Gods Goodness

This song is a continual reminder of how good our God is. That no matter what comes our way, we can trust that He is at work. My hope is in the Lord. It is so true that day after day He is so faithful. He always comes through! I can look back at my journey with God and see that time after time He has come through. It hasn't always been the way I thought He would come through but He has always been faithful and has come through. This song reminds me of the faithfulness of our God and it causes me to grow in gratitude towards Him. He is worthy to receive all the praise and glory. He is the one constant in an inconstant world. Place your hope upon Him because He will come through!!
Click on the link to hear the song!!
http://frankkemberling.brinkster.net/blog/?p=380

Be Blessed!!

Gods Presence

I've grown up in this faith, being taught at an early age about the Bible and God. But it wasn't until I experienced God for myself that this faith in God became real. It went from the faith of my father to my personal faith. It became the very thing that drives me and causes me to be who I am. I believe that experiencing Gods presence is so important because it builds our faith. In His presence is everything we need. True satisfaction! This song always reminds me of my journey with God. It reminds me to set time aside to allow His presence to renew my strength and to give me rest. Go to this site to hear the song!!http://frankkemberling.brinkster.net/blog/?p=376

'Holy Spirit' by Bryan & Katie Torwalt

[audio:http://www.freedomtucson.com/blog/audio/HolySpirit.mp3]

Be Blessed

Music

I thought I would do a little something different this week and share some music with you. Music (specifically worship) plays a huge role in my daily life. Worship is a way in which I express my love to God. It is also a way for me to get my focus off the things of this world and onto Him.

There are times in my walk with God that I question why something happened the way it did. My soul longs to know whats going on at all times and insinsts that there must be a reason for everything that happens. While there may be a reason for everything that happens, I've come to the conclusion that I'm not going to try to figure it all out. Instead, I'm going to choose to lean upon His character and trust in His promises no matter what happens.The end of this song always brings me to that place that when I don't understand, I'm going to choose you.
Click on this link to hear music!!
http://frankkemberling.brinkster.net/blog/?p=295
Breathe You In God by Bryan and Katie Torwalt

Weapons Formed

Isaiah 54:17
"No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD.


When my wife and I found out we were going to have another baby 7 months ago, you could understand how elated we were to find this out. Then when we found out we were going to have a girl our elation turned to jubilation because that is what we hoping for. But what we found out next was something that we definitely weren't prepared to hear! When We found out that our baby Eden only had a two vessel cord instead of three, our jubilation turned to deep concern seeing that we really had no understanding of what this meant. Immediately the enemy wanted to turn what God meant for good into something evil. As you could imagine my concern turned to fear and then came the meltdown. In the midst of my meltdown God reminded me of something my mom has always told me. "God never promised that weapons wouldn't be formed, just that they wouldn't prosper." Wow what a great reminder of our Gods goodness!  As I sought God on our situation He began to bring peace to my heart reassuring me that this was only a weapon formed that wasn't going to prosper. This peace is what we were going to need seeing that with each step along the way the enemy kept reminding us of this weapon fashioned against our baby. With each reminder the enemy brought to our attention, the light of Gods promises quickly dispelled them. The first weapon fashioned was the two vessel cord, we sought God and He brought peace to our hearts and minds. The next weapon was that our baby had too much fluid in her kidneys (which could be a cause of the two vessel cord). On our next visit Gods hand already was at work and the fluid in her kidneys was already dissipating. Than the enemy tried to tell us that our baby was going to be small as an affect of the two vessel cord. On our next visit to the doctors we found out the our baby was two weeks ahead of where she should be in her growth (which is what we were praying for), thank you God. The enemy has continued to try to have us latch on to his lies and to believe that this weapon formed against our little girl was going to prosper. And we've had a choice through this; are we going to believe this lie and allow it torment our minds with  fear or are we going to trust in the goodness of God and believe He has the best for our little one. This hasn't been easy, but we've chosen to trust in God. Our last visit to the doctor we were told that they saw something in our last ultrasound that gave them concern with our baby's brain. They immediately sent us off to a high risk specialist to examine the baby's brain. Seeing that this was new news to us we immediately had to make a decision if we were going to allow this weapon formed to steal our peace or if we were going to remain in Him. As tough as it was we allowed Gods peace to comfort our minds. After seeing the specialist we found out that there is absolutely nothing wrong with our baby's brain, she's ahead of schedule in her growth and she no longer has any fluid in her kidneys. All of which shouldn't be, considering she only has two vessel cords. Thank you Jesus for your goodness in our lives. This is a testament to the goodness of our God. Remember that when the enemy forms weapons against you that God will not allow them to prosper. Remain in Him and you'll remain in peace.
Be Blessed!!

God is at Work in You: Part 2!!

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;


Last time we talked a bit about Moses reminding God of his shortcomings (as if it were a surprise to God). I love how God uses us even when we feel we have nothing to offer. I'm sure this is kind of how Moses must of felt. This is what is great about Gods calling. He will use someone that the world may see as having nothing to offer and use them to accomplish great things:


1 Corithians 1:26-31
26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— 31 that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”


This encourages me because I've realized that God wants to use us in areas we never thought we could be used. If we already thought we were masters at it there would be no room for Him to get the glory. I believe whole heartily that God has given us natural abilities to be used; these abilities are used in our daily functioning. He may even use those abilities as a vehicle to take us places we never thought we would go thus causing us to rely more heavily upon Him. But in our natural ability it is easy to not need Him, because our ability comes natural. It is something were confident we can do pretty good on our own. I believe He wants to stretch us far beyond what we ever thought we were capable of because He wants no flesh to get glory. The great part is that He is at work in us. He is bringing it about. We need to just pray that when He brings that season about in our lives that causes us to stretch far beyond our capacity that we will rise to the challenge. God has great things in store for you.
Be Blessed!!

