Read an Excerpt

Just Rise Up!

A Call to Make Jesus Famous

Thomas Nelson

A Life of Praise

As I mentioned in the introduction introduction, Psalm 145 will be, our home base for this journey. This psalm is titled "A song of praise by David," and it is my hope that by the end of this book we each will live a life that reflects daily praise of Jesus. Our lips will utter words that point straight to Him; our minds will be consumed with thoughts of how great He is. The way we live should reflect hearts that know He is worthy. Living a life of praise is a daily choice, and this is where our call to RISE UP! and make Jesus famous comes into play. Sometimes we just don't feel like it. Twists and turns take us down roads where we must decide: will I wallow in self-doubt or pity? Or will I choose to praise Jesus anyway?

This concept of living a life of praise prepares us nicely as we RISE UP! For when, we turn our focus and adoration outward and upward toward Jesus, we step out of ourselves and our self-focused perspective. We welcome His path for our lives when we step out of the present pain or frustration and into even the unknown road ahead with a new level of trust. This is what praise does; it clears out our preconceived notions and puts us in a place where we recognize that God is good and He is powerful. Our hearts pump with passion because He made us for worship. Our spirits sing with joy because the Author of joy blesses those who call upon His name in praise. Our minds de-clutter of stress and worry when we get over ourselves and make much of Jesus.

What matters at the end of the day is not what actually happened to lead to that crossroads. No, what matters most is the God or not to praise Him. It takes faith to RISE UP! and live a life of praise. Choice by choice we decide to lift His name high in our life dramas, and our hearts transform into hearts full of trust and reverence for the almighty God.

Reverence is key. This does not come naturally to most of us. Our society and our human nature lean toward the irreverent. May we recognize the call deep down in our hearts, which God planted Himself, to revere and worship Him alone. May we live out each day with lips, thoughts, and actions full of praise.

Here is a small snippet of a conversation I had with my friend Lou on this very topic:

SARAH Lou. Now that you've had a chance to read Psalm 145:1–9, where David wrote so beautifully about living a life of praise, what do you think about this concept?

LOU I love the concept of living a life of praise, although I do struggle with it a lot. I don't know if that's because in my current life situation, I feel I am maybe not living to my full potential and so I become frustrated and bogged down with the "what could be's" instead of enjoying my life that God has blessed me with and giving Him the glory that He deserves. As a Christian, living a life of praise is something that should come naturally, but again, it doesn't!

I agree wholeheartedly with Lou. Living a life of praise doesn't always come naturally. That's why we need to soak in the Word and take David's example in Psalm 145. And the more we do it—praise the Lord no matter what—the more natural it becomes to us. When we decide to RISE UP! and not allow people or circumstances to interrupt our life of praise, we actually make an impression on those in our lives.

As our conversation progressed, Lou went on to explain that she some times feels it is easier to sit in front of the TV or Facebook, or the Internet in general, than spend time with the Lord. She added, "I am easily agitated when I am not spending time in the Bible or in prayer, yet when my focus is on God, He very clearly gives me the patience and compassion to not get angry but just to let it go. It all boils down to your heart's motives and consciously keeping Jesus at the center of your life. Living a life of praise lifts my spirit to be able to look beyond the mundane in life, like being stuck in a job that I'm not entirely satisfied with, and enables me to work and live with the thought that God is involved in everything in my life. This includes my job. So how does that play out in my life? It means that I am able to love people freely, again looking beyond a face and knowing that they, too, are created in the image of God."

Like, Lou, I often allow my circumstances or certain people around me to disrupt my attitude of praise. The ideal scenario is that I turn to scriptures such as Psalm 145 to remind me what a life of praise looks like regardless of life drama. The more we immerse ourselves in the pure truth of the Bible, the more naturally we make the minute-by-minute choice to worship Jesus in every mountain and valley in life. Take some time with the following journal questions as we begin digging into Psalm 145. As we develop our theme throughout this book, it is my hope that you will encounter Jesus in your own private conversations with God almighty. He is ready and waiting. Grab your pen and your journal, and don't hesitate to write your real and raw feelings in your journal.

Journal 1

A LIFE OF PRAISE

In your own Bible read through Psalm 145. We will be reading this scripture over and over throughout our time together. The more we soak in this Psalm, the more we will reflect our own lives of praise!

Use any or all of these journal prompts to help you process everything you've read.

[] What are your thoughts on the concept of "living a life of praise"? How do you define a life of praise?

[] What are some of your own regular distractions that keep you disconnected from the Lord and draw you away from a life of praise?

