Guard Your Mouth by David Baldwin

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips. —Psalm 141:3

Everyone has had the experience of saying something they wished was never spoken. You long to take those words back and forget them. Unfortunately, once words are expressed there is no tape to rewind and start over. You can see why the Scriptures refer to the tongue as a weapon:

Reckless words pierce like a sword…. —Proverbs 12:18

Being the weapon it is, the tongue must be handled with care and aligned with the Scriptures. Sadly, when untamed the tongue can leave in its wake divorces, broken friendships, wars, destroyed confidences, job losses, crushed spirits, etc. The unharnessed tongue of a believer damages the kingdom because no untamed tongue can represent the love, mercy, and glory of Christ.

In contrast, a spiritually inspired tongue is one that spiritually heals others as revealed in the second part of Proverbs 12:18:

…but the tongue of the wise brings healing. —Proverbs 12:18

In its entirety this scripture reads, “Reckless words pierce like a sword but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Now when you add Paul’s teaching about the fruit of the Spirit (…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, Galatians 5:22-23) to your speech, the Lord becomes glorified; His healing is revealed. To do otherwise is just loitering in the evil one’s playground of hate, joylessness, unrest, pressure, lack of sympathy, unfaithfulness, harshness, and lack of control.

The bottom line: your speech is intended to plant seeds of hope and healing into those around you. Never forget that your speech is part of your testimony, which has a direct impact on your ability to reach others for Christ. So with your speech comes the choice to say either spiritually wise words that heal and bring hope or unwholesome words that pierce the kingdom. Sounds harsh, but it’s one way or the other. Either your words will lift others’ spirits up and draw them closer to the Lord for restoration or they won’t. Words represent your testimony, so I encourage you to choose your words wisely so they align with the Lord’s holy testimony.

Takeaway:

Allow your speech to be a fruitful testimony of God’s love, mercy, and grace. Do not allow your tongue to transform you into a spiritual hypocrite by praising the Lord with one side of your mouth while the other side is spewing untamed piercing words.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. —James 3:9-12

Reflections:

• How well are you in control of your speech?
• Does your speech always represent God’s love, mercy, and grace?
• Do you need to reconcile with someone regarding words harshly spoken?
• Take a few minutes to pray to the Lord asking Him to reveal the areas of your speech that do not represent His love, mercy, and grace. Afterward, sit quietly and listen for how the Spirit is guiding you.

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. —James 1:26

Ask for Help

Nehemiah 1:11 "O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

We all need help. Most great leaders don’t know how to do everything and aren’t great at everything. But great leaders tend to have people on their team that cover their weaknesses. They recognize the value of other people’s strengths and aren’t intimidated to say they are weak in certain areas and need help. This important principle of teamwork is found in the Bible where it says “there are many parts, but one body.” (1 Corinthians 12). The apostle Paul uses the illustration of a body and how we all have a different role to play by God’s grace to accomplish great things to bring God glory. So rather than trying to be great at everything and get everything done by yourself, God tells us to walk in humility and work as a team to accomplish great things together.   But He also says pride can come in the way. 

We must ask for help. This may surprise you but I can’t read your mind…I don’t know what goes on in your heart..I am unaware of your all of your needs. Ok, that may not surprise you but you may find it surprising when people act as if these things are true. Sometimes great people that want to help you aren’t doing so simply because they don’t know you want help. You never actually asked them for help, and they may just be waiting for you to ask. 

Communication is key to any relationship, and many relationships suffer because of communication. Sometimes we aren’t prideful but we never communicate our need for help. We don’t want to bother anyone, we want to try to do it all alone, or we just want to take on too much. We are to ask people on our team to help us and to use their strengths to benefit the team. A great leaders is not someone who does it all but rather a great leader knows the gifts and strengths of the people that are following him and uses their gifts and abilities to benefit the whole team. This must takes place though good communication where the leader has to communicate clearly the needs, give clear expectations, and ask people to get things done. 

We can ask for help from God. Have you ever thought about this? The Bible says that we can join God to accomplish great things and bring Him glory—that we become a part of God’s team. How awesome is this! This means we can ask God for help. In our weaknesses, we can have someone from our team cover us with their strength’s. It almost seems unfair because God is better at everything we are so if this principle is true we would keep on asking God to do everything. Exactly. It’s called a life of dependence, and 1 Thessalonians 5:17 actually exhorts us to live this way by saying, “Pray without ceasing.” We can actually communicate with God through prayer and ask Him for help.

