Ed Christian's World

The Struggle Of Not Praying…

Do you have a hard time praying, do you find it difficult? Maybe you are struggling to have a strong prayer life.

Like many other believers, you find it hard to pray, to concentrate, to still yourself in your mind, to stay in prayer, or to schedule a block of time.

You might think it is hard to pray – but the truth is, it is much harder not to. It takes much more energy to have to deal with, and to worry about your problems than to pray about them.

Who knows how many problems you’ve gone through needlessly because you didn’t pray about it? Who knows how many wrong decisions you made or how much time and energy you spent trying to make up for that fact?

Who knows how many things you struggle with, when a little prayer would have solved it? Who knows how many hours of energy have been wasted worrying because we didn’t take a few minutes to pray?

If you have a hard time praying, just remember it is much harder not to.

Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. 2 Corinthians 1:12

What haven’t you prayed about, that you should have – maybe something you’ve been trying to solve. Lift it to the Lord today.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

He and You…

One of the greatest hindrances to knowing God is knowing God. Most believers will tell you that they know God. Most religious people will say the same thing.

Because they think they know God, they don’t have to know Him anymore. They already know all there is to know. But the very first word used for God in the Bible is the Hebrew Elohim.

Elohim is a mystery word. It’s both singular and plural at the same time. Why? Because God is singular, one, and plural… in that there’s always more to God, there’s always more of Him to know.

Why do we have eternity in heaven? Because in heaven we will be knowing God, and eternity is just about how long it takes to know God.

Make it your aim to know Him more than you ever have before – seek Him, learn of Him, go deeper, farther. For the one who truly knows God is the one who knows they don’t know even the half of Him.

Press on today into the joy and the wonder of those who can say, “That I might know Him,” the God who is Elohim.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Pray to the Lord today to know more of God than you’ve ever known before. Seek Him and open yourself up to knowing Him more.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

His Present Absence…

There are times in our walks when we sense God’s presence, His blessings, His favor, His love, and His moving. And there are other times when we don’t. He seems to be far away. His presence seems withdrawn.

You don’t hear Him talking or feel that joy or assurance. You wonder what happened. If you’re in His will, consider this: The Lord spent several years with His disciples. Then He left them. He had to.

Otherwise the Spirit wouldn’t have come, the disciples wouldn’t have gone forth and matured, and changed the world. Sometimes the Lord has to withdraw, but not His love, not His grace, or favor, not even His presence, but the signs of His presence and the feelings which surround it.

He does this not because He doesn’t love you but because He does – so that you can grow in faith, in hope, in perseverance, in ministry, in your calling.

The next time you don’t feel God, don’t panic, but step out. There’s something for you to rise to. It is time for you to graduate and to go forth as His disciple.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:11-12

Whether you feel His presence today or not – rejoice in the Lord and take a step to move forward in spiritual maturity and victory.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Silence Answer…

Pilate asks Jesus, “What is truth?” In my philosophy class, I remember my teacher saying that Jesus walked away from Pilate.

Of course, He didn’t walk away; He didn’t answer. He just stood there. Why didn’t He answer? But He did… by just standing there.

Truth is not an explanation, a bunch of words, or an idea. Truth is reality. Truth is Him. To speak words would have only taken away. Truth is not summed up in something He said.

Even as believers we often miss the truth, mistaking it for words, doctrines and songs. These may all be good – but are still not Him.

When Jesus was asked, “What is truth,” He just stood there, silently. As believers we are often like Pilate, missing the truth standing right there in our midst.

So it is written, “Be still and know that I am God.” Try being still. And come back to the truth – not something about the truth, but the truth itself, the truth Himself. And you’ll find Him standing there right next to you without words, the Truth and nothing but the Truth.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.  Psalm 46:10

Take time today to be still and keep being still until you can know the Lord’s presence in your midst – worship Him.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. John 17:17

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Your Miracle Tomb…

It wasn’t just an empty tomb. It was a specific empty tomb. It was somebody’s empty tomb. It belonged to someone – Joseph of Arimathea. It was borrowed. It was loaned.

God came to earth with no provision to purchase a tomb so a tomb could be given him. So that, in this sense, the resurrection could be a joint venture.

It was true for Joseph and it’s true for you. The resurrection won’t happen in your life unless you take part in it, unless you choose it. The resurrection is not just an event that you read about; it’s something that you participate in.

God wants your tomb. In Hebrew, tomb means “a hollow place, a void.” Your tomb is the empty place or places of your life. Your empty places include your sins, sorrows, your wounds, valleys, your despairs, your hopeless dreams.

Give it to Him and it will be changed. He only wants to borrow it. And He won’t return it in the same condition. No. Instead, it will become a place of miracles – because the miracles begin when it stops being just the empty tomb and becomes your empty tomb.

