Whose Business Is This? By Robert Ricciardelli

Whose Business Is This? By Robert Ricciardelli www.vision2advance.com

A friend sent me this the other day. It is part Hobby Lobby’s Mission Statement.

" Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles. Offering our customers an exceptional selection and value. Serving our employees and their families by establishing a work environment and company policies that build character, strengthen individuals, and nurture families. Providing a return on the owners' investment, sharing the Lord's blessings with our employees, and investing in our community. We believe that it is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. He has been faithful in the past, we trust Him for our future."

One of the things Joyce and I do is help leaders understand Fathers desire that they live every moment of life recognizing His eternal presence within them, and His desire and interest to engage in “total life” with them. This includes family, and business, and not just the times of prayer, or worship at some specific gathering. Our lives, every minute of our lives, is to give Him glory, as we live as worship to Him.

Let’s consider and expand some of these values from the mission statement above.

• Honoring the Lord in all we do! That means everything. Are we doing business God’s way with integrity, or a way that makes only dollar sense? How are we treating our employees, our vendors, our customers? Do we look at them as a commodity or with the eyes of the Lord who cares for them more than any business transaction or earthly agenda. How do we glorify God in our processes? Our planning? Are we measuring such things by His Word?

• Exceptional selection and value! What are we bringing in products and services to serve those who Father has called us to serve? Are we maximizing our value proposition in God glorifying ways?

• Strengthen individuals, and nurture families! What may the Lord have us do to create an atmosphere of trust, character development, and nurturing those we work closely with. This does not mean compromising standards of excellence for the employees, but what can we do to bring His presence towards those who are serving the vision? How can we make investors, and employees feel more a part of the blessings that God will bring upon a company He is leading?

• Investing in your community and the nations! It must be very clear that Father did not only put you in business to make money and take care of yourself and immediate family. God is always a God who extends His goodness as far reaching as possible through His servants. As ambassadors of the Living God in your community, have you asked the Father for the ways you can influence and impact your community and the nations for His glory?

We work with several companies that have received the revelation of how their company is to advance the Kingdom of God in their community and beyond their community. They now see their business as a mission in being able to influence God’s goodness to those the Lord allows them to reach. Some are reaching the globe with the resources the Lord has given them. Thank God they did not just see their business as a way to get bigger and better stuff, but as a tool for the King, the Kingdom, and His glory.

One of the businesses we partner with are an evolving testimony of God’s desire to go beyond doing business the usual way. These friends have become family and by the grace of God the Lord will continue to increase in their lives because their increase continues to be poured out to others. I cannot share all of their testimony, but here is a link to some of it. South Africa - Business As Missions.

We are thankful for all of the business partners and families that have allowed us to go where the Father has directed us to go. We continue to encourage and impart the good news of the Kingdom of God in everyday practical living. We all participate as ambassadors of His glorious Kingdom by being obedient to His moment to moment leading in every jurisdiction of life. We do the practical, while He brings His Supernatural presence and influence into every personal or business situation.

It is so important to understand that every aspect of our lives is worship, and every aspect of our lives is spiritual, because The Spirit of Truth Himself is in us, with us, and in every realm we step into. We must realize that His presence is with us in that interview, and that He desires to give us wisdom for that business meeting. As we acknowledge Him in all of our ways, watch the impact He will make that only He can get the credit for. It is not about chapter and verse as much it is about Jesus Himself living through us.

When I was in corporate sales, people did always make a purchase because I had the best product or the best price. But what I did have, I could not get credit for. Here are a few things that the Lord blessed me with in my 25-year career in sales:

• Favor – People would often comment that they could not explain it, but they had a lot of trust and “feel good” about me, even from my first visit or call. This was clearly the favor of God that continues with me in my life.

• Wisdom – Father would give me the strategy as to what would best serve the client.

• Discernment – There were times when the still small voice of the Lord would give me insight into issues or potential problems before they were magnified, and times when the Lord would give me a word fitly spoken to bring trust to a person who had not trusted in a very long time.

• Love – It is His love and His compassion for people that the Lord put into me even in childhood. I cared much more about the person than the “sale”. I cared more about serving the interests of the client than any gain for my company or myself. The client felt this tangibly when I came to serve them, and they knew that I cared about their “total life”.

• Trust – In any relationship, including business, people need to be moved to trust you, that you are a “safe place”, that you are in it for them and not for self. They knew that the company needed to make a profit, same as theirs, so price was not as significant as the “trust factor”. They also saw that I would often negotiate on their behalf to change company policies or forgo them, when it did not serve the needs of the client.

• Presence – All the above and more are included in His presence. When we understand that His presence desires to impact us and influence others for the the good in "real time", life becomes and awesome journey. It is not about us any longer, it is not about our perceived idea of success, but it is all about His supernatural presence Having His will and way through our lives. He wants to do good, and He wants to do it with you...

These are a few examples of God’s presence in the marketplace, and in my life that I could never take credit for. He made me this way, and by His grace I was in top 2% nationally in sales for 25 years to the glory of my Father.

Next time you are preparing for a client, or to bring vision to your employees, ask the Father for His Wisdom and His Words that will make a difference. He cares about stewardship of your; family, resources, time, business, Profits and Loss, relationships, and especially His love, grace, and truth expressed through you to others.

Lord break us away from dualistic mindsets that highlight organized church meetings while minimizing your Spirit led influence in the marketplace. Father help us to realize that you are the same transforming God in our gatherings, in our homes, and in our work.

We welcome the opportunity to serve you, your business, and/or your community or church. We all must ask the Father to illuminate practical ways in our personal and business environments that is conducive for His transformational presence to change lives to the glory of God.