The verse, Roman 8: 1, had a powerful impact on our lives in 2015. In August of that year, our nephew, Jon, was hanging out with us for the day. He was living with the complications of heart failure, struggling to find the right blend of medication to live outside the hospital.

He attended church with us, on and off for many years and we frequently spoke together of Jesus and our Christian walk. On this day, he was expressing the desire to hear from God and wasn’t sure he was hearing anything. We talked through different ways we believe we hear from God and then we put God on the spot. We gave Jon a list of bible verses that outline our identity in Christ. We asked him to read through it to see if one verse popped out at him – as if God was highlighting it for him. He picked Romans 8:1.

My husband grabbed some bibles and together they read through Romans 8, studying the meaning of this verse. Then we prayed it over Jon. Before he left that day,, I wrote the verse on a slip of paper for him and he tucked it in his wallet.

A few weeks later, Jon was back in the hospital. During his stay, a chaplain came to visit him. During their discussion the chaplain said he felt lead to share a verse with Jon. He read Romans 8: 1. Jon smiled and said, “you’re not going to believe this”. He reached into his wallet to retrieve the verse. God was so faithful to continue to emphasize for Jon, in his final days, that he was free from condemnation, in Christ his sins were forgiven. Jon died in November.

We are comforted, through this verse, to know that Jon is with Jesus in heaven today. ❤️