Author: Phil Rehberg

rewards

God Rewards Each One Individually – Rewards Part 1

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Scripture teaches that after Jesus returns individual believers will receive individual rewards based on their life on this present earth. “For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God . . . each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:10 12, ESV) (see also Heb. 4:13). “Each will receive his wages according to his labor” (1 Cor. 3:8, ESV). After we run the race in this life God will reward his beloveds with gifts for all their service and for all the progress they made in Christformation. This is the victory of God’s good justice. Everything matters. Rewards for believers are most plainly promised in 2 Corinthians 5:10: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (ESV). Can you Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

God Will Show Us Mercy – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“With the merciful you show yourself merciful,” Psalms 18:25, ESV). God promises to show us mercy if we will be merciful to others. This reminds us of Matthew 5:7: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (ESV) and Luke 6:36: “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (ESV). We know we are full of faults and weaknesses and so we depend on God’s mercy to forgive them all and bless us anyway. If we make a habit of letting others have their faults and weaknesses and still blessing them, then God promises to do the same for us. We also remember the parable of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18:23-35. A king forgave his servant a gigantic debt but wouldn’t forgive a small debt owed to him by a fellow servant. So the king imprisoned the first servant until he paid his debt. Then Jesus says our Continue Reading →

heavenly body, shining

We Will Be Beautiful – Our Future Christformation Part 3

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We have been looking at our future Christformation into New Adams after Jesus returns. In the past couple of weeks we have looked at how God will give us Christlike bodies and give us his goodness. As New Adams we will also be beautiful. In Revelation 19–21 there are five phrases referring to the beautiful appearance of the saints, the bride of Christ (19:8; 21:2, 11 (twice); 21:18-21.) In that section God appears to be showing off his bride’s beauty and John seems dazzled in 21:11 when he observes that she has the “glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel.” Surprisingly, in the last four chapters of the Bible, the bride’s beauty is extolled more than God’s! This demonstrates his humility and love as well as his desire to establish a community of people that radiate his beauty. Thus, in Revelation 19-21 God is not predominantly interested Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

True Happiness In God’s Presence – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalms 16:11, ESV). Ancient Hebrews enjoyed restating an idea in different words in order to emphasize and clarify ideas. In this verse David is thanking Yahweh that happiness is found by nearness to Yahweh. He declares three ideas in the first phrase then repeats them in other words in the second phrase. He states this idea twice; the first time he uses the words “joy” and “presence”. The second time he uses the word “pleasures” and “right hand”. He adds the words “fullness” and “forevermore” to the phrases to make sure that we understand that our happiness in Yahweh is unbounded. Thus, through repetition David is declaring one of the supreme principles for life, a principle that provides comprehensive encouragement. All the things that people pursue to find deep happiness will not satisfy them. We Continue Reading →

heavenly body, shining

We Will Finally Be Good – Our Future Christformation Part 2

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We may get frustrated with our lack of godliness but there is coming a day when our frustration will end. After Jesus returns all our effort to “press on to take hold” (Phil. 3:10, NIV) will come to an end. God will make us fully Christlike. Our complete Christformation is promised many times in the New Testament. For example: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom. 8:29, ESV). 1 Corinthians 15:49 states: “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (ESV). One of the implications of this Christformation is that we will be thoroughly good. Goodness describes God. Jesus said “no one is good except God alone” (Luke 18:19, ESV). Thus, God is the source of good (James 1:17) and he constantly directs us Continue Reading →