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.

Character Defects

Contents

1.      Tips for Kingdom Living

2.      Strategic Advice for the Remnant

3.      Scripture Guidance & Inspiration

4.      Thoughts to meditate on

5.      Articles Pointing to the End Times

6.      Site Build It (Want a web site? It's easier than you think. Don’t take my word for it - Check out the links below – you owe it to yourself)

7.      Announcements

1.     Tips for Kingdom Living – Attitudes and Actions

Are you ready to have God remove all your defects of character?

Getting entirely ready to have God remove all our character defects sounds impossible doesn’t it?  In reality we all we all know that such perfection is out of human reach. 

Getting ready to have God remove all our character defects is just another way of saying that we are going to do our best to work toward a life-long goal that no one ever reaches until eternity.

The apostle Paul expressed a similar thought: “I don’t mean to say I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me …forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us” (Philippians 3:12-14).

This combination of a positive attitude and energetic effort is part of the mystery of our cooperation with God.  Paul said: “Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and power to do what pleases Him” (Philippians 2:12-13).

We need to practice disciplines of positive attitudes and actions for the rest of our life.  We don’t have to demand perfection of ourself; it is enough to keep moving ahead as best we can even in the face of discouragement and opposition.  WE can look forward to our rewards with the hope of becoming all God intends us to be. God will strengthen and encourage us as we do so.

2.     Strategic Advice for the Remnant – Competition

Should Christians avoid competition?

Misplaced pride and competitiveness can lead to sin and destroy families, as it did in both Cain and Absalom’s case below.

The Lord accepted Abel’s offering, but He did not accept Cain’s. This made Cain very angry and dejected…Cain attacked and killed his brother Abe Genesis 4:1-8.

Also, I wish I (Absalom) were the judge. Then people could bring their problems to me, and I would give them justice! (2 Samuel 15:1-12).

Properly focused competitive drives can produce great results.  “You also must run in such a way that you will win…”(1 Cor. 9:24-27.

Paul had a definite completive streak, but he sought to glorify his Lord rather that to assert his own superiority. (1 Cor. 15:10-11)

If people say you can be too competitive at times, how can you learn to lighten up?

We are warned not to spend our lives competing for the wrong things for the wrong reasons. Don’t store up treasurers here on earth…storeyour treasures in heaven. (Matt. 6:19-21).

We are to push ourselves to do our best - not to beat others, but because our best honors our God who created us. Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than man. (Col. 3:22-25)

3.           Scripture Guidance & Inspiration

 He who lives to God rests in his Redeemer's love, and is trying to get rid of his old nature- to him every sorrow, every bereavement, every pain, will come charged with blessings, and death itself will be no longer the "king of terrors," but the messenger of grace.

 F. W. Robertson 

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 But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 

 John 1:12 

 The Revised Standard Version 

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A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner:  Inside of me there are two dogs.  One of the dogs is mean and evil.  The other dog is good.  The mean dog fights the good dog all the time.  When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, "The one I feed the most."

George Bernard Shaw 

4. Thoughts for Meditation

LIVING BY FAITH – OBEY GOD RATHER THAN MEN

Acts 5:29 NIV

But Peter and the apostles answered and said, "We must obey God rather than men."

When you reach this step in learning to live by faith, you will have victory ... victory over all the faith-shattering things that affect your life.  When you can say, "I will obey God rather than men," you will have achieved a level of faith far beyond anything that has gone before in your life.

What does this mean?  It means that you will have every scripture we've studied etched deep within your heart.  You won't be giving lip service to faith, you will be living it. 

You will understand that faith is something that has grown in you to a powerful level - because you've allowed Jesus to illustrate His faithfulness in your life. 

You will believe that He is who He claims to be. 

You will believe that all things are possible through Him. 

You will have prayed for help in your unbelief, and you will know Him and obey Him in all things. 

You will know that He abides in you, and that He hears you each time you speak to Him. 

You will have been transformed by the renewing of your mind and spirit, and you will have the right motivation – a desire to glorify God – in everything in your life. 

