Roy Tubbs

“Death has come up into our windows, it has entered our palaces, to cut off the children from the streets and the young men from the squares.” (Jeremiah 9:20) Catastrophes have always touched people’s lives. With these words, the prophet Jeremiah addressed a disaster of his time, centuries before the common era. Have you ever taken a second to look back at the story of Jesus and really think about what that meant for our lives? Like really… I mean really… thought about the impact of what Jesus did on the cross so many centuries ago? Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” God’s perfect gift is free. We did nothing to earn or deserve it, but he willingly and graciously gives us the gift of eternal life and so much more. This verse gives me a sense of peace and freedom because his grace is always constant, never fading and never changing. I encourage you to remind yourself frequently of the story of Jesus

Esther 4:14 says that “Perhaps you were born for such a time as this.” What does that verse mean to you? To me it means that God has put you on this earth at this time and has placed you where you are and with the people you are with for a reason.esthter Maybe God has you where you are in life so that you can be an influence on the people that you work with and go to school with. Maybe He brought on a major life-change that you weren’t expecting or wanting because He wanted you to be somewhere else to influence someone else. Maybe He has you where you are so that you can be more involved in ministries or Bible studies to strengthen your Faith. He may be opening and closing doors in your life because He is leading you to bigger and better things. If we are patient and are open to His calling, we can realize the plans He has for us and for the people we will influence. This verse in Esther is talking about when a woman in the Bible named Esther was told that “you were born for such a time as this” and in your

Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). You will find solutions to all your problems and all the wisdom, joy and glory of Heaven you need in His two hands. Jesus had sanctified, holy hands, and you can, too. God said, Be ye holy; for I am holy (I Peter 1:16). Jesus said, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48). He will direct you and use your hands daily to help build the Kingdom and bring in the lost. He will guide you on the paths of righteousness and show you the souls that need to be won. Your mark is on them, and you can bring them in from the paths of sin through the power of the Holy Ghost.

When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. HEB. 4:1,2 When the Promises Are Mixed with Faith 4 1-3 For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn’t do them a bit of good because they didn’t receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we’ll experience that state of resting. But not if we don’t have faith. Remember that God said, Exasperated, I vowed, “They’ll never get where they’re going, never be able to sit down and rest.”

Luke 5:17 Now it happened on a certain day, as He was teaching, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting by, who had come out of every town of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was present to heal them. Jesus had a ministry of teaching, preaching and healing! Everywhere He went the power of God was present through His teaching and preaching to heal people. He walked and talked God; He then ministered through the power of the Spirit whatever was needed to make a person whole! Acts 10:38 "how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

There are no hands like the Master’s serving hands. By law, when lepers were around people, they had to wear a bell around their neck; and they had to ring it and cry, “Leper, leper!” Then the people would run the other way. But Jesus didn’t turn away when the leper came running to Him and said, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Matthew 8:2,3). Jesus touched and helped people whom no one else could help. And he [Jesus] entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth…Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other (Mark 3:1,3,5).

esus said, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it. And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened (Luke 13:18-21). Souls are being saved; people are being healed, and the poor are hearing the Gospel truth. We may never know the magnitude of it all until we get to Heaven, but you can be assured that the seeds of the Gospel are going forth and working in the hearts and minds of people all over the world; and the Kingdom of God is really growing in this hour.

Good and bad seeds are sown into our minds every day; and they are fertilized when you willingly take them into your mind to be digested, broken down and absorbed in your spirit. That is why you have to be very careful about what you look at, watch or listen to. When you accept a bad seed by meditating on it or even believing it, it will stay with you; and that is dangerous. When bad seeds come your way, you must immediately get rid of them because they are of the devil. The Bible tells us, Neither give place to the devil (Ephesians 4:27). When Jesus was here, He said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit (John 12:24). Jesus was speaking of the life He would give for us. His flesh body had to die before life would come forth; and for us, self has to die if we want the divine fruits to be manifested in our lives.

Even God’s own people make excuses for not praying, fasting and spending time with the Word. They try to excuse themselves for not doing God’s whole will and for being more dedicated to self than they are to Him. This is a serious hour, and you must do the whole will of God; or you will be in trouble. The Lord is definitely coming in our day, so the devil is doing all he can to deceive as many people as possible. He is very patient, and he will try to sneak into your life a little at a time; so you must beware. Heavenly Father chose His Son, Jesus Christ, in our pre-earth life and sent Him to earth to be our Savior.

The devil uses people who are his to spew out his lies and deceit, trying to convince others of anything except the truth; but never listen to their lies. People tried to do that to Jesus; but He said, Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God (John 8:46,47). Listen only to God’s Word, or you will be setting yourself up to be robbed of your soul. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died [so you could live], yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us (Romans 8:34). Satan’s only goal is to deceive you and separate you from God, so keep yourself separated from him and stay with God. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you (II Corinthians 6:17).

efore Jesus began His ministry, He went into the wilderness and fasted for forty days and nights; and as soon as He was finished, He met the devil head-on. What did He use on the devil?—the Word. The Bible tells us, For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The Word is our great weapon against the devil; and when Jesus used it, the devil didn’t stay long. The Bible says, He departed from him for a season (Luke 4:13). Jesus defeated the devil with the Word and then went forth in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14). We all must use the Word and go forth in the power of the Spirit. One of the greatest lessons the Lord taught us while He was here on Earth was to declare, It is written (Matthew 4:4,7,10).

"Yet they seek Me daily, and delight to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of Me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God" (Isaiah 58:2). But their prayers were not getting through, and their fasting was in vain. They came to the conclusion that all their sacrificing, all their praying, all their seeking after God was not paying off. And in fact, God was hiding His face from them. "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2).

Make Jesus Your Savior If you are unsaved today, God knows about it. Jesus went to Calvary and died for you, so won’t you give your life to Him? His nail-riven hands are reaching out for you, so say this prayer right now: Oh, God, I am so sorry that I have sinned against you, but I have come home; and I am going to serve you for the rest of my life. You said if I would ask, you would forgive me for all of my sins. So I ask you now to please forgive me. I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in, Jesus! If you meant that prayer, He has come; and He is yours.

GOD KNOWS AND SEES EVERYTHING. HIS LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS. HIS EYES ARE ALWAYS WATCHING OVER YOU. HE KNOWS THE SECRETS OF OUR HEART. REPENT AND BE CLEANSED BY THE BLOOD OF THE CROSS AND YOUR SINS WILL BE FOREVER FORGIVEN.

Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you (I Peter 5:7) Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15). God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

Envy, vainglory and seeking the praise of men for the purpose of pleasing yourself bring sorrow to God. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another (Galatians 5:26). You should be glad when God blesses others and never envy them. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another (Galatians 5:15). Gossip and envy will destroy you and others, so you must never make room for them in your life.

By the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer (Psalm 17:4) By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast (Psalm 33:6-9). All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:3). He is God of yesterday, today and all of our tomorrows forevermore.

When Jesus was on Earth, He said, He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him (John 8:29). Jesus found great joy, strength and contentment in pleasing the Father; and you can, too. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches [disgraces] of them that reproached thee fell on me (Romans 15:3).

But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he power to become the sons [or daughters] of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12,13). 11Jesus was not pleasing Himself when He took the sins of a lost world upon Himself. Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses (Matthew 8:17). You will not be able to please yourself either as you separate from the world and go forth to tell others about Jesus and His saving grace. You always have to keep self out of the way and stay humble before God so you can show Jesus and not yourself to people. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (Matthew 24:14). And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).