Paul David Tripp - New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional

May 23

You can gaze over the fence and covet another persons life or tell yourselfthat God has blessed you in ways you never could have earned.

Do you ever battle with envy? Have you ever wondered why someone elses life seems easier than yours? Have you ever struggled to celebrate the blessings of someone else who had what you thought you needed? Have you ever wished you could just switch lives with someone? Perhaps there are ways in which envy haunts us all, so its worth examining the heart of envy.

What things prepare the heart for envy?

1. Envy is forgetful. In concentrating on what we dont have that we think we should have, we fail to keep in mind the huge catalog of blessings that are ours simply because God has chosen to place his bountiful love on us. This forgetfulness causes us to do more comparing and complaining than praising and resting.

2. Envy misunderstands blessing. So often envy is fueled by misunderstanding what Gods care looks like. It is not always the care of provision, relief, or release. Sometimes Gods blessing comes in the form of trials that are his means of giving us things we could get no other way.

3. Envy is selfish. Envy tends to put us in the center of our own worlds. It tends to make everything about our comfort and ease, our wants, needs, and feelings, and not about the plan and the glory of the God we serve.

4. Envy is self-righteous. Envy has an I deserve _____ more than they do posture to it. It forgets that we all deserve immediate and eternal punishment, and that any good thing we have is an undeserved gift of Gods amazing grace.

5. Envy is shortsighted. Envy has a right here, right now aspect to it that overlooks the fact that this moment is not all there is. Envy cannot see that this moment isnt meant to be a destination, but a preparation for a final destination that will be beautiful beyond our wildest imagination.

6. Envy questions Gods wisdom. When you and I envy, we tend to buy into the thought that we are smarter than God. In envy, we tend to think we know more and better, and if our hands were on the joystick, we would be handling things a different way.

7. Envy is impatient. Envy doesnt like to wait. Envy complains quickly and tires easily. Envy doesnt just cry for blessings; it cries for blessings now .

What is devastating about envy is that it questions Gods goodness, and when you do that, you quit running to him for help. So cry out for rescuethat God would give you a thankful, humble, and patient heart. His transforming grace is your only defense against envy.

For further study and encouragement: Psalm 34

December 8

IfChrist is your life, you are free from the desperate quest to find life in situations, locations, and relationships.

It is a wonderful freedom that we just dont think about and discuss enough. It liberates you from the stress, fear, and anxiety that so many people live with every day. It is a sweet gift of grace that is given to you right here, right now. You never could have found it on your own. You never could have earned or achieved it. You still cant stand before God and say that you deserve it. It is a gift that is not to be ignored or misunderstood.

You have been given Christ, and in being given Christ, you have been given life. You dont need to search for meaning and purpose. You dont need to search for identity. You dont need to look for something to give you the inner sense of well-being that every person wants. You dont have to wonder if youll ever be loved. You dont have to worry that your life and work will result in nothing. You dont have to wonder if youll have what you need to face what will be on your plate today. You dont have to worry about your future. You will never be left to the limited range of your own resources. You will never, ever be left alone. There is always someone who understands you and offers you the help that you need. You dont have to worry about whether your wrongs will be forgiven and your weaknesses greeted with patience and grace. You dont have to worry, because you have a Savior who has invaded your life with his grace and has made you the place where he dwells.

So you have been freed from the endless quest for life that consumes so many people. So many look for life where it cannot be found. They hope their marriages will give them the happiness they have not yet found. They look to their jobs to give them identity. They look to people and possessions to give them peace. They dont know it, but they are asking the situations, locations, and relationships of everyday life to be their saviors. Sadly, theyre drinking from wells that are dry and eating bread that will never satisfy. The situations, locations, and relationships of daily life are wonderful to enjoy, but we must understand that they will never, ever satisfy our hearts. For that, we have been given a true Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So instead of wasting time on that endless quest for life, you have been invited to enter into Gods rest for the rest of your life. Rest in your identity as his child. Rest in his eternal love. Rest in his powerful grace. Rest in his constant presence and faithful provision. Rest in his patience and forgiveness. Rest.

For further study and encouragement: Hebrews 4:113

August 16

Somehow, some way, your little kingdom will look very attractive to you today, but it is the very kingdom from which grace works unrelentingly to rescue you.

The Bible really is a story of kingdoms in conflict, and that battle rages on the field of your heart. It rages for control of your soul. The two kingdoms in conflict cannot live in peace with one another. There will never be a truce. There is no safe demilitarized zone where you can live. Each kingdom demands your loyalty and your worship. Each kingdom promises you life. One kingdom leads you to the King of kings and the other sets you up as king. The big kingdom works to dethrone you and decimate your little kingdom of one, while the little kingdom seduces you with promises it cannot deliver. The big kingdom of glory and grace is gorgeous from every perspective, but it doesnt always look that way to you. The little kingdom is deceptive and dark, but at points it appears to you as beautiful and life giving. You either pray that Gods kingdom will come and that his will be done or you work to make sure that your will and your way win the day.

So it makes sense that Jesus came to earth as a King to establish his kingdom. Like a hero Monarch, he died so his kingdom would last eternally. But he did not come as an earthly king to set up a physical, political kingdom. He came to set up a much better, much greater, much more expansive kingdom than one that locates itself in a certain place and time. He came to dethrone all other rule and set up his grace-infused, life-giving reign in your heart. He came to free you and me from our bondage to our own self-serving kingdom purposes. He came to help us understand that his grace is not given to make our little kingdom purposes work but to invite us to a much, much better kingdom.

So tell yourself again today that there is a King but he is not you. Tell yourself that there is a kingdom that will protect and satisfy your heart but it is not yours. As Jesus said, there is a kingdom that you should seek, but you will never, ever be its monarch. Quite apart from anything you could have done, achieved, earned, or deserved, you have been given a kingdom. The price of that gift was the suffering and death of the King. But he conquered death so that by grace he could establish his rule in your heart. Right now he reigns on your behalf (see 1 Corinthians 15), and he will continue to do so until the last enemy of your soul and of his kingdom has been defeated. Then he will invite you into the final kingdom, where peace and righteousness will reign forever and ever. This is the story of your faith. The story of this Savior King is now your biography. Why would you ever want to go back to the delusional hopes of your kingdom of one?