Psalm 23 {Perspective Reset}

{This post is an excerpt from my devotional ebook Perspective Reset: 28 readings and meditations from the Psalms. The devotional is FREE to all of my newsletter subscribers and I would love for you to download it. Click HERE to subscribe and download the ebook. You can also listen to a recent message on Psalm 23 taught by Pastor Daniel Williams HERE. }

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalm 23:1-6

If you’re like me, you’ve probably picked up this journal because you’re in desperate need of a perspective reset. You’re drowning in emotion. You’re finding your attitude places that you don’t like and that may even scare you. And if you are like me, this Psalm speaks straight to that place you desperately want to be in. You want to believe that these truths are for you. You want to be able to say these words with confidence, but so often fear overcomes your faith.

And I think that is why this famous Psalm has always held an ominous undertone for me. As I read, my faith wavers... "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (v 4)

Every time I read these words, I feel their weight pressing into my soul. And I hear the whispers of the Holy Spirit asking me, “Will you truly fear no evil? Will you allow My rod and staff to comfort you? Will believe, even in the darkest moments, that the shining joys of the rest of this Psalm are for you?”

For this Psalm to ring deeply true in our hearts we have to first humble ourselves to desire the guiding and tending hand of the Shepherd in our lives, and then we have to believe that He is enough.

And my faith wavers so easily... Will He really restore my soul? Will the pastures actually be green and the waters really be still? Will goodness and mercy truly follow me all the days of my life?

And my faith wavers... But I need to remember that these truths about God won’t change, but my perspective on them will. My heart will waver and my faith will shake, but God is unchanging. So I have to choose to preach these truths to my heart, instead of letting my feelings dictate my faith in them. Because God’s Word isn’t a book to be judged and weighed and debated based on our understanding and feelings. It is truth that is intended to penetrate and change our hearts.

So come to today’s text willing to be changed by it. Let it challenge what you feel, because what you feel might not be true. Allow yourself to be humbled and restored in the face of these Words from the Giver of life.

Verses to Meditate On Today: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want...He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.” Psalm 23:1,3

{Take some time to pray and ask God to help you to intimately believe these truths for yourself. Then read this Psalm aloud. One time. Twenty times. As many times as it takes for the truths to sink deep into your soul. Preach these words to yourself. Claim them as your own. Read them aloud until you can only stop and praise God for His goodness and care and tender shepherding toward you.}

What I Do Know by Alesha Sinks

There is so much unknown right now. And in a sense, the unknown has always been there…is always there. Because really, how can we foresee tomorrow?

But right now it’s the scary unknown…
Right now it’s the unknown where any seemingly good outcomes are quickly looking less likely.
Right now it’s the unknown where you begin to question everything you’ve known and believed.
Right now it’s the unknown where you realize that faith isn’t a word and instead is simply hard.
And right now the days are pressing close together and adding up quickly without anything coming to light.

When the unknowns start to permeate every corner of your heart and life, the lines between truth and lie can become blurred with the tears and the fears.

So today I’m making a list of what I know is true and holding tight to those things when everything else seems to be falling. Because when your life is filled with unknowns and unanswered questions you have to hold fast to what you know for sure.

I know for sure…
…that God is on the throne…
…that He is good…
…and that He loves me.

I know for sure that He has all authority in heaven and on earth.

I know for sure that He has a plan and that plan is good and that plan is for His glory and His glory alone.

I know for sure that He is wholly righteous and just in His actions.

I know for sure that this world is broken and fallen and evil and that I am broken and fallen and evil apart from the precious blood of Jesus.

I know for sure that He has rescued me from my brokenness.

I know for sure that through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross I am restored to a place of fellowship with God.

I know for sure that when God looks at me He sees the glorious righteousness of Jesus covering me.

…and I know for sure that in Jesus I am a beloved child of the King.

I know for sure that I am not promised and easy life, but I am promised that God will be with me in the midst of life.

I know for sure that there is nothing on this earth that can harm me beyond what God allows for His glorious purposes.