We see Nehemiah praying and saying, “Give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” Nehemiah went to God in prayer for help and relied on God to come through. He recognized that he needed help and communicated to someone who could help him. We must not let our pride get in the way of asking God for help in our time of need ,and we must communicate with Him through prayer. The Bible tells us that in our weakness He is made strong and He gives grace to the humble.  Just as you would ask people on your team for help to accomplish great things, ask God for help today and allow His strengths to cover you. 

Serve the Lord with Gladness by Pilgrim Benham

Psalms 100:1-2 

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.

Recently I found myself exhorted to serve more in the body of Christ with the motive of thanksgiving and gladness, not out of a sense of guilt or pastoral pressure.  My mind scanned through old Bible memory verses and I suddenly stumbled upon this verse in Psalms 100, a verse that my grandparents taught us to sing on a mission trip to Honduras and that hasn’t left my memory since.

The Idea

I love the idea of serving the Lord not out of compulsion or force.  God isn’t the commander that has enforced the draft!  He’s not the angry employer that is demanding we do the dirty job that is normally relegated to the new hires.  He isn’t giving us a stern command but rather a loving invitation to come and join Him in the work He is doing on the earth in the hearts of men and women.

When we pray, “Your kingdom come” we know we aren’t talking about a kingdom that is contained within political or geographical borders, but the kingdom of God is His rule and reign in the hearts of His people.  When we desire to see that kingdom forcefully advance, there must be those who are willing to lay down their lives for the sake of the gospel.

Joy, not Guilt

Service is not just a command, it is a joy.  It gives us spiritual zeal (Romans 12:11) and is a test of our stewardship (Matthew 25:23).  And the psalmist implores you and I to check our motives at the door of the church.  Are we serving the Lord with gladness?  Are we motivated by guilt, or by competition, or by envy, or by a genuine desire to see His kingdom come?

Over 15 years ago I heard an announcement from the pulpit of a church I was visiting calling for a week of prayer for the direction of their youth ministry.  I remember coming to pray, and feeling a deep sense of God’s call and an obvious need.  I didn’t have training, I certainly wasn’t experienced, and I was pretty intimidated.  But as I poured out my life serving the Lord and ministering to HIM, I found a joy and a place in ministering to His young flock.

What Now?

Has the wind left your sails?  Are you like David, discouraged and overwhelmed in the battle?  Maybe it’s time to encourage yourself in the Lord, to remind yourself to make a joyful shout the Lord, and to serve Him with gladness.  Maybe you aren’t yet finding a place to fit in.  Maybe you are that puzzle piece that hasn’t found its place yet.  Seek the Lord, find a need, and then serve the Lord with His strength and His resources, giving Him the glory, and amazingly, He’ll reward you for it!

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

Have Perspective by David Baldwin

…there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. —Revelation 4:1-3

Here you see the Holy Spirit giving John a glimpse into heaven. This scripture prompts me to sit still long enough to put my life in proper perspective—to focus on my purpose for this gift of life, to reflect on my ultimate destination, and to avoid being constrained by any shortcomings of this world. Doing so, I am reminded not to allow life’s tough circumstances and disappointments to enslave me. 

This world is not bigger than your God, so there is no reason to allow this world to knock you off balance and disrupt your faith. Since we all will have to deal with unpleasant situations during our lifetime, it is important to have the perspective that this world is only temporary—so why be dragged down by it? The good news is you can rely on the very power of Christ, who overcame death, and God’s love to keep you uplifted.

Your perspective on life is so important because it fuels your actions. The wrong perspective can cause anger to stir, it can cause you to lash out, it can cause darkness to fall on your faith, etc. However, the right perspective on your final destiny leads to hope, peace, understanding, forgiveness, and a healthy faith. Most importantly, it leads people to the Lord. Be careful not to allow your perspective of this precious life to become contaminated. Focus on your final eternal destination, and ask the Lord how to use your experiences, both good and bad, to advance His kingdom.

A great example of this is found in Acts 16, the story of Paul and Silas when they were falsely accused, stripped, severely beaten, thrown into prison, and shackled. Now that would be one horrific day. Were they bitter and angry? No, as we see them around midnight praying and singing hymns to God while the other prisoners were listening to them, including the jailer, who in the end gave his life to Christ.

