Published by Practical Spiritual Warfare web site, a division of Mission Miami Valley, 718 Stratford Dr., Sidney, Ohio 45365 and authored by Dr.  D. Vincent (Bud) Ford, president.  This e-zine is dedicated to providing valuable, practical information for dealing with the chaotic and confusing times in which we live.

Contents

1.      Tips for Kingdom Living - Complacency

2.      Strategic Advice for the Remnant - Hearing God & Walking In His Spirit

3.      Scripture Guidance & Inspiration

4.      Thoughts to meditate on - Struck and Spat Upon

5.      Articles Pointing to the End Times

6.      Site Build It - Follow your passion! Check out the links below.

7.      Announcements

1.     Tips for Kingdom Living – Complacency

When we are in need, we usually take God more seriously.  But when we are comfortable, and getting along OK, or are prosperous, it is easier to become complacent about God.  This is especially true in America.  We often become complacent in our prayer life, our Bible reading, our thoughts about God.  It is a wise person who remembers God daily and in both times of need and prosperity.

God takes righteousness seriously. So should God’s people. To know what is right and then be complacent about it or unwilling to do it is sin.  Samson and Solomon are example of people who were complacent toward God and God’s commands and it led them into sin and the devastating consequences of sin.

In the next section on Hearing God and Walking in His Spirit we can see how the consequences of complacency restrict us from hearing the voice of God and the result of barrenness and dryness when it comes to signs, wonders and miracles.

2.     Strategic Advice for the Remnant – Hearing God & Walking In His Spirit

What hinders our hearing the voice of God? What prevents us from receiving the revelation of the deep, hidden mysteries of the kingdom?

The first century disciples heard and walked in miracle-working power. Why can't we?  Why don’t we have ears to hear the Holy Spirit?  Are we complacent about our relationship to the Holy Spirit? Do we easily say we believe IN the Bible, believe IN Jesus Christ and believe IN the Holy Spirit?

OR, do we actually BELIEVE THE BIBLE? BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST? BELIEVE THE HOLY SPIRIT? Not just believe IN them!

Here is a big clue for us.

The disciples that walked with Jesus heard but they didn’t really hear with understanding until after the Holy Spirit came and filled them. After Pentecost the things they previously heard began to make sense and they walked in the beginning of the kingdom of God lifestyle, that is, they knew the kingdom of God was within them and they walked in it as a lifestyle. Jesus did not fully speak or demonstrate the miracles of the kingdom of God until after the Holy Spirit came upon Him and remained.

Hearing from God involves the Holy Spirit.

Hearing the deep hidden mysteries of God involves having ears to hear the word of the kingdom of God that is within. Many who are involved with the Holy Spirit may hear God; yet, may not have ears to hear the deeper mysteries of the word of the kingdom.

We cannot by effort attain ears to hear, but we can meet the qualifications and get into position to receive ears to hear. In 1 Corinthians 2:6-10, two major keys are pointed out to hearing the deep, hidden wisdom of Spiritual Maturity and Loving God.

Spiritual Maturity has to do with the experience of walking in the Spirit. It is not necessarily a chronological matter. The process is to be filled with the Spirit and emptied of self.

The process of being filled with the Spirit involves looking to the Spirit for guidance and not to our own understanding. This will be a big change for most Christians and can be very difficult for the theologically-trained mindset. Spirit is spirit, it is not printed words on a page (even in the Bible) that register in the logical mind and understood by logic and reason.

Our first tendency is usually to quickly turn to our past methods of employing our minds to search our stored knowledge and to turn to the words of Scripture to figure out logically what to do and how to discern truth.

Learning to ask and then wait for God to speak to us by His Spirit will require some retraining of ourselves. Maturity comes from the exercise of walking in the Spirit’s governance and not our own governance. But solid food belongs to those who are spiritually mature, that is, those who by reason of use have their spiritual senses exercised and are able to discern both good and evil, (Heb 5:14).

Loving God involves laying down our lives and truly loving Him with our whole hearts.

 

Mark 12:29: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

Only the pure heart can truly hear the hidden mysteries. The desire to have a pure heart is not the same thing as having it. The intent of the heart is not enough. It is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks and our conversation of life emanates. If our hearts are filled with love by the Spirit we have a pure heart.

Do we really love Him? Is there anything in our lives that we love as much as, or more than, we love God? What really abides in our hearts? What fills our thought life? What desires truly are deep in our hearts? What really is important to us? Where do we really get our delight? Do we really delight and abide in the Lord? Or do we just say we do? Do we hope we love God more than anything, and hope we delight in Him, and hope we abide in Him?

Mature love knows that nothing else comes close to God. There is no very close second to the love for God in the spiritually mature.

The price we must pay to hear the deep, hidden mysteries of God’s kingdom wisdom is a willingness to lay aside everything in our lives that is important to us. To figuratively sell all that we have to buy that “perfect pearl”, that “field of hidden treasure”.

We must be willing to lose our lives to find the true life in God. See: Matthew 13:44-46; Luke 14:33; Matthew 16:24-25; Mark 10:29-30.

Let us purpose in our hearts this moment to release to God everything that is precious to us.

Let Him have our wives, our husbands, our children, our ministry, our business, our hobbies, our health, our reputation, our need for acceptance of men, our religious convictions, our pet doctrines, our need for control, all traditions, our secret desires, our very lives, anything in which we delight. Can we trust Him with these things?