I know for sure that I am not the main part of God’s plan for my life, but that His glory is the main part of His plan for my life.

I know for sure that He will be faithful to complete the work He has begun in my life for His glory.

I know for sure that this life is short and that it is not my final destination.

…and I know for sure that my position in heaven is secure.

I know for sure that this life is a war and I am called to fight.

I know for sure that I have the power of God living inside of me, equipping me for every battle and every good work He has called me to.

I know for sure that I will make mistakes but that there is a never-ending supply of grace waiting for me when I turn to Jesus.

…and I know for sure that He has empowered me, is empowering me, and will empower me to do all that He has called me to do for His glory.

I know for sure that God’s grace is glorious.
I know for sure that my home is in heaven.
I know for sure that my identity is in Jesus.
I know for sure that my calling is to bring Him glory.

I know for sure that God is on the throne, that He is good, and that He loves me. And I’m clinging hard and fast to these truths on the days when I just don’t know…because these things I know for sure.

Be blessed,
Alesha

BACK AGAIN by Alesha Sinks

The air conditioning was broken at the Veterans Park Community Center we rent for church, and after a sticky, sweaty hour and a half service at the beginning of July, we relocated to a living room for the next three weeks while the air conditioning was being fixed.

And while we’re excited to be back in our normal brown folding chairs this coming Sunday, August 2nd, it was such a sweet time of worship the past three weeks. About twenty five of us packed into the living room and kitchen to sit on an odd assortment couches, patio furniture, kitchen chairs, and bar stools in order to worship and pray together and to hear the Word of God taught.

What a special time those services were, in all their simplicity! And our hearts might have been tempted to say, "Isn't this better? Just the "core group" worshiping together in a more intimate space..."

But Pastor Daniel reminded us over and over that we aren't called to simply worship and be fed for ourselves. We have a mission from God in our city. And while the times of pulling back and refreshing ourselves in God are important, the weekly and daily presence we have in our city through our regular service times and regular lives lived out are essential too.

Church planting isn't just about being fed and gathering intimately and worshiping privately.

Church planting is...

...serving.

...giving.

...opening wide.

...reaching out.

...being consistent.

...living love out to those around you.

And while our little group of twenty-five might seem like it's too small to make a real impact, it's really not. Because even one person living their life open and reaching out in love can make a world of difference.

So each Sunday we are called to meet in the little community center by the Intercostal. We are called to sit on those familiar chairs and to put out the same signs and to preach the Word of God every single week, so that people know that we will be there when they need us…when they need to meet with Jesus.

And each week, we're called to go about our lives in a way that's seeking opportunities to serve and give and even speak the love of Jesus that has set us free, so that people will know that we will be there when they need us.

Church planting takes consistency.

Sacrificial consistency.

Loving consistency.

Open armed consistency.

May we find the strength in Jesus to be consistent in loving and serving and being where He has called us to be.

CHURCH PLANTING: THE SMALL MOMENTS by Alesha Sinks

…this.
….these moments.
…these collections of things and people and places and conversations and actions and chores that make up our lives each day.

We can’t afford to miss that this is it.
The work we do.
The daily life we live.
The streets we drive.
The songs we sing.
The relationships we have.

The smallest of moments we live each day…
…this is church planting.

And I want to remember this.
The small times.
The seemingly insignificant times.

The days when a team of five adults and two kids can set up for church in just over an hour.

The days of hauling equipment out of a back closet.

The days of taking an empty, uninviting space and turning it into a place where people come to meet with Jesus.

The days of one tiny kids room in the back, only separated from the sanctuary by a pulling divider.

The days of folding chairs and folding tables and black curtain dividers.

The days of wiping play mats on hands and knees.

The days of ten-year-olds holding hands with three-year-olds and learning about Jesus together.

The days of events that take every person in the church to accomplish.

I want to remember the small days and the small moments and the big things Jesus did in and through all of the smallness.

I want to remember this and I want to be thankful for it now, in the midst of the smallness. I want to remember and celebrate that God is somehow working through all of the small.

