February 18, 2009
Date: February 18, 2009
Published by Practical Spiritual Warfare web site, a division of Mission Miami Valley and authored by Dr. D. Vincent (Bud) Ford. This e-zine is dedicated to providing valuable, practical information for dealing with the chaotic and confusing times in which we live.
Practical Spiritual Warfare Web Site Dr. D. Vincent (Bud) Ford Mission Miami Valley
Contents
- Tips for Kingdom Living
- Strategic Advice for the Remnant
- Scripture Guidance
- Thoughts to meditate on
- Articles Pointing to the End Times
- Site Build It ( Check out the links below – you owe it to yourself)
- Announcements
1. Tips for Kingdom Living - Accountability
How do I become more accountable?
To become more accountable, follow God’s commands a outlined in His Word, the Bible. Also, choose friends to whom you can feel free to give an account of yourself. Good advisers keep us from actions that can hurt us.
How can we choose people to hold us accountable?
Friends are not always the best advisers, especially if their council is not consistent with God’s Word. Look for elders willing to mentor.
How can I effectively hold someone else accountable?
If we are going to minister to others by holding them accountable, we must be wise, honest, godly and trustworthy.
Does God really hold us accountable for all our actions?
We are to enjoy life, but stay within God’s guidelines. God will hold us accountable for everything we do, and who wants to explain ungodliness to a holy God on the Day of Judgment?
2. Strategic Advice for the Remnant
Renewing Your Mind
Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds – how critical BUT how hard to know how it is we are to renew our minds!
The strategic advice and wisdom to the Remnant is that we can not renew our minds. Only God can renew our minds, our old thoughts that are based on the lies significant others in our past have told us and we cam to believe them as our truth.
For example, how many of God’s children have been told they were “no good”, or “stupid”, or “in the way”, or “unwanted”, or “lazy”, or “ugly”, or “fat” or on and on, by some important person in their life?
When repeated over and over in our childhood the lies planted in us become our truth.
It is on the basis of what we believe to be true that determines our emotion and our choices in life. It is the choices we make that determine our behavior.
Have you ever had a problem with your behavior?
When we have a problem renewing our minds because of poor behavior we need to give that behavior and thinking to the Lord. We need to ask Him to show us His truth to replace the lies that have been planted in us.
It is only the truth from the Lord that will renew our minds and with His truth we will gradually be transformed.
Faulty thinking based on lies spoken to us, and which we came to believe, is a very significant problem for all of us.
As the Remnant, it is important that we intentionally seek God for His truth about us and not rely on old thinking or others for our truth.
3. Scripture Guidance
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
Proverbs 15:8
The King James Version
It is as easy for God to supply thy greatest as thy smallest wants, even as it was within His power to form a system or an atom, to create a blazing sun as to kindle the fire-fly's lamp.
Thomas Guthrie
4. Thoughts for Meditation
LIVING BY FAITH – STAY TUNED IN TO JESUS
James 1:5-8 NIV
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Have you ever thought about what it means to be double-minded? One definition might be a person that lacks faith. But it also means to have one’s loyalty divided. One part of the person says he wants to follow Jesus. But the other part of him won't give up the world in order to do so.
The story of the rich young ruler in Matthew 19 is a perfect example of a double-minded person:
It was not this young man’s wealth that was the problem… it was this young man’s unwillingness to put his wealth second to Jesus that kept him from being saved.
It's pretty easy to be double-minded. There are a lot of distractions – or there can be. Combating loneliness can lead a single person to the singles bars. (Now there's a great place to find a Christ-centered relationship, isn't it?) Desire for things can focus our minds on our jobs and making money instead of serving Him. Desire for popularity can keep us from standing up for Jesus for fear of losing friends. There are any number of things that can make us shift our focus to the world and away from Jesus. After all, the world is right here, where we can touch it, hear it, feel it, smell it. It's a lot noisier, more demanding of our attention. And much more enticing.
And it follows, if we're more focused on the world than on our Lord, when we do pray, we are going to doubt. If we aren't abiding in the Lord – staying tuned in to Him 24 hours a day – we aren't going to have developed the faith we need to believe in the answer to our prayers being given.