God is at Work in You: Part 1!!

Philippians 1:6

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. 

God has a plan for your life and He is bringing it about in you. I think about Moses and the call that God put on his life. I'm sure as a young lad with a stutter he never thought he would be the voice of God to a generation. I can imagine his surprise when God told him he was going to go before Pharaoh and speak on His behalf. I'm sure all the voices in Moses head were reminding him of all his inadequacies and his shortcomings. I find it funny that Moses even reminded the Lord (as if He didn't already know):

 Exodus 4:10

"Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” 

I wonder how many times we do this in our lives. When the Lord says I have great things in store for you we quickly allow our inadequacies to speak. "But Lord I'm not smart enough to do that", "but Lord there's no way you would want me to do that."

That's the thing. God will usually call us to do something that is out of our comfort zone, something that causes us to stretch a little. This is because the further we get away from that which comes easy the more we need to rely on Him. And this is where He wants us; relying upon His strength. He will take the ability that He has given us and squeeze every last bit of potential out of it. To make sure we are accomplishing what He has called us to do. This is the great part; He is completing the work He started in us. We need to just sit back and allow it to happen. The thing we need to combat is to not be resistant to it but to be confident that He is doing His thing. So sit back and hold on!!!!! 

Be Blessed!!

Let Faith Arise!

As I read the Bible I can't help but be reminded of the importance of our belief. Time and again I see scriptures saying things like "according to your faith" and "as you believe". It is a good reminder that our whole understanding of who God is, is based upon our belief. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that this is the very thing the enemy will be after; our ability to believe. The enemy will try everything under the sun to try to shake our faith. Try to cause us to question if what we believe is true. This is why it is so vitally important that we have a firm foundation. A foundation that is built upon the Rock. How can we be certain that our faith is built upon a strong foundation? It simple, it's by by living out this faith. Seeing our faith in motion will cause a confidence to arise within us that recognizes the truth through all the lies. Actively living for God creates opportunities for us too see God move on our behalf. And when you see God move in your life and in the lives of people around you there's no denying Him. Here's a passage from Matthew: “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:24-27, 27 NKJV). It's so very important that we are doing what God says, because than when the storms of life come our faith will not be shaken. Let faith arise!!!
Be Blessed

Offense

Offenses will come! The question is how much will we allow it to affect us.  I believe that offense is a fiery dart developed by the enemy with the sole purpose of stealing our love. God has called us to love; not only Him but the people around us. And the hurt and pain that comes with offense if not released, will only affect our ability to trust people thus affecting our love for them. I think our need for vindication makes it difficult to truly let go.We think by letting go were saying that what happened to us was ok. It's not that letting go is saying what happened is ok, it's just saying that what happened isn't going to have power over you anymore, causing you to not be able to move on. That is what holding on to offense does. It keeps you stuck in that moment. It causes you to see the rest of the world through it's lens, cautiously approaching people with an expectation that somewhere along the line they will hurt you. In the end this affects our ability to have fellowship with others because we constantly feel the need to protect ourselves. As difficult as it may be God has called us to love those around us including our enemies and that vengeance is His.
"Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but [rather] give place to wrath; for it is written, "Vengeance [is] Mine, I will repay,"says the Lord. Therefore "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head."Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good"(Romans 12:19-21). By not allowing offense to take root in our lives in essence we are overcoming evil with good.  
Be Blessed!!

The Golden Rule

I continue to be inspired by Gods word. It is true that every answer to this life can be found in Gods word. In reading today, I came across this scripture: "Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets (Matt 7:12)."  I think so many times we are in search for the deeper things of God that on occasion we forget about what some may call the "foundational principles." I believe it is a good thing to be searching Gods word for the meat of His word, but it is also important on occasion to be reminded of the simpler things. Treating others the way we want to be treated truly is a simple principle that, when practiced, releases the love of God to all those around us. Walking this out can be difficult especially when most people in our society do just the opposite; they treat people the way they are treated. This is how our lights can shine. As we are obedient to Gods way of doing things our lives than begin to illuminate His presence and in return it unlocks His favor in our lives. And being obedient to the way He calls us to walk will only benefit us in all aspects of our lives. It will cause our relationships to flourish, it will open doors at work that otherwise wouldn't be opened and it will cause our lives bear much fruit. As we approach this week lets remember to treat others the way we want to be treated.
Be Blessed!

Peace

 Phl. 4:6, 7: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Peace is available to us in every situation. As we give God our worries through prayer His peace guards our hearts and minds. By giving God our worries we are realinquishing control and giving it to Him. The more we hold onto that control the more we will be anxious. By holding onto that control it is saying that we can handle whatever comes our way and in a way we are saying we don't need Him. I don't know about you but I need Him! And there is nothing that compares to the peace that comes as we give God full reign in our life. Trust that He has your best interest in His hands and let go!
Be Blessed!

Fear

Fear is the opposite of faith. God did not call us to a lifestyle of fear but rather a lifestyle of faith. Faith is believing in what is true even though you have yet to see it. Fear is believing in a lie even though you have yet to see it. The Bible says, "perfect love casts out fear (1John 4:18)." What is this perfect love? It is Jesus! And He came so that we may have life and enjoy it (John 10:10 amp). This perfect love (Jesus) says He will provide for us, He will clothe us, and He will take care of our needs (Matt 6:25-34). I believe His point in this is for us to not spend our time worrying about the bad things that can happen but to trust in His ability to provide for us. He always comes through. What benefit is there in fear? What does it add to our life but torment. I believe that as we give God our fears its saying we trust in His perfect love. Faith is trusting in Gods kingdom; fear is trusting in the devils kingdom. I choose to put my faith in Gods kingdom!!
Be Blessed!