If we truly believe that He loves us and what He will do is best for us, we can release all to Him without reservation, to do with as He pleases.

If you are willing, or if you are willing to be made willing, to release all that is in your hand, head, and heart, so that you may hear mysteries of the kingdom, pray the following prayer from your heart.

Fill in the blank with those special things you need to release. It is important for you to sign and date the prayer agreement. Entering into and signing the prayer agreement serves as a spiritual stake of commitment set in time. The signer is not seeking to hear a word from the author or even just to receive revelation from this work, but is specifically seeking to hear deep mysteries from God that will greatly impact and empower his or her life.

Only as God’s ultimate wisdom permeates our hearts can we know real peace and fulfillment. And only as we give our all to God - all we have, all we are, and all we care about, will we be in position to be given ears to hear the deep hidden mysteries of the kingdom of God.

Only then will we be able to walk in a lifestyle that understands the Kingdom of God is within us, it is here and now, available for those who submit all they have and all they are to the Lord to walk in His Spirit and Kingdom.


PRAYER AGREEMENT

Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I repent and turn from all that is in my heart before You.

Now by an act of my will, I release to You all that is precious in my life. I specifically release to you my business, my family, my ambitions, my possessions, my __________ __________________, _____________________, and my ______________________ .

God, I am one who truly loves You. Jesus, You are my Lord. I esteem You above all else. Nothing or no one else is my Lord.

In the name of Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I bind all the works of darkness, blindness, deception, delusion, man’s traditions, and religion that are affecting my life. I loose the Spirit of revelation in my heart.
 
Father, in the name of Jesus, I choose to open my spirit to receive that which was previously hidden, to receive Your wisdom. Grant to me the mind of Christ. Holy Spirit come in power, speak into my heart hidden mysteries of the wisdom of God. Fill my heart with the light and life of God. Give me ears to hear in my heart. In Jesus’ name, Amen


Prayed on this date ________________

Signed ___________________________

3.           Scripture Guidance & Inspiration

 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:  "Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.  For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.  Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.  I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.  And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." 

 John 17:1-5 

 The New International Version 

_______________________________

Many people seek a deeper life with Christ. The key is in how they seek. A deeper life with Christ comes ONLY AFTER you are able to be still before Him. Those who don't, won't or THINK they can't still their mind, will have a very hard time getting to know God in an intimate way.

 D. Vincent (Bud) Ford

______________________________

The tomb is empty so you don't have to be.

L. James Harvey 

3.           Thoughts for Meditation -

STRUCK AND SPAT UPON – Isaiah 50:6 NIV; Matthew 26:67 NIV; Matthew 27:30 NIV; Mark 14:65 NIV

"I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting."

Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him…

They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.

   Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.

Seven hundred years before it happened, Isaiah saw the Master being humiliated, mocked, degraded, even spat upon by those who mocked Him.

When you say words over and over again, they begin to lose their impact, even their meaning.  Try it.  Pick out a word.  Any word.  Now say it over and over and over again for a minute or so.  Pretty soon, it becomes nonsense, doesn't it?  The meaning and impact of the word are gone.  For this reason, sometimes it helps to change your perspective occasionally, to look at a situation from a different angle in order to regain the impact the story had the first time you heard it.

So, if you can, put yourself in Jesus' place for a moment.  Think about how Jesus felt as he was mocked.  Imagine being stripped of what little clothing you own.  Imagine the pain as the cat-o-nine-tails rips the flesh from your back.  Imagine a crown made of long, needle-sharp thorns being jammed down onto your head, the spike-like thorns digging into your face and scalp. Imagine standing in the center of a huge crowd, every face contorted with mockery, ridiculing everything about you.  Imagine someone spitting in your face.  Horrible, isn't it?

The point is this:  If Jesus was willing to allow Himself to go through all that for you, are you willing to take the ridicule you might suffer for being one of His?  Yes, you say?  Do you always speak up for Him in a crowd of non-believers?  Do you always speak up for Him when believers get side-ways in their thoughts?  Do you use His word when dealing with your family?  Do you always reflect Him in everything you say and do?

"Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.  But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."  Matthew 10:32-33 NIV

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 85 - Israel Threat To Attack Iran Is Not Bluff  

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon has said that Israel is not bluffing in its threats to take military action against Iran's contentious nuclear program, in remarks broadcast Friday on Sky News.

Click to Read Rest of Article

End times watch 86 - Prophetic Word by Kim Clement about President Obama

I generally do not put prophecies here, mainly because there are both good, and not so good, prophetic words spoken; however, Kim clement has spoken a consistently good prophetic word and this one in particular is of interest.

This is a very specific prophecy and does not negate our call to pray for our current president. If we don't pray for him, we are disobeying Scripture. We must pray for every leader, and it's not based on if we agree with all policies or lifestyles of the leader, either. In other words, God doesn't act like the Church. No, instead, the Church must act like God. The best prophets prophesy according to what they see or hear from God, and not according to their own opinions.

Click to Read Rest of Article

End times watch 87  - Report: U.S. Stopped Israel From Attacking 'Hezbollah Arms Ship' – www.hartez.com  

End times watch. The United States informed Israel of a ship carrying tons of weapons allegedly en route from Iran to Hezbollah, but vetoed Israel's plans to attack, the A-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported on Friday.

Click to Read Rest of Article

6. Site Build It (SBI)

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1. Quick Tour Slide Show:

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6. Web Hosting:

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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.

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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.