LIVE IT OUT! — Sarah Francis Martin

The weekend is here. That means we’ve journeyed together for seven days in our feast on the fame of Jesus. Were you encouraged? Were you overwhelmed? Was this too much?

I’ve noticed for myself a bit of a detox happening in my heart and mind. This feast has forced me to live consumed by more and more and more of Him and less of myself. Thus the detox! I’m depleting this self-focus everyday and the pain comes in where I realize how much muck is still left in my heart. This process is good for the soul, I know it. For every declaration, every exclamation directed at Jesus, there is less and less room for my pride.

This weekend will you join me in some bold prayer confessions and declarations? Don’t be deterred by the word confession. Oh the chance to pour out our muck and mire and fill up on His abundance when we confess and declare! We take part in the greater picture of the Kingdom as we press in, pour out and pour forth our declarations…

***The following is just a tid bit from Chapter 1 of Just RISE UP!: A Call To Make Jesus Famous

Take a look at what Philippians has to say about the day when every- one in heaven and on earth will bow down and use their tongues to proclaim the name of God.

So God raised Him up to the highest place and gave Him the name above all. So when His name is called, every knee will bow, in heaven, on earth, and below. And every tongue will confess “Jesus, the Anointed One, is Lord,” to the glory of God our Father! (Phil. 2:9–11 THE VOICE)

This verse tells us that every tongue will confess Jesus’ name as Lord, not just those who are professed Christians. On that day, the entire creation will cry out and praise His name, with bended knee, in humility and reverence. But why should we, women who desire to RISE UP! and make Jesus famous in our lives right here and right now, wait until that fateful day? What is keeping each of us from living a life full of praise daily? What is stopping us from saying, “Jesus! You are my King and the one true God. I give you glory and honor today?”

To move forward this weekend with our Above All Else journey, take some time with Psalm 145 and specifically verses 6 & 7. I invite you to sit quietly through the prayer prompts below.

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.
The news of Your rich goodness is no secret—
Your people love to recall it
and sing songs of joy to celebrate Your righteousness. (Ps. 145: 6-7 THE VOICE)

~Lord Jesus, today I confess––I speak of your awesome works… (tell Him you are grateful in specific ways)

~As long as I have breath, Lord, I will proclaim Your name with my life… 

~Give me the courage set aside my “self” and my pride in order to make room for more and more and more of You…

Amen!!

Generation. This is a word that has circled in my brain for well over 2 years now. It is a gathering point for me. It is a word that conjures up unity toward a common cause, theme–the Kingdom. To me the word generation is not about age or demographic or what era you were born. No, for me it is the HERE and NOW. Those right here, right now who long to “do life differently” with their actions. Those right here and right now who live in grace and desire others to do the same. Those right here and now who want to ring the bells and sing the song and make much of Jesus through the much needed lens of LOVE…loving Jesus first and loving others out of that.

Press In

Yes! Our feast continues with a call to this generation (that is YOU and ME) to proclaim. Oh it is much more than words. It is a proclamation with our entire beings. A proclamation of His great works. And it starts with the Cross. It continues with the risen King who LIVES. It keeps going with the power we have at hand through His Spirit live in the privilege that we have to exist in His Kingdom that will reign forever.

One generation after another will celebrate Your great works; they will pass on the story of Your powerful acts to their children. (Psalm 145:4 THE VOICE)

One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. (Psalm 145:4 ESV)

Celebrate, pass on, commend, declare. Action words. Do you see it? He is worthy of our worship in action and not in theory. So much of what we say and do is in theory. It looks nice on our Facebook status. It sounds nice in group prayer. I’m guilty! Oh, Jesus forgive me!

Pour Out

Jesus, thank you for these great works. You are the God of action. Nothing about You is theory. You are Truth. You are both just and abounding in love. Let us not ignore Your great works, Jesus. We want to see Your glory in this generation.

Pour Forth

Let us put legs to our action words of celebrating, passing on, commending, declaring. Over the past four days I’ve been challenged to worship in action and not simply in theory. But lest we are tempted to go and do all of these things, a balance is needed. All of our action words of worship bring us in unity as a generation as we outwardly proclaim His mighty works. But, we must sit and rest in a private celebration––sitting with Jesus and not darting around through the day attempting to just keep up. We must surrender our preconceived notions of what we think God’s goodness and mighty acts should look like based on our current agenda. Oh, this will cause us to miss it! Just because we don’t place ourselves in a position to see His mighty works, surly does not mean they don’t abound all around us!

Today as we outwardly feast on the fame of Jesus let’s take time to cultivate an inward assurance of His goodness. Sit quietly…with a quiet soul…and press in. He will meet you there. When we desire to make Jesus famous, this pleases Him. I am certain He is ready to show off! Will you celebrate that?