I want to remember that all these small things are the big things…that they are what church planting is made up of.

Church planting is all the little things that happen in the little moments of life that we can so easily miss if we don’t take the time to notice and celebrate.

Be blessed,

lesha

Noise {Creating a Filter of Truth} by Alesha Sinks

“There is always noise.”
Pastor Daniel Williams

I spend so much time listening to the input of the world around me…

I check read a summary of world news in my email.
I click on articles in my Facebook feed.
I see the lives of characters during my favorite tv show.
I pause at headlines of magazines and newspapers.
I listen to the conversations of friends and coworkers.
I glance at my sports app and my news app.
I read articles and articles and articles every day…

I don’t have tv. I don’t listen to the radio.
And yet I still have an overload of information coming at me all the time. A plethora of voices and opinions and philosophies and worldviews.

Because whether I recognize it or not, every piece of information I consume is tinted with an opinion, a set of beliefs, an idea of how things are or should be.

And I’ve learned that I have to have a filter, because there is noise everywhere.

I have to filter the thoughts and opinions and beliefs that are subtly slipped into my social media and my news sources and my entertainment preferences.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
1 John 4:1

I cannot, nor should I, limit the noise coming at me so far that I can keep everything I see and hear and read perfectly pure and true. But I must learn to see the truths and lies presented me at every turn and be able to differentiate between the two.

And the only way I’ve found to keep my filter strong is to intentionally and consistently feed myself a steady input of truth.
Studying God’s Word
Listening to truth spoken and sung
Spending time in prayer
Reading books and articles that point me to Jesus and proclaim His good gospel

“There is always noise.”

There are always ideas and thoughts and opinions and worldviews being preached loud to you, so will your filter be strong enough to differentiate between the truths and the lies?

Your filter needs to be built of truth in order for you to be able to identify truth.

I’m seeking to stay close to Jesus and I’m praying that He will give me wisdom as I intentionally build my filter.

What does your filter look like?

Be blessed,

Alesha

Hospitality is Worth It by Alesha Sinks

I forgot about our bathroom when I said we should invite some friends over for dinner.

The bathroom hadn’t been cleaned in too long and the hand towel needed to be changed out and there were spots on the mirror and I’m sure there was hair on the floor. I’m slowly getting the house back to a normal level of cleanliness after the constant sleepiness of the first trimester, and I haven’t quite gotten to the deep cleaning of the bathroom.

So we texted friends until we found a few who needed something to do on their Friday night. Then we hustled to the store where we gathered all sorts of yummy toppings for my very favorite to make homemade pizza.

And somewhere knee-deep in the cooking process, I remembered about the bathroom. Because what is worse than inviting guests over for dinner only to expect them to use your messy bathroom?

I planned out my time and didn’t panic, but cooking always takes longer than I seem to think it will. Then the doorbell rang and I was up to my elbows in pizza toppings and hadn’t even changed out the hand towel…

And then I completely forgot about the dirty bathroom, until our last guest was saying goodbye and thanking me for the evening.

My first instinct was to internally panic and then panic to my husband as soon as the door shut behind everyone. But somehow I stopped my panic long enough to listen to what she was saying…

“Thank you so much for inviting me tonight. I almost texted you earlier today, but I was afraid it would be date night…I really enjoyed it.”

And I thought about our little group that evening.
Five of us sat on couches and ate pizza and veggies and ice cream cake and talked seriously and laughed hard and listened intently and all talked over each other for four hours. Each of us in the room had some challenge we were facing, some battle we were fighting. And I think we all just needed to laugh and be together, even if our friendships are sort of new we mostly left the deep conversations for another day.

They left and my extravert’s heart was full and my craving for deep, authentic community was a little more satisfied. And I realized all I would have missed if I’d let a dirty bathroom get in the way of that night.

When you look around at your community, maybe it’s a little mismatched, a little broken, a little new and fresh and hesitant. And maybe your bathroom is dirty or your laundry unfolded or your meal just a frozen pizza, but I want to challenge you that community is always worth it.

