Abide Class Three - Psalm 103 - 12

Ever wondered how to truly shine brightly in a world that often feels overshadowed by grumbling and selfishness? This week Kim continues the Abide Classes with session 3 and joins Chalee Brown, Laurel Wike, and Charity DeGonia as they share the transformative power of living according to God's truths. Together, they review on the teachings from Philippians 2 and the remarkable example set by Timothy, emphasizing the importance of selflessness and genuine care for others. The discussion aims to inspire you to integrate the practices of confessing sins and declaring God's truths into your daily life, encouraging a spiritual journey filled with growth and reflection.

Discover how Scripture can be a powerful catalyst for change, equipping us to align with God's will even when faced with life's everyday challenges. They dive into the empowering effects of confession and declaration, shedding light on how God strengthens us to overcome setbacks such as grumbling and selfishness. With insights from a thought-provoking book on walking in the fear of the Lord, they explore how understanding this concept deepens our relationship with God and equips us for godly living. As they transition to worship with the song "Gratitude," they invite you to join them in expressing heartfelt thanks to the Lord.

Embrace an attitude of gratitude and praise through the lens of Psalm 103 as together they explore themes of redemption, grace, and divine love, sharing personal stories of finding God's steadfast love in our darkest moments. Charity and Chalee offer insights into how gratitude has transformed their perspectives, encouraging listeners to cultivate thankfulness and seek a deeper connection with God. As they offer blessings and a prayer for your spiritual journey, they hope this episode inspires you to engage with Psalm 103, finding grace and peace along the way.

Chapters

• 0:08 Abide
• 8:36 Transformative Power of Scripture
• 18:41 Thanks and Praise in Psalm 103
• 31:51 The Power of Gratitude and Praise
• 39:39 Blessings and Gratitude

Transcript

Kim McIntire: 0:08

Hey everyone, welcome to the it's Time to Rise Up podcast. I'm your host, Kim McIntyre. We know there are so many things you can do with your time, so thank you for choosing to spend your time listening today. We pray you're encouraged by what is shared. If you're not familiar with our show, please check out our website at itstimetoriseuporg. There you will find our social media links and for our podcast platforms you'll find us on YouTube, apple Podcasts, spotify and anywhere else you find your podcast. We would humbly ask you to subscribe, leave a comment, a thumbs up or, even better, a five-star review on Apple Podcast. Thank you again for joining us today. We're going to jump right into this episode. I'm honored to welcome three previous guests to the podcast today Chaley Brown, laurel Weick and Charity Degonia. Welcome, friends. Thanks. We're glad you're back.

Kim McIntire: 1:06

Today we are walking through Class 3 of Abide, but before we do that, we're going to do some review from Philippians 2. I hope the listeners have had time over the past couple of weeks to put into practice the two key words confess and declare. Confessing just asking God, lord, what in this passage is revealing a sin in my life that I need to confess and repent before you and then declare God. What truths are there in this passage that you want me declaring over my life and my family? So what we're going to do right now is we're just going to go ahead and finish reading Philippians 2, not the entire chapter, but verse 12 through 24. And then we're going to share our responses to the word. The key words confess and declare. Laurel, do you want to read that aloud for us?

Laurel Wike: 2:03

Sure, dearest friends, you were always so careful to follow my instructions when I was with you. Laurel, do you want to to obey him and the power to do what pleases him In everything you do? Stay away from complaining and arguing so that no one can speak a word of blame against you. You are to live clean, innocent lives as children of God in a dark world full of crooked and perverse people. Let your lives shine brightly before them. Hold tightly to the word of life so that when Christ returns, I will be proud that I did not lose the race and that my work was not useless. But even if my life is to be poured out like a drink offering to complete the sacrifice of your faithful service, that is, if I am to die for you, I will rejoice and I want to share my joy with all of you, and you should be happy about this and rejoice with me.

