Happy Wednesday! How are things going this week so far? This week we are chatting about living a lifestyle of praise toward the One who is ever worthy…regardless…
~of our circumstances
~of our “want to”
~of our emotions…
He is WORTHY.
I keep circling back to Psalm 145 which is our Just RISE UP! home base Scripture. How did you do with the bold declarations of praise we journaled about on Monday? We will pick back up on bold declarations later in the book. But, declarations of praise serve as a foundation as we move along our journey of rising up to make Jesus famous. When we make much of Jesus, day after day…regardless…our perspective changes. A renewed passion surfaces. We feel the floor beneath our feet and stand firm, knowing that regardless, Jesus is GOOD, He is mighty, He is all knowing, He is full of love, He is abundant in mercy.
Now that is something to praise, right?
1 I will lift my praise above everything to You, my God and King!
I will continually bless Your name forever and always.
2 My praise will never cease—
I will praise You every day;
I will lift up Your name forever.
3 The Eternal is great and deserves endless praise;
His greatness knows no limit, recognizes no boundary.
No one can measure or comprehend His magnificence.
4 One generation after another will celebrate Your great works;
they will pass on the story of Your powerful acts to their children.
5 Your majesty and glorious splendor have captivated me;
I will meditate on Your wonders, sing songs of Your worth.
6 We confess—there is nothing greater than You, God, nothing mightier than Your awesome works.
I will tell of Your greatness as long as I have breath.
7 The news of Your rich goodness is no secret—
Your people love to recall it
and sing songs of joy to celebrate Your righteousness. (Psalm 145:1-7 THE VOICE)
***For our Midweek time together we will be reviewing Chapter 1 and sections titled Lifestyle of Praise (page 16) and Do Life Differently (page 22).
***Click HERE to read Monday’s Week 1 Introduction
Let’s Dig IN and Journal IT!
I thought I would pull out a few concepts from these two sections in Just RISE UP! to facilitate our study.
First, let’s chat about the word lifestyle. At the very beginning of page 16, I shared these thoughts:
In order to RISE UP! and create a lifestyle of praise (with thoughts, words, and actions), we must live in constant pursuit of Christ. We must worship Him simply because He is ever so worthy and not for what we can “get out of it.” (Just RISE UP! p.16)
We are called to a lifestyle that revolves around the majesty of God. We are called to praise God with every square inch of our life. This means that we evaluate our words, thoughts, and heart condition to make sure we attribute more and more praise to the Lord and less and less concern for our own agenda or our own comfort level. I often find help rearranging my thoughts and words by writing out praise and prayers straight in my journal.
~Take some time with a few verses from Psalm 145:1-7 (see above or open your own Bible). Uses a few of these prompts to get you started:
**From v.1: I will lift my praise and my thanksgiving to you Lord above all else…especially…(fill in the blank of people, things, circumstances that you place above praising Jesus)
**From v 2: I will praise You every day because You are… (write out some adjectives to describe the Lord)
**Thank You, Lord for showing me Your majesty in these ways…
In the Lifestyle of Praise section we also talked about inner/outer reverence and commitment. This all adds up to an authentic faith where we emulate our Creator and make our whole existence a reflection of His gospel, His goodness, His love, His restoration and more.
~What are your thoughts about inner and outer reverence/commitment. Which is more difficult for you with regards to praising the Lord? Your heart condition and thoughts (inner reverence) or your outward actions (outward reverence/commitment)?
I believe everything spirals down to what we spend our time and attention on. Scripture tells us…
Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy. Keep to the script: whatever you learned and received and heard and saw in me—do it—and the God of peace will walk with you. (Phil 4:8-9 THE VOICE)
In Journal 4 (page 20) I encouraged you to really evaluate your level of reverence and commitment. A great starting place is the Scripture above where Paul exhorts us to set our mind, to fill up, to meditate on that which will keep our mind and heart focused on Jesus.