[] As mentioned earlier, reverence for our King is the key to living a life of praise. Look up the word "reverence." What does this definition make you think about regarding living a life of praise in reverence of Jesus?

RISE UP! in Prayer

Use these prayer prompts to work through via prayer what you've learned so far about living a life of praise. If you like, you can write your prayers out in your journal.

• King Jesus, forgive me when I allow life to distract me from a life of praise by ...

• Lord, open my heart to see You in all that I do so I will live a life of praise by ...

A Language of Praise

I'm ashamed to confess that I once had a serious problem with my language. I used to curse and swear with the best of them. Four-letter words would roll off my tongue with ease, and not only when I was angry and couldn't control my temper. Foul language was just part of my speech, and I thought I was really cool dropping crude words constantly. I cringe now at the thought of my profanity, which simply reflected the ugly junk in my heart. What did my language portray to others? A frustrated heart. A heart not at peace with her present life situation, and whose only way to express discontent was to throw out ugly language.

Our hearts, our minds, and our speech are definitely interconnected. In the past, my mind wasn't focused on Jesus and His goodness. Thus, my words did not bring goodness to the world around me. Years later, I continually find ways to better reflect a life of praise, one that worships Jesus with my mind, my heart, and my mouth.

There is always something to improve on; I am a work in progress. This realization brought me to a new mouth-tweak, if you will. In time, though I no longer spoke the f-word or the sh-word, OMGs were a regular part of my vernacular. I'm not just talking about a text shortcut. "Oh, my God!" and "Oh, God!" spilled out of my mouth as sentence exclamations. During this time I had a true desire to fully live out my faith, and I knew deep in my heart that OMGs are irreverent. In the Bible it is called "tak[ing] the name of the Lord ... in vain" (Ex. 20:7 NKJV). I was using the holy name GOD in a light manner—tossing it around uselessly. If I really knew the power of His name, I wouldn't "OMG" unless my heart was truly calling out in praise or in prayer.

It took quite a while to undo this OMG habit of mine. The more I took time to praise the Lord and read praise-filled scripture, like the Psalms, the more I protected the name of the Lord in my heart and used it only when singing His name or calling out in prayer. It is crucial to evaluate our language when we desire to live a life of praise. No one likes a hypocrite. Think about what kind of example we set if we proclaim the name of Jesus in one sentence, attempting to make Him famous, and then, in the next sentence, we throw out an irreverent "Oh, my God!" or crude and demeaning words.

I took all of this into account when I decided to kill OMG and curse words from my vocabulary. Habits are hard to get rid of. What solidified the decision was when I truly grasped the idea that my outward communication is a reflection of what's in my heart. I knew I loved Jesus, without a doubt. This was one of those "go deeper" moments in my relationship with the Lord as I recognized how imperative it is to live a life of praise from the inside out. Inside, my heart and mind were transforming such that there was no way I could continue to allow my words to stand irreverent of my Jesus. It was a natural progression at this point, with my speech, to reflect this revived reverence for Him. Some habits aren't so easy to flip the switch and get rid of. But knowing that what I speak should reflect what I believe, I literally flipped the switch one day and eliminated the obscenity.

In the quest to RISE UP! what should we speak?

We don't want to be like those who talk constantly, with sugarcoated phrases, about how good life is. That is not realistic. The fact is that life gets tough some days, and living a life of praise doesn't mean that we refrain from talking about the not-so-great issues in our lives. There is great freedom in a life of praise that says ...

• "Lord, I will praise You today even though I can't pay these bills, for You have shown up in the past, and I trust that you will provide in this time of need."

• "Lord, I will praise You today when I'm frustrated beyond belief with work. You alone provide the contentment and peace I need to push through and perform my job with excellence."

On the flip side, when the good days roll around, a life full of praise does not forget to give Jesus the credit. It's all too easy to keep truckin' on the good days and neglect to praise the One from whom all good things come. For when "every good [and] ... perfect gift" that "comes to us from above" graces our lives (James 1:17), what better time to put aside our egos and lift up the name of Jesus? May our lips be full of praise.

• "Lord, You have created this beautiful, sunny day. I thank You for the opportunity to enjoy fresh air and time in the sun today with my family at the park."

• "Lord, I did well on that exam! Thank You for giving me the strength to study last night and for helping me stay calm while taking the test."

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 pro claim 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)

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"?

Let's solidify this concept of a language of praise as we dig into Psalm 145:1–3. Join me in the Bible study and journal questions in the next few pages to take up David's example in his "song of praise."

Journal 2

A LANGUAGE OF PRAISE

A Praise of David

I will extol You, my God, O King;
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
And His greatness is unsearchable.

One generation shall praise Your works to another,
And shall declare Your mighty acts.
I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty,
And on Your wondrous works.
Men shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
And I will declare Your greatness.
They shall utter the memory of Your great goodness,
And shall sing of Your righteousness. (Ps. 145:1–7 NKJV)

In this song of praise written by David, we are invited to join him in praising God's majesty and love. This psalm starts us out in a very personal manner of praise. Notice how intimate David made his praise.

I will extol You, my God, O King.

[] Do you see the importance of claiming God as "my God"? Think about your present manner of praising God. Do you make it personal, as David did? If not, why? Is there something keeping you from living a life of praise such that you claim God as yours?

[] How does our conversation about the phrase "Oh, my God!" change your point of view concerning living a life of REVERENT praise?

[] Reread verses 1–7 from Psalm 145. Notice how many times David wrote the phrase I will.

[] Write the word that follows each "I will" (example: I will bless):

[] Each "I will ..." statement is a bold declaration toward a life of praise. Think about how you can live your life of praise with these bold declarations, and write it down. For instance, how can you declare God's greatness in your life today? Think of practical ways of living a life of praise.

[] What challenges do you see in the concept of living a life of praise with the words you speak daily? (Look at my example, as I had to reexamine my use of "Oh, my God!" and trade it for bold declarations such as the "I will" statements.)

RISE UP! in Prayer

Take some time to finish this prayer prompt with your own words in your personal journal.

• Father, You are worthy of my praise because You are ...

• Thank You for allowing me into Your presence so that I may experience Your glory. Help me to go out and live a life of praise with my words ...

Thoughts of Praise

Do you ever lie in bed late at night, unable to sleep, because you've allowed your thoughts to take you down a dark path and get the better of you? Our minds have a way of twisting and turning reality until we only see puzzle pieces that will never fit together. In the darkness of a late night or the murkiness of a difficult life season, we have a continuous choice to make: will we allow our thoughts to lead us to false reality, or will we RISE UP!—even in our minds—and recognize God's truth? This takes a daily practice of setting our minds straight on Him as our ultimate reality.

A.W. Tozer said it perfectly: "You can see God from anywhere if your mind is set to love and obey Him."

If we choose thoughts of praise, we are loving Him with our minds. This takes a commitment to "bless [His] name forever and ever" as Psalm 145:1 states (NKJV). To me, "forever and ever" encompasses the . minute-by-minute of life, regardless of our stress, regardless of whether or not we feel like it. I am rising up and loving God with my mind if I over look what I see in the here and now and look through the perspective that God is bigger than anything we are struggling with.

* * *

The other day I received a text from my friend Chelsey, who is in the thick of nursing school—tough classes with an obscene number of tests. I knew from previous conversations that Chelsey has been in over her head, struggling with the pressure of school and allowing that to affect her trust in God's goodness to provide exactly what she needs. Over and over again, I read her Facebook updates expressing the need for prayer—pleas, in fact. Because I know Chelsey so well, I knew these pleas indicated an underlying issue of doubt and fear. This was a drastic turn from her regular praise of Jesus just a few months ago. Chelsey allowed life's stress to dredge up old feelings of doubt and distrust that God will hold and keep her in her time of need.

Without downplaying her palpable anxiety (which we all experience), I encouraged Chelsey with these words in response to her pleading for prayer: "Girl. I totally hear you, and you know I'm praying. Do your best NOT to cling to the seemingly tangible stress, fear, and doubt. Sometimes faith seems less tangible and difficult to grasp. Keep reminding yourself how good your God is and how He has carried you through school over the last few months."

I wonder how many of us take minutes and hours in the day to dwell on how stressed we are, instead of dwelling on Jesus and loving Him with our thoughts. How often do we sit in a private (or not-so-private) pity party, consumed with how bad life is, and maybe even make it worse than it really is. When we rehearse over and over in our minds how tough life is, we are pushing out the truth, that God is bigger than anything that is weighing us down. Our brain energy is better spent on rehearsing this thought process:

I will meditate on the glorious splendor of Your majesty, And on Your wondrous works. (Ps. 145:5 NKJV)

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Excerpted from Just Rise Up! by Sarah Francis Martin. Copyright © 2014 Sarah Francis Martin. Excerpted by permission of Thomas Nelson.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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