Laurel Wike: 3:09

If the Lord Jesus is willing, I hope, to send Timothy to you soon. Then when he comes back he can cheer me up by telling me how you are getting along. I have no one else like Timothy who genuinely cares about your welfare. All the others came only for themselves and not for what matters to Jesus Christ. But you know how Timothy has proved himself Like a son with his father. He has helped me in preaching the good news. I hope to send him to you just as soon as I find out what is going to happen to me here, and I have confidence from the Lord that I myself will come to see you soon.

Kim McIntire: 3:47

What a good word. Let's share who has something a response from the keyword confess.

Chalee Brown: 3:55

Well, I know that verse 16 for me really jumped out there Holding fast to the word of life so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. And when I read that that holding fast I kind of got two things from that. Actually, when you hold fast to something, I got that I would run to God first and I would hang on to Him last. When I think about holding fast to something, I think about hanging on to it to the end. But for some reason God also took me to the other part.

Chalee Brown: 4:35

So I think that I haven't always had God as my first choice. Even serving the Lord, sometimes I can put Him on the back burner and reach to Him as a first choice. You know, even serving the Lord, you know, sometimes I can put Him on the back burner and reach to Him as a last resort. Maybe in my own wisdom I want to approach something or go my own way. And then on the hang on to last part, you know, I think about the word that is this class abide, you actually abide, you stay with Him, and my husband could definitely attest to this.

Chalee Brown: 5:04

And this is where conviction came in for me is that I am that person. I'm ready to start something new, right, I'm excited. I like to pump people up, you know, but finishing strong, you know, is a weakness of mine. And so God really pulled that out for me, and he brought to mind Philippians 1.6, right, yeah, and I'm confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion into the day of Christ Jesus. So that's really what jumped out for me, so good.

Kim McIntire: 5:35

Thank you.

Charity DeGonia: 5:36

Anyone else. Yeah, the whole 19 through 24 that talks about Timothy. For some reason God just kind of stuck me there and I was trying to just dive in and see why and I was looking at this man he uses. He talks about Timothy and he's like, hey, I want to send him to you and I'm thinking, well, that's great, you know he's sharing, you know the ministry. But really, if we look at what he's saying about Timothy, he's saying Timothy has a passion for others. About Timothy, he's saying Timothy has a passion for others, he's selfless, which he's called us, you know, in Philippians 2, 5 through 11, he's already calling us to be selfless. You know he's like die to yourself. So now he's like here's Timothy, he's already doing that. He's already died to self, he's already selfless.

Charity DeGonia: 6:18

And he talks about Timothy's reputation because he's been with him. You know, right, and that stuck with me. Like God says hey, watch who you're with, because your reputation carries it and I want to be known, as you know that people were with charity or whatever. You know, not because I'm anything, but because we carry Christ with us and that it be a positive thing. Sure, you know the reputation of being with the right people and carrying God's, you know, the Holy Spirit with me in a way that I'm not. I mean, I'm not comparing myself to Timothy, by any means, but, you know, just having that as a model of I want to be selfless, I want to carry that passion for others and know that it carries with me you know that other people understand that selflessness that I'm trying, I'm seeking in my passion for others.

Charity DeGonia: 7:10

That's good.

Laurel Wike: 7:11

We do see that in you Charity, amen. Well, I'll share as well. I think for me it was as far as confess verse 14, where it says and everything you do, stay away from grumbling or, in this translation, complaining and arguing or grumbling and disputing. And we live in a culture, just a culture of complaining, and I know raising kids in this culture. You know it's so easy for them to slip into it, and then I find myself in correcting them that I can slip into grumbling and complaining about their grumbling and complaining right.

Laurel Wike: 7:50

Right. So, and you know, I have a friend who is a counselor and she talks about how our biggest job in parenting is, when our kids get on the roller coaster of emotions, that our job is to stay on the platform. And so, just as I think about that so often, because it's just a daily thought, daily experience, but to stay on the platform and that my responsibility, more than to correct them when they grumble and complain, is to model for them what grumbling and complaining a life that isn't marked by that, looks like and that's the best way to teach them.

