Love Handles

No! Not the ones we try to eat less bread and work out at the gym to get rid of. I'm talking about the ones that attach us to God. As I was praying this morning over a need, He said that this need was a love handle. It gave me the ability to hold onto my Abba Father in a way that I wouldn't have if I didn't have the need. I think of all the "opportunities" God gives us to hold onto the love handles He so graciously provides. But just like our physical love handles, we don't really want those "opportunities". We want everything smooth and stress free. But it is only as we experience life in all the fullness there of (including pain and stress) that we will experience fully our Father God. If we never had a need for provision, we would never know Him as the Provider. If we were never sick, we would never know Him as the Healer. How much of the goodness of God would we miss if we had no needs? I know, I know, can't we just wait til heaven to experience God in His fullness. After all, we'll have all eternity!! Isn't that long enough? But no, in His gracious wisdom, He wants us to experience a measure of His goodness here while on earth. So, hold on to those love handles and enjoy the ride!

Guard Rails

Thank God for guard rails! Last weekend, my husband and I had an accident that caused our car to crash against those wooden kind of guard rails that mark the edge of a road. Basically, they saved our lives, considering the fact that had they not been there, we would have plummeted over a cliff of unknown depths. (Unknown to me because I really didn't want to go back and measure!) We had many dear friends with us, since we were on a community cruise with 16 cars and everyone kept telling us afterwards, "We're so glad you're both alright." I think God matured my husband and I both at least 10 years in those moments after the accident and beyond.

It's amazing when you've come through a life threatening situation how your perspective changes. I have had so many staggering understandings from this situation, but I think the greatest for me has been the new appreciation for the loving protection that our heavenly Father provides us. His love and mercy was shown not only to us, but to those who know and love us. To our daughter and her husband, to our immediate families and friends. To our employees and customers. The ripples of the loss of one life can be greater than we could ever imagine. I pray that we don't take our lives for granted, that we cherish every day and every person that God places in our paths. I pray that we will be careful with this life that God has so graciously given us to steward. True, we would have been with Him in heaven had we passed, but I certainly am not ready for that yet. Too many pizzas to toss, too many frappes to blend, too many lives to bless and be blessed by. Sorry if this has been a sobering post, but it was a sobering weekend. Thanks Abba!

God's Glory Revealed in Us

Yesterday was a beautiful spring morning as I went out for my early morning walk. I felt like the roses were especially beautiful, as they only can be during springtime. As I thanked the Lord for the many different vibrant colors of his roses, He said to me, "My glory is expressed through what I have created."

I knew He was using the roses to remind me how beautiful we are, as His children. I don't always feel very beautiful, but I am learning to understand God's heart towards me and so I know that He sees me as beautiful. He created each one of us unique and beautiful and truly His glory is expressed through the many facets of our lives. The roses will fade as the summer heats up, but the glory He has placed in each one of us will not. We will continue to grow and bloom not only here on earth, but throughout eternity. Thank you Lord for your glory and for your expression of beauty through each one of us.

Poke Holes

Have you ever baked a poke hole cake? After the cake is baked, you have to poke holes in it so that the sweet, creamy filling can go deep into the cake. God reminded me this morning that He is in a season of poke holing His people. He is poking grace holes into our lives so that He can pour His sweetness into us. If the cake had feelings, it would probably hate being poked. But once that sweet creaminess was lavished into it, I'll bet the cake wouldn't mind it at all.

It truly is painful to be poked, but the deeper the work He does in us, the deeper His Spirit and power and love can penetrate into our souls. Ultimately, what He is doing, is drawing us into intimacy with Him. When we are poked, we become desperate and must draw close to Him. If ever we grumble about pain and suffering and being poked, just remember, He went first!!

What does Ministry in Business look like?

As God continues to teach me about what ministry in business looks like, I've been understanding that it has many facets. I've known that we were to be a blessing to our employees, customers, vendors and communities in which we do business, but that has taken on different shapes over the years. One of the turns it took last week as I was reading through "The Supernatural Ways of Royalty" by Kris Vallotton is through the understanding that as "royalty" (aka Kids of the King) and the head of our businesses, we are "to spend more time raising up people around us rather than worrying about our own significance. We need to cultivate an environment that draws out the plans God has hidden in the hearts of people." To sum up his thoughts, the goal is that people who come into our presence would feel valued and significant.

