Forgiven & Free
I came to Jesus.
I took my stand.
But what I surrendered
Was back in my hand.
Defeated by failure;
Haunted by fear;
Cried out in anguish,
"My God are you near?!"
He said "Child your forgiven.
Forgiven and free."
He said it.
I heard it.
Sweet victory!
The future can never intimidate me.
Since I've been forgiven,
Forgiven and free!
I'm resting and growing,
In his strong embrace.
I've traded performance
for Amazing Grace.
My soul is at rest.
And I still must rejoice
When I think of the Day
That I heard HIS Voice!
What a relief.
I can't earn my way!
When I come up empty.
My FATHER pays!
But I'm learning to live,
And I'm learning to die,
And one of these days,
I'll be learning to FLY!!!
He said "Child your forgiven.
Forgiven and free."
He said it.
I heard it.
Sweet victory!
The future, can never, intimidate me.
Since I've been forgiven,
Forgiven and free!
Good evening, and welcome back friends. For some reason, this song kept playing in my head as I sat down to write this evening. Just seemed to be appropriate for things that are going on in my own life lately.
A month ago, I lost my job. In less than a month, my wife and I are expecting our first child. This should worry me--cause me to fear what will happen to my family. But it doesn't. And you want to know why? Because I know that God will provide for us. I know that God has something different in mind for my life. And because as the song says "The future can never intimidate me. Since I've been forgiven. Forgiven and Free."
You see, when you have the peace of Jesus Christ, nothing can stand in our way. "If God be for us, who could ever stand against us?" Romans 8:31.
Friends, perhaps you're struggling with something today. Perhaps its a lost job. Maybe its something else. Nothing is too great for God. Remember, we can always have the peace of Jesus Christ that can get us through any situation. All we have to do is ask, He's more than willing to listen.
Until next time friends: J.O.Y. Jesus, Others, You. Goodbye.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Angry Wanderers, Bronze Snakes, and a Way in the Desert
Oh my gracious. I do apologize, its been a while. Wendi and I have had quite the last few weeks, including a trip to Missouri surprising the elder Moon's (wink) with a cruise in celebration of their 25th wedding anniversary.
Anyway, onward and forward. This weeks post comes from the book of Numbers, Chapter 21, Verses 4-9. Now, calm down, I know you're thinking, "NUMBERS! Mooney, are you nuts! Ain't that the book with all the genealogies in it? There ain't nuthin' in that book!" Well, calm yourself, I assure you there is.
Our scene is the Children of Israel aimlessly following Moses around in the desert, and they are not happy. They cry out to Moses wanting to know why God has them out in the desert starving (which God had already provided them with manna AND quail), dehydrated (God had Moses provide them with water), and hot (God shaded them with a pillar of cloud to block the sun). Now, to me, it sounds like they weren't that bad off, and let's be honest, this sounds much better than slavery, but that's just me.
Anyway, God has enough of their foolish complaining and sends poisonous snakes to kill the people (many do actually die). The people cry out to Moses to intercede (which he does) and God tells Moses to make a Bronze Pole with a Snake on it. And if the people simply look at the snake after they are bitten, they will live. Pretty strange but simple stuff.
Now, you're thinking, "Why look at it? Why not touch it, or rub it or something?" Well, this is because God wanted the Israelites to show some faith. You see, the Snake Pole was a picture of what Jesus would one day come to do for you and me. The pole represents the cross, and the snake represents Jesus taking upon himself the sin of the world. All that's left is for you to have faith that he did this for you, and you can be saved from eternal death, just as those bitten Israelites were saved.
If you would like more information, open up your bible to John 3 and read the whole chapter. Its good stuff. Please let me know if you have any questions, or you are also free to leave comments on the page.
I would also like to give credit to my pastor John Blair for the idea for this post.
Anyway, onward and forward. This weeks post comes from the book of Numbers, Chapter 21, Verses 4-9. Now, calm down, I know you're thinking, "NUMBERS! Mooney, are you nuts! Ain't that the book with all the genealogies in it? There ain't nuthin' in that book!" Well, calm yourself, I assure you there is.
Our scene is the Children of Israel aimlessly following Moses around in the desert, and they are not happy. They cry out to Moses wanting to know why God has them out in the desert starving (which God had already provided them with manna AND quail), dehydrated (God had Moses provide them with water), and hot (God shaded them with a pillar of cloud to block the sun). Now, to me, it sounds like they weren't that bad off, and let's be honest, this sounds much better than slavery, but that's just me.
