Monday, July 22, 2013

God's conviction for me tonight: I AM REDEEMED

             You know those days you go to church (or nights at smallgroup) and are wanting excpecting God to say something to make you feel better about whatever you may be facing in the moment but you're not expecting/asking God to have you hear what He wants you to... I was found guilty of that tonight going into smallgroup. I was expecting that God would make me "feel better" about some stuff going on in life. Did that happen? NO!!! Did God cause me to hear what He wanted me to hear & learn. YES!!
             Tonight we talked about standing our ground in the Gospel. We talked about "hot topics" that we typically face in life/work that are difficult to stand our ground in. At the end our speaker encouraged us by saying, "There's freedom in standing on the truth of the word of God." We slighty diverted and talked for a few seconds about what it meant to be free in Christ. One of the guys in the group summed it up very well by quoting Romans 8:1 (which says "There is therefore now no condemnation for those are in Christ Jesus.") Ya'll this verse hit me like it never has before. I am free in Christ because I am no longer condemned because of my sin. I am free from condemnation because of His mercy and grace. May I never forget the weight of this truth!! May I start afresh today (and NEVER forget) & live in the comfort that I live in true freedom in having Christ live in me. As further encouragement go listen to Big Daddy Weave's song Redeemed.
                Just something that I felt like I was supposed to share with ya'll!!

P.S. I was also convicted tonight about in order to be able to stand in the truth of the word of God that I need to be a better student in learning what the word of God says.


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Things God has been doing in my life recently

    Almost two weeks ago, I was rear-ended while sitting in traffic. My car didn't even suffer a scratch! It wasn't until two days later that I realized I got a very minor concussion in that minor wreck. My seat-belt had jerked me back & caused me to hit the back of my seat really hard. My thought was " duh, I have a headache..I just hit my head really hard! But two days later when I still had the headache & I realized some other symptoms I had had..I realized it was a minor concussion..not fun at all!!
    But as in all things, God has used this for His glory. Just as I was knocked in the head physically that day, God knocked me in the head spiritually that day. Recently for my quiet times, I've been going through the Jesus Calling Devotional book (which if you haven't gone through it...I highly recommend it!!!) & the thing that has stuck out to me the most is looking for God's presence & all that He is doing in my life. I soon realized that I was missing all that God was doing in my life. He was answering one prayer that I had been praying for almost a year, He was in the process of answering one that I had praying for since this last October, & that He is the process of answering one that I've been praying for over the last two years. In short, the Lord was (& still is) at work in my life!
    The Lord is also teaching me patience (& waiting on His timing) & the power of seeking Him with all of my being (Jeremiah 29:13). I plan on sharing more of what the Lord is doing in upcoming posts but until then (& after) I encourage you to seek the Lord & presence AND you'll find He's doing more than you can imagine in your life.