Category Archives: Spirituality

Living the Word

Posted on by
Reply

God is strong.  His hands formed and sketched the nature we ignore half the time.  His reach saved Peter from drowning and his voice calmed the storm.  And yet, as believers, with that strength at our request, we wait and we try to carry it all on our own.  There are hundreds of verses in the Bible we love to hear and they bring comfort or reassurance.  But recently, I’ve been living a verse that while it brings comfort, it is also a challenge for me to grow up spiritually.  Second Corinthians 12:9 “…my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  The context of this verse is when Paul asked the Lord three times to remove the thorn from his flesh.

 We all carry thorns of our sinful nature.  Some reading this post may carry a thorn of an emotional or physical struggle.  In God’s infinite wisdom, he knows better than to just poof heal us.  Let’s face it, we already live in a time of instant gratification (I won’t go there now), but how silly of us to think that we know better than God.

In living out this verse over the past few weeks, I have found myself learning to reach out to other believers and ask for help or prayer; I’ve learned to lean on my husband more and feel more of his unconditional love; I’ve reached for the scriptures more.  In my weakness, I have found God in a new light, one that has led to a deeper walk, and greater searching to know Him more.  He is my heavenly father, and I want to run to Him and feel his comfort and wisdom.  Not that I am a fake person, but I don’t wear my heart on my sleeve.  Those closest to me are those with whom I confide.  It is those believers who have shown me Jesus.

Yes, in our weakness or brokenness God is strong, but He is strong anyway.  Will we ever learn to not wait until we are completely down to look up?  Will we ever learn to lay our burdens at the cross sooner?

Be encouraged to take the hand of the Father and walk with Him.  Let me know where he takes you.

All the best,
KK

Hand-crafted with You in Mind

Posted on by
1

Does summer seem to be flying by for you?  I can’t decide if summer is a faster or slower pace than the school year.  Maybe that is because it’s just different.  Breaking out of our routine can make for some refreshing sites and experiences.  Sometimes that’s when God catches our attention.  During the school year we drive the same route to school, work and home.  But in the summer our schedule changes and the kids are at camp or doing other activities and we find ourselves on a road we wouldn’t ordinarily be on at sun set.  We look up and God has hand painted a vision that makes us think of Him, the artist that hand-crafted every detail.  He knew you would be on that road at that moment and He was hoping you would look up.

When this happens to me, I am convicted and wonder how many times that day He tried to get my attention and I ignored him.  Where have you seen God lately?  Has He tried to get your attention?  Were you too busy to notice?  Look around, I think He’s waiting for you; maybe in the most unsuspecting place.

Keep me posted.

All the best,

KK

Welcome to the Creation

Posted on by
Reply

On a cloudy rainy day, you might have a headache.  During the winter months when our days are shorter, you might feel blah.  On a night when the moon is full and its rays light the darkness, you might feel more restless.  On sunny afternoon you may struggle to stay inside.  You are drawn out of doors for a walk or to relax in the sun.  When you see the first blooms of spring, does something inside you feel hopeful?

These are pretty rudimentary examples, but I encourage you to think about your connection to God’s creation.  We don’t live outside of the creation, we are part of it.

I’ve been thinking recently about the connection humans have with the creation.  Too many times we don’t consider that we are part of it, the earth and world.  Man was created just like the earth, sky, light and darkness.  God reached down and formed Adam from the dust of the ground – from the earth, He created Adam.  Think about it.  Ponder for a moment that our Creator took His creation a step further.

After the seas and the sky, animals and even the garden, God created a man and breathed into Him from the same breath that put air in our atmosphere.  Why don’t we consider more often our connection to the creation?

All the best,
KK

…and the soul felt its worth

Posted on by
Reply

One of my favorite Christmas songs is Oh Holy Night.  And my favorite phrase is “…and the soul felt its worth.”  The soul felt its worth.  It doesn’t say, your soul or my soul, it’s the soul; a universal statement that tells us that as a collection of souls — believers then, now and in the future experienced the purpose of Jesus.  The purpose of Jesus was at His birth and through his life to give us worth.

What is our worth?  What is your worth?  What is my worth? Can we really measure our worth?  What I do know is that if you were the only one on earth that needed saving, Jesus would still have come, ministered, and died.  That is your worth and mine. Do you know this in your mind?

Let’s talk about your heart and soul.  How do we move the knowledge of Jesus to the truth in our heart?  Consider how Jesus came to us.  He wasn’t born into an earthly family of affluence.  He understood what it was to see his parents struggle to make “ends meet.”  He watched his father work endless hours to provide and when he was old enough, he joined his earthly father in his earthly work.  He wasn’t born into a royal family, because he left his throne in heaven.  It was never His purpose to reign on earth by our means.   I remind you of this because Jesus truly understood and experienced our total human experience.  He didn’t just observe and learn; He felt it.  He lived it.  He knew hunger and physical need.  He knew rejection from those he loved.  He knew temptation straight from the devil himself.  He had no home and lived simply on the day to day provision of His heavenly father.

Jesus knew His worth and purpose and on that silent night with little fanfare and only the animals in a barn, God showed believers then, today and forever their worth.

Does your soul felt its worth? Be encouraged at his moment to not click another button before you take some time, close your eyes picture the birth and life of Christ and know He did it for you.  You have that much worth in the eyes of the God of all creation.

Merry Christmas,
KK

Can we COEXIST?

Posted on by
2

Recently I have noticed a bumper sticker with the word COEXIST on it written in symbolic letters representing different genders, religions and beliefs.  The first couple of times I saw it, I tried to figure out the symbols, but then I saw it on three more cars in the same day.  This made me think.  Is it possible to truly coexist?  It is my hope that those who know me see that I try to live my faith and beliefs.  But what if my faith and beliefs disagree with yours?  Can we work together or be friends?  Can we respect one another and our differences?  The answer is yes.

 I will not compromise to be your friend, but I’m mature enough to agree to disagree.  Actually, I will respect you if you live your beliefs even if I disagree with you.  At least you are being consistent and true to yourself.

I might share with you my beliefs and invite you to make them yours, but don’t take them unless you are really going to live them.  Be yourself don’t lose your self trying to be my friend or anything special to someone else.

There are people very close to me who disagree with my political views.  Over the last several months of election and change of administration, we have had several conversations about politics and the priorities of each party.  We bantered back and forth several times making various points that made the other think a little, but neither changed sides.

Coexisting with different beliefs spiritually or politically is one thing among friends or co-workers, but it’s a whole other issue when it’s a dating relationship.  I do believe that a couple needs to have similar spiritual beliefs to make a relationship work.  Relationships are hard.  Marriage is a blast, but has its challenging moments.  In those times – those seasons – that aren’t all chocolates, roses and googly eyes, you have to have a belief system that follows the same guides.  Otherwise, when it comes time to figure it out, one of you is going to come at the problem from one side and the other from a whole other direction.  If your convictions are weak, you may cave in.  When you do that, you are losing part of your self.

My encouragement to you is to respect others and accept them where they are.  But don’t get sucked into believing something you have no good reason to believe.  Do your own research and choose your beliefs wisely – be it moral, spiritual or political beliefs.

All the best,
KK