lord Jesus, I love the perspective, encouragement, and hope this passage gives us for life in you, and in our fallen world. There’s so much going on in our world right now that that makes us anxious, unsettled, and unsure—just like in Paul’s day when he wrote these words. So what do you want us to know, remember, and rejoice in as those who belong to you?  Who are we and where are you taking us, Jesus?

By the Gospel, you rescued us from every deadly captivity, took us captive for yourself, and have placed us in your “parade of grace”—a parade that will carry us all the way into the new heaven and new earth. It’s a “triumphal procession” because you have triumphed over sin, death, evil, and us. Indeed, none of us in this parade boasts, “We win, we win, we win!” Rather, our joyful song and shout is, “The Lamb has triumphed over all things, including  me!”

As your parade makes its way Home, it takes us through difficult and sweet places, mountain tops and deep valleys, seasons of unrest and stretches of unimaginable joy. Because it’s your parade, Jesus—because you are Lord and leader of this “triumphal procession,” faith not fear should fill our hearts, adoration not vexation, neighbor love not neighbor suspicion, life on mission not a life of surviving.

Jesus may our lives increasingly be fragrant with the aroma of grace and life, humility, and kindness—a sweet perfume rising to heaven’s courts all the way Home. Thank you, Hallelujah, and So Very Amen.

“Live such good lives among your unbelieving neighbors that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” (1Pet.2:2)

“Don’t call everything a conspiracy, like they do, and don’t live in fear and dread of what frightens them.” (Isa.8:12)

“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (Jn.13:34-35)

Heavenly Father, as your Gospel-cherished, Spirit-indwelt children—these Scriptures are timely for November 2026. Might, spite, fight have become the relational norm in our culture for way too long. We’ve become 10 times more suspicious than curious, and 100 times more likely to judge than to love.

But as those you have given to Jesus, we are to be different and offer a better way. You’ve called us to be salt and light—not angry neighbors and flame throwers, unripe persimmons and habanero sauce, unbelieving believers and passive puppies.

Wherever you place us, we are to live as the first fruits of our coming life in the new heaven and new earth. We should smell like hope and grace to our neighbors. As salt we are to offer a medicinal, healing, enhancing, and redemptive presence. As light we are to dispel darkness and especially throw the spotlight on Jesus. “This little light of mine” is actually your beloved Son living in us and through us.

Father grant us wisdom from above, strength by Jesus’ resurrection, and boocoodles of grace. May the fire in our bones be the purifying fire of your Spirit—compelling us to make much of Jesus, less of ourselves, and more of our neighbors. All the way Home, use us to write stories of “Kingdom-come” with the ink of grace and the assurance of Jesus’ return. Hallelujah, and So Very Amen.

   Heavenly Father, it’s the morning after the mid-term elections in the USA. There is elation and deflation among those who know and love you. Some are breathing a sigh of relief; some are just sighing; some are struggling to breath at all. Help us respect and love each other as we “wear our heart and humanity on our sleeves” today. Center our hearts as we fix our gaze on Jesus and reaffirm that our trust is in you, period.

   You command us not to be anxious about core issues of life—eating, drinking, and clothing; so we dare not over-hope or over-vex about those who will warm the seats of Congress, Governors chambers, and other offices. Any election by mere men of mere men has a short shelf-life, an expiration date, and never gives us what only you can.

   We don’t know all your reasons for choosing to seat and unseat leaders (Dan.2:21); but we are grateful that providence, not happenstance or accidents, determines these things. We do know you have already installed Jesus as the true and eternal King. We also know peace and laughter, not unrest and angst, fill the courts of heaven today and every day (Psalm 2:4-6). Hallelujah, and thank you!

   Abba, I have dear friends who, as deeply committed lovers/servants of Jesus, voted yesterday along their usual party lines; others who voted “outside” their usual party-box, mixing some red and blue colors. But ALL my believing friends have two passionate desires in common:

1.  1.A longing for Jesus to return to finish making all things new, and usher in the fulness of his Kingdom.  A craving and praying for a major outpouring of your Holy Spirit on the Bride of Christ in our country. We need a heart, hope, and culture transforming revival. I share both of these passions, Father. So Very Amen.

]]> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scotty-smith/jesus-doesnt-take-sides-he-takes-over/ Tue, 03 Nov 2026 11:48:20 +0000 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/?post_type=scotty-smith&p=686287    Joshua went up to him (the angel of the LORD) and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither!” (Jos.5:13) “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called. (1Pet.3:9) “Love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1Cor.13:7)   Lord Jesus, I love grilled Cobia topped with lemon/caper/butter sauce. I love the music of the 60’s with a heavy emphasis on Motown and Philly music. I love fishing—most varieties including fly fishing for trout in Montana, Salmon “mooching” in Alaska, spin-casting for Pompano and Redfish...]]>    Joshua went up to him (the angel of the LORD) and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” “Neither!” (Jos.5:13)

“Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called. (1Pet.3:9)

“Love always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1Cor.13:7)

Lord Jesus, I love grilled Cobia topped with lemon/caper/butter sauce. I love the music of the 60’s with a heavy emphasis on Motown and Philly music. I love fishing—most varieties including fly fishing for trout in Montana, Salmon “mooching” in Alaska, spin-casting for Pompano and Redfish in the Gulf, lake fishing for large and smallmouth bass, and huge bream with my grandkids. But I also love good competition and winning—especially when UNC beats Duke at anything.

Spirited competition in sports is one thing; but when a fear-full, grace-empty “us” versus “them” culture becomes the norm, disaster is drawing nigh. You warned us that if we “bite and devour each other, we will destroy each other” (Gal.5:15). What are the implications of these musings on a Mid-Term election day in the USA? We have to remember—we have the joy of remembering that there is only one unshakable Kingdom, which is here and increasing all the time, everywhere. It is your Kingdom and you are our King, Jesus—not our political consultant.

As in Joshua’s day, you don’t take sides—you take over. You’re not vexing, you’re reigning. You won’t be counting votes today; you will be redeeming sinners from every language, skin color, people group, and nation—us and our “enemies.” Hallelujah and thank you, Jesus.

You never call us to “choose between the lesser of two evils,” but to seek first your Kingdom and your righteousness. I wish this made life and “stewarding” our votes easy—but it doesn’t. Right and Left, Red and Blue, Conservative and Liberal are no longer trustworthy categories of ethics and values. What is trustworthy and worship-worthy is you, Jesus—only you. For the Gospel, we adore you. For your sovereign reign over all things, we trust you. For your return, we cry out to you, “Maranatha!”—come soon, Lord Jesus. So Very Amen.

   Lord Jesus, nothing impacts our lives more than how we think about you. This passage in Hebrews invites us into the throne room of heaven where you are revealed as the currently reigning, most joyful King imaginable. Your endless elation, not “mid-term” vexation, should be filling our hearts today—and every day.

   In fact, as a friend encouraged me yesterday, your throne room should become our homeroom. The place where your beauty is breathtaking and your sovereignty is perspective giving. The space where your glory reclaims our hearts and worshipping you wilts our worries. Jesus, in your throne room (Revelation 4-5) everything that should get bigger gets supersized (faith, hope, and love); and everything that should shrink gets micro-sized (fear, despair, and self-interest).

   So, what are our options if we don’t make your throne room our home room? We could hunker down in the “low-ceiling room” of our unbelief. But most of us would say we’ve already spent too much time in that dark, smelly place. Or we could cram into the “vain-plotting room” of Psalm 2—where nations and individuals gather to hatch plans for personal autonomy and self-glory. But none of us who have tasted the bitterness of our sin, the sweetness of the Gospel really wants that.

   As Americans who have voted or probably will vote by suppertime tomorrow—what is the basis, source, and supply of our peace? That with you, Jesus, there has never been a pre-term, term, mid-term, or post-term or your reign. We’re human and each of us has an outcome for the elections we prefer. But we’re more yours than anything, and we purpose to trust, love, and serve you all the way into the new heaven and new earth. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, by many who love you, today is celebrated as All Saints Day—a day for honoring those who’ve gone before us in our journey Home. With great joy, I remember the saints-by-grace you’ve woven into my story. My Gospel-heroes are those whose humility and kindness make the Gospel beautiful and believable to me. They are faithful, gentle, often fragile jars-of-clay who emit the aroma of grace and life—not rightness and rigidity. They are models of repentant faith and Gospel-sanity. They are conduits of your compassion, joy, and care. Thank you for them and make me more like them, Jesus.

But as I remember with gratitude my “cloud of witnesses,” it is you, Jesus, upon whom I fix my gaze on you and set my heart. You are true, quintessential, and only perfect Saint—set apart for our salvation, and the object, Author and Perfecter of our faith. We are saints because of our union with you—not by our work for you. The garments of holiness we wear are garments of grace, not vestments for veneration. Jesus, it is your righteousness plus nothing that makes us “saintly.” Hallelujah and thank you.

We will run and finish our “race” by your grace—not by our stress, striving, and sweat. As the Gospel and your Spirit continue their work in us—free us to throw off even more clingy “worthless weights” and sins. Jesus, free us from sinfully under-believing the Gospel, from trying to be the 4^th member of the Trinity in the lives of others, and from fears, attitudes, and lies your love would expel. So Very Amen.

   Lord Jesus, there have been many October 31st’s in the history of our modern calendar, but the one I’m most jazzed about today is Oct.31, 1517—the day Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the front door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg. His humility, hammer, nail, ink, and paper affirmed what I gladly celebrate today—the Gospel of your grace.