Kim McIntire: 8:31

Yeah, it's good, powerful Confession really has its place. God knew what he was talking about.

Charity DeGonia: 8:38

Well, and the more I do the confess and declare, I feel like it really can go hand in hand. As I'm confessing this, it's just a flip into. I'm declaring that I'm going to be opposite of whatever you know, but God's really convicting me to work on that.

Charity DeGonia: 8:51

And, man, when you say I'm going to work on that, God's going to put you to the test too, you know. Is this a moment that you're going to be selfless? Is this a moment that you're going to complain? Because I feel what you're saying, Laurel. I get home from work and I'm like, oh, these kids need so much. And God says, but that's where you're supposed to serve and that's where you're supposed to be selfless.

Laurel Wike: 9:08

Beautiful. Well, and I think the verse that stood out to me for that was just right next to verse 13 and 14, where it says oh, no, going back to verse 13. For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him. So, first and foremost, if we're thinking about grumbling, just as an example, first he changes my desire inside of me, because our natural desire is if it doesn't go my way, I'm going to grumble, yeah, but he changes that desire in me, and then he also gives me the power to fulfill that desire to stop complaining, yeah, and that's you know. Even in doing school with kids, you know like, hey, god's going to, whether it's homework or homeschooling, or god, god can give you the desire to do this work that you don't want to do, because right now it's the right thing for you to do and then he can also give you the power to accomplish it.

Laurel Wike: 10:08

I mean, the applications are endless.

Chalee Brown: 10:10

So true and that's so good too, because you know, I think that you know, when the scripture talks about like he doesn't just call us to something, it's kind of like what Charity was saying you know, he doesn't just call us to something and have us confess it and leave us.

Chalee Brown: 10:24

You know and I think about that scripture that talks about like he has given us everything we need for godliness. You know he has fully prepared us. I actually it was 12 and 13, that kind of stuck out to me as well on the declare. But this scripture has always been a little bit, you know, iffy for me. I've always, I've never, been comfortable with the scripture.

Chalee Brown: 10:48

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling you know, and I think that it's awesome that God works in me to will and work for His good pleasure. But, like I said, it used to make me uneasy. But my declaration with this is I can hold him in the right place of honor and respect and awe, because he's the lion and the lamb.

Chalee Brown: 11:12

He's the God of justice and mercy. You know, he's not just the one that calls us to confess, he actually gives us the power to do it. He's rooting for me, strengthening me, Come on, and through his Holy Spirit, he's infilling me and changing my desires and my vision and my focus to be more like Him. And so I hold Him in a holy place of awe and he's that same God that I hold in that place of awe, and he's personal and intimate, helping me through the process.

Charity DeGonia: 11:41

So I feel like because those verses that you guys are talking about is definitely a place that God stopped me, each time too. But God kept saying that this is what happens when we meet with him, when we get into his presence, and that's like that important part, because we can read through things, but until we actually hear from him and hear exactly where he's going to work on us, that's where that power comes from that you're talking about on us. That's where that power comes from that you're talking about, and not only that, but that's where my passion and my excitement and my hunger for more. It draws those things out, you know. It draws me to that power, and then I just want more of what God has for me, so good, no-transcript.

Kim McIntire: 12:44

This is my second time on the podcast. That book has radically changed my view of what the fear of the Lord really is, because I was off track with my understanding of the fear of the Lord. So if you, I, was a person who really struggled with this verse as well Like what in the world does that mean that I'm working out my salvation with fear and trembling? But the fear of the Lord brings all of that into alignment and really clears the perspective of what that means.

Kim McIntire: 13:21

So it's a great book. It's a 42-day read, a few pages a day, 42 days. I promise you will understand what it means to walk in the fear of the Lord, and I know you all have read it with me because we're all in this together. Right Abide in the awe of God.

Laurel Wike: 13:38

They go hand in hand.