Every time I read this scripture I think WOW! What great perspective and faith they had, amazing vertical alignment. I want that for my life, what about you? Even though they personally suffered greatly, there was purpose that needed the proper perspective. A big question: are you willing to suffer at the gain of someone else’s salvation or as encouragement to another believer?

So there can be a great testimony in your suffering, but the testimony requires the right perspective. When you are sometimes joyful, sometimes prayerful, or sometimes thankful, then your eyes have become horizontally focused on the world, which is spiritually unhealthy and unaligned. A healthy spirit is one of constant vertical focus, one that embraces the gift of one day living in eternity with our Lord. The temporal things of this world must never weigh you down. There may be situations where you receive an earthly blow that knocks you down. Just don’t let it knock you out. Rise back to your feet knowing that God works for the good in all circumstances. 

You may not understand, but that’s okay because faith does not require understanding. Faith knows you have a loving God. After all He allowed His one and only Son to die for your sins. How was that fair to Christ? Faith is not intended to equal fairness. Faith does require vertical perspective. Because of Christ, you can give thanks in every circumstance knowing that you have eternal security. So hold on tight to the right perspective on your life—live with vertical focus. 

Takeaways:

Your final destination is not within this world; it is in the heavens above, so put your focus there in order to keep whatever events are thrown your way in the right perspective. Focus on the final destination and not on the bumps in the road.

Align your spiritual perspective vertically, not horizontally.

Reflections:

• Have you ever lost the right perspective for your life?
• Lately, has your perspective been more horizontally focused or vertically focused (eternal)?
• Take a few minutes to pray to the Lord asking Him to filter out any contaminants of this world that are hindering your ability to focus on your ultimate destination. Ask for the perspective of Paul and Silas. Afterward, sit quietly and listen for how the Spirit is guiding you.

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

The same playing field

Nehemiah 1:6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. 

All leaders have followers. If you are out ahead and no one is following you, then you probably are not a leader. We must understand that we all play different roles and we need each other. The Bible tells us that leadership is a gift from God and is given to leaders by grace. What will make a person into a great leader is walking in humility. We need to recognize that we are all equal,  living our lives to glorify Jesus. God has given us different roles, gifts and abilities all by His grace and exhorts us to uses our position, gifts, and abilities for His glory. Just because we have different roles doesn’t mean we are ever more important than anyone else. We have the same goals in mind as we serve Jesus—we are all on the same playing field trying to win.

Nehemiah recognized this as he addressed the remnant of people that were living in despair. Why? Because he understood that both he and the people were sinners—imperfect people. He could have easily said that the remnant in Jerusalem deserved what they got because they had sinned against God, but he understood that he wasn’t perfect either. He says in this verse,  “We have sinned against You. Even I and my father's house have sinned.” Just because he was in a different position didn’t change the fact that he was imperfect as well. He understood that his position of cup bear was given by God’s grace.

It is hard sometimes as a leader not to elevate yourself and become prideful. You are doing so much, and it can be very easy to have pride slip in. You can actually think that you are better or even on a different level than the people you are trying to lead. But we aren’t better than our followers. We are all sinners, and we are all in desperate need of Jesus in our lives.

Those that understand they are just a piece in a larger puzzle are often more gracious. I want to be more gracious and non judgmental with those I lead because I know that I make mistakes as well. I know that I blow it. I know that I am a sinner. We see Nehemiah going to God with this truth rather than putting people down to elevate himself. I have come to find out that when I go to God with my sin and imperfections He is able to handle it all and lovingly forgive me. Jesus deals with my sin perfectly and has graciously loved me. So when I go to God with my sin as Nehemiah did,  I find love and hope in Him. This helps me lead people better because now I don’t have to put others down to deal with my imperfections. I can now help others by pointing them to Jesus to deal with their sins and imperfections. I can testify of His loving grace and encourage other to go to Him for strength. I can say WE are on the same playing field and we all need grace.

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

Love One Another Deeply by David Baldwin

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. —1 Peter 1:22

If you had the choice of being loved versus having great wealth without the ability to love or be loved, which would you choose? I can’t fathom any greater satisfaction than being able to love and be loved. A loveless life with great wealth would be fruitless, meaningless, and lonely.

Love is so valuable and so important that Jesus addressed it as our greatest commandment.