How desperate was I for the free gift of eternal life when you saved me? I  could sooner sneeze a Swiss village into existence and start yodeling, click my heels and turn the moon into chocolate flourless cheesecake, and snap my fingers and be surrounded by Biewer Terrier puppies than save myself. My need was so great; only your grace could save someone like me.

Jesus, I needed you to do for me what I could never do for myself. I didn’t need you to be an example I could follow; I needed you to be the Substitute I could trust. I didn’t need a 2^nd chance; I needed complete forgiveness and a perfect righteousness. I didn’t need to invite you into my heart; I needed you to give me a new heart. I didn’t need “to turn over a new leaf”; I needed to be raised from spiritual death, be seated in the heavenly places, and have my life hidden in yours, Jesus. And, HALLELUJAH, you have given me all of these grace-riches and more.

Jesus, I once again affirm that my hope is built on nothing less, nothing more, and nothing other than your blood and your righteousness. On you, Jesus, the solid and saving Rock, I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other “gospels” are anti-Gospel. There is no other Savior and no other salvation. Thank you, Hallelujah!, and So Very Amen.

   Dear Jesus, your welcome is constant, your compassion is unequaled, your grace is alone sufficient for our great insufficiency. Help us to see the ways we avoid, ignore, and disbelieve your gracious offer of rest and peace. Help us to see the ways the deceitfulness of sin and our deceitful hearts keep us from your burden-bearing love and chain-breaking kindness. Help us to see ourselves in these 7 vignettes of grace-avoidance and self-sabotaging foolishness.

1. Planning to get even is like setting our GPS for a one-way trip into the Arabian desert without water or sun protective clothing.
2. Nursing a grudge is like putting a straw in a quart bottle of outdated castor oil and sipping for a few days, months, or years.
3. Holding onto resentment is like grabbing an angry rattlesnake in each hand and then mimicking the dance moves of Elaine on Seinfeld.
4. Rehearsing the failures of others is like rehearsing to play the part of spitting lama in a low-budget middle school play.
5. Preferring denial over dealing honestly with our heart wounds, deepest regrets, and childhood traumas is to prefer paralyzing shame over healing grace.
6. Making excuses for staying angry is like making my own birthday cake with kale, unsweetened baking chocolate, spite-flour, and soured milk.
7. Choosing to build a wall around our heart with bricks commemorating the many ways many people have hurt us is not choosing to self-protect but choosing to self-destruct. Set us free Jesus. It is your kindness that is leading us to repentance this very day. We choose your rest over our resentments. We choose your grace over our shame. We choose you over everything. So Very Amen

  “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” Psalm 73:26.

  “I will be your God throughout your lifetime— until your hair is white with age. I made you, and I will care for you. I will carry you along and save you.” Isa.46:4.

   Lord Jesus, thank you for the aching-but-joyful, realistic-but-Gospelicious  friends you’ve woven into my heart and story. A recent bout with plantar fasciitis has highlighted the “outwardly wasting away” part of life this side of heaven. But it has also made the gift of Gospel-sane friends more precious than ever. There is no “fountain of youth”; but there is a bottomless ocean of grace. Hallelujah, let’s swim!

   Our bodies wear out as we live and love towards the Day of all things new; but our attitudes don’t have to “go down the toilet” or be held hostage to fear and complaining. Our quality of life isn’t dependent on how many miles we can walk but how big our Gospel is, how great a Savior you are, and how faithful our Father is.

   So, thank you for my friends who have come to terms with aging, are seeking to live healthy lives, and are more committed than ever to Gospel-renewal. Gray hair, less hair, wrinkles, and aches aren’t a death sentence but an opportunity to boast in our weaknesses, get to know you better, and serve others. Jesus, why does it take so long to learn that life was never designed to be about staying young and prepping for retirement, but loving you and living in light of heaven?  So Very Amen.

]]> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scotty-smith/eternal-discretion-is-greater-than-every-election/ Wed, 28 Oct 2026 09:08:15 +0000 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/?post_type=scotty-smith&p=684960 “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” Isa. 9:7   Lord Jesus your mercy is literally our “wake up call,” and your grace is the air we breathe every day. When you gave us your righteousness we stopped fearing death and when you took your place on your throne we stopped fearing life. Big “Whew!” and a bigger “Hallelujah!” You fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy and every other promise God has made. Only your government and peace meet the needs of our sinful hearts, the broken world, and groaning creation (Rom. 8:19-23). Politics and polls,...]]> “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.” Isa. 9:7

Lord Jesus your mercy is literally our “wake up call,” and your grace is the air we breathe every day. When you gave us your righteousness we stopped fearing death and when you took your place on your throne we stopped fearing life. Big “Whew!” and a bigger “Hallelujah!”

You fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy and every other promise God has made. Only your government and peace meet the needs of our sinful hearts, the broken world, and groaning creation (Rom. 8:19-23). Politics and polls, mid-term and full-term elections come and go; but you and your Kingdom are now and forever.

Through your resurrection and ascension you were installed as “the ruler of kings on earth” (Rev. 1:5)—and everything else (Eph.1:9-10). King David’s throne is your throne of grace and all History is Your Story.  Eternal discretion always has been and always will be greater than every human election.

We plan and you order our steps (Prov.16:9). We vote and you determine the now-and-forever of the entire cosmos. So why do we vote? Because you’ve called us to be good dual-citizens—of the country of our birth and this short life, and of our Forever Home and eternal life.

Jesus, no one and nothing can disrupt, derail, deter, or distract you from completing your work of redemption and the renewal of the entire cosmos. You never promised to do all things acceptable to us, but you have promised to do all things good for us. Thank you, Jesus!

One Day the earth—(this earth not, a replacement earth), will be filled with your glory (Isa.11:9). All things will be new (Rev.21:5), everything will be beautiful (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and we will be fully like you (1Jn.3:3). We are so blessed, so loved, so very yours, Jesus. So Very Amen.

Heavenly Father, these remarkable affirmations from your Word underscore how the concept of “blessing” has been taken hostage to the lust for creature comforts, “affluenza,” and pain-free living. But like everything else, you alone have the right to define what “blessedness” is and you’ve done so  through the words of a broken king (David, Ps.32:1-2) and a humbled Pharisee, (Paul, Rom.4:7-8)

By your definition of “blessed,” everybody that knows Jesus is a gazillionaire, For you have forgiven all our sins, declared us righteous in Christ, hidden our lives in Jesus, and have given us citizenship in heaven. No condemnation—just your delight is the air we breathe and the bed in which we sleep. You love us with a perfect love that expels our very imperfect fears. Hallelujah and thank you.

So whether… I live in a penthouse or an outhouse. Drive an electric car or pedal a rusting bike. Feast on caviar or munch on stale Fritos. Have a trust fund or have to trust you for daily bread. Wear “haute couture” from Paris or hand-me-downs from the Gap. I am a blessed man—a truly blessed man.

May the good news—the Gospel of your grace always be my currency of choice, the treasure I most treasure, the bullion I boast in, the ring I call “my precious,” the legal tender and stock portfolio I’m most zealous to relish, rest in, and spend for the blessing of others.

Father turn our fears into faith, our whining into worship, our pouting into praise, and our selfishness into selfless living and missional loving. Life is too short to live “stupid,” for the only man you call “fool”  in the New Testament thought only in terms of bigger barns—not a big Gospel and a bigger heart (Luke 12:13-21). So Very Amen.

“I will give you rest” Matt. 11:28.  Life between your resurrection and return can be exhausting, disillusioning, heart breaking, and body wearying. Thank you for your promise of rest as we head Home. You haven’t promised us a suffering free life but you have promised will never have a Jesus-absent, mercy-lacking, or grace-void day.

“I hold the keys” Rev.1:18.  You don’t just hold the keys of “life and death,” but you are the key to every door, circumstance, global uncertainty, and chapter in our stories. And BIG Hallelujah, you never have to ask, “Where did I put my keys?”

“I am making all things new” Rev.21:5. Jesus, we are grateful to know this is happening right now on this October 2026 Monday. You aren’t making all new things (a story of replacement); you are making all things new (a story or redemption). You ARE ruling the world “with truth and grace”—that’s not just a line from one of our favorite hymns (Joy to the World).

“I am coming soon” Rev.22:12. Cynics think you were lying, confused, or manipulating your young disciples. But Hallelujah, a “prolonged soon” highlights your great mercy and patience. On the calendar of grace, “soon” has a timetable as trustworthy and wait-worthy as God is faithful and the Gospel is glorious. Thank you and So Very Amen.

Dear Father, several other images come to mind when I think of King David talking to himself in this verse. David did so as a return to Gospel-sanity; but people talk to themselves for all kinds of reasons: Lonely people murmuring about life’s pains as they walk the mall. Athletes psyching themselves up before their event starts. Children surrounded by stuffed animals telling adventure stories while enjoying imaginary tea and cookies. Me talking to myself about where a trout might be hiding and what they might be eating.

But then we can just as easily talk to ourselves with contempt—heaping blame, shame, and vain regrets. Some of us carry on a self-pity monologue—reminding ourselves of what we deserve, don’t have, and who’s to blame. Some of us escape into fantasies of what could’ve, should’ve, would’ve been, and endless musings about “If only.”

