Author: Phil Rehberg

Weekly words of encouragement

Yahweh Lifts Up The Humble – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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The LORD lifts up the humble Psalms 147:6 (ESV) Yahweh is not impressed by human efforts to exalt themselves. Which is better, to exalt ourselves or to let God lift us up? If we find ourselves in humble circumstances we can take courage that God sees us and will lift us up in some way, even if this only means lifting our hearts. Even if people around us think of us as lowly, God sees our heart and honors us in heaven. Humility is an attitude of the heart that reflects who we are before God. If we are willing to be honest about who we are and trust in who God is, then our heart is in the right place and God begins his process of lifting us up. But if we resist giving God due honor and authority then why would he bless our hearts or our efforts? Continue Reading →

What is Christlikeness?

What Does It Mean To Be Christlike?

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We know that our highest calling is to be Christlike and love God. But what are the essentials marks of Christlikeness? This post summarizes Christlikeness into five categories. This should help us to examine our lives and pursue areas of growth. Christ fully abided in the Father, which produced everything else in his life. He was filled with the virtues of God, and these virtues led to fruitful deeds, which is one of humanity’s original callings (“Be fruitful”, Gen. 1:28). This is an important element of the image of God, for God is the fountain of fruitfulness. This included actively loving people and healing their bodies and hearts. On Earth, Jesus employed all his faculties to impact others with his words and actions and developed disciples who would carry on his work after him. We are to do the same in our families, occupations, communities and societies. Whoever abides in Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

He Heals Our Broken Hearts – Weekly Word Of Encouragement

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He heals the brokenheartedand binds up their wounds. Psalms 147:3 (ESV) God cares about our hearts. He knows when we are broken-hearted; he too was broken-hearted when he walked on the earth. Since we have a high priest who “sympathizes with our weaknesses” (Heb. 4:12) he leads us into healing. Sometimes we may need to go through the deep forgiveness process before we are fully healed (see the Renovation Prayer guide on this page.) We also have the Holy Spirit, the comforter, dwelling inside us who comforts us with the awareness of God’s presence and commitment to us. Perhaps the most important way in which he binds up our broken hearts is by promising hope. He has promised that he will work all things for good. He has promised to make us fruitful. He has promised that he will always be with us. Best of all, he has promised to Continue Reading →

walk through dark times

How To Walk Through A Dark Time

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We will go through times when our awareness of God goes dark. Last week we described an exercise for developing deep faith. In these times we can’t sense God no matter what we do and no matter how hard we try to figure it out. These seasons are very disturbing and usually trigger fear and discouragement. But, these times are opportunities to develop deep faith, so we need to stay away from embracing fear and doubt. Below is a prayer to help us through these times. It is best to consider each line and choose to apply that to your heart; in other words, do what the prayer says. Prayer for Walking Through a Dark Time I let go of trying to see God. I let go of trying to feel God. I let go of making sure that God is there. I let go of fear due to my Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Fulfills Our Desires – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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You open your handand satisfy the desires of every living thing. Psalms 145:16 (NIV) Doesn’t it seem like our sadness and joy stem from unfulfilled or fulfilled desires? Consider what makes you happy. Is it not because some deep desire has been at least partially satisfied? This verse confirms that our desires are a good thing. We have them and God satisfies them; he would not satisfy anything that was not good. Thus, God has given us many healthy, constructive desires: security, belonging, wholeness, inner peace, inner joy, freedom, friendship, community, approval, physical pleasure, love, significance, purpose, value/honor, righteousness (goodness), justification, creativity, fruitfulness, and others. God gave us these desires because they are good and because he wants to fulfill them. He is going to fulfill all these desires in you, in this age and the next, and your joy will be immense. In this verse, we also see that Continue Reading →