Kim McIntire: 13:41

You guys, thank you so much. What good insights from simply two words that prompt our responses to Scripture. So never underestimate the power of what one word can do as you approach Scripture. Oh, you guys, that just was a blessing to my heart. You make this job so easy for me. Oh, that was good. So we're going to go ahead and conclude our time in Philippians, chapter 2., and we are going to move into lesson 3. And the text is Psalm 103. Sharing that with the listeners, we're going to settle ourselves before the Lord, we're going to get ready to go into worship and we would invite you to worship along with us. Invite you to worship along with us. This song is Gratitude. It's very well known.

Music: 15:02

Sing it with your whole heart. I got nothing new. How could I express All my gratitude? I could sing these songs, as I often do, but every song must end, and you never knew. So I throw up my hands and praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah, and I know it's not much, but I've nothing else fit for a king, except for hearts singing hallelujah, hallelujah. I've got lonely spots, I've got just one move, with my arms stretched wide.

Music: 16:22

I will worship you and I'll throw up my hands and praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah, and I know it's not much, but I've nothing else to thank for again, except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah. Oh, come on, my soul, oh, don't you get shy on me and lift up your song, because you've got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and praise the Lord. Come on, my soul, oh, don't you get shy on me. Lift up your song, cause you've got a lion inside of those lungs. Get up and praise the Lord. So I'll throw up my hands and praise you again and again, cause all that I have is a Hallelujah, hallelujah. All that I have is a hallelujah hallelujah, and I know it's not much, but I've nothing else fit for a king except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Kim McIntire: 18:41

And with that we are going to go into the two keywords that we're going to be using through Psalm 103.

Charity DeGonia: 18:57

But before we do that, Charity will you open us up in prayer. Thank you, father. God, we just come to you right now, god, and I just pray over our listeners that you would meet them right where they are, god, that this would be an encouragement to them, god, that they would be able to feel the power of their hearts, coming to you with gratitude and thanksgiving, and all that it will do that you will do in their hearts and minds. Through this, god, we thank you for how this is going to change lives of the listeners that are on today, god, and we praise you for all that you are, god, and how you love us in your name, amen.

Kim McIntire: 19:29

Amen, amen. So our two key words for Psalm 103 are well, this is a phrase give thanks and then praise. We're going to talk a little bit about the difference between those two words. So, as we look at Psalm 103, we're looking for ways to give thanks to the Lord, and when we thank God, we're acknowledging what he's done or what he's doing or what he has yet to do. And it's important, when we read the Word, to respond to God with thanks, and I'll admit there have been times I haven't been as good at doing that as in other times. When you look at Psalm 103, verse 3, it says he forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. So with that I would say thank you, lord, you saved me and you healed me. Very simple, very profound. I say that a lot.

Kim McIntire: 20:24

Praise is the other key word. When we praise God, we're acknowledging who he is, so it's not as much about what he's doing for us, it's just he is God and he's worthy of our praise because of who he is. So we see His character throughout this text. We also see the acts that he does toward His people. So we're really wanting to be purposeful about giving thanks and praising God when we approach His Word. Psalm 103 is just a psalm that has really taught me to praise and give thanks with all my heart, and that's why it's in the Abide class. So we're going to go ahead and read that text, shaley. Actually, I think you're going to read that for us, psalm 103. And we're going to just talk about the first six verses in today's class. Go ahead, shaley. Awesome.

Chalee Brown: 21:20

Bless the Lord, o my soul and all that is within me. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy who satisfies you with good, so that your youth is renewed like the eagles. Amen.

Kim McIntire: 21:47

What a good word. Yeah, and I think there are a couple of testimonies here. Why don't we talk about those? Just how giving thanks and praising God has impacted, I know, charity. You had a testimony you wanted to share. Let's do that before we talk about our responses.

Charity DeGonia: 22:02

Yeah, well, this did transform the way I was looking at God in a lot of different ways, just because, you know, a lot of times we look to Him as a Savior when we need something, all the time, and so this shifted the way I was looking at the Bible, like when I was reading it it and where I would look for answers to things all the time Okay.