But as your children, you call us to speak to ourselves like King David did with you always in the conversation. “Restless soul, find your rest in God alone, for Abba is your ever-flowing fountain of hope.” This isn’t “mind over matter”; it’s the Gospel over all things. Father, we have SO many things to keep in mind and take to heart. Including these…

7 Prepositions of Gospel Goodness

• God’s glorious favor is resting on us
• Judgment Day is already behind us
• Our loving Father is rejoicing over us
• The Spirit of Christ is living in us
• God’s powerful angels are all around us
• Our Good Shepherd is always with us
• The Lord Jesus is returning for us

Father, thank you—thank you for loving us as you do, enriching us in Jesus beyond all measure, and giving us rest and hope than cannot be found anywhere else. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, if there’s one teacher I want to sit under—if there’s one curriculum I want to master and be mastered by—if there’s one school I want to excel in, it’s the academy of grace. I’ve been schooled in theology but that’s not the same thing as living a grace-transformed life. I’ve been “schooled” on the golf course, pickleball court, and by my by Otto—my fish-whisperer,10-year-old grandson. But getting “schooled” by grace isn’t about losing but gaining—not about being embarrassed but being set free. It’s a glorious “beatdown.”

Your grace is the most liberating, transforming power in all history. You love us as we are but (Hallelujah!) you don’t leave us as we are. One Day we will be as fully like you as a glorified believer can be. Equally so, one Day the entire earth and cosmos will be filled with your glory and presence. Until that Day give me and my friends strength for living an emphatic “No!” to everything that robs you of your glory. And give us grace to live an enthusiastic “Yes!” to everything that reveals your beauty, goodness, and truth.

May the heart-thrilling, all-creation-changing hope of your second coming motivate us for a greater, quicker, and more joyful obedience. Being zealous to live a godly, loving, humble life is one of the sweetest, most profound “Thank You’s” we can give you for everything you give us in the Gospel. So Very Amen.

Heavenly Father, between one and 17 times a day, I need to be reminded of how I got into your story of redemption, stay there, and will live there forever—only and fully by your grace. I’m not talking about knowing this to be true theologically—I’m settled and certain about that. I’m talking about knowing the Gospel, you, and Jesus  personally and emotionally. I’ve got the “creed” down pat; but my “awe-struck-wonder” comes and goes. Abba, I want more come and less go.

Meditating on Galatians 2:20, I am encouraged, convicted, and enthralled with how palpably real Jesus was to Paul. “The Son of God loved me and gave himself for me”—Paul’s humility, joy, and astonishment seep and flow through this one verse… Abba, I’m not looking for “warm fuzzies,” simply to be “fired-up” again or have an emotional/spiritual high.

I just don’t want to remember, teach, preach, or write the Gospel without feeling humbled, grateful, and in awe. The Gospel isn’t true to the extent that I feel it; but because it is true I want to feel it more deeply, more of the time. I don’t want to just grow old; I want to grow old and be filled with childlike wonder in response to the Gospel. Abba, you are the God from whom all blessings flow and I want to live as one of your children through whom daily praise is given. So Very Amen.

   Heavenly Father, you began a “good work” in us you alone can and will complete. But (Hallelujah!) we’re not your challenging project; we’re your beloved children. You gave us to Jesus and you will make us 100% like him one blessed Day. We’d despair if this wasn’t the case, for the disparity between Jesus’ beauty and our brokenness is like comparing the Smith River in Montana to the dry creek bed near my house.

   Whatever you do you do as the “God of peace”—including “sanctifying us completely.” This means you are very patient in the process of making us like Jesus. You don’t roll your eyes, show disgust, or get gruff or harsh with us. You “mercy us” daily,”  “grace us” hourly, and love us “nanosecondly.” You are completely at peace with us, Father. Because of the Gospel we don’t have to live in doubt about what you think about us.

   We will be wholly blameless and shameless at Jesus’ 2nd Coming because our lives are hidden in his, and Jesus is living in us as our “hope of glory.” We boast only in Christ-plus-nothing for our relationship with you. Indeed, our hope is built on nothing less, more, and other than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. On Christ the solid Rock we stand; in the ocean of your grace we swim; under your banner of love and loud singing we live (Song of Song 2:4, Zeph.3:17). Thank you, Father, times 10,000. So Very, Very Amen.

     Lord Jesus, until the Day of all things new, help us more fully grasp the wonder and riches of this short, gigantic phrase: “To him who loves us. ” Though every page of the Scripture either shadows, suggests, or shouts about your love to us, this verse states it in the present tense. You don’t love a future version of us, but as we are in this very October 2026 moment. Hallelujah and thank you.

   You love us unconditionally, because you have met all the conditions for our salvation; passionately, because that is who you are and how you love; unwaveringly, because you don’t love us to the extent we are like you but in you—which is 100%.

   How awesome that this kiss of grace would be found in the opening words to the last book of the Bible. “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.” Last words make a lasting impression, and they are pregnant with implications. This is why we also affirm with great humility and joy: “Jesus knows me, this I love.” You know us—not just about us. This frees us from posing, preening, and pretending. Hallelujah… we will never shock you and you will only love us.

   Rescue us in our moments of temporary insanity when other loves seem more appealing, satisfying, and real.

   Free us to live out the radical implications of your love—by loving others as you love us; and by living lives that adorn the Gospel and reveal your truth, goodness, and beauty.

   Transform us, Jesus, as we continue to ponder the height, depth, width, and breadth of your love. So Very Amen.

]]> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scotty-smith/the-last-relational-chapter-is-yet-to-be-written/ Tue, 20 Oct 2026 10:27:24 +0000 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/?post_type=scotty-smith&p=684294    Good friends disagree and part company: “Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with each other about John Mark’s readiness for missionary service—so much so they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left…” (pp Acts 15:36-41)    12 years later, Paul’s words about Mark:  “Mark, Barnabas’s cousin, also sends greetings … Make Mark welcome if he comes your way.” (Col.4:12)    5 more years later, “Get Mark and bring him with you” (2Tim.4:11)    Lord Jesus, as this Scripture demonstrates, there are times when your faithful servants don’t see eye to eye on big and little matters....]]>    Good friends disagree and part company: “Paul and Barnabas strongly disagreed with each other about John Mark’s readiness for missionary service—so much so they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left…” (pp Acts 15:36-41)

   12 years later, Paul’s words about Mark:  “Mark, Barnabas’s cousin, also sends greetings … Make Mark welcome if he comes your way.” (Col.4:12)

   5 more years later, “Get Mark and bring him with you” (2Tim.4:11)

   Lord Jesus, as this Scripture demonstrates, there are times when your faithful servants don’t see eye to eye on big and little matters. Different perspectives can lead to sharp disagreements. Sharp disagreements often lead to painful words. Painful words tend to lead to various degrees of disconnect and distance. This happens between best friends, in healthy marriages, and among those who serve you.

   What can believers sharply disagree about? Where do we begin? We differ over the best Bible translation, the greatest American president, and the healthiest diet; the timing of Jesus’ return, which college football teams belong in the playoffs, and the ideal thermostat setting for sleep; the best worship liturgy, where to vacation and whom to invite, and cremation versus embalming; which missionaries to support, the color scheme for a home renovation, and this year’s Thanksgiving menu; fly fishing or spin fishing, the Book of Common Prayer or the Heidelberg Catechism. The list goes on and on!

   The question isn’t, “Who was righter about Mark—Paul or Barnabas?” The questions is always, “What does faith expressing itself in love look like” (Gal.5:6)? Until you return, Jesus, we will see things differently, but the current chapter of disagreement is not the final chapter you are writing.

   With time plus grace—Paul, Barnabas, and Mark didn’t merely “kiss and make up.” They grew in grace, waited on you, and brought you glory. That’s what we want too, Jesus. So Very Amen.

]]> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scotty-smith/jesus-is-also-the-gamma-zeta-theta-and-sigma/ Mon, 19 Oct 2026 08:20:06 +0000 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/?post_type=scotty-smith&p=684232 “When I’m afraid (or angry, sad, or resentful), I put my trust in you.” (Ps.56:3) Lord Jesus, there are many important transitions in life—from our teens to having to pay for life, from our childhood home to a variety of domiciles, from a limited perspective to a better one. It’s time for many of us to make the challenging transition from the power of our hurts, fears, and unknowns to the permanency of your redemption, grace, and love. Grant us transitioning grace, Jesus. It’s one thing to be appropriately concerned about a variety of things; but vexing without sleeping, obsessing...]]> “When I’m afraid (or angry, sad, or resentful), I put my trust in you.” (Ps.56:3)

Lord Jesus, there are many important transitions in life—from our teens to having to pay for life, from our childhood home to a variety of domiciles, from a limited perspective to a better one. It’s time for many of us to make the challenging transition from the power of our hurts, fears, and unknowns to the permanency of your redemption, grace, and love. Grant us transitioning grace, Jesus.

It’s one thing to be appropriately concerned about a variety of things; but vexing without sleeping, obsessing without offloading, and worrying without trusting you never serves us well. So, with fingers relaxed and palms loosened, we release to you the things over which we have zero control. Some of these matters are so old they’ve gathered dust and rust. Some are as current as this moment and the next hour. Some haunt us from the near and distant future. Take them Lord; then take them again when we grab them back.

A BIG HALLELUJAH—you aren’t just our “Alpha and the Omega” in life—the beginning and end. You’ve also have Gamma, Zeta, Theta, and Sigma covered too. So please make the Psalmist’s affirmation our relaxation: “When the cares and anxieties of our hearts multiply, your consolations bring us joy” (Ps. 94:19). Multiply your consolations and increase our joy this week, Jesus.   Without your presence, love, and sovereignty—we are rudder-less, sail-less, oar-less boats adrift on the sea of fears, hurts, and “What if’s?”