Anyway, God has enough of their foolish complaining and sends poisonous snakes to kill the people (many do actually die). The people cry out to Moses to intercede (which he does) and God tells Moses to make a Bronze Pole with a Snake on it. And if the people simply look at the snake after they are bitten, they will live. Pretty strange but simple stuff.
Now, you're thinking, "Why look at it? Why not touch it, or rub it or something?" Well, this is because God wanted the Israelites to show some faith. You see, the Snake Pole was a picture of what Jesus would one day come to do for you and me. The pole represents the cross, and the snake represents Jesus taking upon himself the sin of the world. All that's left is for you to have faith that he did this for you, and you can be saved from eternal death, just as those bitten Israelites were saved.
If you would like more information, open up your bible to John 3 and read the whole chapter. Its good stuff. Please let me know if you have any questions, or you are also free to leave comments on the page.
I would also like to give credit to my pastor John Blair for the idea for this post.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Babies...ya know, they've brought a lot of hope...
For this week's installment of the MR, I thought I'd touch on something that happened to me over the weekend. I became an uncle for the first time. Yep, that's right, the Coffey family introduced Baby Isaac to the world on Saturday! Congratulation go out to my in-laws, we can't wait to spoil him.
Isaac's birth brought to mind the birth of another baby. A baby born around two thousand nine years ago in a tiny little town in the countryside of Israel. This baby brought just as much joy and hope to his parents as I'm sure baby Isaac will bring to his parents. This baby's name of course was Jesus. Son of God and Son of Man.
You see, as we discussed in my last entry, God loved us so much that he was willing to send his son to the earth (John 3:16a). However, because Jesus was all God, he could not be born of a man...instead, God allowed him to be the most special baby in the history of the world. God allowed Jesus to be born of a virgin named Mary.
Jesus was a special baby in that he has brought hope to a helpless world. He brought salvation to a world lost in its sin (Romans 3:23). We needed a savior and got one in the form of a beautiful baby boy. Jesus brought hope, ya'll.
If you haven't given your life to Jesus, please remember, he because a man for you. He died for you. If you're not sure how, please see my last post. You never know when you might be out of chances. Jesus brought hope to the world--that includes you too!
Isaac's birth brought to mind the birth of another baby. A baby born around two thousand nine years ago in a tiny little town in the countryside of Israel. This baby brought just as much joy and hope to his parents as I'm sure baby Isaac will bring to his parents. This baby's name of course was Jesus. Son of God and Son of Man.
You see, as we discussed in my last entry, God loved us so much that he was willing to send his son to the earth (John 3:16a). However, because Jesus was all God, he could not be born of a man...instead, God allowed him to be the most special baby in the history of the world. God allowed Jesus to be born of a virgin named Mary.
Jesus was a special baby in that he has brought hope to a helpless world. He brought salvation to a world lost in its sin (Romans 3:23). We needed a savior and got one in the form of a beautiful baby boy. Jesus brought hope, ya'll.
If you haven't given your life to Jesus, please remember, he because a man for you. He died for you. If you're not sure how, please see my last post. You never know when you might be out of chances. Jesus brought hope to the world--that includes you too!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
If You Died Right Now...Would You Go To Heaven?
Hello. Welcome to my blog. This blog is meant with love, and with thought for those that read it. I cannot promise it will not offend...but the Word of God sometimes offends those in sin.
So there is my disclaimer, now for what I wish to say. Let me start with this question--
If you were to die this very second, where would you go?
I'll wait for you to think about it...okay, do you have an answer? What did you come up with? Did you say heaven? Do you not know? Did you say you never thought about it? Do you wish the blogger would take a hike? Okay, hopefully you didn't say the last one. But it was meant to be a serious question.
So perhaps you said you didn't know or you had never thought about it...if you said one of those, I'd like to talk about it and in about a minute I can help you know that you are going to heaven.
1)
If you are completely honest with yourself, we can all come up with one thing that we've done wrong. Not that hard to think of something is it? Nope, that's because we're all sinners, and it takes just one sin to make us a full blown sinner in God's eyes.
Oh, wait, there's a hand in the back...Umm, what's that? You say you've never sinned? There's one in every group...okay, I'll prove it to you that you have even if you didn't realize it.
2) Romans 5:12 says
See, back in the day, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit...and thus began to die physically. That's why all of us die, because of sin. You don't know anybody that's like a million years old do you? No, I didn't think so. So you see, we're all sinners
Oh, wait, I see another hand up. Yes? You want to know why it matters? Well, here's why--
3) Romans 6:23a
Yes, we just went over that...and if that were the end of the story, we'd all be in big trouble! You see, God could of just let us die in our sin and have been done with us...but, there is another half to this verse,
4) Romans 6:23b
Yep, that's right, we don't have to die in our sin, the Bible says that God will give us eternal life in heaven through Jesus Christ.