“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” —Matthew 22:36-40

Jesus reveals that love is the foundation for everything you do and believe in. 

Peter inspires us to “love one another deeply.” He did not stop at “love one another.” He added the word “deeply,” which adds such richness to the way we love. To gain even further perspective on how to love deeply, go to 1 Corinthians 13, which describes love as:

Love is patient.

Love is kind. 

It does not envy.

It does not boast.

It is not proud. 

It is not rude.

It is not self-seeking. 

It is not easily angered.

It keeps no record of wrongs. 

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

It always protects.

Always trusts.

Always hopes.

Always perseveres. 

Love never fails.

It is amazing how this scripture concludes with “Love never fails,” which is the bottom line to loving deeply. Natural love has a chance to fail, to disappear like the morning dew, and thus natural love has no lasting value. However, God’s love and His inspiration for love are perfect. His love has no boundaries, it has no contingencies, it carries no judgments, it possesses no timetable, it harbors no selfishness, it does not get entangled, and it does not get exhausted. Showing love God’s way has no capability of failing—ever. So, to love one another deeply, including those who seem undeserving, you are to move beyond natural love by taking it to a majestic level.

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. —Ephesians 5:1-2

Takeaway:

Failure to embrace God’s law of love only brings poverty to one’s soul—a life without the ability to love and be loved deeply.

Reflections:

• Lately, how have you demonstrated the depth of God’s love to those around you?
• If your ability to show love fails at times, how does that resonate in your soul when you are guided to love everyone “deeply”?
• Take a few minutes to pray to the Lord about how to love God and others deeply. Afterward, sit quietly and listen for how the Spirit is guiding you.

The Palms Of His Hands by Jason Sanchez

I had yet another amazing conversation with my little 4 year old, Ayantu Faith.

The other night, I walked into our room just as Jackie and Antu finished reading a story from her  Jesus storybook bible.  As I knelt down by our bed to spend a moment with her, she said “daddy, I want to tell you something…”  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard that line, followed by all kinds of either questions, stories, thoughts, etc.   Little did I know, she was going to move me to tears and a deeper thankfulness for her and our Lord.

Antu continued, “…daddy, my mom and dad left me…”  she paused for a second and looked like she was going to rephrase her words.  I wasn’t quite sure what she was saying, and was ready to respond with, “no we didn’t, we are right here.”  But before I could say something, Antu was talking again, “daddy, my mom and dad left me…and that’s when the police found me and brought me to my nannies at the orphanage.  They took care of me until you and momma came and got me.”

Jackie and I often talk about when the appropriate age would be, to tell Antu her complete story, but apparently she’s got it mostly figured out.  She has talked about her nanny before and how we are in an orphanage just like the one she was in.  In fact, yesterday while we were in the dining hall, she said, “you know dada, this orphanage is different then my orphanage I lived in.”  She then proceeded to point out all the things that were different (as if she really remembers).  However i’ve never heard her talk about how her mom and dad left her.  I didn’t need to hear anything else for the tears to start flowing.  I immediately hugged and squeezed her tight, telling her how much I love her and how thankful I am that she is our daughter!

I think part of the reason I was so emotional was because I can’t believe someone would abandon this precious girl.  How in the world could someone leave a 2 day old baby, naked, alone, on a dusty dirt road.  And then I started thinking of the boys in the other room, who too have experienced abandonment.  All three of them don’t have fathers, Erasmo’s mother forsook he and his siblings and little Luis is truly an orphan, not having any family. I don’t understand it!

Well, actually, I do understand it.  We live in a fallen, broken, sinful, hurting world.  And apart from a relationship with Jesus, people do the craziest things.

Every year, we celebrate and remember the greatest sacrifice and gift the world has ever received.  Around Easter, we spend time remembering Jesus’ brutal death on the cross, the day He took ALL the broken, fallen, sinful, hurts of this world upon Himself to cleanse and change our lives forever.  The day that our Savior remembered all those who have, are, and will be abandoned or neglected, and He engraved us on the palms of His bloody hands!  The day that TRUE LOVE died…that He might be raised again, as we will celebrate and remember every Easter.

“Can a nursing woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb?  Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.  Behold, I have enraged you on the palms of my hands…” (Isaiah 49:15-16).

I pray that the Lord uses this reminder to minister to your heart in a new and fresh way, as you think on our Lord, engraving you on the palms of His hands!