Why You Should Bow Low Before You Rise Up

justriseupToday I’m excited to share an excerpt from my friend Sarah Francis Martin’s new book called Just Rise Up!  Read an inspiring message from Sarah below, and don’t forget to  check out her new book! 

I sat in the corner of my house one Saturday morning with my Bible and a piece of paper.

I didn’t know it at the time, but that piece of paper would prove to change the course of my faith journey.

It was a 24 hour prayer chain, and it was my hour to sit and call out to God in prayer and worship. Our group was desperate to hear from God, to be changed by His power, to make a difference in our surrounding city.

Right smack in the middle of the Scripture list on that piece of paper was Psalm 145. I searched out this Psalm and something clicked.

Pour out the fame of the Lord.

I moved forward from that Saturday morning with a passion in my heart to do life differently. Specifically, this was the time to RISE UP! and make Jesus famous with every square inch of my life. But something struck my attention as I continued studying Psalm 145 in the days that followed.

It takes a heart of humility to recognize His fame above my own plans and agenda.

This new found passion for my faith required that I bow low before I rise up. I must put aside my own ideas before I join in on Kingdom efforts to love and serve and worship the Lord.

John the Baptist said it beautifully: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30 NKJV).

~He must increase in my heart as my King and ultimate authority.

I must decrease and relent my stubborn ways of running my own life.

 

~He must increase in my mind as I praise Him in every situation.

I must decrease in my spoiled complaining and whining throughout my day.

 

~He must increase in my life as I look to please Him in everything I do.

I must decrease as I evaluate the ways I spend my time and look for happiness.

 

Humility goes against the grain of society, as we daily participate in acts like celebrity worship. It also goes against our own personal, human tendencies. We are taught to look out for ourselves and to elevate and “puff up” our image. Ironically, it takes a lot of effort to keep up with this cultural and personal agenda of making our own names famous.

Putting others’ needs above our own is tough work, too. But it relieves us of the pressure of performance.

Yes, bowing low before Jesus in submission to His ultimate authority puts us in a posture of vulnerability. But Scripture clearly states that the King of the universe, the God almighty, raises up those who bow before Him in every part of their life.

In order to RISE UP!, I encourage you to decrease.

It will be uncomfortable.

But let’s get on our knees. Let’s get on our faces before the Lord. And let’s set our hearts in a place that makes us ready to allow Him to work through us.

Will you join in on this Kingdom economy of increase and decrease? Oh how exhilarating it is to be released from the burden of self focus. How can you bow low today for the fame of your Jesus?

Excerpt from Just RISE UP!: A Call To Make Jesus Famous by Sarah Francis Martin. Download a FREE Chapter from all three new Inscribed Studies Here. (No email required)

 

About Sarah:

Sarah Francis Martin is a wife, mother, friend, mentor, author and wanna be artist. She has a passion to ignite this generation to get up off the couch of complacency, and do life differently for God’s kingdom. When she is not typing away at her laptop, you can often find Sarah on date nights with her husband, rough housing with her young son, or getting her hands messy with craft paint. She is the author of Just RISE UP!: A Call To Make Jesus Famous.

 

6 Comments

  1. Kelly+Blackwell on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 10:05 am

    What an inspiring post! I do want to do all I can to share the love of the Lord and truly even in just my testimony to others, I have to be humble. Thank you!



  2. Sarah Martin on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 10:53 am

    Thank you Traci for allowing me to share my heart!!



  3. Shannon+@+Distracted+by+Prayer on Wednesday, October 8, 2014 at 11:07 pm

    A great new perspective on my current struggle. “Jesus, how will You become famous in this?” A total change from my self-pitying attitude.

    Thank you!



    • Sarah+Martin on Friday, October 10, 2014 at 12:00 pm

      Shannon! I’m with you there. I do the pity party thing quite often. I’ve realized that I need to not make so much of myself and make MUCH of Jesus instead! Hugs!!!



  4. Linda McClellan on Friday, October 10, 2014 at 12:52 am

    Just reading her blog touched something in my heart. I can feel the honesty in you and so I ordered your other book “Just Rise Up”. I am so excited to get it and start reading it. I spend so much of my time studying and reading books and the Bible which is all good but I want to really know Jesus and be able to witness for him. My life has been really rough and I’ve been in some bad places and with no car and no money and a husband I met when I was 17 and no jobs for either of us. I have so much guilt in my life from what my children went through and my parents when I was even younger. I had an out of control life and I want to use what I went through to help other young women and older women that went through the guilt to get to the other side and love the Lord. I’ve helped my daughter turn her life over to Jesus and have seen such a change in her. I am so proud of her! Thank you for leading me to your book, I’ll have to read the other one later. God bless and stay strong in the Lord. All glory from my transformation for the Lord!



    • Sarah+Martin on Friday, October 10, 2014 at 11:56 am

      Linda! Thank you for sharing your heart and your struggles and how God is working in you. When we are vulnerable and we share, we give others permission to open up! That’s ministry. You are such a wonderful mother–leading your daughter straight to Jesus. What a gift she has in you. Hugs!!
      Sarah



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Tracie Miles is a bestselling author and the Director of COMPEL Training with Proverbs 31 Ministries.  She helps women grow stronger in their faith, pursue the life of purpose God designed them for and live a life of peace, joy and happiness despite their circumstances.

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