It’s worth it to take the time and energy to invest in the new friendships and to bring people together for the first time under your roof. It’s worth it to cook a meal or clean your house or just pick whichever of the two you have time for.

Because the people gathered in our living room last night all helped me in the kitchen at one point or another, since I’m simply not that organized. And the bathroom wasn’t clean, which they probably noticed. And at times the odd combination of newer friendships showed in our conversation, but we all needed the community.
And we all left thankful.

And it wasn’t the homemade meal that any of us were thankful for…it was each other. It was the time together. It was the friendship and the community.

Your home doesn’t have to be perfect to be inviting.
Your food doesn’t have to have a gourmet presentation to foster community.
Your community itself doesn’t have to be deep and rich in order for it to be a blessing…to yourself and to others.

So invite people into the mess.
You, and they, will leave thankful.

Be blessed

Alesha

Answered Prayer and Giving Thanks by Alesha Sinks

I filled out my prayer request form and dropped it in the offering box.

I almost didn’t.
I almost felt a little embarrassed.
Because shouldn’t you expect hip pain when you’re pregnant and I shouldn’t be complaining about something as sweet as the little boy growing inside of me.

But asking for prayer isn’t the same thing as complaining and even if it was, complaining about hip pain isn’t the same as complaining about the cause of the hip pain.
And more importantly than all that I knew the verse…

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
Philippians 4:6

So I dropped my filled-out card in the offering box and moved on. Until the next afternoon when I realized that my hip hadn’t hurt all day.

With no warning I went from Sunday morning of the worst the pain had been, to Monday morning pain free. Completely pain free.

And a few months ago I would have just moved on with life.
No prayer of thanks. No acknowledgement of God’s hand in the situation. Just some silent rejoicing and plunging forward without a further thought.

But just a few months ago, I noticed this pattern in my heart during another afternoon rush of running late. I prayed for help to arrive at my destination on time and tried to breathe deeply. Somehow in the midst of amazingly clear traffic and an answered prayer, I noticed my lack of faith.

The problem wasn’t that I forgot to give thanks, the problem was that I was afraid to believe that God actually had a hand in answering my prayer.

Because hitting all green lights and hip pain going away and getting a good nights sleep are all “little” things that could have natural solutions. I was afraid to give God the credit for the “little” things because…what if it was just chance or natural circumstances?

And all at once it hit me.
This was not faith. This fear to credit God with the “little” things was not faith. This lack of praise and thanksgiving was not faith.

I wondered, “How could I live like that and yet still claim to believe the words of Philippians 4:6?”

Yes, I may never know whether God reached down from the heavens and controlled the traffic lights for me, or if I “just so happened” to hit them all with perfect timing, but does it matter?

Or could perhaps I credit God with my timing in pulling out of our gated, backyard parking pad so that I perfectly hit every green light?

It’s not faith to pray for something then give the credit to someone or something other than God when my prayer is answered. And yes, perhaps my prayers are often a little silly or even brought on by my own lack of discipline and scheduling, but does that mean God doesn’t care or won’t answer?

So my skeptical mind wrestled hard with the questions, “How does refusing to praise Him build my faith or bring Him glory? How does giving the credit to ‘natural causes’ fit in with what I say I believe…with Philippians 4:6?”

And I found, they don’t.
If I truly believe that God desires to hear every care and worry of my heart, then I must praise Him for every relief of those cares.

So on Tuesday morning I sat down and emailed the prayer team to say thank you for praying and to give God the glory for healing my hip. And each time I pause to pour out thanks and praise to God for answers to the “little” prayers, I feel like a tiny seed of faith is growing into a firmer confidence of the goodness of God.

Do you thank God for answers to the “little” prayers? Have you every struggled with this?

Be blessed, 

Alesha

Why Your Story Matters [Pt3] by Alesha Sinks

I want to tell you that your story matters…

But not because it’s your story.
Your story matters because we need to be reminded.