~Pick a few words following the “whatever is…” and write how focusing on these things would replace thoughts and/or actions which most likely would lead you away from a lifestyle of praise. Think real life, applicable ways.
Example: I will choose to honor (fill in the blank a name of a person) instead of spend time thinking about their downfalls. I will choose to thank God for them instead of feel frustrated.
Example: I will choose to not entertain thoughts of jealousy and instead pray for the person that I am comparing myself to.
Do Life Differently
~Take some time to read the Do Life Differently section (pg. 22) Are you personally challenged (in a good way!) to take this phrase and make it your own? It has become my own catch phrase as I constantly evaluate my own life. What are your thoughts?
~What are ways you are making changes in your lifestyle that focuses more on Jesus and less on ourselves as we praise Him more and more and more?
**I know the Do Life Differently sections in Just RISE UP! might be challenging and sometimes…maybe…maddening? Everything that I wrote in these sections I took with upmost sincerity as I know it is not always fun to change or do things that take us out of our comfort zone. Let’s Do Life Differently together!
Share IT!
**Feel free to save this image to your computer and then post on social media to encourage your friends!
Talk about IT!
I invite you to share anything from the chapter so far that you would like to discuss in order to find encouragement. I want us to challenge each other and lift each other up. How can we pray for you? What victories have you found this week in your renewed lifestyle of praise?Talk About IT!
Leave a comment…let’s chat!
I am so grateful for You Lord. You have restored me to peace and rest in your perfect timing. I realized in spending time in my journal on week one that I had become so bitter in a defensive self-protective mode stemming from a work environment that was not allowing God’s light to flourish in all I can do with his amazing creative influence. I was feeling squashed and wasted. I prayed and prayed for months, even years for Lord to hear my plea to consider my circumstance and if it was his will to keep me there, so be it. He was molding me to become who I am meant to be. He has shown up in such perfect timing.
I have now found a new job and won’t have to return to my long suffering any longer.
In doing it differently, I will ask Lord to cleanse all the folds of resentment and negativity that I so bolstered myself with. I no longer need to do any substantiation, as he has taken charge and has created a new paradigm in my life, on this pathway for me to shine in HIS Glory.
I struggle with outward reverence/commitment and not at all with inward reverence/commitment. I have a hard time speaking up or reaching out to other people, especially people I am not close to. I have a fear or speaking in front of people too and I know this is holding me back in praising and glorifying Our God.
Jacqueline, we all have different personality types. The key is to live to the fullest with the personality traits that are unique to YOU and glorify God with that. Hugs!
Jacqueline, I completely agree!! I, too, struggle with outer reverence. Like you said, I have trouble speaking to people that I really don’t know. I always hear of people just going up and telling people about the great news of God and I’ve always been nervous to do anything like that. Maybe by the end of this study we both can do it more easily. :)
sometimes I just want to be crabby- the past few days for example – so dumb. I just need to be consistent in praising him – being joyful even in moments that are less than joyous. Being thankful for his so many provisions that extend far beyond the material items. Lately it is on my heart that I am so thankful for the people who laid the foundation in my youth that stood steady during my 20s and led me to where I am in Christ through my 30s and now into my 40s – it would have been so easy to stay away and to continue a life of destruction. He called me His and I am so thankful for that!
Gena, I hear ya. I have those days often…the crabby days! Yes, consistency is key. Yes!
I will choose to honor my husband and friends instead of spend time thinking about their downfalls. I will choose to thank God for them instead of feel frustrated… had to put that one out there for some accountability!
Speaking out loud to my Father is something that I have found attitude-perspective-heart-changing , Just talking to Him out loud, asking for Him to teach me in my day who He is in detail, Father Son and Spirit! It helped me to Rise Up out of my darkness much differently than what I had in the past. So good, now If I said sometimes this didn’t happened with me kicking and screaming I would be telling a much “prettier” story, but it just wouldn’t be true. It is sometimes so difficult for me, but SO SO worth it!
This challenges and encourages me, Cassie. Thank you for sharing!