Author: Phil Rehberg

Weekly words of encouragement

God Hears Your Need – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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The LORD hears the needyand does not despise his captive people. Psalms 69:33 (NIV) The Psalmist encourages us that God hears us when we are in need, when we feel hemmed in by our troubles. Psalm 69 is a song of suffering. The Psalmist was going through immense misery. He searched for God’s presence but could not find it. I am worn out calling for help;my throat is parched.My eyes fail,looking for my God. Psalms 69:3 (NIV) In vain he searched for human comfort. Scorn has broken my heartand has left me helpless;I looked for sympathy, but there was none,for comforters, but I found none. Psalms 69:20 (NIV) But he did not give up. He stayed true to Yahweh. He believed in God’s promises of a flourishing future for his people in a promised land, which we now know is the coming New Earth. The children of his servants will Continue Reading →

contemplation

How To Benefit From Contemplation

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Contemplation may be defined as quiet receptivity. Contemplation allows the object of our contemplation to impact us. As we focus on Christ we receive his influence. He envelopes us and infuses his peace into us. Teresa of Avila (d. 1582) defined contemplation as loving attentiveness, which is also a helpful definition, though we do not need to feel love for God when we do contemplation. Contemplation teaches us to listen. If God was waiting for you to be still long enough to communicate something important to you, how long would he have to wait? Many of us have busy lives or at least busy minds. God can shout to us if he wants, but he prefers a quieter, deeper connection with us. Contemplation is essentially extended surrendering and listening. A daily habit of several minutes of contemplation will train us to listen to, and receive from, God. Below is a Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

Who Carries Your Burdens? – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,who daily bears our burdens. Psalms 68:19 (NIV) It is easy to try to carry our own burdens since we tend to think we should be able to handle them on our own. But God is a Father to us which means that he cares about what is happening to us. He does not want us to bear all the responsibility for navigating our journey. Our cares do not fade away as we travel on; new burdens and responsibilities rise up as the years go on. So we always have the opportunity to: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you” (1 Peter 5:7, NLT). What are your burdens now? How much are you carrying those burdens? Would it be better to unload them onto God’s shoulders? Should you be carrying anxiety about the challenges in your Continue Reading →

motives

Are You Free From Harmful Motives?

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Motivation is a monumental issue in our spiritual lives. We will be constantly tempted to embrace motives that damage our spiritual growth. Many of them are disguised. The supreme motive for everything in our life should be our desire for the community of love with God and his followers. It may sound simple to consistently choose this motivation, but it is not. In fact, we will be learning to choose this for our whole lives. When we are young in Christformation we learn to recognize obvious impure motives such as sensual gratification, materialism, retaliation and preoccupation with our image. But after you overcome these there is a whole other set of hidden motives waiting to torpedo your spiritual life. If you are willing to pursue self-knowledge with God (so that you can “put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature” (Col. 3:5, NIV)) then you will discover deeply Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Will Bless The Disadvantaged – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,is God in his holy dwelling.God sets the lonely in families,he leads out the prisoners with singing Psalms 68:5-6 (NIV) God gives special attention to the disadvantaged. He has a heart for orphans, widows, the lonely and those who are unfairly imprisoned. He does not fully restore them in this age, but he does comfort them and hear them. He watches over them and offers his presence to those who will trust him. In the next age he will restore the needy and the deprived, even to the point of giving them preference, for Jesus said, “But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first” (Matt. 19:30, NIV). Those who are the least in our society but follow Jesus will be first in the new age of God’s kingdom. Sometimes just following Jesus makes us Continue Reading →