February 17, 2010
Date: February 17, 2010
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.
Practical Spiritual Warfare Web Site Dr. D. Vincent (Bud) Ford End Times Preparation Web Site
Contents
1. Strategic Advice for the Remnant –Strategies to Win Spiritual Battles - “Principals of Spiritual Warfare”
2. Tips for Kingdom Living – Compromise
3. Scripture Guidance & Inspiration
4. Thoughts to meditate on – God's Unique Plan
5. Articles Pointing to the End Times
6. Site Build It - Follow your passion! Check out the links below. http://buildit.sitesell.com/
7. Announcements -
1. Identifying the Enemy
We have learned that there is a great invisible war going on in the spiritual realm. We will now look at our enemy in that war.
In order to plan effective strategy to win the conflict with this enemy we need to study all available information about our opponent, Satan and his demons.
Our western Christian culture has a difficult time processing the material found in the Bible about this conflict. In the Bible we find a world where angels visit, demons manifest, dreams and visions guide, God intervenes, and signs and wonders occur. In our modern day western culture science, medicine, business and psychology seem to have replaced the need for Jesus’ ministry of revelation and power.
As westerners, when we are converted it seems we believe in God the Father and in Jesus, but most of us do not believe in the spirit world of the Holy Spirit. As a result we do not have the ability to function in the realm of the spirit world. Most Christians do not even believe the devil or demons exist. How handicapped we are!
So identifying the enemy is essential if we are to effectively engage in this invisible war.
Identifying the enemy in the spiritual war can be difficult because the forces of evil do not wear skin; they are not clothed in the flesh. For this reason we must rely on the Word of God to help us understand the enemy’s nature and strategies.
In this study of spiritual warfare, we will be careful that we only identify those things directly attributed to Satan and his demons. We do not see Satan behind every bush and we do not want to give his any credit for being responsible for those things he is not actually responsible for.
We will avoid a “demon this” of “Demon that” mentality. If we concluded that Satan was responsible fo, or even most, of the world’s problems, we would fail to recognize that it is people who are responsible for most of the world’s problems; that kind of conclusion would miss the point that Scriptures do not call Satan responsible for the earth’s problems, and if they did then God would not hold us responsible for our sin.
In our next issue we will further identify our enemy by looking at the origin of Satan, as well as his former position before his fall.
2. Tips for Kingdom Living – Pride
Why is pride considered one of the “seven deadly sins” when other things seem so much worse?
In Ezekiel 28:11-19 the Bible seems to indicate that pride was the sin that resulted in Lucifer (Satan) being cast from heaven.
In Psalm 10:2-11 we see that pride leads to ignoring God and a life of disobedience.
2 Timothy 3:2-5 shows us that pride can destroy relationships faster than almost anything else because it is always taking away from others. Pride strengthens your position at the expense of others. It is selfish.
In 2 Chronicles 26:16-20 we find an inflated estimation of our past successes leads to prideful behavior and, ultimately, judgment.
In Obadiah 1:3 we see that pride finds comfort in false security.
In 1 Corinthians 4:6-7 we find that pride can infect our spiritual lives and divide the church.
Acts 112:22-23 tells us that God hates pride and will judge it severely.
When is pride healthy and appropriate?
In Romans 15:17 Paul was proud NOT of what he had accomplished but of what God had done through him.
In 2 Corinthians 5:11-13, like Paul, if we take pride in anything, we ought to take pride in the integrity and honesty of our ministry and life, which brings glory to God.
God’s promise to us is in Proverbs 16:18 where4 He tells us “Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall.”
3. Scripture Guidance & Inspiration
But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:4-7
The New International Version
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The devil does not tempt unbelievers and sinners who are already his own.
Thomas Kempis
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D. Vincent (Bud) Ford
4. Thoughts for Meditation - TRIED AND CONDEMNED – Isaiah 53:5-7; Luke 23:1-25; Matthew 27:1-2; Mark 14:61
But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. (Isaiah 53:5-7 NIV)
Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pilate. And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king.”
So Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus replied.
Then Pilate announced to the chief priests and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.” (Acts 23:1-4 NIV)
Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor. (Matthew 27:1-2 NIV)
But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” (Mark 14:61 NIV)
Jesus was an innocent man, a man without sin, a man who had done no wrong. Yet He was tried and condemned to the most horrible death his judges could create. Tried and condemned while He offered nothing in His own defense. Tried and condemned to suffer and die so that you and I might be saved from every evil thought, every evil action, everything that any of us has ever done or will ever do that is evil in the sight of God. And now, you and I look back at those who condemned Him and shake our heads in wonder that they couldn't see who He was, amazed that they could reject Him so completely.
Hind-sight is twenty-twenty, isn't it? Would we have recognized Him then? Possibly. And possibly not. But we recognize Him now. We can see the whole picture, the plan that God set in motion in the Garden of Eden. Seven hundred years before Jesus was born, Isaiah saw the whole picture, too. He described what he saw in this passage. He wrote this passage and, I'm sure, shared this vision verbally with all he could find. Yet, few believed. Few recognized Jesus when He was on earth. And now, with the whole picture in hand, with the clear vision of the past firmly in our hands, few believe today. Jesus told Thomas that he was blessed because he had seen and believed, but those who did not see and yet believed were even more blessed. In that same light, those who rejected Jesus in person were foolish, but how much more foolish are those who live today and have the whole story and yet reject Him?
Are you a part of His fold? Or are you still wandering around, lost because you can’t – or won't – recognize the whole picture?
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 106 - Some Say Haiti earthquakes beginning of the end - www.clarecountyreview.com
Is the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti a sign that the world is changing?
Some experts would certainly tell us that.
The Haiti earthquake, which measured a monstrous 8 on the Richter scale, is responsible for over 200,000 deaths in the Haitian capital of Port Au Prince. Another 1.5 million people are said to be homeless.
End Times Watch 107 - Encountering Kingdom By Ron McGatlin
End times watch. While traveling the journey of life, some Christians are suddenly encountering the awesome spiritual reality of the King and His kingdom. In an instant, as if by the click of a switch, a light turns on and the fog of religious darkness dissolves exposing the King of Glory and the reality of His heavenly kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
The fresh revelation of the kingdom of God is exciting but also surprising. Many spiritual things that we could not quite understand start to become perfectly clear and make very practical sense. Things come together in our understanding that would not fit together before. The truth of the kingdom becomes so obvious that we may wonder how we have missed this so long. It is so simple, powerful, and real.
End Times Watch 108 - - Israel on alert as Hizbullah troops move into Lebanon from Iran – www.worldtribune.com
End times watch - The Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah has begun deployment of new combat units in preparation for a war with Israel.
Lebanese sources said Hizbullah plans to deploy thousands of combat troops trained in Iran and capable of a rapid invasion of Israel. They said many of the newly-trained troops would arrive from Iran in 2010 amid an alert for an attack by neighboring Israel.
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7. Announcements
Ø 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.
Ø We all need to become the person God designed us to be. Those who have thought they “had it all together” are finding they have just scratched the surface. You need to discover God’s destiny for your life, the reason you were born. There is help for you on this journey – I will soon be a Nationally Certified Life Coach and you can web mail for more information.
Ø Thank you for all your encouragement about this e-zine, The REMNANT. If you have any questions or comments, I encourage you to send a web mail.