Category: What do you think?

How storms shape our lives

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Life’s storms can either strengthen a believer or lead them away from God’s purpose, depending on how they respond. Difficult seasons have the potential to build faith, wisdom, peace, and devotion when placed in God’s hands.

Some challenges leave believers stronger than before. Through hardship, God can produce greater understanding, deeper commitment, and a renewed sense of joy. Those who trust Him during trials often discover a greater confidence that they are walking in His will.

Think of it this way: The outcome of a storm is often connected to the response given to it, making faith and obedience especially important during difficult times.

Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

You cannot commit to a God you do not know

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

JEFF TURNER

Before God asked anything of Moses, he told him who he was.

Consider the order of that moment at the burning bush. Moses has turned aside. He has drawn near. And the voice from the fire does not begin with a mission or a mandate. It begins with an identity: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. That fear was not weakness. That fear was the only appropriate response to suddenly understanding who was speaking.

God knew what he was doing. He knew that before Moses could say yes to anything, he had to know who was asking. You cannot give your life to an abstraction.

So much of the uncommitted Christianity we see around us, the half-surrender, the one-foot-in and one-foot-out discipleship, traces its root not to defiance but to ignorance. People do not fully give themselves to a God they do not fully know. To know him rightly is to find every excuse for reservation consumed in the fire of his holiness.

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

John 17:3

Finding peace in the middle of life’s hardest moments

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Difficult seasons come to everyone. There are circumstances so painful or confusing that even committed believers find themselves wondering where God has gone. Yet a lasting peace remains available, rooted in the security of one’s relationship with God.

Paul addressed this directly, urging believers not to give in to anxiety over their circumstances. Instead, he encouraged turning to prayer and petition, bringing specific requests honestly before God. The result he promised is striking: a peace that goes beyond ordinary human understanding, one capable of surrounding and protecting both heart and mind through Christ Jesus.

This kind of peace doesn’t depend on circumstances improving first. It stands guard regardless of what is happening on the outside.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

The one true source of lasting peace

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

There is only one genuine wellspring of peace available to believers, and it cannot coexist with deliberate disobedience to God’s will. Living against God’s instruction while expecting to feel calm and settled simply isn’t possible; the two cannot exist together.

The promise offered instead is remarkable in its scope: a peace so complete and unusual that it defies ordinary explanation. It allows a person to remain calm and steady on the inside even while circumstances around them are falling apart. This kind of stability doesn’t come from controlling outward events; it comes from an inward unity with God himself.

Christ described his own relationship with the Father as one of complete oneness, declaring that to have seen him was to have seen the Father as well. That same unity is offered to believers today. The honest question worth asking is what, if anything, is currently standing between a person and that kind of closeness with the Lord.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.

John 14:27 (CSB)

Why scripture is essential to discovering God’s will

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

TEXAS GOSPEL VOLUNTEER

Anyone seeking to understand what God wants for their life must start in the same place: the written word. Scripture reveals God’s heart and provides the daily guidance needed to make sound decisions.

Ignoring the Bible creates a vacuum quickly filled by other voices, many of which openly dismiss or criticize biblical truth while offering competing advice on how life should be lived. Scripture remains the primary channel through which God communicates with people today.

When someone expresses uncertainty about God’s direction for their life, the first and most practical piece of advice is simple: open the Bible and begin reading. As for where to start, there is something remarkable about how God works through this process. For those genuinely willing to immerse themselves in scripture, it is striking how often particular verses seem to provide exactly the clarity and direction being sought.

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:105