No matter our zip code, time zone, hemisphere and heart-sphere—we choose this week to fix our gaze and affection on you, Jesus. For you aren’t “just” the “Author and Perfecter of our faith”; you are our loving Good Shepherd, reigning King, and returning Bridegroom.  Hallelujah, and So Very Amen

   Lord Jesus, the older I get the more I realize one of our main callings as those who belong to you is to “realize that you are you.” That is, to look for you more often, Jesus, see you more clearly, and see more of you. Open the eyes of our hearts to do so, Lord, and heal us from any cataracts of unbelief we are growing.

   You don’t always fill our nets with fish, but you do constantly fill our lives with expressions of your nearness, goodness, and grace. You did so yesterday in a most unexpected and refreshing way. Fall break, Fall colors, first real Fall temperature, and a Fall into the chilly water of a friend’s pond was a fresh baptism of joy.

   Among many things, I was hoping grandson Otto would catch fish this weekend—a bunch and a few big ones. Well, BOOM! After he caught the biggest bream I have ever seen, he cut as big of an eye-squinting smile as his 10-year-old face could contain. But you weren’t done.

   You didn’t tell me to cast my line on the other side of the dock, but you put a fish on the end of my line so big it snatched my rod off the dock into the 5-spring fed lake. My eye caught this whole event unfolding, but my hand was slower than the determined fish. Momentum took over and next thing I knew I was 100% underwater—hearing aids in, Fitbit watch on wrist, iPhone in pocket as I watched my ultra-lite rod and reel sink at a rate faster than gravity—a big fish for sure.

   The first thing I felt was joy. I can’t explain it, but it’s no exaggeration. I wasn’t embarrassed for my son and grandson to see Dad/Papa drenched. An angel didn’t push me in—so I don’t want to over-spiritualize this story. But I do see you in it, Jesus. Thank you for a fresh immersion in joy. I’ll take more. So Very Amen.

Heavenly Father, how everlasting and unfailing is your love for us? How “lavish” is it? It has no beginning, middle, or end. It cannot be measured, fathomed, or domesticated. You loved us before the world began. You loved us savingly when you hid our lives in Jesus. You love us now as much as you love Jesus—as hard as that is for us to imagine.

The geography of your love has a height, depth, width, and breadth that can only be explored/experienced through the Gospel and by the work of your Spirit. If we set the GPS of our heart on your love, it will always take us straight to Jesus. Why is this so? Before he died on the cross for us, Jesus lived in our place for us as our substitute. You have declared Jesus’ cross as our Judgment Day and have credited his perfect life to us—as though we lived it. You are that generous and the Gospel is that glorious.

Right in the middle of October 2026, you don’t love us to the extent we are like Jesus but in Jesus. We cannot add to your love for us, and we cannot decrease it. You will cease to be God before your affection for us wanes, fails, or is withdrawn. Even when you discipline us, you do so with a heart of compassion and kindness. You are like no other Father.

You will convict us but never condemn us. You will humble us but never humiliate us. You will shape us but never shame us. You give us daily mercies but never contempt. You began your work of redemption in us and you will surely complete it (Phil.1:6). Oh Father, thank you. Make the riches of grace more precious, real, and transforming than ever. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, we know this verse, I write it into my prayers quite often, and some of us even have the “tattoo.” But we cannot over emphasize, ponder, and take to heart what you declare to be essential, indispensable, and “the whole enchilada.”

So what is “the faith” referred to in this verse, Jesus. You tell us in your Word it is “what” we believe (the faith) and that we actually believe it—the content of our Gospel and our trust in the Gospel. Increase both in our lives, Lord. Grant us both informed minds and enflamed hearts—solid theology and passionate doxology, profession and possession, truth and fire.

As we grow in our understanding of “the faith,” may we grow 10 times more so in our love for you and others. We love only because you first loved us and gave yourself for us on the cross. Hallelujah and thank you!

But if “faith expressing itself in love” isn’t our highest privilege and greatest priority, what are the alternatives and competition, Jesus? This list isn’t exhaustive, but here are 10 really bad alternatives with which I personally know do not work.

• Fear expressing itself in worry.
• Sadness expressing itself in self-medicating.
• Envy expressing itself in resentment.
• Hurt expressing itself in revenge.
• Shame expressing itself in hiding.
• Disgust expressing itself in judgmentalism.
• Insecurity expressing itself in drivenness.
• Anger expressing itself in contempt.
• Aging expressing itself in denial.
• Loneliness expressing itself in bad relational choices.

Jesus, continue to heal, free, and transform us. We love you; we would love you 10,000 times more so. Hallelujah and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, few of us would disagree with Paul’s statement, but what does it really mean? Why are you singularly worthy of our passionate adoration, deepest trust, and whole-life service? Here’s a 7-Pack of glorious reasons.

   Us In Christ: Jesus you are our “righteousness, holiness, and redemption” (1 Cor.1:30), which means you are 100% of our salvation. To be “in Christ” is to be, period.

   Christ In Us: Because you live in us we are certain of heaven—the “hope of glory” (Col.1:27). Because you live in us, one Day we will be completely like you, because you are changing us incrementally but most surely.

   Christ Above Us: Jesus, this is our sanity and freedom. It doesn’t mean you are “way up there,” but way up there on the only throne that really matters—ruling over kings and crises, eternal election and “mid-term elections,” the evil that vexes us and  the joys that thrill us.

   Christ For Us: Knowing you are for us, who or what can be against us (Rom.8:31)? You defeated the devil and death at your first coming, now you constantly pray and advocate for us, and you have set an expiration date on ALL the bad and broken stuff. Hallelujah and thank you.

   Christ With Us: Though we sometimes feel really alone, we aren’t. We will have plenty of challenges and heartaches till you return, but we will never experience a Jesus-absent day, sorrow, or pain.

   Christ Under Us: You aren’t merely a safety net for when we fall (and we do); you are the rock on which we stand—our sure foundation for today and forever. Everything else is sinking sand.

   Christ Towards Us: Jesus, you aren’t “merely” returning one Day to finish making all things new; you’re coming back as our joyful, impassioned, loving Bridegroom. Our future and forever are 10,000 times better than we can hope of imagine. Thank you times a gazillion and So VERY Amen.

Heavenly Father, we’re so thankful you “have the whole world in your hands.” This frees us to acknowledge the obvious—we do not. You are God and we are not. Hallelujah! So we come to you this morning in humility, gratitude, and praise. To complain is to tell the world how much we don’t like about our life; but to praise is to tell the world how worthy you are to be loved, adored, and trusted.

We don’t have control over the number of days remaining before you call us Home or how you will do so. Just fill the ones you’ve marked for us on the calendar of grace with as much intimacy with you as possible, as much peace as we can contain, and greater love for whoever is right in front of us.

We don’t have control over the unbelief, foolishness, wounds, and anger anybody carries in their hearts—but you do. Free us to stay present with kindness, wisdom, and hope. We are their servants, not their savior.

We don’t have control over the political landscape, the implications of AI, and the things that shock our sensibilities and magnify our vulnerability—but you do. Father, make Jesus’ empty tomb, occupied throne, and immanent return more precious and real to us than ever.

We don’t have control over how much pain and suffering both us and our loved ones will experience in life—but you do. Knowing this keeps us sane even when it intensifies the mystery of your providence. You are writing our stories with a steady hand, the ink of grace, and a view to the Day of all things new. Thank you and Hallelujah, and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, apart from your grace and Spirit this “calling” mocks our sensibilities. We can’t/won’t live this way without a deep understanding of the Gospel and robust fellowship with you. Everything within us instinctively wants to get even when we get hurt by others—giving them a piece of our mind rather than a taste of your mercy.

Whether it’s a “lighthearted” slight or an outright attack, it hurts. When our birthday is forgotten but our failures are remembered, it hurts. When we’re left out of the party but included in the “conversation,” it hurts. Jesus, we ask you for the thick skin of the Gospel and a big heart or grace. We want to love well—when it’s easy and when it’s not.

You haven’t called us to be doormats; but you have called us to be foot washers—to love as you love us period. That can get complicated, so show us what faith expressing itself in love looks like in a variety of situations. Forgiving is ours and avenging is yours.

We can repay meanness with kindness only because your steadfast love for us never wavers or ends. We can overcome evil with good only because you have crushed evil under your feet and hold us in your hand. Hallelujah and thank you.

Jesus, we also want to own the fact that sometimes we’re just too sensitive, too easily offended, too quick to keep a record of wrongs done to us, too slow to overlook the failures of others. None of those things are fruit of the Spirit; all of them are expressions of our need for more growth in grace—for which we look to you now. Thank you and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, I can’t read these words without lifting my heart and hands to you. It’s impossible for me to read the four words, “he who refreshes others,” without thinking of you first and foremost. For no one refreshes a dry and weary heart like you. Your mercies are new every morning, your steadfast love will never come to an end, and your delight in us way exceeds anything we can imagine. Thank you and Hallelujah!

Jesus, you bid us exchange our weariness for a rest only you can give. You give us a peace that passes and bypasses all understanding and circumstances. You fully bore all our sin and shame, and you catch and carry every care we give you. You own our battles and you never stop praying for us. Truly, you are our wonderful, merciful Savior.

Every day this week you will be saying to us in the Gospel, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. An artesian spring of grace and Spirit-refreshment will well up inside you.” (John 7:37). Jesus, I join my brothers and sisters in coming to you right now with our hearts as wide open as the Spirit enables. Slake our thirst with living water. In fact, splash us with two hands full of the river of life that flows through our forever Home in the new heaven and new earth (Rev.22:1-2).

Lastly, as grace runs downhill to us, so it flows freely through us. Jesus, we’d rather be known as gentle refreshers with grace than confident believers with answers. To whom would you send us this week with your kindness, compassion, and encouragement? “Bruised reeds and flickering candles” are everywhere. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, more than ever, we crave the coming Day “no more death” and “all things new.” Your death was the death of death and your resurrection is the first-fruits and guarantee of perpetual newness—the New Creation world of perfect everything.