You could tell me every hour that God’s grace is enough, that He is faithful, and that He is good, and I’d need to be reminded more. The old hymn says it so well…

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;

And the lines before these two are my heart’s cry…

Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

But how will His goodness bind my heart to His if I don’t remember His goodness? How will I keep His goodnesses ever on the forefront of my ever forgetful mind?

And that is why your story is needed.
And that is why my story is needed.
And that is why a million little God stories are needed everyday.

Because our stories are reminders of His goodness…for others and for ourselves.

And we need the constant reminders.
This world is sending a constant stream of messages your way, and the only way to combat the greed and the worry and the lies of the world is with a constant stream of messages pointing us back to Jesus.

There is a steady stream of input coming at us no matter what we do, so let’s filter that stream and fill it full of stories and messages and words and art and music that reminds of Jesus, that points us back to Him, that brings us to worship.

We need reminders for our hearts.
We need stories to point us to His power.
We need art to cause us to worship our Creator.
We need words that challenge us to love Him more.

We need reminders…
And there will never be enough stories and enough songs and enough art and enough reminders to keep our hearts pointed perfectly toward Him, so let’s just keep intaking truth and pointing our hearts toward Him and sharing our stories to help others refocus toward Him too.

Be blessed,
Alesha Sinks

Why Your Story Matters [Pt2] by Alesha Sinks

I want to tell you that your story matters…

But not because it’s your story.
Your story matters because you need to share it.

You need to share your story more than most of the world needs to read it.

Something happens when we begin to artistically share our story. We begin to see how the pieces fit. We begin see how that little forgotten piece from childhood shaped and prepared us for today. We begin see how that deep, dark season prepared us to minister to that person in front of us today. We begin to see the darkness of our own need and the greatness of His love that has saved us from ourselves.

When we share our stories, we see it new all over again.
When we share our stories, we learn things we never saw the first time.
When we share our stories, we relearn the lessons we’ve forgotten.
When we share our stories, we are reminded of God’s gracious hand in our lives.

The world might need your story, but not as much as you need your story.

If you never tell your story, you’ll never learn the power of reviewing all that God has done.

If you never tell your story, you may miss the vastness of God’s glory in you life.

You need your story, because you need to remember where you have come from and what God has done and how faithful He has been in the past. Because when you remember His past faithfulness, it builds faith in Him for the present.

And there will never be enough retellings of your story to express the fullness of God’s glory in your brokenness, so let’s just keep telling and retelling His goodness.

Be blessed
Alesha Sinks

Why Your Story Matters [Pt1] by Alesha Sinks

I want to tell you that your story matters…

But not because it’s your story.
Your story matters because your story is a part of His story.

Our God is a story teller.
Since the beginning of creation, God has been writing the story of the world. It’s a story of love. And like every good love story, it’s filled with rejection, redemption, renewal, sacrifice, pain, beauty, and glory.

It’s a story of God creating life because He wanted to love us. And He has continued to love us even when we’ve rejected Him, scorned Him, ignored Him, fought against Him, and claimed He doesn’t exist.

He loved us so much that He sent His Son to earth to die, to pay the price of our sin and rebellion, so that we could be restored into relationship with Him. He pursued us relentlessly, and He still pursues us today.

And your story…your story is a piece of that story. It’s like one thread in a massive and intricate piece of embroidery. You won’t fully see the role that your thread, your specific color and sheen and thickness and placement of thread, is playing until the end, until you can see the masterpiece from the perspective of the Artist.

Your story is not needed because your words are special or your wisdom is special or you are special.

Your story is needed because it is part of His story and His story shows His power and His love and His glory. And when you share your story with that in mind, we can catch a greater glimpse of Him and the story He’s writing.

He’s writing a million micro stories into one macro narrative that will be revealed in heaven. Each tiny piece of the story, each of our little lives, is a piece of that story meant to bring Him glory.

There will never be enough stories and enough songs and enough art and enough words to express the fullness of God’s glory, so let’s just keep sharing our stories and get as close as we can.

Be blessed
Alesha Sinks