Author: Phil Rehberg

humility pride

The Challenge Of Humility

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Jesus described himself with the words: “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matt. 11:29, NIV). Humility is a trait of citizens of the kingdom: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3, NIV[). If we are becoming like Christ then we will be growing in gentleness and humility. Jesus is the ideal and by the Father’s grace we can relate to others with the same gentleness and humility that he had. This will be a huge challenge for us as we grow in Christ because we will be given positions of responsibility and we will be immediately tempted to think of ourselves or present ourselves as more mature and invulnerable than those around us. We will fear showing weakness because we might lose credibility. Specifically, we will begin to act less needy and become less teachable. We will become less willing to Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Extreme Fruitfulness – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” Luke 8:15 (NIV) This is Jesus’ promise at the end of the parable of the sower. The seeds that fell on good soil produced a huge harvest “a hundred times more than was sown.” We all want to live fruitful lives for God and produce as much as God allows us to produce. So how do we bear a bumper crop for God? This verse mentions five responsibilities. First, have a noble heart. That is, we desire what is excellent and honorable. Second, we have a good heart. That is, our heart actually embraces and abides in good. Third, we hear the word. So we need to expose ourselves to God’s word. Fourth, we retain God’s words. Thus, we need to believe God’s Continue Reading →

approval

The Pitfall Of Pleasing Others

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One of the biggest barriers to spiritual growth is the desire to please people more than God. This is a constant temptation for all of us. People are right in front of us. We can see their faces and we don’t want to disappoint them. And if we have a big heart for people then we are even more tempted to please them before we please God. It is hard to put into words how enormous this problem is. We watch unbelievers live wasted lives because they want to win the approval of people around them. They compromise and live meaningless lives because that’s the environment they are in and they want the approval of others. And there are plenty of people willing to give them this approval. Paul describes this in Romans Chapter 1 where he first lists various sins then says people who do them are “foolish, faithless, Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Withstanding The Floods – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.  Luke 6:47-48 (NIV) Jesus didn’t say we could avoid floods. We will all have “floods” in our lives, some worse than others. Maybe you are in the middle of a flood right now. That is the time to hold Jesus’ words even more closely to your heart. His words really are the foundation for your soul. So it will be helpful to read through the Gospels and find the words of Jesus and practice them. Remember faith, hope and love. As you focus on the teachings of Jesus the flood loses Continue Reading →

open to God's will

Are You Open to God’s Will?

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When it comes to pursuing God’s will it is important to ask ourselves if we are truly open to knowing God’s will. Once we decide to consider God’s will we may still close our minds to knowing his will because of what we suspect it will be. Are we really open to whatever he may desire? Are we really open to changing our thoughts or plans? We may convince ourselves that we are pursuing his will when in fact we are only rationalizing our own attitudes or actions. For major decisions it may take weeks to discern whether we are truly open to God’s will. For example, someone who falls in love with another and wants to marry them may be closed to God’s will unless they spend a lot of time gradually opening up to God. The more investment and momentum we have in a particular direction the more Continue Reading →