Charity DeGonia: 22:23

Lord, I'm going through this. What answer do you have for me? And you know, as I've gone through Abide, it's taught me how to listen. And he does give us answers, and he gives us, he challenges us, for sure. This is where it really transformed me, from this is my problem to my God. It changed everything.

Charity DeGonia: 22:42

So now my God is bigger than my problem every time, because I can go to Him and get on my knees and I'm listening to something and I'm like, okay, I'm going to give thanks for whatever is in this chapter or another chapter, or just not even in the Bible, but like, what can I give Him thanks and praise for? And it shifts my mind focus, or my focus completely to His character. And His character always meets us, amen, right, he always fills us and gives us what we need, and sometimes that's encouragement. But I can tell you this it has built my trust in Him. Amen, because now I know that he has everything I need. Yeah, and when we recognize all the things that he has for us, then we go. Well, why would I not trust Him? Yeah, and that's where it changed me.

Kim McIntire: 23:30

Yeah.

Charity DeGonia: 23:30

Yeah, yeah.

Kim McIntire: 23:31

That's good, that's awesome. Shaili, did you have something as well?

Chalee Brown: 23:35

Yeah, you Did you have something as well. Yeah, you know, I think, just for me, you know, I've known the Lord. I've known the Lord for a long, long time and I think it just we all know that there is always more to know about the Lord, right? Sure, he has so many layers of who he is that we can discover, and I think it just really deepened my gratitude for who God is right. And what kind of came to mind was I'm grateful for His consistencies and His differences, and that's like well, okay, what does that mean? Well, I think when I think about the praise, his character, it is consistent, it is unchanging, forever, right, it doesn't matter to whom, it is the same. But then, on the thanks side, I think that really speaks to how God meets me personally.

Kim McIntire: 24:24

Kind, of like what Charity?

Chalee Brown: 24:25

was speaking to, sure, and what I need in. Whatever I'm going through, so like I think about as a parent with my boys, I'll always be honest with both of them. Right, that's just my character, that's not going to change. But I deal with them differently. In circumstances where one kid I might treat in a certain way because he needs that extra support, maybe another kid would feel smothered by that, you know. So it just really deepened my gratitude for who God is and how, on one hand, he's so consistent in His character and on the other hand, he is big enough to be personal for me you know, so good, so rich.

Kim McIntire: 25:10

Thank you for sharing those testimonies, ladies. Oh, I'm so excited to hear the responses from these first six verses. Laurel, why don't you start us out?

Laurel Wike: 25:22

Sounds good, I'll just start right in verse one. I always seem to get stuck in just one verse for a little while.

Kim McIntire: 25:28

Yeah, me too, me too.

Laurel Wike: 25:32

I love the translation. Chaley read Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that's within me. And I have New Living Translation. Praise the Lord, I tell myself all that's within me and I have new living translation. Praise the Lord, I tell myself with my whole heart I will praise his holy name. And I kind of, while I was studying, was going back and forth between those two and I love and I am thankful for the fact that I can command my soul to praise amen not just that, I can command my soul to praise, and not just that I can command my soul to praise, but that I can command my soul to praise wholeheartedly.

Laurel Wike: 26:03

And you know back to the awe of God that you were talking about with John Bevere at the end of the verse. You know His holy name, we praise Him for His holy name. And actually as I was studying I was thinking about that so much because that book has also shifted my. I mean, I feel like on one level I had a pretty good intellectual understanding of what the fear of the Lord was. I actually had someone sitting in a Bible study with me once and they read Fear of God and they assumed, because they were relatively young in faith, that it was a negative thing. And I remember always thinking about that, like young in faith, that it was a negative thing. And I remember always thinking about that like wow, they thought that was a negative thing, like I know that's a positive thing, right, but this book has opened up so much more depth of understanding to that.

