Continuous Breakthrough: CELEBRATE
The First Step of Continuous Breakthrough: Celebrate!
It is so easy to complain isn’t it? As humans, we are always tempted to see the negative first, to dwell on it, and to ruminate on it. Did you know that our brains actually wire and rewire it’s neurons based on what we pay attention to most? That means that the more we complain… the more we will complain. The more we focus on what’s wrong… the more we’ll see what’s wrong. I don’t think even the biggest complainers actually want to live in that reality.
Years ago I had the opportunity to hear Mike Breen preach a sermon at my previous church. Nearing the end of his sermon, he felt that Holy Spirit was leading him to introduce us to a very simple spiritual practice. This was the practice of giving thanks. As the congregation all stood. up with hands open and palms up, we gave thanks. We started with the simplest of items as small as silverware, running water, socks on our feet and then that naturally led to giving thanks for relationships, for healing, for restoration, and for freedom. This practice continued to be led in my home around my dinner table nightly with my immediate family and with anyone we had in our home. It was more than just giving thanks, but was actually a mini-testimony of God’s goodness. And we know in Revelation 12:11 what conquers the work of the devil: the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
More recently, Alan Briggs of Stay Forth Designs helped me reimagine the Big Picture Questions in their Right Side Up Journal. I was seeing those questions mostly as practical leadership question, but he enlightened me to see the theological significance of those questions. Each of those questions has influenced the “Five C’s of Continuous Breakthrough.” The first Big Picture Question is “Where am I thriving?” And this is where we will start today, as we reimagine this question as the first C: CELEBRATE.
The First C of Continuous Breakthrough: CELEBRATE
QUESTIONS - As we begin, here are a few questions to ask yourself when starting with the first C:
Where am I thriving?
What am I thankful for?
What are recent kingdom-wins?
Where have I seen God’s goodness?
Starting here with celebrate will start you off with a posture of truth, with a heart of thankfulness, with a life of surrender, and trust in God knowing He is truly good.
PRACTICE - A tool and practice to adopt:
Have a time of thanksgiving every night at the dinner table. Have everyone go around and share one thing they are thankful for.
Answer the questions above in a daily journal to orient your day around celebration.
SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 69:30 "I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”
Psalm 34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
As we celebrate daily, we have a new opportunity to rewire our brains toward thankfulness over negativity. Joy will be more evident as we look to God and experience Him in His kingdom. It can be hard to admit we are thriving… I think that makes this practice all the more significant.
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Cheers to a Healthier Week! - JASON