As with the body we now groan in, so with the world we’ve always lived in, you aren’t going to destroy and replace them; you will resurrect, renew, and glorify them. Places in the world that are dear to us now will only be more dear to us forever. Indeed Jesus, your name is Redeemer; not Replacer or Re-Doer. All the more reason to love you, worship you, and serve you with our aching bodies and longing hearts in our very broken world.

Every form of demise, disease, decay, and death will be gone forever. No more hospitals or hospice, picking out caskets for loved ones or grieving the death of the environment. No more knowing and loving you in part, Jesus; but becoming 100% like you and loving you with everything we have and are. Hallelujah!

In fact, every relationship we have will be healed, healthy, and whole. Not only will we love and remember each other, we will only be able to love each other as fully as you love us. But not just the people we now know; but also the forever family you are redeeming for us from every nation and tribe, place on the globe and period in history.

You will wipe every tear out of our eyes and redeem all the pain, trauma, and “Why, Lord’s?” behind our tears. Hasten the Day, Jesus, and deepen our love for you until that Day. So Very Amen.

“You are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus.” (Rom.1:6)

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.” (1Thess. 5:23-24)

Holy and loving Father, these Gospel-soaked passages expose our unbelief, fuel our joy, and intensify our hope. From beginning to end, our salvation is from you, by you, and for your glory. Our past, present, and future are totally in your heart and hands, Abba. How did we miss all this Gospel-goodness for so long? Why do we still struggle to believe that it is true and that it is ours? But, Hallelujah, it is!

Little wonder you’re called “the God of peace,” for nowhere else can such peace be found. By the riches of your grace, you claimed us by your sovereign generosity and called us from death to life. Now and forever we are Christ’s. Hallelujah a gazillion times over!

This gives us a calm in our hearts that isn’t tied to our spiritual maturity, net worth, anybody’s approval, or world peace. Though we can’t always see it, you are changing us by your grace—not by our grit. We are destined to be 100% like Jesus on the eternally chosen Day written into the calendar of grace.

From the first day you set your affection on us, Abba, until the day you will finish your work in us, we are cherished by you. You don’t “put up with us”; you “put us” in Christ—hiding our lives in Jesus and making his righteous ours. Hallelujah! We are so blessed, so loved, so yours. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, we are SO grateful that..

• We didn’t decide to give you a chance; you decided to raise us from the dead.
• You aren’t our 2nd or 17^th chance; you are our perfect “righteousness, holiness, and redemption.”
• We didn’t invite you into our hearts; you gave us a new heart and new life.
• There is more mercy and grace in you than sin and brokenness in us.
• There aren’t any “might-be’s” with you; there is just your sovereign might, action, and timetable.
• We don’t “make you lord” of anything; you are already Lord of all things everywhere, all the time.
• You aren’t making all new things; you are making all things new.
• We aren’t in a story of replacement or re-do; we’re in your big Story of redemption and renewal.
• You’re not going to become Lord of lords one day; you already are and much more.
• You aren’t pulling for us in heaven; you are living inside us and our lives are hidden in yours.
• Your hands aren’t tied without our permission; you never need our permission to do anything, anytime.
• You are working in all things for our good all the time; no exceptions, yes-but’s, or possibilities. Hallelujah a gazillion times over!

Jesus, thank you for saving us, loving us, and guaranteeing that one Day we will be 100% with you and like you. Hallelujah and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, this tapestry of Scriptures is simultaneously convicting and encouraging. It’s convicting because my discontent is usually fueled by comparison and envy. I can get jealous of people who have less hassles, more resources, and quiet obedient dogs. Friends who can eat 7 Cinnabon’s and lose weight and are as flexible as Yoga instructors. Extroverts who thrive in crowds and have unlimited being-with-people bandwidth.

Men who can fix anything broken in houses, cars, and everywhere else. Fly fishermen and fisherwomen who have precision casting skills of heart surgeons and in-river balance of Circus tightwire walkers. Jesus, I am a mess but (Hallelujah!) I am now and forever your mess.

That is why, as convicting as these verses are, they are even more so encouraging. Though some days it takes a while for my emotions to catch up with my theology, I really do believe that all I need is you, Jesus, and whatever you choose to give me. You have shown me that ingratitude is soul cancer and discontent is heart disease. “Comparisonism” is relationship homicide and restless drivenness is a recipe for loneliness and emptiness.

But even better, Jesus, you don’t just intend for us to stop our whining and be content in you, but to be utterly satisfied with and by you—overflowing with a joy, peace, and heart-hope only the Gospel can give us. Thank you Jesus. Make it so again and again and again, and  So Very Amen.

Gracious Father, thank you deconstructing all the outright lies, foolish notions, and partial truths we have about you. You do so by revealing who you really are through your Word. From Genesis though Revelation you declare yourself to be the God of all grace (1Pet.5:10) and in Romans 15 you “unpack” that title for us a little bit, calling us to know you as…

   “The God of endurance and encouragement.” We need an ample supply of both, Abba. You know us by name, geography, and circumstance so you know our individual struggles and needs. Grant us grace perfectly shaped for each of us. May the music of the Gospel bring the harmony of heaven into our hearts and into our relationships.

   “The God of hope.” In our world of fragility, hostility, and uncertainty, give us hope-fueling assurance of these 4 things:

(1) Jesus’ empty tomb, occupied throne, and active, joyful reign.

(2) Jesus’ fear-expelling, heart-exhilarating, idol-toppling beauty.

(3) Our name written with the ink of grace in the Lamb’s book of life.

(4) The perfections of our coming life in the new heaven and new earth.

“The God of peace.” Abba, may your peace rule in our hearts—not just be an occasional visitor, window dressing, or background music. Sabotage our worries. Give us heart-centering peace and joy. May we vex less, worship more, and love well all the way Home. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, I rejoice that all of history is heading toward the Day when everybody and everything will finally make much of you. Mountains will skip, trees will clap, and we will rejoice with unfettered, uncontrollable, irrepressible joy. That being said, it is profoundly humbling to realize how much you make of us.

Knowing you’ve forgiven all our sins is 10-fold awesome. Knowing you’ve covered us with your own righteousness 100-fold awesome. But realizing you now delight in us with joy and passion as our ultimate for forever Spouse is life-giving and knee-buckling. We are your bride not your project. You love and cherish us—though it is hard for us to grasp.

Right now you’re preparing us for the Wedding Feast, not board of review; for we have already passed from judgment to life (Jn.5:24), from all condemnation (Rom.8:1) to the riches of adoption (Gal.4:4-7). And soon will pass from this life into an eternity of your perfection and affection. But on that Day—our wedding day, you won’t rejoice in us one bit more than you already do. Mind-boggling and heart-stretching—the saints in heaven are more happy than us but not more yours and more beloved.

I believe all of this good news, Jesus, because you never lie or exaggerate. But I’m asking for a fresh work of the Holy Spirit to make my theology my doxology all over again. Make what I believe what I rest in with whole-being peace. Use the things I teach others to set my heart ablaze and my feet a-dancin’. Set me free to love you with honeymoon affection and serve you unfettered joy all the way Home. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, what a succinct and  helpful summary of the entire Christian life: “Acting in line with the truth of the Gospel” isn’t just to be the “gold standard,” but the grace-standard for all of our relationships—really, for everything we do as those who belong to you:

How we think and how we speak.

How we spend time and spend money.

How we lead and how we serve.

How we plan and how we conflict.

How we handle success and how we suffer.

How we “friend,” “spouse,” and parent.

Jesus may everything we do be shaped and fueled by the truth, goodness, and beauty of the Gospel. Practically speaking, what will this look like? It means we will care more about your glory than our anything.

• More about “faith expressing itself in love” than us expressing ourselves to win.
• More about finding our place in your Story than securing our place in the “Org Chart.”
• More about helping others succeed than using anyone for our fulfillment.
• More about finishing life well, kind, and grateful than finishing with more trophies, acclaim, and comfort.

Jesus, free us to live and love this way all the way Home. Thank you for being our “righteousness, holiness, and redemption” (1Cor.1:30). Thank you for being our reason for being, our greatest joy, and our eternal inheritance. Hallelujah and So Very Amen.

“Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will ” (1Thess.5:18).

“Do everything without complaining or disputing” (Phil.2:14).

“Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple” (Job 5:2).

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts” (Col.3:15).

Lord Jesus, whether in our 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and beyond—any of us can resort to acting like cranky, napless, not-fun-to-be with toddlers. When we drift, fall, jump, or settle into a thankless, grumbling, irritated spirit—it’s not a pretty thing at all. It fact, it’s larceny—robbing us and others. Rushing to anything faster than we rush to you doesn’t usually serve us well, Jesus.

Personally, I don’t typically “go off the rails” verbally—but my thinking, emotional energy, and body-language demonstrate fluency in “unholy tongues.” I don’t overindulge wine, but at times I do overindulge whine. My heart knots lead to muscle knots then I start acting like a grace-not—like a stranger to the Gospel, your love, and the Spirit’s power.

I know I’m not glorified yet, but I am already yours, Jesus. Hallelujah and thank you. I realize it’s not about missing my naps but forsaking resting in you. I am so grateful for your steadfast love, new mercies, and fresh grace. I am so grateful that you’re not shocked by my worst moments and are the only reason for my best moments; and I am so grateful that every moment you are with me and for me, Jesus. Whew! Hallelujah! And So Very Amen.

“The one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” (Deut.33:12).

