Sarah Francis Martin - Just RISE UP!: A Call to Make Jesus Famous

Sarah Francis Martin 2014

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing.

Page design and layout: Crosslin Creative

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from The Voice translation. 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.*

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE: OLD TESTAMENT. 1962, 1964 by Zondervan (used by permission); and from THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE: NEW TESTAMENT. 1958 by the Lockman Foundation (used by permission).

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION. 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

* Note: Italics in quotations from The Voice are used to indicate words not directly tied to the dynamic translation of the original language but that bring out the nuance of the original, assist in completing ideas, and... provide readers with information that would have been obvious to the original audience (The Voice, preface). Emphasis in quotations from The Voice is indicated with the use of boldface type.

9781401680152

ISBN: 9781401680169 (eBook)

14 15 16 17 18 [RRD] 6 5 4 3 2 1

To Greg and Grayson: thank you for coming alongside me. May our family always reflect the fame of our King Jesus. To my family at 2030 Grace Church: this book was inspired by your servant love, bold faith and desire to do life differently. Keep rising up!

Contents

RISE UP!

Over the past year the Lord has laid a phrase on my heart that I just cant wrap my mind around, and I cant get it out of my head: RISE UP! Ive wrestled with God over what this means: the implications, the life change required, the boldness called for when we make the decision to circle our entire existence around the fame of Jesus. All these things can be quite daunting at first consideration. But, if you are up for the challenge, join me in a journey where we will together seek out how God desires of us to live differently and even make tough choices as we do just thatall to make Jesus famous.

Wait, you may say. Isnt Jesus already famous in this world? Oh, yes He is! But my question to you... is Jesus famous in your life? Do you seek Him out and worship Him in every twist and turn? Do you stand upor RISE UP!for His fame, to make His name known rather than your own? Do you go about even your day-to-day activities with a continual connection to His Spirit, thus allowing Jesus a place in your thoughts and emotionseven your frustrations?

As I interact with women from all over the country (and all over the world!), I feel this itch to be part of a movement. I see an underlying desire of women to make their lives count. I sense some complacency coupled with the desire to overcome that apathyyet they just dont know how to go about it. Some of us are stuck between the motivation to seek after our own agenda and the innate and God-given desire to live for Him above all. It would be easy to live for ourselves, but we would again find ourselves back on the couch of complacency because an apathetic life lacks fulfillment and excitement. Rather, when we make the bold decision to make Jesus famous, we step into a kingdom reality where God directs us toward ever-heart-satisfying actions of worship, prayer and service of others. As I explore this concept of RISE UP! with my friends and readers, I love to hear how God is moving in this generation. We dont just desire to make our personal mark on the world. No, we know that even though our culture says, Me! Me! See ME! there is a bigger picture to capture, a bigger plan that goes well beyond ourselves, our own little world.

This movement spurs us toward lives of praise with kingdom perspective and humble hearts as we dream Gods dreams and influence others to RISE UP! alongside us.

I am sensitive to the fact that what this book asks of you might very well freak you out and tempt you to shut it and shelve it. You may even be tempted to give this book away to someone else, someone who you believe is more equipped for a lifestyle of making Jesus famous; someone who hasnt disappointed Jesus in the past or made a royal mess of what He has given her. Please know this was my initial temptation. Then it struck me.

We can take hold of the courage and the authority to RISE UP only because Jesus did first. He made the divine choice to take on our sins at the cross of Calvary, and He rose and defeated death three days later. The door is now wide-open for us to fulfill this God-given desire to worship and make much of Jesus and thus spill our worship into every square inch of our life. The itch that nags at our hearts and minds to make our lives count for something is fulfilled when we live in the reality that there is victory over struggles, sin, discouragement, fear, and doubt because Jesus rose FIRST. He paved the way for us to journey through life with boldness, even if the unknown and the perceptions of the world around us tempt us to back off. Jesus paved the way for us to love God with all that we have and in turn, love others just the same. The act of rising up will reflect a heart that is ever grateful for Gods continual forgiveness and desire to live in that freedom.

Lets tackle who this book is not for. Just RISE UP! is not for those of us who have it all together and live a perfect faith. It is not for those who already have the Bible figured out to the letter. If you are a woman who loves Jesus (even if youve only known Him for five minutes) and craves something bigger than yourself, then Just RISE UP! is for you. If you need a breakthrough in faith, Just RISE UP! is for you. And if you think its thrilling (maybe even a bit frightening) to contemplate a big, bold belief in the King of kings, then once again, Just RISE UP! is for you.

But before we move on, I want to give you a peek into a recent conversation I had with my friend. Catie is in the process of navigating her career and recent location changes while growing in her love for Jesus. I wanted to get her opinion about our topic of rising up, so I pitched her a question.

SARAH

Catie, do you get excited at the thought of being part of a movement of women who see the bigger picture and desire to do life differently than their peers to make Jesus famous?

CATIE

In complete honesty, my initial reaction to a generation rising up and being a part of that scares me. I dont think its because of the sort of negative connotation that goes with people rising up against something, but I do think it is because it is going so much against the grain of our society. I have always had a relationship with God and had faith, but I will be the first to admit it has been very weak at times. In the past I have been the person to roll my eyes at someone who does the Jesus talk and proclaims everything great He has done or is doing in her life. To me it all appears fake, even if that person was being sincere and genuine. I also think part of this is due to, unfortunately, the number of Christians I have met who speak this way but do not truly live in this way or as the Word directs. I understand we all make mistakes, and it is a lifelong process, but Im talking about the people who seem all talk and no action.