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!
