Tag: god

Mirror, Mirror On the Wall…..

……I See My Need and Hear His Call!

“There’s none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God” (Romans: 3:10, 23).

When we take a good look at ourselves it becomes obvious that we are not perfect. We may try to ignore this obvious fact by trying to live a good life or we may look to others that we see as less “perfect” and try to justify our own failings. But the truth is that we are a fallen race unable to walk out a perfect life. We can hide this fact from ourselves or face the truth. In His Mercy and Grace, the Lord shows us our true condition and reaches out to us through the Gospel. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and draws us to the Lord. We can reject the Gospel and the imputed Righteousness (i.e. His Righteousness is ours by faith) He graciously offers us, or we can accept this judgment on our fallen nature and repent of our sins and come by faith to the God Who loves us and has provided a way in which we can have fellowship with Him.

“Therefore being justified by faith (in Christ and Him Crucified) we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1 w/ commentary).

Having placed our faith in Christ and His sacrificial death at Calvary we have peace with God. We now look to Him to walk out this life. It is no longer us trying to justify ourselves, but the Lord living within us by the presence of the Holy Spirit. We can look at ourselves as saved by the “Blood of the Lamb.” His shedding his Blood and dying on the Cross as payment for the sin debt owed to God, opened all the blessings of Heaven for us.

“But God commended His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Roman 5:8).

We walk out our new life in Christ by faith. We cannot live this new life in our own strength any more than we could walk out a perfect life before we were saved. The Lord does not give us a stronger willpower to live this life. The following verse shows us what happens to us when we come to the Lord by faith:

“Know you not, that so many of us were baptized (spiritually, not by water) into His Death (spiritually, we died with Christ)? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death (along with all our sins): that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the Glory of the Father, even so we should walk in Newness of Life” (Romans 6:3,4 w/ commentary).

We have “Newness of Life” because we believe in all that the Lord accomplished at Calvary. The Lord provides a complete Salvation. By faith alone, we are saved from our fallen nature becoming “children of God,” and He has given us many wonderful promises whereas we become partakers of the Divine Nature as the Apostle Peter tells us in the following verse:

“According to His Divine power has given unto us all things for life and Godliness, through the knowledge of Him Who has called us to glory and virtue. Whereby are given unto us precious promises: that we might be partakers of the Divine Nature….” (2 Peter 1:3,4).

We have this “knowledge of Him” by our faith in what Christ accomplished at the Cross. He has given us “precious promises” in His “Word” that we might be partakers of the “Divine Nature.” All that has been afforded us is due to the Father’s love for us in sending His Son to die on a cruel cross so that we might be forgiven and given “Newness of Life” in Christ. He has given us “all things for life and Godliness” by the Holy Spirit Who lives in us. Romans 8:2 shows us how the Holy Spirit works to bring this about in our lives.

“For the Law of the Spirit (how He works in our lives) of life (all life comes from Christ through the Spirit) in Christ Jesus (by what He accomplished at the Cross) has made me free (victorious living) from the Law of Sin and Death (we cannot overcome this “Law” by our own efforts)” (Romans 8:2 w/ commentary).

Our complete salvation comes from the Lord and now, when we look at ourselves, we can say that we are saved by the Mercy and Grace of the Lord. He has given us His Righteousness, imputed to us by our faith in Christ Crucified, and we now have peace with God. We no longer depend on our own efforts to live a victorious life, but we now know that victory comes by the power of the Holy Spirit as we daily place our faith in Christ and His sacrificial death at Calvary. How great a Salvation the Lord has provided for us!!!!! When peering into the mirror we can now say:

Mirror, mirror on the wall, I’ve come to Jesus and He has forgiven me all!

                                                          

Mirror, mirror on the wall, when I walk out this life by faith I will not fall!

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

Find podcasts of this article, and all the articles on this website on the “Here I Am Lord” podcast on Spotify for Podcasters, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic.

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2024

It Happened Without Warning!

We Do Not Know What a Day May Bring

A Fictional Narrative

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the Judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

The man found himself in Hell. Death had come suddenly! It happened without warning, in a moment. He had lived a good life according to the standards of this world. He worked hard and provided for his family. He raised three sons and they all were living successful lives with families of their own. The man realized as he looked around at all the suffering around him that this was his final destination. How had it come to this?

“There’s a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverb 14:12).

The man knew why he was there. He realized that he had gone his own way and that all his success in life meant nothing here. He had lived his life thinking that living a good life would earn him Heaven if there was such a place. As he looked around he did not recognize anyone. They all seemed to be in great pain. Their features seemed to be contorted due to the suffering of this place. He knew that he too appeared as they did with the look of hopelessness on their faces.

“Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

He thought back to that moment. He was enjoying working in his garden in the backyard. He was harvesting some of the fresh vegetables for a special dinner party they were hosting that evening. The last thing he saw before collapsing was his wife through the kitchen window preparing for the party. His health wasn’t perfect but to have this happen so suddenly was something none in the family ever expected. The finality of it. He had no last chance to see his family or to say goodbye.