Lord Jesus, thank you for a wonderful week in the North Woods of Wisconsin with friends. We arrived at the peak of the Fall leaf colors and leave a day or two past peak. It’s amazing how fast the leaves are now letting go, floating down, and covering everything like a blanket of fading glory. That’s not a sad thing but a cyclical thing—the cycle of life.

Soon this area will enjoy being covered a different blanket—a blanket of white snow and the joys associated with winter tastes, sports, and life. The very waters we fished from a boat will be fished through holes in the ice. The sounds of boat motors will be replaced with the sounds of snow mobiles, and the next round of shared joys, challenges, and changes.

My instinct this morning was to check my schedule to see what’s next on my schedule; but my biggest takeaway from this week is that life is much more about Who is next than what is next—starting with you, Jesus. I  know what’s on my calendar, but I really don’t know what’s around the corner. That’s completely in your hands, Jesus—just like I am.

And as the verses above affirm—there’s no better “next” in life than to belong to you Jesus. You have made us, redeemed us, sustain us, carry us, and will save us all the way Home. To rest between your shoulders isn’t just to be carried on your back but also embraced in your arms. We know what’s next on our schedules, but only you know what’s next in your heart for us. May that be sweeter, freeing, and more comforting than ever, Jesus. So Very Amen.

   Heavenly Father, I’ve needed this week in the North Woods of Wisconsin like a sunrise needs the sun, like Niagara Falls water, like lungs need oxygen. Being in this part of your creation with dear friends has been a kaleidoscope buffet of foliage glory; a mercy-megaphone by the earth, wind, and fireplaces; a sensory smorgasbord of heart, Spirit, and visual delights. Your timing is 10,000 times better than Swiss clocks.

   I’ve been living too busy to notice, too distracted to enjoy, too un-still to know that you are not only God—but the God from whom all blessings flow, all beauty emanates, all grace gushes, all peace originates, all hope is given and guaranteed. Hallelujah, and thank you.

   Father, thank you for how you declare your glory with whispers and shouts through creation. Thank you for how you reveal yourself through leaves that change and your Word that does not; through the taste of Walleye, French Onion Soup, and Cranberry sourdough bread; through heart-engaging conversations with friends, and through my chilly bumps on this still dark, 42-degree, last-day-of-fishing morning. But especially, Father, thank you for how you focused my gaze on one stunning  tree yesterday.

   Moses had his burning bush, but you gave me a blazing red Maple tree.  It wasn’t so dramatic that I felt the need to take off my Birkenstocks and get on my face. It was more so consoling that I just want to worship and trust you.

   Abba, you are everywhere all the time, and you are perpetually committed to exposing more of our need and revealing more of your glorious provision for us in Jesus. There’s nothing more than the Gospel; just more of the Gospel. Whether or not a Muskie gets in our boat today, you’ve filled our hearts with your kindness, presence, and fresh grace. Thank you and So Very Amen.

Heavenly Father, this verse from your Word is a kiss from heaven, a large glass of living water—a reminder that you are way more involved in writing our stories and way more loving than we consistently perceive. You break the chains of our enslavements and bind us to yourself with unbreakable kindness-cords and love-ropes. In the Gospel you have bent low to save us, care for us, and feed us—and that will be our song throughout eternity. Hallelujah, what a Savior Jesus is! Hallelujah, what a salvation you freely give us by your grace.

At the end of yesterday, me and my friends held a rope of 19 beautiful just-caught Walleyes for the standard “group pic.”  But that rope is more a stringer of men than fish. Thank you for catching us, Father. Thank you for pursuing us, finding us, and saving us—to cherish not to consume! Thank you for binding us to yourself and to each other. Only yours is the love that will never let go of us and will continue changing us until the Day you make us 100% like Jesus (Phil.1:6).

Abba, all of us who read these daily grace musings and Gospel meditations own this as our prayer. A group pic of our own would include different faces and stories—but we thank you for saving us by the finished work of Jesus and for giving us friends with whom to share life. Thank you for the fun things we get to do, the privilege of bearing each other’s burdens, and for the honor of serving you together. We’re still a mess, but we’re your mess (Hallelujah!). We still need your grace and you still give grace upon grace (HALLELUJAH!). So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, this simple story indicts and invites my heart. Two unschooled, ordinary fishermen—Peter and John, were radically changed all because they enjoyed a real and robust relationship with you. They weren’t ashamed to be recognized as your “guys.” Though in time it would cost Peter and John their lives, knowing you gives us a life that can never be taken from us—eternal life. Hallelujah, and thank you.

Each of us is recognized by a wide variety of things—some that we choose and some just come with who we are. Some people know we’re in the room by our laugh, height, or the sound of our voice. Other people most readily associate us with our favorite sports team, political alliance, hobby, profession, or preoccupation. Some of us smell like rush to those around us, or rigidity, or religion.

When I think about my spiritual parents, Jack and Rose Marie Miller—both now with you in heaven, I instinctively think about you and the Gospel. What more could any of us desire in life? Jesus, when I hear your name, I don’t necessarily think about Jack and Rose Marie; but it’s impossible for me to hear their names or see their pictures and not think about you.

Jesus, as I continue today on retreat today with four dear friends—like Peter and John, we’ll be fishing too. But more than ending this day and our retreat smelling like Walleye, Pike, and Muskies—may we smell like you, Jesus—to each other and anybody else. Restore the aroma of grace in our lives. Restore our first love for you and our first treasuring of the Gospel. Help us help each other finish well—no matter how much QTR (quality time remaining) you have determined for us. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, I revel and rejoice in this tapestry of Scriptures this morning in response to the tapestry of wonder you overwhelmed me with as my Gospel Posse approached the destination for our retreat this week in the North Woods of Wisconsin.

It was like driving into an open box of multi-colored crayons blending their vibrant hues as they painted the pristine skyline. It was a kaleidoscopic overload of colorful leaves dancing against the backdrop of a perfectly blue sky. Individually and collectively, the leaves were declaring your glory—calling my heart from distraction and cynicism to focus and adoration. Hallelujah, and thank you. What did/do the leaves and these Scriptures remind me of today?

1. By the Gospel we are in the process of becoming as loving and as lovely as you, Jesus—astonishing, but true. Our Father will complete the good work he began in us and creation (Phil.1:6).
2. You have set the expiration date for all evil, sin, and sickness—all darkness, meanness, and madness. Everything will be beautiful, true, and good. All our pain, losses, and failures will be redeemed. “Everything sad will come untrue” and we will never experience death in any form ever again.
3. Our forever will be like the Garden of Eden on Gospel-steroids. Every longing you’ve written into our DNA, and everything you’ve planned for us before the world began, will come to fantastic fruition and overflowing fullness. Vexation is for a moment; perfection is forever. Hallelujah!

Jesus, life is too short and the end of our story is too glorious for us to stay distracted and irritated, fearful and self-preoccupied. 3 of 5 of my Gospel Posse are in our 70’s, and 2 are in their 60’s. Reinvigorate us with yourself, Jesus, and free us to live and love to your glory all the way Home. So Very Amen.

Dear Jesus, it’s dangerously easy to presume on cherished friendships— busyness leads to distance and drawing on old memories replaces making new ones. Checking in becomes a substitute for pursing hearts, and getting older makes it easier to get alone. Don’t let us acquiesce to this drift, Jesus. Even our favorite, most comfortable pair of jeans needs attention, TLC, and occasional mending. 100 times more so do our friendships. Bring faces to mind and heart we should immediately be thinking about.

As for myself, I’m leaving this morning for a week of catching up and catching fish with 5 men drawn together by your providence and my 70^th birthday. Through I knew each of them before we became a Gospel-posse, we have experienced a lot of life and “rodeo” over the past nearly 7 years, and each of us is now in a season of transition.

So, my prayer today starts with a big thank you. Thank you for these brothers. Thank you for friends who don’t relate to me as “the pastor,” but as a fellow sinner-saint and grace-needy man, who loves the Gospel and the outdoors. How freeing.

Jesus, I’m not embarrassed to ask that we’ll catch some really nice fish; but more so, I ask you to give us a very special time together. I’m not sensing heaven is soon for any of us, but neither am I assuming that it’s not. May we love you and each other well over the next few days. May we boast in our weaknesses and in you, and humble-brag about some Walleye, Pike, and even a Muskie. So Very Amen.

Heavenly Father, it seems too good to be true, too lofty to be ours, too outside-the-box we call “life.” Shame is no long our prison, home, or name. No disgrace, faux-grace, semi-grace remain for us. There is just grace times forever.

We have no reason to hide or fear, pose or pretend. No cause to blame ourselves, make excuses, or do penance. The weight of our guilt is lifted. The doubts in our heart are groundless. The fullness of your favor is upon us.

Abba, when you see us today you see Jesus’ perfection—for you have hidden our lives in his, made Jesus’ righteousness ours, and sealed us with your Spirit. When you see us as we will be, you see 100% Jesus-likeness—for you will finish the good work you began in us (Phil.1:6). Hallelujah on Gospel Steroids!

Truly, your grace has done so much more than “merely” replaced our disgrace. You have raised us to newness of life—giving us a new heart, new name, new story, new family, and new citizenship. We are standing in your grace (Rom.5:2), rooted in your love (Eph.3:17-19), and enveloped in your delight (Zeph.3:17).

Though the devil accuses us, some people deride us, and our own thoughts indict us—you declare us to be your known, loved, desired, and enjoyed, children. This is all we need, and it is fully ours, 100% by your eternal generosity and measureless grace. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen

Lord Jesus, first and foremost, thank you for being the quintessential Overcomer on our behalf. Our overcoming is 100% through our union with you and your indwelling of us (Col.1:27). Indeed, it is your perseverance for us (2Thess.3:5), not our perspiration for you, that guarantees our salvation. Hallelujah and thank you!

