March 03, 2010
Date: March 3, 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 - “Satan's Origin, Position & Fall”
2. Tips for Kingdom Living – Confidence
3. Scripture Guidance & Inspiration
4. Thoughts to meditate on – To Speak or Not To Speak
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. Satan’s Origin, Position and Fall
We have seen it is essential to be able to identify the enemy. Here we will look at Satan’s origin, his position before his fall and his fall.
Satan is a created being; he did not exist until God created him. God created Lucifer (Satan’s name before his fall) as His highly honored cherubim, or highest ranking angles. Like us he had a free will and the ability to make decisions – this gave him, as well as other angles unique personality. However he used his freedom of choice to make evil decisions by choosing to set himself above God.
In Ezekiel 28:12-17 we read of Lucifer’s description. God created him with a capacity to reflect God’s glory to what appears to be a greater capacity than any other angle. God’s light made Lucifer radiate beauty. It appears that Lucifer was the leader or covering of all the other angles.
Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28:17 describe Lucifer’s revolt against God and his fall because of pride. In his rebellion, Lucifer took one third of all the angles in heaven with him and God removed him. At the point of being cast down to earth by God because of his rebellion Lucifer became known as Satan.
In future REMNANT’S we will look at more detail about Satan and his Demons.
2. Tips for Kingdom Living – Confidence
Where do I get my confidence?
Psalm 118:8 tells us it is better to put our trust in the Lord than to put confidence in people. Trust is related to the degree of trustworthiness, where as confidence comes from knowing that God is completely trustworthy.
Confidence comes from knowing with certainty that we have salvation and that an eternal house awaits us.
Confidence also comes from knowing that God loves us unconditionally.
What If I have lost my confidence in others, especially those who have broken trust?
It is important to love others and give them the benefit of the doubt. But it is foolish to depend on someone who has a record of failed trust.
What happens when I lose confidence in God?
When tragedy strikes, our first inclination is to wonder what happened to God. Nagging doubts cause us to question His care for us. But God’s love and care are endless. Losing confidence in that fact puts us in danger of falling away from Him.
When you begin to doubt God, run TO Him not AWAY from Him. How else will you discover how much He really loves you?
Losing confidence in God may cause us to forfeit the eternal blessings He has prepared for us.
Faith is confident assurance that what you believe is really going to happen. You can be absolutely certain God’s promises will come true.
What’s the difference between good confidence and bad confidence?
A good confidence is a realization and an assurance that God loves you, that He has given you talents and gifts and the ability to us them for Him, that He has offered you salvation and eternal life in heaven. Knowing this gives you complete certainty that your life can have meaning now and forever.
Pride is the ingredient that causes our confidence to become arrogant and cocky. If we thing we can do it ourselves, when we stop seeking God’s help – these are warning signs that confidence has turned to arrogance.
3. Scripture Guidance & Inspiration
For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
2 Corinthians 1:5
The New International Version
___________________________________
Solid devotions resemble the rivers which run under the earth- they steal from the eyes of the world to seek the eyes of God; and it often happens that those of whom we speak least on earth, are best known in heaven.
Nicolas Caussin
___________________________________
D. Vincent (Bud) Ford
4. Thoughts for Meditation - TO SPEAK OR NOT TO SPEAK – Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:12-14; Mark 15:3-5; Luke 23:8-10; Romans 8:34
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 53:7 NIV)
When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, “Don't you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge–to the great amazement of the governor. (Matthew 27:12-14 NIV)
The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.”
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. (Mark 15:3-5 NIV)
When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform some miracle. He plied him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer. The chief priests and the teachers of the law were standing there, vehemently accusing him. (Luke 23:8-10 NIV)
When Jesus stood before His accusers, He offered no defense for Himself. He was accused of blasphemy by the Jewish religious leaders because He claimed He was God (John 8:58). But this charge held no weight with the Romans, and the Jews needed Roman law in order to kill Jesus. So they created false charges against Him… things that were against Roman law which carried a death sentence – things like encouraging the people not to pay taxes, claiming to be a king, and causing riots. Not one of these charges was true, and yet Jesus offered no defense for Himself. In fact, He did not speak at all. He did not open His mouth. Why not?
Because Jesus knew the whole picture. He knew what His purpose was. He knew that He was the final sacrifice. And He knew that the time had come. If He had defended Himself and won, He would not have been crucified. And if He had not been crucified, you and I would still be required to come up with lambs and doves to be sacrificed on the altars of the temple if we wanted to be forgiven for our sins. We would have no salvation through Jesus. The world would not have been changed one whit. So, because He knew the future, He offered no defense. He did not open His mouth.
Jesus isn't silent now, however. When it comes to you and me and the things that we do wrong, He's quite verbal. Unwilling to defend Himself in order to save you and me, He is quite willing to stand at the right hand of God and continually offer a defense for us, protecting us from the certain and eternal punishment that we deserve without Him. Praise God that He is no longer silent!
Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:34
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 109 - End times watch 109 - Pentagon: Syria's hundreds of missiles make it a 'regional threat' – www.worldtribune.com
The U.S. intelligence community has determined that Syria has become a regional missile threat.
Officials said the intelligence community has concluded that Syria could attack every one of its neighbors with short- and medium-range ballistic missiles. They said the Syrian surface-to-surface weapons could be enhanced with biological and chemical warheads.
End Times Watch 110 - End times watch 110 - North Korean yellowcake was bound for Syria when Israel struck plant – www.debka.com
North Korean ship heading for Syria at the time of Israel's bombardment of the Syrian-Iranian plutonium plant under construction in northern Syria on September 2007, 45 tons of North Korean yellowcake, enough for several nuclear bombs, was on its way to the plant, Japanese intelligence sources have revealed. It was this information, debkafile's intelligence sources add, that prompted the Israeli attack with president George W. Bush's approval.
End Times Watch 111 - End times watch 111 - Nuclear Iran seen changing 'global balance of power' with terror – www.worldtribune.com
JERUSALEM — Nuclear weapons would enable Iran to harbor the most dangerous Islamic insurgency groups with virtual immunity from a Western attack, a senior Israeli analyst said.
Dore Gold, Israel's former envoy to the United Nations and now president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, asserted that a nuclear Iran would immediately bolster the threat from Sunni and Shi'ite insurgency groups against the West. Gold said the United States and other Western nations would be loathed to retaliate against mass-casualty strikes by groups harbored by a Teheran with operational nuclear weapons.
6. Site Build It (SBI)
Discover your passion and learn a easy to follow, step-by-step 10 day process to design your own web site around that passion; a web site that will rank in the top 20% of all web sites. At the same time you can SUPPLEMENT, OR REPLACE, YOUR INCOME while following your hearts desire.
Take a look at some of the possibilities; 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?:
- Fantastic, easy to use tools and training:
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
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.