Oh, wait, another question from the back. You want to know why God would give us this opportunity? Here's why--
5) John 3:16
You see there is only one way to get into heaven, and that's through Jesus, whom God sent to the world to die for our sins as the verse shows. God says that one way is this--
6) Romans 10:13
Call upon the name of the lord? That means simply this--
1) You believe that you are a sinner (which we already pointed out above),
2) Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God (again, see above if you forgot),
3) If you are sorry for you sins, and will ask God to forgive you (and that means truly being sorry), God will forgive you. And then YOU (yep, you) can go to HEAVEN.
Pretty simple. I laid it out all right there. Verse by verse. If you would like to ask for forgiveness, try this simple pray if you really mean it:
God, I know I am a sinner, please forgive me and save my soul. I want make you my personal Savior & Lord. Thank you. Amen.
If you prayed that and meant it, congratulations, you are now qualified for Heaven!
If you didn't and have questions, please contact me, and I'll try to clear up anything you might not understand...but what the Bible says is true. You can email me at memoon@spartans.manchester.edu
My goal for this blog is to become a mini devotional/outreach tool that I will update a couple times a week. Thank you!
So there is my disclaimer, now for what I wish to say. Let me start with this question--
If you were to die this very second, where would you go?
I'll wait for you to think about it...okay, do you have an answer? What did you come up with? Did you say heaven? Do you not know? Did you say you never thought about it? Do you wish the blogger would take a hike? Okay, hopefully you didn't say the last one. But it was meant to be a serious question.
So perhaps you said you didn't know or you had never thought about it...if you said one of those, I'd like to talk about it and in about a minute I can help you know that you are going to heaven.
1)
All have sinned, and none of us is able to measure up to God's glory,Romans 3:23
If you are completely honest with yourself, we can all come up with one thing that we've done wrong. Not that hard to think of something is it? Nope, that's because we're all sinners, and it takes just one sin to make us a full blown sinner in God's eyes.
Oh, wait, there's a hand in the back...Umm, what's that? You say you've never sinned? There's one in every group...okay, I'll prove it to you that you have even if you didn't realize it.
2) Romans 5:12 says
Thru one man, sin entered into the world, and death as a result of the sin: and so death has passed to all men, for all have sinned.
See, back in the day, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit...and thus began to die physically. That's why all of us die, because of sin. You don't know anybody that's like a million years old do you? No, I didn't think so. So you see, we're all sinners
Oh, wait, I see another hand up. Yes? You want to know why it matters? Well, here's why--
3) Romans 6:23a
The penalty for sin is death...
Yes, we just went over that...and if that were the end of the story, we'd all be in big trouble! You see, God could of just let us die in our sin and have been done with us...but, there is another half to this verse,
4) Romans 6:23b
...but the GIFT of GOD is eternal life, through JESUS CHRIST our Lord.
Yep, that's right, we don't have to die in our sin, the Bible says that God will give us eternal life in heaven through Jesus Christ.
Oh, wait, another question from the back. You want to know why God would give us this opportunity? Here's why--
5) John 3:16
God loved the world SOOOO much, that he sent his only son to die for us, that whomever believes in him will not die but will have eternal life in heaven.
You see there is only one way to get into heaven, and that's through Jesus, whom God sent to the world to die for our sins as the verse shows. God says that one way is this--
6) Romans 10:13
Whoever calls on the name of the Lord (that's Jesus) shall be saved.
Call upon the name of the lord? That means simply this--
1) You believe that you are a sinner (which we already pointed out above),
2) Do you believe that Jesus is the son of God (again, see above if you forgot),
3) If you are sorry for you sins, and will ask God to forgive you (and that means truly being sorry), God will forgive you. And then YOU (yep, you) can go to HEAVEN.
Pretty simple. I laid it out all right there. Verse by verse. If you would like to ask for forgiveness, try this simple pray if you really mean it:
God, I know I am a sinner, please forgive me and save my soul. I want make you my personal Savior & Lord. Thank you. Amen.
If you prayed that and meant it, congratulations, you are now qualified for Heaven!
If you didn't and have questions, please contact me, and I'll try to clear up anything you might not understand...but what the Bible says is true. You can email me at memoon@spartans.manchester.edu
My goal for this blog is to become a mini devotional/outreach tool that I will update a couple times a week. Thank you!
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