Ed Christian's World

The Seed Of The Fruit…

In agriculture, the seed produces fruit. But fruit also bears seed. So within fruit is found seed. So, too, in the Spirit. In the fruit of the Spirit is the seed of the Spirit.

So when you bear the fruit of love, that love which you bear contains the seed of another generation of love, the seed to generate love in others. When you bear the fruit of joy, you are also bearing the seeds of joy, the power to bring joy to others.

In other words, the fruit of love contains the key to producing more love, love begets love, joy begets joy, faith begets faith, and goodness begets goodness. So what is it that you want to see in others, in your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, your co-workers, your brothers and sisters in God? Whatever that is, give them seed to produce that fruit.

But in order to give them the seed, you must first bear the fruit yourself. What you want to see more in the lives of others, bear more in your own life. For in every fruit there is seed.
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Matthew 3:8

What is it that you want to see produced in the lives of others? Give what you want to receive – bear the fruit you want them to bear.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Best…

We were on a mission trip to an impoverished country. The heat was sweltering. There was no air conditioning, barely any electricity, and no clean water, yet everyone was fine with it. We knew we were on a mission trip – not to get – but to give.

On the way back, we missed our flight and were put in a hotel and given a free meal so everyone ordered. When our dinner was served, someone noticed that the restaurant had gotten their order wrong. They were upset that their chicken sandwich came with extra cheese when they didn’t order cheese. Just a few hours before we would’ve been happy to have had clean water.

If you live expecting to be served by this world, then you’ll always be unhappy. But if you live your life as one whose life is to serve and bless this world – without expecting to get – then everything you do get in this life is a gift and an extra blessing.

So live your life as a servant of God, a heavenly visitor on a mission to this world – and you’ll never lose your joy over a slice of extra cheese.

Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:35

Thank God for all your blessings and set your heart, not on receiving, but on serving, and giving of the blessings from heaven.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Choose Your Battles..

George Washington was not only America’s first president but the victorious general of the American Revolution. Yet, most people don’t realize that Washington spent much of the war not fighting or advancing – but running away.

Why? It was because he knew that he was in no position to win. And if he fought those battles which were a losing proposition, he would end up losing his army and thus losing the war. So he waited until the right time and the right battle to fight. And he ended up winning the war.

So too, the enemy wants you to fight the wrong battle – to fight self-centered battles, to strive with others, to spend time defending yourself, to strive after things of this world which have no importance in the age to come. He knows that when you fight these battles, you’re guaranteed to lose the war.

Learn from Washington – you don’t have to fight every battle, in fact, you have to not fight every battle. You can let go and withdraw so that you’ll end up being victorious and winning the war!!
The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord. Proverbs 21:31

What are you fighting today that perhaps the Lord wants you to stop. Let go and let God fight your battles, because He will be victorious.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Water Pouring…

During the Feast of Tabernacles, the people went down to the Pools of Siloam to draw water – and then brought it up to the Temple where the priest would pour it out.

This was called the Water Pouring Ceremony. As the water was poured out, Isaiah 12:3 was read “Therefore with joy, you shall draw water from the wells of Salvation.” The Hebrew word for salvation is Yeshua. Jesus’s real Hebrew name is Yeshua – Salvation.

Learn what it is to draw water from the wells of Yeshua. Waters that come from wells are hidden waters, deep waters, waters that must be drawn out. The outside of a well is dry, for the waters of wells flow from inside out.

So too the abundant life flows from inside out. Even in dry times, the wells of Yeshua will always flow if you draw deep enough and in joy. For it was undoubtedly at this moment in the feast that Jesus said “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scriptures said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’”

Make it your aim to draw deep from the well of Yeshua and let His living water flow out of you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

God Will Provide…

The phrase “Jehovah Jireh” or “Yahveh Yireh” comes from Genesis 22, when Abraham names the mountain on which he offered up Isaac. It means “The LORD shall provide.” So many believers invoke the name “Jehovah-Jireh” to claim the promise of God providing for whatever they need or want.

But the name “Jehovah Jireh” or “Yahveh Yireh” is much deeper than that. Yahveh Yireh speaks of God providing the Lamb for the sacrifice – the Messiah Himself. Thus, God does provide for the needs of His people.

So “Jehovah Jireh” declares that God will provide for your needs, but not necessarily the way you think. For what God provides is Himself. He is the answer to all of our needs – the need for love, for security, for meaning, for peace, for joy, for purpose – Jehovah Jireh – Yahveh Yireh – God will indeed provide for your need.

But your need will only truly be answered when it’s answered in Him, who is the Answer. For Jehovah Jireh is the name of a mountain, the mountain on which God gave Himself on a cross for you.

Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake. Psalm 79:9

Whatever you’re dealing with, a problem, a need, a conflict, a concern – lift it up to God and give Him thanks that He will provide.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Sacred Bath…

In Galilee, there are the ruins of an ancient city in which there were structures designed to contain water. These were baths of purification called “mikvah.” The “mikvah” or “sacred bath.” Hebrew brides used them on their wedding day before the ceremony. Interesting, because Ephesians 5 speaks of Jesus cleansing the bride, the church, “by the washing of water with the Word…”

The bride is linked to cleansing. In Ephesians, it’s Jesus who is cleansing the bride with water. And yet in the Hebrew marriage, it’s the bride who must cleanse herself. Each contains a spiritual truth.

Our cleansing comes from Him. Only by the power of the Bridegroom can the bride be cleansed. But it is the bride who must choose to be cleansed and to enter the waters of her sacred bath. Are you the bride? Then you must be cleansed.

The good news is you can be. But it’s your choice. Enter the mikvah of your cleansing, the waters of the Spirit. For to every bride, there must be a cleansing.

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Revelation 19:7

Bathe yourself in His Word, in His presence, and in the Spirit – come out cleansed.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

God’s Covering…

Yom Kippur means The Day of Atonement, or The Day of Covering. But it’s also called Yom Ha Kippurim – The Day of the Coverings. God’s covering is so great that the singular word covering cannot quite cover it.

Jesus is the fulfillment of Yom Ha Kippurim – Jesus is our covering – or rather our coverings. If you’ve received Him, every one of your sins is covered. But it means more. When someone’s watching over you, they say, “I’ve got you covered.” Well, He’s got you covered. When you lay down at night, you can sleep securely because “He’s got you covered.” When you’re in danger and you need someone to protect you, “He’s got you covered.”

In ancient times when a man offered a woman his love, his house, his protection, his life, he would spread His cloak over her. In that way too, “He’s got you covered.”

So celebrate Jesus’ Coverings. Walk in courage, and without fear because the Day of Atonement is really Yom Ha Kippurim – the Day of the Coverings. And if you don’t remember that – just remember “He’s got you Covered.”

Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:1

Today, meditate on, receive, and walk in the knowledge and security and peace of Jesus.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Apollos…

The Book of Acts records the fascinating case of Apollos. Apollos was a Jewish believer who was mighty in the Lord – except that he didn’t really know what he was doing. He didn’t even have all his facts or doctrines straight – and yet he was used for the Lord.

What does that tell you? It tells you that God can use people who don’t know what they’re doing. So if you don’t know what you’re doing, be encouraged, because God loves to use people who don’t know what they’re doing. Just don’t let the fact that you don’t know what you’re doing stop you from doing it.

Yes, we should seek to know everything we need to know in the Word. But you’re never going to be qualified enough, strong enough, or spiritual enough. So… you don’t know what you’re doing in the Lord? Do it anyway. Serve Him. Step out in faith.

I still don’t know what I’m doing – but I’m not going to let that stop me from doing it – for it is He who does it within us – within those who have no idea what they’re doing.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Psalm 139:6

Today, when you don’t know what you’re doing seek the Lord’s direction and step out in faith anyway.

Walk daily with God at your side!!

Love always,

Ed

Self Control…

Proverbs 25:28 says, “Like a city that is broken into and without walls, is a man who has no control over his spirit.” What is it like to have no control over your spirit? It’s like an ancient city without any strong walls. Without walls, a city would end up attacked, plundered, and in ruins.

So a man without self-control is like a city without walls. Self-control is not just the right thing to have in your life – it’s an essential protection for your life. And one of the secrets of protecting your life is that of building walls – or hedges.

As the ancient city needed walls, so your life needs hedges. A wise man builds hedges around what he can do and not do, what he can watch or not, partake of or abstain, enter or avoid – hedges of action, hedges of association, hedges of thought, and hedges of relationship.

Don’t avoid the issue of self-control. Instead, build whatever hedges you need to build. And, after building them, honor them. And just as the walls of the ancient city – they could end up saving your life.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galations 5:22-23

Practice self-control in that area you most need it and build that wall!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Predictability…

There was a joke told during WWII. Two assassins planned to kill Adolf Hitler, who was known for being punctual. So they stationed themselves in the right spot waiting for the right moment. Five minutes go by, and there’s no sign of him… ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and still no sign of him. Finally, one of the assassins turns to the other and says, “This isn’t like Hitler at all. He’s never this late.” To which the other replies, “Gee, I hope nothing happened to him.”

Predictability is not a good thing in warfare. If the enemy knows what you’re going to do, you become an easier target – so, too, in your spiritual walk. If your walk with God is stuck in a rut – it’s to the enemy’s advantage. So don’t’ let that happen. Always seek to grow and step into the new.

Break out of the old routine. Open up your walk to change. Take a step of faith. For those who are led by the Spirit walk in the newness of life. And those who walk in the newness of life are the enemy’s worst nightmare.

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4

Today, follow the leading of the Spirit and don’t be predictable or fall for the enemies schemes.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed