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Date:
November 18, 2008
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.
Practical Spiritual Warfare Web Site
Dr. D. Vincent (Bud) Ford Mission
Miami Valley
Contents
Contents:
- Scripture Guidance
- Thoughts To Meditate On
- Tips and Strategies for Living
in the End Times
- Strategic Practical Spiritual
Warfare
- Articles pointing to the End
Times
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1. Scripture Guidance
Isaiah 54:17 (NIV)
17
no
weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that
accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their
vindication from me," declares the LORD.
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2. Thoughts to Meditate On
LIVING BY FAITH – KNOW THAT HE HEARS YOU
1 John 5:14-15 NIV
This is the confidence we have
in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we
asked of him.
We are to live by faith, not by sight – to having complete
faith in Jesus - is knowing that He hears everything we say to Him –
everything. That's much better than we do with our friends, our families, our
business associates, or even ourselves. Because when God hears, He really
hears.
We hear very little of what is said to us. How many times
has one of your children had to re-tell you something because you weren't really
listening in the first place? Or one of your friends? Or your spouse? Or a
business associate? How do you feel when you have something really important to
share with a friend, but he's so busy telling you about something in his life
that he isn't really listening? And you're so frustrated at not being able to
get him to listen that you don't hear what he's saying to you. How frustrated
do you become when you have told your son three times to take out the trash, but
he doesn't hear you?
This “hearing impairment” – or maybe “selective hearing”
might be a better term – is a common thing in human beings. We're used to it.
It's what we expect, even though it can anger and frustrate us to no end.
Whether we admit it or not, we all tend to think of God in human terms, which
makes it very difficult to believe that He really hears us when we speak.
So the sixth step in learning to live by faith is to know,
beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God is always tuned in, that you always have
His undivided attention, that for Him, every moment of every day, you are the
most important person of all!
Pray that this knowledge will become a part of you – that
He hears everything you say to Him. Engrave this knowledge on your heart, so
you can truly take this sixth step in learning to live by faith, not by sight.
Dogwood Ministries
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3. Tips and Strategies for
Living in the End Times
Billy Graham’s Prayer for the Nation
This Man Sure Has A Good View
Of What's Happening To Our Country!
'Heavenly Father, we come
before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and
guidance.
We know Your Word says, 'Woe
to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.
We have lost our spiritual
equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and
called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and
called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and
called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and
called it justifiable.
We have neglected to
discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power
and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's
possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with
profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the
time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh God, and know
our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'
______
Commentator Paul Harvey aired
this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger
response to this program than any other he has ever aired. With the Lord's help,
may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so
that we again can be called 'One nation under God.'
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4. Strategic Practical
Spiritual Warfare
Satan Has No
Authority Except That Which We Give Him.
Jesus Has ALL Authority
It is essential for us to get our theology correct.
Something very significant happened with Jesus’ death at the cross. Jesus
defeated Satan and all authority in heaven and earth was given to Jesus.
Before The Cross Satan Had The Power
Prior to Jesus’ death on the cross Satan had all the power
and authority that had been given to Adam before Adam sinned. That power and
authority is what Satan took from Adam.
It took Jesus’ death on the cross to take back what Adam
had lost. We longer have to fight or battle the devil since Christ “rendered him
powerless” 2000 years ago (Heb 2:14).
Satan Still Has The Same Abilities As Before The Cross
This does not mean that Satan
does not still have all of the same abilities that he had before the cross
(deception, cunning, wisdom in evil, great scheming, etc); he just no longer has
the authority to act out in the fashion he did in the pre-Calvary timeframe
(Eph. 1:20-23).
I believe that most believers
would agree that the devil was defeated at the cross. However, it seems strange
that even though we agree upon this premise many feel compelled to go ahead and
engage a defeated foe in battle anyway. This really does not make theological
sense.
Satan Is In A Different
Place Since The Cross
Either Satan is in a different
place or he is not. I personally do not believe the Lord started something at
Calvary but did not finish it.
If we believe we, or other
people, are victims of the devil than we will need to be rescued. If we believe
we are victims of Satan, this belief will became a deceptive arena in which
Satan is allowed to operate within.
Our Theology Must Be
Consistent With Post-Resurrection Scripture
We need to develop a theology
that is more consistent with what the post-resurrection passages declare about
the devil’s defeat.
In the post-resurrection
passages, you will find some references to Satan's influence on people after the
cross. However, you will find the people impacted by demons or Satan was
already alive and impacted before the cross.
God Will Not Violate Our
Will and Satan Cannot
God will not violate our will.
We are free to make our own choices. When we choose to believe that Satan is
able to torment us, that belief gives him the authority to do just that.
When we accept the
post-resurrection the position that Satan no longer has any authority except
that which we give to him through our own beliefs and choices, it makes all the
difference in the world for us.
There will be more on this
topic later.
Bud Ford
http://www.PracticalSpiritualWarfare.com
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5. Articles Pointing to the
End Times
Persecution in India -
PRAY!
