Author: Phil Rehberg

loving God

The Supreme Goodness Of Loving God

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God is populating his kingdom with lovers until the day when he will fulfill all his promises of the kingdom and establish the perfect community of love with himself and his followers. Loving him is our greatest good, and for citizens of his inaugurated kingdom the King’s greatest commandment is to learn to fully love him. This keeps us on the trajectory that culminates in our future spiritual marriage with God on the New Earth. In this way we conform to the core of the image of Christ, for his highest priority is oneness with the Father and love is the bond of that oneness. These are the reasons that loving God is the supreme commandment and supremely important for all of our growth. God’s love for us is the foundation of his goodness to us. Our resulting love for him is the foundation of all our responsibilities toward him Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

When God Seems Distant Remember His Deeds – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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And I said, “This is my fate;the Most High has turned his hand against me.”But then I recall all you have done, O LORD;I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. Psalms 77:10-11 (NLT) The Psalmist felt that God had abandoned him, that the Lord had rejected him and would no longer love him: Has the Lord rejected me forever?Will he never again be kind to me?Is his unfailing love gone forever?Have his promises permanently failed? Psalms 77:7-8 (NLT) But then he thought back to God’s great deeds of the past. He remembered that God miraculously brought Israel through the Red Sea (vv. 16-20). Likewise, if you wonder if God is with you and cares for you, remember what he has done in the past. Remember supernatural events that only God could have done. Remember how he rescued you from the kingdom of darkness. This is enough for your faith. It Continue Reading →

break bad habit

Surprise Yourself By Activating Your Will

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Sometimes we think we are not able to accomplish Christformation and defeat a bad habit because we need something more when in fact we do not need anything more. God has already provided the strength inside us so it is within our character, or maturity level. If we commit ourselves to it then the change will come. Popular culture may tell us to just be ourselves, or that other people are responsible for all our problems, but Jesus calls us to actively grow up into new Adams who can overcome life’s challenges. A simple exercise will illustrate how your character relates to transformation. Think of a minor bad habit that you want to break. Commit yourself to abstain from the habit for one week while you look to Christ. Most people will find that they can succeed. This is because it was within their character, and they just needed to Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

The Downfall Of The Rebellious – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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God says, “I will break the strength of the wicked,but I will increase the power of the godly. Psalms 75:10 (NLT) God is not willing that anyone should perish but desires that everyone comes to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). But what if they never come to repentance? Should they be allowed to live with the righteous forever? Should God preserve them so that they can rebel against God for all eternity? Should they have the freedom to corrupt God’s eternal community of love with his followers? Because of his love and mercy toward his people, as well as for the sake of the radiance of his goodness, God must “break the strength of the wicked” one day. If they persist in their self-focused lives until they die, then their “freedom” to infect God’s creation must come to an end. This frees his people to live in peace and harmony with Continue Reading →

willpower our will

Am I Trying Too Hard Or Too Little?

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When it comes to the relationship between God’s will and human will we are diving into a profound mystery that cannot be fully understood. The question cannot be completely answered because it is not clearly answered in Scripture. In order to answer this question we would have to understand how God’s will operates inside the depths of God which we cannot do because God’s nature is so far beyond our nature. We would also have to understand the details of how God relates to time and the nature of time itself. We cannot do this either. Even human will is a mystery to us. Considering how much we don’t know is it really possible to make assertions on this matter that are not clearly stated in Scripture? If we venture beyond Scripture, then we will find ourselves clinging to shaky speculations. What we can do is embrace what God has Continue Reading →