Laurel Wike: 26:52

So you know we've talked about how reading this has brought just a whole new focus on the holiness of God, even into our prayer times. Oh, yeah, but His holy name. Like here, it uses the name of God singular. But you know, throughout Scripture, of course, we see hundreds of names of God and I have a poster on my wall at home in the living room that says I am, and it literally has 200 names of God listed around it. And at the beginning of this year I just started studying through that because the artist who created it also provided with it a sheet of all the biblical references for these names. These names, and as I've been just studying through them and putting them together and recording the names of God, like these are the names of God that start with A and that start with B.

Laurel Wike: 27:45

So the recording doesn't get too long, right, and then I'll like listen to it in the car and or wherever you know I have time, and it is just bringing a greater depth of understanding of you. Know, we know the scripture the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous will run to it and they will be saved, and there is so much just in that one word, like His name, that we can praise Him for. And you know, for someone who may want the cliff notes, I think of Elevation Worship's song Jehovah, jehovah Nisi fights my battles. Jehovah Jireh meets my needs. Jehovah, jehovah Nisi fights my battles. Jehovah Jireh meets my needs. Jehovah Rapha heals my body. Jehovah Shalom is my peace. Like you can spend a lot of time just with those four names right there, yeah.

Kim McIntire: 28:30

Holy is His name. Worthy of our praise, without exception. Worthy of our praise.

Chalee Brown: 28:38

Anyone else? Yeah, without exception worthy of our praise. Anyone else? Yeah, I know verse 5 for me. Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagles, he gives me what's good for me, truly good. His ways and thoughts are higher than mine. I'm just so thankful that His ways are higher than mine, that even when it's painful, even when it's hard, he knows me better than myself. He knows what I need to go through to accomplish what he needs to in me and he doesn't care. You know what I think, or maybe I'm pushing for that. You know that's the that would benefit myself, or maybe that would be more fleshly. He guides me with eternity in mind. I'm so thankful for that, so that I really am truly refreshed and renewed.

Charity DeGonia: 29:23

Yeah, that's good man. So much of this chapter speaks to me. So I'm like well, do I go this direction? But I want to go to verse 2, because when you're talking about blessing the Lord and then at the end of verse 2, it says do not forget all His benefits and we don't come to him just because of all of his benefits, but we have to know that there's a part of us that was made for him and I think that a lot of times that verse for me says I was made for him. Don't forget that you were made for him, so his benefits are because of him. You know, like, if we don't rest on those and know those and know that he's there for us, know that he's good, know that he's holy, know that we have that knowledge of who he is, then we know ourselves Because that's what we were made for.

Chalee Brown: 30:15

Yeah, that's so good. Wow, that's what we were made for. Yeah, that's so good.

Kim McIntire: 30:19

Wow, Well for me, I call this one of my life verses, verse 4. Who redeems my life from?

Music: 30:37

the pit and crowns me with love and compassion.

Kim McIntire: 30:39

He's the only one that could go to the darkest place. Nobody, nobody not my husband, as much as he loves me, not my mom, as wonderful as she is, not my daughter she's my best friend. Not any of you, my amazing sisters in Christ, could go to the pit and redeem me. No one. And sometimes I think we view other people as rescuers. Yeah, I recognize when I look back how often I was depending on other people to rescue or comfort or deliver or satisfy. And I look at these six verses and I'm like Father, there is no one like you. There is truly no one like you.

Kim McIntire: 31:51

And my testimony is the darkest pit that I've ever been in in my life was an abortion clinic at 17 years old, and I remember sitting there thinking I had no other options, and I don't speak this as condemnation against anyone who has made that decision to have an abortion. Let me say, with God, there is grace, mercy and forgiveness for every person who brings that to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is mercy and grace and forgiveness. But I can tell you, the first time I heard the voice of God was in the deepest pit, the darkest place I'd ever been. Where will he not go? Where will he not go? Listeners, what pit are you in? Because I promise you, no matter how dark and isolating it is, it is not a place that God is unwilling to go. So every time I read this psalm, I just praise Him that he redeemed my life from the pit and he crowned me with love and compassion, not because I deserved it, not because I was good enough, just because he loved me. He's worthy of my praise. So who is he To me? He's my Redeemer, so that's my praise. God you redeem, it's who you are, but this is the amazing thing it's also what he does. So sometimes God's name is not just who he is, does. So sometimes god's name is not just who he is, but it's what he does. Yeah, right, yeah.

