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.        Strategic Advice for the Remnant –Strategies to Win Spiritual Battles  - “Basis of the Real Battle”

2.        Tips for Kingdom Living – "Confession"

3.        Scripture Guidance & Inspiration

4.        Thoughts to meditate on – "The Last Day"

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.       The Basis of the Real Battle

Many non-Christians as well as Christians have a misconception of God and Satan; they follow a theology called dualism, that is, the belief that Satan and God are arch enemies locked in combat.  Dualism gives the impression that Satan can threaten God and that two great forces within the universe (good and evil) struggle against each other.  However, the Bible gives us a different view.

First, the battle is not between God and Satan but between those who have submitted themselves to God and those who have rebelled against Him, both angles and humans.  No one is even remotely capable of challenging or resisting God.

Second, the battle is not between good and evil.  Jesus said that the only good person was God Himself.  The real battle then is walking in the Spirit and walking in the flesh.  We will talk more about the flesh later.

Third, the battle is not between success and failure.  To a large degree, these terms express non-biblical, cultural ideas.  The battle is between obedience and disobedience to God.

Fourth, the battle is not between love and hate, but between love and lethargy. Love is an action, whereas hate is largely an attitude.  Love and hate should not be compared, but love (an action) and lethargy (an inaction) are opposites.

So the real battles’ are between those who submit to Christ and those who don’t; between those who walk in the Spirit and those who walk in the flesh; between those who are obedient and to Christ and those who are not; between love as an action and its opposite of lethargy as an inaction with an attitude of hate attached to it.

2.       Tips for Kingdom Living – Confession

To whom do we confess our sins, God or others?

We confess to God first, for only God can forgive sin. Ezra 10:11

We are also told to confess our sin to others.  It can be healing to confess sin to another, especially if the others are committed to praying for you, encouraging you and supporting you as you seek restoration.  It is also important to confess sin to htose you have wronged.  James 5:16

Does God truly forgive sin when we confess it to Him?

With sin comes the feeling of guilt.  It’s part of the baggage that sin brings.  Confession is the act of recognizing those sins before God so He can forgive them. Ps 32:5 & 1 John 1:9.

Ultimately everyone will confess Jesus as Lord, but someday will it be too late to receive His forgiveness?

Someday everyone will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  But what sadness to make this confession only when we have finally recognized the inescapable fact that Jesus really is Lord – and we never accepted him as such.  Phil. 2:10-11 & Rev. 20:15

3.       Scripture Guidance & Inspiration

I am not a theologian or a scholar, but I am very aware of the fact that pain is necessary to all of us. In my own life, I think I can honestly say that out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God.

Elisabeth Elliot 

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 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 

 2 Timothy 2:1-2 

 The King James Version 

4. Thoughts for Meditation - THE LAST DAY - Matthew 26:36-27:46; Mark 14:32-15:41; Luke 22:40-23:49; John 18:2-19:30 NIV

It was so quiet.  So dark.  Not even a breeze stirred in the beautiful garden.  Ánd then Jesõs heard tèe sounds...à Softly at æirst, then ðrogressivelù louder, caíe the soundó of feet.î. some walkéng, some ruîning, hundråds marchingî  There werå voices, ôoo, shoutinç, angry voiães.  Jesus ÷oke the othårs, telling them that Hés betrayeò had arriveä, that He wás about to âe turned ovår to His exåcutioners.   Within moíents, the síall group oæ sleepy men was facing óeveral hundòed soldieòs and surroõnded by a lárge mob of ángry citizeîs waving toòches and ârandishing ÷eapons.  Ouô of the cro÷d came Judaó.  For thirôy pieces ofàsilver, tèis man who èad once folìowed Jesus ãame forward and placed ôhe kiss of äeath on tèe cheek of ôhe One who could have been his Savior.  And then Jesus stepped forward, saying, "Who is it you want?"  The crowd shouted, "Jesus of Nazareth."  And Jesus said, "I am He."  (John 18:2-5)

At the sound of His voice, both mob and soldiers fell to the ground... (John 18:6).  Jesus' companions turned and ran, fearing for their lives.  Back on their feet, the blood-thirsty mob surged closer.  Jesus stood before them, abandoned, alone, reviled by His enemies and denied by His friends.

They bound Him and took Him first to Annas, who agreed with his son-in-law, Caiaphas, that the death of one man - a scapegoat - would be a good example for the people.  Annas was always receptive to that which was beneficial in quelling an insurrection among the Jews.  (John 18:12-14)

Annas questioned Him at length about His disciples and His teachings.  Jesus’ response was, "I have spoken openly to the world.  I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together.  I said nothing in secret.  Why question me?  Ask those who heard me.  Surely they know what I said." (John 18:20-21)  At that, one of the officials nearby struck Jesus in the face and said, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?”  And Jesus said, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong.  But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?”

From Annas, they took Jesus to Caiaphas, the High Priest, who in the Sanhedrin... the council which had the power to invoke a sentence of death.