I received this email from a
friend and believe it is worthy of wider distribution. It is one of many signs
of the end times we are in and pointed to by Jesus in Mathew 24. It relates
to religious persecution to the point of death.
Subject: URGENT PRAYER
REQUESTS FOR YWAM IN INDIA... please READ and PRAY!
Note: For those who may not
know YWAM stands for “Youth with a Mission”.
This is a request for prayer
for YWAM missionaries and their churches in
Orissa, India. The request
came from Mable Hurst, an associate of HCJB
Global. Please read and make
this a matter of urgent prayer.
NOTE: I received this email on
the persecution in India Nov. 15, 2008.
Dear beloved sponsors and
friends of Good News India.
We have never seen anything
like this. We knew that Orissa was the most resistant and hostile State in India
as far as the Gospel is concerned. We brushed off the continuous threats and
harassment we faced as we went about His work. None of our staff imagined that
they would see this kind of carnage.... And this persecution in India seems to
be totally under the radar of the Western Media ....
Let me explain.... A militant
Hindu priest and 4 of his attendants, who
Were zealously going around
the villages of Orissa and 'reconverting' people back to Hinduism, were gunned
down by unknown assailants in Central Orissa last weekend. Immediately the
Christians were blamed..
The cry rose up...'Kill the
Christians!' And the horror began.... In the past 4 days, we have first hand
witness to hundreds of churches being blown up or burned and many, many dozens
of Christian tribals have been slaughtered. For no other reason than they bear
the name of Christ. (This is persecution in India in biblical proportions.)
Night and day I have been in
touch with our Good News India Directors spread across 14 Dream Centers in
Orissa... they are right in the middle of all this chaos. In Tihidi, just after
the police came to offer protection, a group of 70 blood-thirsty militants came
to kill our staff and destroy the home. They were not allowed to get in, but
they did a lot of damage to our Dream Center by throwing rocks and bricks and
smashing our gate, etc. They have promised to come back and 'finish the job.'
Our kids and staff are locked
inside and have stayed that way with doors locked and windows shut for the past
3 days. It has been a time of desperately calling on the Lord in prayer.
More police have come to offer
protection. In Kalahandi, the police and some local sympathizers got to our
dream center and gave our staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to vacate. No
one had time to even grab a change of clothes or any personal belonging.
As they fled, the blood
thirsty mob came to kill everyone in the building. We would have had a mass
funeral there, but for His grace. In Phulbani, the mob came looking for
Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu people, our neighbors turned them
away by saying that there were no Christians in this area. So they left. We had
favor. The same thing happened in Balasore.
All our dream centers are
under lock down with the kids and staff huddled inside and police outside. The
fanatics are circling outside waiting for a chance to kill. (This Christian
persecution in India is amazing!)
Others were not so fortunate.
In a nearby Catholic orphanage, the mob allowed the kids to leave and locked up
a Priest and a computer teacher in house and burned them to death.
Many believers have been
killed and hacked into pieces and left on the road.... even women and children.
At another orphanage run by
another organization, when this began, the Director and his wife jumped on their
motorbike and simply fled, leaving all the children and staff behind. Every one
of our GNI directors that I have spoken to said: 'We stay with our kids.... we
live together or die together, but we will never abandon what God has called us
to do.'
More than 5000 Christian
families have had their homes burned or destroyed. They have fled into the
jungles and are living in great fear waiting for the authorities to bring about
peace. But so far, no peace is foreseen. (It is not known how long this
persecution in India will continue.)
This will continue for another
10 days.... supposedly the 14 day mourning period for the slain Hindu priest.
Many more Christians will die and their houses destroyed. Many more churches
will be smashed down.
The Federal government is
trying to restore order and perhaps things will calm down. We ask for your
prayers. Only the Hand of God can calm this storm.
None of us know the meaning of
persecution. But now our kids and staff know what that means. So many of our
kids coming from Hindu backgrounds are confused and totally bewildered at what
is happening around them. So many of their guardians have fled into the jungles
and are unable to come and get them during these trying times.
Through all this, I am more
determined than ever to continue with our goal: the transformation of a
community by transforming its children. Orissa will be saved... that is our
heart's cry. If we can take these thousands of throw-away children and help them
to become disciples of Jesus, they will transform an entire region. It is a long
term goal, but it is strategic thinking in terms of the Great Commission.
What can you do? First, please
uphold all this in fervent prayer. Second, pass this e-mail on to as many
friends as you can. We must get the word out and increase our prayer base for
this is spiritual warfare at its most basic meaning. We are literally fighting
the devil in order to live for His Kingdom. The next 10 days are crucial. We
pray for peace and calm to pervade across Orissa.
Thank you for taking the time
to read this. Please pass it on and help us to get as many people to partner
with us on this cutting edge effort to fulfill His mandate: Go and make
disciples of all nations.... Prayer works!
Blessings,
Chip & Sandy Wanner Col 2:2
MBI Team Facilitators to YWAM
frontlines
NOTE: Please pray fervently for
those Christians involved in this persecution in India.
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