He thought about his sons. He had raised them to be independent. They all respected their father and sought to live a life that he would be proud of. In other words, to follow in his footsteps. He knew now, being in this place of torment, that, although he tried to live an ethical life, He had ignored the most important thing he could have given his family. And that was faith in God!

“If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved” (Romans 10:9).

He had heard this Gospel from other family members but had ignored its call to repentance and faith. He thought that these family members were weaker than he and needed the crutch of religion. He was a “self-made” man and stood in his own strength. In the natural, it had paid off for him in that he was very successful. All that success now seemed like nothing compared with what he could have had by coming to the Lord. He realized now that being successful was not wrong, in fact, the Lord wants to bless His children. What was so wrong was rejecting the love that had sent the Son of God to the Cross to pay our sin debt and to open the door for a relationship with the Lord.

The man wished that he could warn his family to not come to this place. He knew that was not possible, but hoped that they would hear and accept the Gospel. He thought of the many times he had the opportunity and rejected it. He now knows that the Lord loves all those in the world and calls whosoever will come to Him to “Newness of Life” in Him. He also knows there are faithful workers who go forth with the Gospel. Although he knows that he cannot be heard by the ones he loves; He continually calls out into the darkness of this place of suffering yelling, “Please, hear the Gospel that will save you so that you will not end up here.”

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1).

[A discussion on Hell is not a pleasant or popular subject. It’s something not spoken of much today, but it is a real place and needs to be understood by all. Jesus spoke of it many times. Hell and the Lake of Fire are the final destinations for all those who reject the Gospel. We are unable to save ourselves and will perish if we do not accept the “gift” of eternal life that cost our Savior greatly to provide at Calvary. The Gospel is going forth through those who have accepted the love offered them by our Great God and know the end for those who reject it. If you do not know the Lord today, do not put off coming to Him, but hear and accept the Gospel as it’s presented by those whose lives it has changed.]

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim Salvation……” (Isaiah 52:7).

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

Find podcasts of this article, and all the articles on this website on the “Here I Am Lord” podcast on Spotify for Podcasters, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic.

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2024

The Natural Man

The Gospel Is Foolishness to Them Who Are Perishing!

“For the preaching of the Cross is to them who perish foolishness…….. (1 Corinthians 1:18a)

The natural man, those who have not been born of the Spirit, cannot understand spiritual things. The unredeemed are lost and will perish if they do not come to the Lord in repentance and faith in Christ and His sacrificial death at Calvary. The Lord, in His Wisdom, sent His Son to die on a cruel Cross to pay the sin debt of man. The world, in its wisdom, cannot understand this. The things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned.

“…… Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world” 1Corinthians 1:20b)

The world in its wisdom could not and cannot bring man to a knowledge of God. The Lord sent His Son to Calvary to open the door to a relationship between God and man. This is the Wisdom of God!

“For after that in the Wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God” (1 Corinthians 1:21)

With God sending His Son as a Redeemer for mankind, the world cannot, in its natural wisdom, know God. The Bible calls man’s wisdom regarding spiritual things – foolishness. Man’s attempts to either know God in the natural or live a life without him by their own wisdom is …. foolishness.

The natural man must come to the place of knowing that without God they are perishing. The Bible tells us that Christ is man’s answer for all that ails him. Christ stands at the crossroads of history as a beacon of hope for all those who will come His way! The Bible puts it this way:

“Christ the Power of God, and the Wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24b).

The Gospel is the only answer for man and one that shows the Wisdom of God that rescued us from our fallen hopeless state and pardoned us of our sin. Faith in this wonderful plan of God allows whosoever will to come His way and to have a relationship with the Lord, and, in fact, become “sons of God.”

The Gospel goes forth by the “foolishness of preaching” and is confirmed by the Holy Spirit. The Gospel is Christ and Him Crucified. The Apostle Paul made it clear in the following verse:

“For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him Crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).

This is the only message that will save those who hear it and accept what the Lord has graciously offered to whosoever comes to Him. We are saved by faith in what the Lord accomplished at Calvary, and we can walk out victorious lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the Wisdom of God! How great is our God? The following verse points the way:

” …Even so the things of God knows no man, but by the Spirit of God” ( 1 Corinthians 2:11b).

This makes it very clear. In summary, the natural man cannot know the things of God but is perishing in his fallen state. The Gospel is presented which is Christ and Him Crucified, and the Holy Spirit confirms it. We are born of the Spirit by repenting of our sins and the way we have lived our lives without the Lord and accepting the gift of Salvation by faith in Jesus and His great work at Calvary.

Our introductory verse for this article was “For the preaching of the Cross is to them who are perishing foolishness.” The following is the remainder of the verse: “…but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” God’s power is at work in the lives of all those who realize that they cannot come to God in the wisdom of this world. That wisdom sees the things of God as foolishness. In the natural we cannot even image the things the Lord has prepared for those who love Him, but in the Spirit…..

“But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them who love Him. But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Always Remember,

God Loves You!

Find podcasts of this article, and all the articles on this website on the “Here I Am Lord” podcast on Spotify for Podcasters, Google Podcasts, Breaker, Pocket Casts, and RadioPublic.

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Here I Am, Lord – Tom Quinn Ministries – tqministries.com 2024