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.