Category: What do you think?

Following God Brings Direction and Peace

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

FLOYD ROGERS

Rushing ahead without waiting on God can lead to problems. When we act on our own, we often miss His timing. But when we follow God’s lead, we move only when He says it’s time. The first few steps may feel uncomfortable or uncertain, and sometimes, even later steps can feel just as challenging. Still, God may shift our path. He may ask us to turn in a new direction. We are called to trust Him, even when it doesn’t make complete sense.

God doesn’t leave us alone to figure things out. He promises to lead us, not just at the start, but all the way through.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you with My eye upon you.

Psalm 32:8

The True Meaning of Encouragement

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

AMY TURNER

Hebrews 3 reminds Christians to strengthen one another so that sin does not harden their hearts. Encouragement is more than kind words meant to make someone feel better. In the New Testament, the word translated as “encourage” comes from a term that means to come alongside and give instruction or warning.

Encouragement does include compassion, kindness, and support, but it also involves speaking truth about sin. Real care for others is not only about lifting them up but also about helping them see when harmful choices are shaping their lives. Scripture even says that the wounds of a friend can be trusted, meaning that honest warnings given in love are one of the strongest acts of friendship.

Jesus gave direction in Matthew 18 that if someone sees a fellow believer in sin, they should approach them with concern, address the problem, and guide them back toward holiness.

True encouragement, then, is both gentle and serious. It comforts, but it also cautions, pointing people away from sin and toward the life God calls them to live.

But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

Hebrews 3:13

The Judgment Seat and the Value of Our Works

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

JEFF TURNER

In 2 Corinthians 5:10, Paul teaches that every believer will stand before the judgment seat of Christ to be repaid for what was done in life, whether good or bad. This does not mean Christians will face God’s punishment. Scripture is clear that Jesus took the full penalty for sin through his death, bearing the judgment we deserved. Consider Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

The word “bad” in this passage comes from a term meaning useless or without value. At this future judgment, worthless deeds, those with no eternal importance, will be set aside. These are not sinful acts, but activities that hold no lasting spiritual impact.

What will remain are the righteous works God has produced in us. These will form the basis of our eternal reward. This truth calls believers to focus on what matters for eternity, investing time and effort in works that honour Christ rather than in things that will pass away.

…each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward.

1 Corinthians 3:13–14

Fear Fades When We Follow God’s Path

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

FLOYD ROGERS

Choosing to follow God’s direction helps remove fear from our lives. While we may feel a bit uneasy at first, especially when facing something unfamiliar, that nervousness isn’t true fear. It’s often just emotion. Deep down, we trust that God will come through, even if we’ve never faced a situation like it before.

When we take the first steps in line with God’s will, it may seem hard. There might be hesitation. But if we continue forward, that fear begins to shrink. Each step brings more confidence, and eventually, the fear fades completely. As we walk in the direction God has set for us, we begin to recognise His plan and peace.

For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

2 Timothy 1:7

The Mystery Now Made Known

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

AMY TURNER

In Colossians 1, Paul speaks about a mystery that was hidden through past ages but is now shown to God’s people. This mystery is not something strange or impossible to understand, but truth that was once concealed in the Old Testament and has now been opened in the New.

The Old Testament gives many promises about God, humanity, and redemption. It even points ahead to the Messiah. Yet, details about His birth, His life, His death, His resurrection, and His return to heaven were only seen in a shadowed way by those who came before. Hebrews 11 explains, they trusted in what was coming but did not witness it fully.

Paul says that this includes the incarnation of Christ, the disbelief of Israel, the rise of lawlessness, the unity of Jews and Gentiles in the church, the return of Christ for His people, and Christ living within believers as the hope of glory. These are all called mysteries because they were veiled before but are now clear.

to whom God willed to make known what the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Colossians 1:27