Because you drank the cup of our judgment we’ll feast on the “hidden manna” of heaven forever. But about the promise of a “new name” —whether or not we’ll get an additional name in heaven remains to be seen. However, in a world of dismissive labels and demeaning titles, it’s awesome to hear you say to us in the Scriptures and the Gospel:

“Beloved, you are mine and my righteousness is yours. I am with you and I am for you forever. I cannot love you more and I will never love you less. Nothing will separate you from my love or derail Abba’s commitment to make you like me.” (1Jn.3:1-3)

Jesus, this is all the “naming” and “re-naming” we need—now and forever. We believe; topple the rest of our unbelief. And keep healing us from other names by which we have been branded with a branding iron of shame—the “Such-a’s” we been given in life. “You’re such-a bore, such-a mess, such-a whiner, such-a loser, such-a bother…”

If anything, we are now such-a blessed and beloved, desired and delighted in child of God—all because we belong to you, Jesus. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen.

Heavenly Father, King David said it best: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” (Psalm 56:3). Not “On the rare occasion, if I ever should feel the vulnerable emotion of fear”; but “When I am anxious, worried, and fearful—I will  trust in the Lord.” David assumed the normalcy fear; but 1000 times more so he assumed your faithfulness, trustworthiness, presence, and grace.

There is no sin in being afraid, but we can misspend our fears so easily—just like our money. In fact we can be wise or poor stewards of a wide range of challenging human experiences and messy feelings this side of heaven. Father, help and free us. Grant us grace not to waste…

• Our suffering on self-pity
• Our betrayals on bitterness
• Our anger on spirit-cancer
• Our loneliness on “a fling”
• Our worries on ulcers
• Our losses on blaming
• Our hurts on self-medicating

Better to cast our cares on you (1 Peter 5:7) than to keep cramming them into the back backs we lug through life or weaponize them in ways that hurt people we love, or rob and wreck our mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health.

Before the Day of perfect health arrives. Before your glory fills the earth, Abba. Before we know the outcome of our children’s stories. Before Jesus finishes making all things new. Before wolves and lambs lie down together. Before cancer and evil, human trafficking and hurricanes, all meanness and every heartache are eradicated, we will trust in you, beloved Father. Grant us need-shaped grace and your peace-giving presence. So Very Amen.

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom.3:23-24)

Indeed, only Jesus is “our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.” (1Cor.1:30-31).

Lord Jesus, there are several things I am not as certain about as I used to be. Some of my old dogma and beliefs were just flat-out wrong theology, Scripture distortions, and personal and national idolatries. But I am more certain than ever about the Gospel—the Good News of who you are and what you have accomplished for us that we might have relationship with God and eternal life.

Question and Answer 60 of the Heidelberg Catechism summarize the true Gospel as well as any words that have been thought, penned, or preached:

Question: “How are you right with God?”

Answer: “Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Even though my conscience accuses me of having grievously sinned against all God’s commandments and of never having kept any of them, and even though I am still inclined toward all evil, nevertheless, without my deserving it at all, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, as if I had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me. All I need to do is to accept this gift of God with a believing heart.”

Hallelujah a gazillion times over! Jesus, focus, free, and fuel us to spend the rest of our lives surveying, studying, savoring, and sharing the truth, goodness and beauty of the Gospel. It’s all that really matters for you, yourself are the Gospel, Lord Jesus. So Very Amen.

King David: “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” (Ps. 115:3)

Isaiah: “Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.” (Isa. 46:9-10)

Job: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)

Paul: “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” (Eph.1:11)

Heavenly Father, this 5-fold stream of sovereign grace flows to us through the lives of those who experienced evil, uncertainty, joys, and great mystery. Each affirmed you are a good, good Father, who works in both clear and hidden ways, always engaged and always in control. By your Spirit and Gospel, bring each of us into the same harbor, haven, and hope.

• You were sovereign over Daniel’s hard calling, hungry lions, and astonishing peace.
• You were sovereign over King David’s crazy family, personal failures, and glorious song writing.
• You were sovereign over Isaiah’s difficult ministry, fractured world, and gigantic promises you gave him to give us.
• You were sovereign over Job’s enormous losses, clueless friends, and intimacy with you.
• You were sovereign over Paul’s multiple sufferings, enviable joy, and (Hallelujah!) Scripture writing.

Father, your sovereignty isn’t a dry doctrine to defend. It’s a grace-mystery to enter—a hammock to rest our weary bodies in—a loving rebuke to our unbelief, impatience, and self-centeredness—a roller coaster of mystery and praise that always takes us to more of Jesus and the riches of your grace. Thank you for yesterday, now, and forever. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, you are the one who told this story of an exuberant father and his excessive delight, and we know you aren’t given to exaggeration and that we can always trust everything you say. So when you described our heavenly Father’s joy as impossible for him to contain and a necessary response to his prodigal son’s return—it thrills us, boggles our minds, sabotages wrong thinking, mocks bad theology, and invites us too to get on the dance floor of God’s mercy and grace. Free us and help us to do so.

Jesus, you are no stranger to our Father’s lovingkindness and joy, and neither is the Holy Spirit. Indeed, you speak first handedly about the measureless wonder of the one true living God. Life within the Trinity –which you have forever enjoyed, is wondrous state of perfect intimacy, perpetual delight, unimaginable beauty, and “love divine, all loves excelling.”

You gave us a tantalizing glimpse and taste of these things in John 17—as you prayed for your disciples and us. The relationship you have forever enjoyed with Abba is the relationship into which you are calling us, and have secured for us by your life, death, and resurrection. The same unity, intimacy, feast of glory, and state of joy you have always experienced you intend for us in “full measure.”

To quote your own prayer Jesus, you said to our Father, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” (John 17:3). Astonishing, stunning, heart-expanding, disbelief-exposing … we believe, Jesus, free us to believe this more fully. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen.

“Do not be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name and you are mine. When (not if) you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” (Isa.43:1-2). “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” (Jer.31:3)

Father, hallelujah, thank you, and “find rest, O my soul, in God alone.”  By the power of your Spirit, keep us today from under-believing the Gospel, over-indulging our fears, semi-trusting in your sovereignty, and partially-resting in our “in-Christ-ness.” You never promised us a pain free life; but you have promised us we’ll never have a single Jesus-absent day.

No matter what we do or do not have in life, we are yours by creation, redemption, and adoption. That makes us more precious, safe, and yours than we realize. It would be impossible for you to love us anymore than you already do, Father; impossible for you to come up with a more perfect story for our lives than the one you crafted in eternity; impossible that you will cancel your commitment to finish the work you have begun in each of us and in your entire creation. Hallelujah and thank you!

What is possible is for us to treasure these Gospel riches more deeply in our hearts, experience them more fully in the midst of our bodily aches and heartaches, and reconnect with them more quickly we forget, drift, or ignore them. The Gospel cannot be more true, but it can be more real to us all week long. “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on us.” Yea, verily, and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, we are made for wonder but are prone to wander. Thank you for using many things to reel our hearts back to the perspective of eternity, to the freedom of Gospel-sanity—to marveling at you, resting in your love, and longing for your return.

Indeed, today I am remembering and relishing the Day on the calendar of grace to be craved more than any other. At the Abba-determined tick-of-the-clock, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you are King of kings and Lord of lords (Phil. 2:10-11; Rev. 19:11). Knowing you in part will give way to worshipping you in full. You have already defeated evil; on that Day you will eradicate every last scintilla of it. “Soon and very soon”—please, Jesus!

The government of the cosmos already rests on your shoulders, the last chapter of our stories is in your hands, and we are safely robed in your righteousness. You are ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5)—and of all things everywhere. Everything in creation and history, in heaven and on earth exists by you and for you, Jesus (Col.1:15-20). And Hallelujah!—right now you are working in all things for our good (Rom.8:28).

Wonder of wonders—astonishment of all astonishments, you died to make us yours, Jesus. The delight you have in us cannot be measured or fully comprehended yet; only marveled at and treasured. Your joy is our strength, your beauty is our destiny, and your return for us is certain. We are blessed and we are yours. So VERY Amen.

Heavenly Father, this Psalm tells the story of how you rescued King David from the pit of despair, placed him onto solid ground, and then filled his heart and mouth with robust singing. Our pits may differ from David’s, but we praise you for being the every-pit-Abba and for giving us grace shaped just like our most current, deepest pits.

Some of us are in messy-relationship–pits with only a faint hint of resolution insight. These pits can be deeper than the Grand Canyon and just as dry and overwhelming. Abba, if you’d rather teach us to sing in those pits than rescue us from them, then grant us supernatural grace to do so.

Others of us wake up today in fear-pits—health, financial, aging parents, or some other hard providence crisis. We don’t know what to do, but we do know who to trust. Your perfect love for us drives out fear (1Jn.4:18)—even before the way forward is clear and circumstances change. Grant us a palpable sense of your love and your presence as we wait upon you.

And some of us have fallen, jumped, or have been pushed back into pits of regret, shame, and disconnect from the Gospel. The devil has successfully condemned us, and our unbelief has successfully taken the song from our hearts. Remind us Abba that the way home to you is 100% paved with grace and that you are always on it. Let us hear your feet running towards us and see your hand reaching with kindness for us. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, this is just the rebuke I need as the weekend begins. King David didn’t pen these words while he was in a gorgeous chalet in Iseltwald, Switzerland, overlooking the azure-blue waters of the Lake of Brienz. Rather, it was when his son Absalom was trying to kill him. David’s “more joy” wasn’t pleasant circumstance dependent; it was Holy Spirit created and fueled. I’ll gladly take a fresh portion of this kind of joy, Jesus.