You will seek Him first, not your friends or “how to” books or an analyst.  And everything you do will be done for His glory. 

You will spend all day, every day, tuned in to Jesus.  If you become confused, you will immediately seek wisdom from Him.  All of your prayers will be within His will.  You won’t seek signs and wonders. 

You will seek Him in everything, even those things that seem too small. 

You will know that your requests will be granted, but also be aware that sometimes He says no. 

You will be joyful through your trials, and you will pray continually, all day, every day. 

You will have unnatural expectations regarding the answers to your prayers. 

You will be of one heart and one voice with other believers, and you will never quench the Spirit when you see Him working. 

You will never be afraid of anything again, knowing that He is in control. 

You will hold fast to those things that are good, and avoid those that are evil. 

You will be prepared for and expect the best, no matter how things look on the surface. 

You will praise Him when others hate you. 

You will rest in His love, waiting patiently for His answers. 

You will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the war is already won, and that God’s greatest riches in Christ Jesus are yours!

Dogwood Ministries

5.  Articles Pointing to the End Times Watch

[Note: The number following End Times Watch is the sequence number for the End Times article and is inserted to assist the reader in locating the article as well as assisting the search engines.]

End times watch 79 - Satan: The Chess Master

Playing Chess With The Devil - By Todd Strandberg – www.raptureready.com

It is anyone’s guess what Satan does for recreation in his spare time, but I imagine he would be very good at chess. For someone who spends most of his time devising strategies for ensnaring humanity with various vices, he would likely be a formidable chess opponent.

Click to Read Rest of Article

End times watch 80 - The Next Level - By Ron McGatlin

Crystal clear spiritual clarity comes through perfected purity and holiness.

Perfected purity and holiness comes by the resurrected life of Christ replacing our crucified life. (Rom 6:5, Gal 2:20, Rom 6:11-13, Col 1:27)  

The next level to which God is calling His people is the oneness that results from knowing the Son of God in such intimacy that we become perfected spiritual beings to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. God has been specifically preparing a people to become as Christ is in the world since he called Abraham out from among his people thousands of years ago.

Click to Read Rest of Article

End times watch 81 - Why Is Jesus Waiting? -  Nathan Jones – www.lamblion.com

Every day we're deluged by waves of bad news.

End times watch - As a Christian watching and waiting for the Lord Jesus to fulfill His promise of returning to Earth to set up His kingdom of peace, love and righteousness, I keep an eye on world events to discern the biblical signs that foretell of that blessed Second Coming. And so, day after day after day I peruse an endless list of news stories in search of those signs. They are very easy to find, but in the search I also discover that the world is filled with horror. That horror can stamp out any glimmer of hope.

Click to Read Rest of Article

6. Site Build It (SBI)

NEED A WEB SITE? It's eiser than you think! Don’t take my word for it, check this out yourself Free.  This is a way to either SUPPLEMENT YOUR INCOME OR REPLACE IT While Following Your Passion at the same time!

Take a look at some of the possibilities; you’ll be glad you did.

1. Quick Tour Slide Show:

2. Site Build It Home page:

3. Find Your Business:

4. I Love SBI:

5. What’s your passion?:

6. Web Hosting:

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.

The site looked good but no traffic came and it was a waste of time and money!  After four years I had to get rid of the site and find another way.

I found the solution! It is Site Build it.

This is absolutely fantastic and I can not say enough good about it! 

Don't take my word for it, check it out yourself FREE.  This is a way to either supplement your income OR REPLACE IT!

It does not cost as much as I paid for MY old 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, and just as much "do it yourself" as you want, web site builder.

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

(1)  Thank you for all your comments about this e-zine, The REMNANT; they are an encouragement to me.  If you have any questions or comments I encourage you to send a web mail.

(2)  The theme of www.PracticalSpiritualWarfare.com centers around practical, everyday ways to deal with the battle of living in this current season and preparing for the end times the world is getting ready to enter.