Author: Phil Rehberg

Weekly words of encouragement

The Promise Of Christformation – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Posted on by

“When Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” I Jn 3:2b (NIV) This is one of the greatest promises in Scripture. We want complete inner peace as well as perfect harmony with others. Most of all we want to experience the rapture of being in complete unity with God. We know we can’t have these things now but this verse promises all these things for us. We can say this because the barrier to all these blessings is our complete transformation into the image of Christ. Once we become fully like Christ we will have all these blessings and more. As we focus our hearts on this daily we receive power to throw aside everything in our lives that interferes with Christformation! Exercise: Put your name in the verse and repeat three times.   God Will Reward The Pure – Weekly Words Of Continue Reading →

anxiety

Anxiety vs. Focus On The Kingdom – Matthew 6:33-34

Posted on by

In 1985 19% of college freshman reported being overwhelmed by all they had to do; in 2016 it was 41%! Anxiety has become a huge social-psychological issue. A New York Times article quotes that “Anxiety is the most common mental-health disorder in the United States, affecting over one third of both adolescents and adults.” Mental health providers report that for youth anxiety is often linked to fear of failure, perfectionism, comparisons to others (often through social media), or difficult neighborhood environments. We all feel anxiety some of the time and some of us feel it much of the time. Anxiety is an issue in every place and time. But the Kingdom of God that Jesus announced was a place where one could become free of anxiety. In his compassion he taught us how to do this. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus talks about the anxiety of having enough food and clothing. Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Holding On To The Eternal – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Posted on by

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” I Jn 2:17 (NIV) Worldliness is always a temptation and it comes in many forms. In one sense we can say that anytime we make something in the world one of our highest priorities then we are being worldly. And it certainly takes inspired willpower to resist the temptation to join with others in their worldliness. We are tempted to avoid the pain of being devalued by others. But the promise of God is that all worldliness will pass away so we can resist it knowing that it will be gone with the wind. Instead, we focus on doing God’s good will because this leads to eternal happiness. Moreover, as others see that our hearts are set on something better God will use our witness to draw others to Jesus and his love. God Continue Reading →

heaven, on earth, sun

Do We Have Our Heavenly Blessings Now? Ephesians 1:3-14

Posted on by

Does it seem mysterious to you to say that we have “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places”? (Eph. 1:3) ESV. This idea has seemed very abstract and fuzzy to me, especially the part about the blessings being in heavenly places. Why does it say the blessings are in heavenly places instead of in our hearts? And if the blessings are in heavenly places and we are living on earth does that mean we are separated from our blessings somehow? Do we have to wait until the next life until we have them? As we look at Ephesians 1:3-14 we can see that Paul lists the heavenly  blessings he refers to in verse 3. If we look at these blessings perhaps we can answer some of our questions.  Verse 4: God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world He chose us to be holy and blameless before Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

The Incredible Value Of Scripture – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

Posted on by

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” II Tim. 3:16-17 (NLT) This passage is encouraging because it comforts us in our efforts to learn and absorb scripture. God promises that as we apply scripture to our lives we will be equipped “to do every good work.” What is better than being able to do good works for God? God Will Reward The Pure – Weekly Words Of EncouragementNovember 17, 2025Our Future Perfect CommunityNovember 14, 2025God Will Show Us Mercy – Weekly Words Of EncouragementNovember 10, 2025