Whatever makes us sad, fearful, and angry—or even bugs us and irritates us—these things are not ultimate. Only you are, Jesus. When we pray, “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done,” we aren’t not pining for a nicer day, we are prophesying about the perfect Day—the Day of all things new and beautiful. And, Hallelujah, with your resurrection and enthronement, that Day has already begun.

Though I am allergic to most math, I AM pretty good at the Apostle Paul’s Gospel Math: “Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us and in us.” (Rm.8:18). Indeed, “our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2Cor.4:17). The heck with Algebra, Calculus, Geometry, and “Trig.” Just help master Gospel Math!

Not a hair can fall from our heads, not one cell of ours can turn malignant, not a breath can be snatched from our lungs or beat taken from our hearts apart from your hand and heart, Jesus. Indeed, not one crisis happens in the world and not a single king can mess with your glory apart from your knowing it, working in it, ultimately overruling it. This does not make life easy; it means we are yours. Glory! Glory! Glory! Thank you and So Very Amen.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Lord Jesus, as our Good Shepherd, there is no safer place to which you could possibly lead us than the Gospel. For it is in the Gospel that we taste and see, feast and savor your great delight (Zeph.3:14-17). You’re not just “okay” with us, Jesus. You haven’t merely accepted us and given us the guarantee of heaven. You have made us your Bride and now love us with everlasting, unwavering, never-depleting affection. We believe; free us from our unbelief.

Jesus, it is your full and permanent delight in us that frees us to delight ourselves in you; and the more we delight in you the more we discover that you are the deepest desire in our heart. You have made us for yourself and you have redeemed us for yourself. We will remain restless, busy, driven, and demanding until we rest and rejoice in you—either for the first time or the “umpteenth” time.

Do you have competition?—Only illusions and delusions or good gifts that we turn into idols. We sometimes think more status, power, and money, more human attention and romance, more sensual pleasure and excitement in life, more control over our circumstances and suffering are what we really want and need. But those are temporal satisfactions, magnetic placebos, and soon-to-prove-insufficient substitutes for knowing you and enjoying intimacy with you, Jesus.

Thank you for hardwiring us for delight—not to be bored and boring. And uber-thank-you for designing us to enjoy your delight in us and for delighting ourselves fully in you. May the rest of 2026 find us returning to our first love, first delight, and eternal joy in you, Jesus. So Very Amen.

“Love puts up with anything. Trusts God always. Always looks for the best. Never looks back but keeps going to the end” (The Message)

“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything” (JB Phillips)

“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (NIV)

“Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.” (GNT)

“Love bears all things regardless of what comes, believes all things looking for the best in each one, hopes all things remaining steadfast during difficult times, endures all things without weakening.” (Amplified Bible)

Lord Jesus, no matter how we translate it, paraphrase, or parse this one verse—it gladdens, humbles, and convicts us. This is the way you love us 100% of the time, 24/365. Having born our sin on the cross, you now bear and forbear with us and will do so all the way Home. Hallelujah!

But you don’t merely “put up with us”; you have hidden our lives in yours. You know the worst about us and yet you greatly delight in us. You believe the best about us because we have the best of you in us. We are made in your image and you now live inside of us  (Col.1:27). And though it is unfathomable—one Day we will be fully like you (1Jn.3:1-3). Hallelujah! That Day cannot dawn too soon, Jesus.

Also in the unfathomable department—this is how you are committed and willing to love through us. This both encourages and “scares the begeebers” out of us. You know the relationships in which we really want to love well but feel like love-failures, You also know the people we have no desire to love like this. So forgive us, free us, and transform us, Jesus. So Very Amen.

  “We had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus.” (2 Cor.7:5-6)

   Heavenly Father, like every day, on this Tuesday September 2026 you are “the Father of mercies and God of all comfort (2 Cor.1:3-5). Hallelujah! When we are like Paul—restless, downcast, conflicted, and fearful, you don’t chide, coach, or criticize us. You come near in love. Though you can send birds to feed us, angels to deliver us, or a gentle breeze to sooth us—you love to send friends to encourage us, and you find delight in sending us to our friends.

   Thank you for the Gospel-soaked, Spirit-sensitive friends you have given us, Abba. They live drenched with morning mercy because they live in dependence on you and delight in you. They walk with a limp, smell like your kindness, speak healing words, and always have a fresh supply of your grace to share.

   Titus came to Paul and Jonathan cared for David. Naomi welcomed Ruth, and Priscilla and Aquila took time for Apollos (Acts 18:24-26). Philemon was a “refresher to Paul and many others” (Phile.1:7). Four friends will meet in heaven carried their crippled, grace-needy friend to Jesus (Mk.2:1-12).

   Father, thank you for our friends who come to heart and mind right now as conduits of your mercy, grace, Gospel-sanity, and comfort. May we increasingly live and love as they do all the way Home. SoVery Amen.

]]> https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scotty-smith/gospel-aroma-therapy-for-onlookers/ Mon, 14 Sep 2026 09:40:56 +0000 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/?post_type=scotty-smith&p=681584    “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Eph. 4:32    Heavenly Father, whether we make it a memory verse, coffee mug wrap, dominant wrist tattoo, email-ending Scripture, or a laminated card to keep close and give out, Ephesians 4:32 summarizes your great love for us, and how we are to live and love all the way Home. Your tenderheartedness and kindness towards us aren’t a mood we catch you in at the right time. They’re not exhaustible, measurable or based on anything in us. Hallelujah! Free us to love others as you...]]>    “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Eph. 4:32 

Heavenly Father, whether we make it a memory verse, coffee mug wrap, dominant wrist tattoo, email-ending Scripture, or a laminated card to keep close and give out, Ephesians 4:32 summarizes your great love for us, and how we are to live and love all the way Home.

Your tenderheartedness and kindness towards us aren’t a mood we catch you in at the right time. They’re not exhaustible, measurable or based on anything in us. Hallelujah! Free us to love others as you love us in Jesus, period—no qualifiers, fine print—if’s, and’s, or but’s. When we live humble, gentle, and get serious about practicing Jesus’ art of love, it’s a bouquet of grace, a banquet of beauty, Gospel aroma-therapy for onlookers—the kind of worship service in which angels dance and the Trinity rejoices.

Abba, we greatly look forward to the Day when it will be impossible for us to sin and only possible for us to love with our thinking, speaking and relating to each other (1 John 3:1-3). Until that Day, grant us convictable spirits and quicker repentances. You call us to be tender-hearted—not hard-hearted, pig-headed, and angry-fisted.

When we step into the rawness of somebody’s difficult day, their old wounds, current triggers, or sleepless nights—give us your patience, forbearance, and understanding. Give us longer fuses and deeper grace-reserves when we collide with each other’s brokenness and lack of glorification.

Abba make our “in-Christ-ness” and belovedness the most defining and transforming realities in our lives. Make our Gospel-recall 10,000 better than our “you-hurt-me” recall. So Very Amen.

Heavenly Father, thank you for a fresh day, new mercies, and copious grace. And thank you for this eternally established, most to be celebrated headline: “The Gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world.”

All other headlines are just momentary observations, biased commentary, and redundant reports. The Gospel is the Good News of everything you have signed on for, secured, and are bringing to pass through Jesus’ finished work and the active work of your Holy Spirit. Hallelujah and thank you, Abba!

We’re not exaggerating when we sing, “This Is My Father’s World”—because all of it is. One Day the entire earth will be filled with your glory (Hab.2:14). One Day Jesus will return and will finish making all things new (Rev.21:5). One Day you will complete your good and glorious Gospel-work inside us (Phil.1:6).

Faith not fear is the order of this and every day. Worship not worry should fill our hearts and shape our lives. Bold, loving mission—not belligerent, partisan politics, deserve the best of us for the rest of lives. Why pamper ourselves into mediocrity when we can forget ourselves unto an eternity of knowing, loving, and serving you?

Father, Paul’s words about “truly understanding your grace” isn’t a helpful thing, it’s an essential, glorious reality. Continue to deepen our understanding and experience of the riches of your grace. As the Gospel continues to bear fruit throughout the whole world, what fruit do you intend the Gospel to bear in each of our lives and in our church families? We ask this humbly, gratefully, and expectantly. So Very Amen.

Lord Jesus, failure to care for and nourish our marriage is like failing to drink water, get sleep, breath air, and keep a herd of rabid raccoons out of our homes. Marriage has a unique way of simultaneously tapping into our heavenly longings, revealing the depth of our brokenness, giving us joy we never thought possible, being a target for the devil’s schemes, and making the Gospel essential and precious.

I realized all this afresh last night celebrating my amazing bride’s 30-something birthday after being married to her for 54 years. You have given us so much grace and we crave more, Jesus. I am a blessed and needy man.

So we come to you today, with gratitude and prayer for marriages—those of our friend’s and ours as well. To start with, forgive us for thinking there was only one human being in the history of the cosmos and romance we were “supposed” to marry in order to find true happiness. In fact the only Spouse that can fill our void, harness our passions, take on our brokenness, and completely satisfy us is you, Jesus.

To know you is to be more married than we will ever be to a “mere” human spouse. Make this real, humbling, liberating, and gladdening. Once again, inundate our hearts and marriages with the only love that is better than life, the only love that will never let go of us, the only love that is enough—your lavish, compelling love for us, Jesus. Hallelujah, thank you, and So Very Amen