Already weary when this long night began, Jesus faced His second trial by the Jews.  This time before the most powerful body of men that existed under Jewish law.  Before this assembly came a long series of false witnesses, their tongues filled with deceit.  But none of their stories matched.  And, as the night drug on, with one conflicting testimony after another, Caiaphas was frustrated, because Jesus did not say a word in His own defense. (Matthew 26:63) With so many conflicting testimonies, Caiaphas was forced to honor the law by which he lived so strictly.  He didn't have a case.  Angered and frustrated, Caiaphas walked up to Jesus and demanded, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" And Jesus said, "I am."  (Mark 14:61b-62)

And Caiaphas said, "What more do we need?  He has condemned Himself.  For the crime of blasphemy there can be but one penalty - death."  (Mark 14:63-64; Matthew 26:65-66)

Even with that, the council took until early morning to reach a decision... they would have the Romans try Jesus for treason rather than execute Him themselves for blasphemy.  Pilate questioned Jesus briefly.  When he learned that Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate had Him taken to Herod, the governor of Galilee who was visiting in Jerusalem.  (Luke 23:6-7)

Herod, too, questioned Jesus with glee, hoping He would entertain his court by performing a miracle or two.  When Jesus refused to respond, Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked Jesus, then dressed Him in an elaborate robe and sent Him back to Pilate.  (Luke 23:8-12)

For the fifth time, Jesus was put on trial.  But Pilate was in a dilemma.  Neither he nor Herod could find any reason to execute Jesus.  So Pilate told the crowd that he would merely flog Jesus and set Him free.  But the chief priests had conspired to have the crowd turn on Jesus, and the people shouted, "No!  Give us Barrabas!"  The crowd wanted the freedom of a murderer rather than that of the Son of God.  (Luke 23:13-25)

Pilate asked the crowd, "What shall I do then, with Jesus who is called Christ?"

And almost as one voice, the people cried, "Crucify Him!"

Pilate responded, "I find no fault with this man."

They cried louder, "Crucify Him!"

And Pilate said, "I am innocent of this man's blood.  It is your responsibility."

All the people answered, "Let His blood be on us and on our children."

And Pilate said, "Take Him away then!  Crucify Him!"

As was the custom, the Son of God was taken away and scourged, His flesh shredded and torn by the pieces of metal and bone entwined in the leather straps.  The soldiers took Him into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company around Him.  Stripping Him naked, they threw a scarlet robe on His bleeding shoulders, then wove a crown of thorns and jammed it down onto His head, ripping His scalp and face.  They put a staff in His right hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him, jeering and laughing as they shouted, "Hail, King of the Jews!"  They spit on Him and hit Him over the head again and again.  Then, His body beaten, His bloody flesh hanging in shreds, His mind and spirit tortured beyond our ability to conceive, they led Him away to die the most shameful and painful death ever conceived by man.  They led Him away to be crucified.  (Matthew 27:22-31)

Jesus died that day.  He walked right down that road, was crucified on a Roman cross, and He died.  This child who had been born in a borrowed stable, rode into town on a borrowed colt, and now, was going to be buried in a borrowed tomb.

The very dreams which Jesus had so tenderly nurtured in the hearts of His followers for some three and a half years died at least for the moment, but were alive and well in the heart of His heavenly Father.  For throughout the entire experience of the cross, Heaven's agenda had not missed a beat.

As misunderstood as it may have been - the cross was God demonstrating His love for us.  In that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Jesus did not die by some plot of the Gentile or Jew.  Jesus Himself said, "No man takes My life, I lay it down of My own authority."  He said, "I give My life as a ransom for many."  And so He had.  He who knew no sin took upon Himself the sin of all mankind and its judgment upon that cross that He might bring us to God.

It was love, the unerring love of God, which brought the many prophecies of scripture to precise fulfillment.  On a specific day marked on heaven's calendar, and in a specific place marked on earth's map, the Son of God came to dwell among us.  It was love that prompted the Son of God to show compassion to the sick, the distressed and the sin-burdened.  It was love that enabled Jesus Christ to become "poor, that (we) through His poverty might be rich."  It was love, divine love, that made Him "endure the cross, despising the shame," that made Him endure the contradictions of sinners against Himself.

It was love that restrained Him when He was falsely accused of blasphemy and was led to Golgotha to die with common thieves; He raised not a hand against His enemies.  It was love that kept Him from calling legions of angels to come to His defense.  It was love that, after such torture devised by degenerate man had been heaped upon Him, caused Him to lift His voice and pray, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."  (Luke 23:34)  It was love which made Him, in a moment of agonizing death, give life to a repentant sinner who cried, "Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom."  (Luke 23:42)

From Genesis to Revelation, from earth's greatest tragedy to heaven's greatest triumph, the dramatic story of mankind's lowest depths and of God's highest heights can be couched in 25 words:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

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 115 - Israel fears Obama heading for imposed Mideast settlement - By Ari Shavit – www.haaretz.com

U.S. President Barack Obama's demands during his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last Tuesday point to an intention to impose a permanent settlement on Israel and the Palestinians in less than two years, political sources in Jerusalem say.

Israeli officials view the demands that Obama made at the White House as the tip of the iceberg under which lies a dramatic change in U.S. policy toward Israel.

Click to Read Rest of Article

End times watch 116 - Global impact if Israel strikes Iran - By Peter Apps – www.reuters.com

LONDON, March 29 (Reuters) - If Israel were to strike Iran over its nuclear activities, markets would be watching one thing only - Iran's response.

The scale of that response could be the difference between a brief spike in oil prices and pushing the world back to economic crisis.

Below are possible scenarios together with projected potential market reactions suggested by analysts, economists and foreign policy strategists.

Click to Read Rest of Article

7.  Announcements

Ø  The REMNANT will be published MONTHLY from this issue forward rather than bi-monthly. Publication will be on the last Wednesday of each month.

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 am a Nationally Certified Life Coach with the American Association of Christian Counselors and you can web mail for more information.

Ø  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.

Ø  The REMNANT will be published MONTHLY from this issue forward rather than bi-monthly. Publication will be on the last Wednesday of each month.

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 am a Nationally Certified Life Coach with the American Association of Christian Counselors and you can web mail for more information.

Ø  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.