So as I was praying about that, I suddenly heard the words "building people". Are we spending time building up the people around us or are we so caught up in our own identity and how we look to others that we forget to pray for and actively draw out what God has placed within those around us.

I know that as we build up those around us, we will also be built up and blessed beyond measure. We don't always have to understand how God works that all out. If we had to totally understand how God does everything, then we would miss the "peace that passeth understanding!" What does ministry in business look like to you? Write me and let me know. Ker@iwvisp.com

Presence or Principles?

This weekend I spent a lot of time on the road, as I normally do, and had a chance to listen to some great teaching cds from one of my favorite teachers, Bill Johnson of Bethel Church, in Redding California. I felt so good about some of the principles I learned and hoped I could hold onto those lofty thoughts. This morning when I woke up I heard God say, "Information without intimacy can be a dangerous thing. Knowledge puffs up but intimacy grounds us." I'd been hearing this theme a lot lately. When I shared this with my friend, Melanie, she reminded me that there is a scripture that says, "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." from 1 Corinthians.

I realized that if we only spend time gaining knowledge about our God and Saviour, then we have the danger of only being "religious". It is in intimacy with our Father, spending time with Him in quiet places of contemplation, that that knowledge is able to do the work in us and transform us into the person that He created us to be. He doesn't want us to know about Him, He wants us to know him and that can only come as we spend time in His presence, laying our heads upon His heart. Even time spent in Bible Studies with others or church services, though these are valuable things, can work against us if we are not having that time alone with the lover of our souls. I know how hard it is to make that quiet time, but the value cannot be overestimated. HELP LORD!! May we so fall in love with You that we can hardly stand not to place you above all other activities. In Jesus' Name!!

Every move I make...

Do you ever wake up with a feeling of dread? The other morning when I woke up with that feeling, I sensed that it must grieve God's heart that we aren't sure if He can really help us with the circumstances of our lives. Do we think that He isn't wise enough, powerful enough or adequate enough to help us. Do we think that His arm is too short or that He is too old or feeble or weak? Do we think that He doesn't love us enough to care about the situations we face, or that He is mean spirited and enjoys watching us suffer? I know these aren't really conscious thoughts we have, but do we operate as though we believe they are true?

Of course, all of these questions are ludicrous. His arm is not too short to help us and He says that He never sleeps or slumbers. He says that all good things come from Him. He says that He loves us enough to have sent His only son to die so that we could spend eternity with Him. He never changes or ages or forgets.

But His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are much higher than ours. His perspective is from a much higher vantage point than ours and His desires are unselfish. He promises that He works everything to good for those who love Him...

The next time I wake up feeling anxious, I am going to remind myself what a loving Father I have. I discovered anew Psalm 91 the other day. Verses 1 & 2 say, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.'" It helps me to remember that God is really big and He is for me.

All that day I had the chorus of the secular song on my mind that goes, "Every step I take, every move I make, I'll be watching you." I know that it wasn't the intent of the songwriter to talk about God watching us, but I felt like the Holy Spirit was using that secular song to remind me that He is watching over me, no matter where I am or what I am doing. The prayer of my heart once more is that I will live like I believe Him.

Daughter or Orphan?

Sometimes when I ask God to intervene in a situation, I feel like my request is hitting the ceiling. Am I the only one that feels that way? I doubt it. Recently when I was thinking about this, the Lord asked me, "Are you praying as a daughter or as an orphan?" You see, a daughter has every right to come into her Father's chamber and sit at his feet or on his lap and talk things over with him and make requests of him. It is the Father's delight to respond to his daughter when she does this. But an orphan has no rights. She must wait outside the house, hungry and cold and scared. She has no access to the Father. Romans 8:16 says, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..." This makes it pretty clear that we are not orphans, but daughters or heirs. As daughters (or sons), we can approach the throne of grace with confidence!