Kim McIntire: 33:51

So our encouragement is go through psalm 103 in these next couple of weeks, asking the lord. Lord, show me what to thank you for, show me what to praise you for. It may be things right now, in the present, it may be things from the past that you haven't even really thought about, but he is so worthy of the praise. And I want to just say my daughter, alex. She just turned 36 years old. So 36 years ago, january 8th. She was born 36 years ago, january 8th, and the best gift other than my salvation is that precious now young woman of God, and it's because he went to the darkest place. So any other thoughts about Psalm 103?, shaili?

Chalee Brown: 34:52

go ahead. You know I'm just going to piggyback. That's exactly my praise was exactly that verse that he redeems my life from the pit, and when I was looking at it you know he's a Redeemer my favorite definition of redeem. There's lots of different kind of breakoffs of that to make necessary payment, to pay off a debt, and I'm just so grateful for a perfect Savior who is steadfast and long-suffering, who chose what was best over what was easy in his life on the cross and it's just such an encouragement to me to, in those moments like let's look at things in light of eternity.

Chalee Brown: 35:34

Amen. Just like Christ did, amen. He didn't choose the easy road.

Laurel Wike: 35:38

Yeah, yeah, if I can just tie a few things together here, please do that word satisfy that you talked about in verse 5. Yeah, and you're talking about the cross. Isaiah 53, of course, is the suffering servant. And in Isaiah 53, 11, it says when he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. Well, that's good, and it's easy to be satisfied when things are good, yeah, and when we can see those things that are satisfactory in our lives. That's true, but the promise of scripture is that when we see all that is accomplished by our anguish, we will also be satisfied.

Kim McIntire: 36:25

Yeah, so true, that's really good.

Charity DeGonia: 36:28

So true, I just wanted to piggyback off something you said too, because you were talking about how we go to other people who want to. You know, we want them to satisfy parts of us, and that part that he crowns us with faithful love and compassion is what mine says Like, and later on in this chapter, god really spoke to me and what that meant more, and I hope that the listeners and others can get there too. But this faithful love means that no matter where we are, he loves us. He's not just there, but he loves us and he has a compassion, knowing so much about us, and I just praise God that, like, we're never too far gone away from His love.

Charity DeGonia: 37:09

It doesn't matter how many mistakes I've met. He's covered them all, and not only does he love us and he's covered them, but he has compassion for us. He's like man I get it, you're human Like we can come to Him with those questions and he still is there for us and understands us. We're not going through anything Jesus didn't go through. Isn't that amazing to you? I mean, sometimes I'm like man that compassion comes from a place of suffering that he went through, not just on the cross, but the denial, all the things that he felt here on earth from people that were supposed to be his friends, you know. But God always satisfied that for him and always had that compassion that he has for us, and I just thank him for that.

Kim McIntire: 37:55

I thank him for that.

Charity DeGonia: 37:56

Thank you God.

Kim McIntire: 37:58

Thank you, jesus. Any other thoughts before we go into our prayer practice? What beautiful truths shared today and we hope that there's been a lot of encouragement in that, and we just again would encourage you to finish reading Psalm 103, asking the Lord Lord, what can I thank you for through this passage or this chapter? What can I praise you for through this chapter of Psalm 103? We're going to just transition into our prayer practice and it's pretty simple. It's just gratitude prayers and being very intentional and purposeful about thanking the Lord and praising Him and making that a really integral part of your prayer life.

Kim McIntire: 38:51

I try every single day to spend time just thanking and praising God and it will really turn your heart toward Him and away from the troubles of the world if you intentionally praise and thank Him. And it's a weapon, let me tell you, it's a weapon. So we're going to invite listeners as we are just lifting our gratitude to the Lord, as we're lifting our praises to the Lord, would you just join us, wherever you are, as you're listening, just join us and allow Him to wash over you just an undeniable peace, hope and joy, because that's what he does. That's what he does. Father God, we just thank you for the opportunity to thank you and praise you. We are so grateful for your word, the truth of your word. I thank you, god, specifically for giving us a love letter just for us. It's so personal. Thank you, lord, for your holy word.