I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if I make decisions on my own, without asking the Lord's help, they're usually going to be stupid decisions. I've proven it to myself time and again. But when I'm walking with the Lord on a daily basis, seeking His face continually, and asking for wisdom in my decisions, they are always right; they are always wise.
Take this step in learning to live by faith and determine never to be double-minded again, either in your faith or in your focus. Stay tuned in to Jesus 24 hours a day. Dogwood Ministry.
5. Articles Pointing to the End Times Watch
[Note: The number following End Times Watch is the sequence number of the End Times article and is inserted to assist the reader in location the article as well as assisting the search engines.]
Satan's Doom - by Todd Strandberg - www.raptureready.com/rr-doom.html
Lucifer’s downfall is the greatest example of failure. Judas is another relevant example. Judas is infamous for betraying Jesus for money. We are told that he was a devil from the beginning (John 6:70), so he never was a true follower of Christ. Lucifer was created perfect, and he served God directly in His holy temple. Despite that perfect environment, he chose rebellion.
The Seven Deadly Sins - In Defense of the Faith - Jack Kinsella - Omega Letter Editor - www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=6535
In the Book of Proverbs, God lays out a list before us of what are often called the "Seven Deadly Sins." They earned that nickname, not because those sins will cause a believer to lose his salvation, but because they are the most destructive sins to a believer's spiritual progress before the Lord.
End Times Watch 30 - Chances of WMD attack in big city greater: report – www.reuters.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chances of a terror attack on a major city somewhere in the world using weapons of mass destruction are better than even, according to a task force mandated by the U.S. Congress, The Washington Post reported in its Tuesday edition.
A draft study by the panel warns of growing threats from rogue states, nuclear smuggling rings and the spread of atomic information in the developing world, the newspaper reported.
The panel, the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, singled out Pakistan as a grave concern because of its network of terror groups, history of instability and nuclear capabilities, according to the report.
"In our judgment, America's margin of safety is shrinking, not growing," the newspaper quoted from the draft report.
The panel said it is more likely that a terror attack, which could also include biological weapons, will take place by the end of 2013, according to the report.
Former Sen. Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat, chaired the commission with former Rep. James Talent, a Missouri Republican, as the vice chairman.
The commission recommended the overhaul of international nonproliferation treaties, including more robust inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the report said.
The panel also urged President Barack Obama to take a tough line with Iran and North Korea.
6. Site Build It (SBI)
This is the 21st century and the day of the internet. Like it or not it is here to stay.
I needed a web site but had no idea how to build it.
It was all greek, mysterious and intimidating to me.
I paid to have a web site built – cost me a lot of money. But the good thing (I thought) was I could maintain it and add to it myself through a control panel.
This was supposed to save me money – but guess what – I could never get it to work properly. Way to difficult and complicated to understand.
Alas, this too was greek! The site looks good – take a look at it by clicking http://www.MissionMiamiValley.com
The only problem is no traffic comes to it and it is a waste of time and money!
I found the solution! It is Site Build it.
This is absolutely fantastic and I can not say enough good about it
It does not cost as much as I paid for the other site – that is a very good thing. The step-by-step teaching and the unique and phenomenal large amount of tools is unsurpassed.
This is a TRULY USER FRIENDLY web site builder.
Take a look at some of the information – you’ll be glad you did.
- Quick Tour Slide Show:
- Site Build It Home page:
- Find Your Business:
- I Love SBI:
- What’s your passion?:
- Web Hosting:
The networking available with the internet is mind boggling, and the use of the internet seems to be limited only by our imagination.
It is rapidly becoming the source of commerce. Don’t get left behind in communication, commerce, networking, information and you name it.
I have found a way to benefit greatly with the Site Build It approach and I want to share it with you.
Check out the above links by clicking on the picture. You owe it to your self to see this wonderful user-friendly tool.
7. Announcements
This e-zine The Remnant, continues to be a part of the www.PracticalSpiritualWarfare.com web site for the time being.
At some point in the near future, it will be transferred to the new web site www.EndTimesPreparation.com. However, due to some unforeseen circumstances the transfer has been delayed perhaps a month or two.