Chalee Brown: 40:12

I give you praise. Thank you, Lord, that I can come into your presence. Lord, that I can approach you and that I can spend time with you. Lord, that I can be filled up to overflowing, because that's the kind of God that you are.

Laurel Wike: 40:29

Amen, father. I thank you for a sisterhood of believers that we can gather together. God, burning together at the same spiritual temperature, father, not just pursuing you individually, but pursuing you together, god not just learning what you speak through your word and by your spirit, god, but what you are speaking to one another, god, and learning and growing from the revelations imparted to each other as well, god, we are so thankful.

Charity DeGonia: 40:55

God, thank you for the encouragement, thank you for the compassion that you have on each of us and where we are. No matter where we are, god that you love us.

Laurel Wike: 41:04

Lord.

Charity DeGonia: 41:05

I just give thanks that you have rescued us and redeemed us. You've set us on high, god, amen For your glory.

Laurel Wike: 41:13

Thank you, lord. God, we praise you that you are our advocate. And God, you say little children do not sin. But if you do sin, you have an advocate before the Father, jesus Christ the righteous one who is interceding on your behalf? God, we praise you.

Chalee Brown: 41:30

Lord, I thank you for allowing me to have a seat at this table. Lord, for allowing me to come into places where your word is spoken in depth and in truth, and that you fill us up. Lord, god, I thank you for opportunity after opportunity to grow and learn under you Lord. To sit at your feet and to have this intimacy. I thank you, lord, god, thank you Jesus.

Charity DeGonia: 42:03

God, we thank you for the power of the Holy Spirit and how we can rely on it, god, and we can walk in it, god, and we can walk boldly and with a holy confidence in who you are, god, and how you pour into us. Lord, god, thank you that we can so desperately come to your feet, lord Jesus, with everything, and that you will satisfy our every need. Lord Jesus, with everything, and that you will satisfy our every need.

Kim McIntire: 42:29

Thank you, lord, thank you, father, that you are the Redeemer. You are our strength. You are the one who renews us. You are the one who crowns us with love and compassion. You are the one that satisfies us with all good things. Thank you, lord, that you renew our strength like an eagle. Thank you, lord, thank you, lord, you are worthy of our highest praise. We give you all praise and all thanks in the mighty name of Jesus.

Chalee Brown: 43:05

All thanks in the mighty name of Jesus, Heavenly Father. Lord, we thank you so much for this time in your word. Yes.

Chalee Brown: 43:14

Lord and as we go out this week, lord, I just pray over the listeners and I pray over us, us ladies, lord, that you would just go before us and that you would prepare a way.

Chalee Brown: 43:26

Lord, as we are digging into the rest of Psalm 103. Lord, I pray that you would illuminate the truth and the light of your scriptures, lord, that your word does not return void. Your scripture says that. Lord, I thank you that your word is living and active and that it is going to speak personally and directly to every single listener as they dig in. Lord, we just thank you in advance for all that you're going to do through the scripture. I just pray a blessing and an anointing over all of the listeners this week, lord, god, listeners this week, lord, god, I pray that as they dig into the Word, lord, that they would feel your tangible presence, lord, that you would wrap them up in your goodness and your graciousness. Lord, that your sweet, sweet presence would just wrap your arms around every single person listening and you would be real to them. We thank you and praise you for all your goodness and all that you are In Jesus' name, amen.

Kim McIntire: 44:31

Amen. Ladies, thank you so much for being here with me for class three. It's been such a blessing to my heart to hear all of you share. We just want to thank our listeners for being with us today. Be sure to check us out on our website at itstimetoriseuporg, our Facebook page or Instagram at the official underscore rise, underscore up. May God's grace and peace be with you in Jesus' mighty name.