And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. Luke 20:36

Take any part of your life or past that has been empty or dark, sorrowful or wounded, and invite the Lord into it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Way To Freedom…

Chanukah is the Feast of Dedication. “Dedication” is the literal translation of the Hebrew “Chanukah.” The story of Chanukah involves a tyrant named Antiochus Epiphanes who sought to wipe out the Biblical faith and he nearly succeeded.

But a number of people in Israel committed themselves to serving God and rising up against the oppression. They won. They rededicated the Temple to the Lord’s purposes. That dedication was called “Chanukah”.

Chanukah is known as the Feast of Freedom, but is really the Feast of Dedication. That’s the key. The two go together. We all want to be free from bondage, from sin, from hindrance, from chains.

But if you want to be free, you have to be dedicated. If you’re half-hearted with God, double-minded, or without commitment you’ll never be free.

So commit to God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength, commit your actions, your thoughts, your way, to Him and His purposes – and you will see failure turned to victory and chains broken, the blessings of a life of freedom.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:10-12

Take an area of your life that you need freedom in, or more freedom, and commit and dedicate your heart and ways, and path, to the Lord as never before.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

A Reaper’s Guide…

In Athens, Paul saw all the idols and altars to the false gods of Greece and, as a Jew, he was grieved in spirit. When he spoke on Mars Hill, he didn’t dwell on all their false gods.

Nor did he write them off as hopeless, or simply condemn them for their paganism. Instead, he found a bridge to reach them, in the form of an altar, the altar to the unknown God.

Even with the most ungodly person, there’s always a hope, a bridge, a connection. As long as the person is in the image of God, then there’s always a hope and a connection.

There is always an altar to the unknown God – a God-shaped vacuum that only God can fill. Don’t write them off as hopeless. But look for the altar, an unmet need, an emptiness, a hurt, a “something”.

Paul didn’t give up until he found it. Do likewise. With every person, even the most ungodly, there’s an altar to be found. And with every situation, even the most hopeless, there’s an opening for the power of God to come in.

For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you. Acts 17:23

Think of someone who’s lost – Pray for a way to bring them salvation and be open today to share with anyone the Lord brings you into contact with.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Earth Angels…

You have heard of the angel Gabriel and the angel Michael, but did you know that there’s another kind of angel – earthly angels – as in “you.”

In the Bible the Hebrew word for “angel” is “malach”; in the Greek, it is “angelos.” That’s why in English, the word “evangelist,” which has the word “angel” right in the middle.

Both the Hebrew and Greek word for angel are used not just for heavenly beings, but for flesh and blood people – as in John the Baptist, called an “angelos,” and Haggai, called a “malach”.

An angel is one who is a messenger of God, who carries forth the gospel. And that’s exactly what you are to be. So how do you live an angelic life?

Angels don’t get paid on earth – they can’t, they’re working for heaven. They never seek earthly rewards since their employer is not man but God.

Therefore, to live an angelic life you have to stop seeking praise from men, and blessings from earth. Seek your reward only from God and your blessing only from heaven. And you will be blessed from His heavenly payroll and your life will be angelic!

And they can no longer die; for they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are children of the resurrection. Luke 20:36

Your assignment today is to be one of God’s angels. Touch someone with an encouraging word or an act of kindness or the message of salvation.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Love Notes…

The very first mention of love in the Bible appears in Genesis 22. The Hebrew word for love is “Ahavah”. It appears as God speaks to Abraham: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love (ahavah) and offer him up…”

So the very first appearance of love in Scripture is that of a father offering up his son as a sacrifice – an amazing foreshadow of the Father offering up Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.

In both cases, love is linked to sacrifice. The first and highest love of all loves comes from the sacrifice of God. Ahava – true love is there on the cross. And if you want to love with true love, it must always involve sacrifice.

Love with true love, Ahavah. Love when you feel like it and love when you don’t. Love when it’s easy to love and love when it’s hard. Love when you want to, love when you don’t.

Love when it flows, and love when it costs you. For the love of God came through a sacrifice. It was costly. So too is a life of true love – but it’s worth it!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

In each situation today where you have to speak, ask God to give you words to bring life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

I Am With You…

In a dream, God spoke to Jacob: “I am with you and will keep you wherever you go.” Jacob’s reaction to the dream was to focus on the place where it happened.

He called it “Beit El,” which means “God’s House.” In a way, Jacob missed the point. It wasn’t so much about the place where God appeared. It was that God would be with Jacob regardless of the place, regardless of any place – wherever.

God’s promise to you is that He will be with you wherever you go. He’s there when you are worshipping in His house.

He’s with you when you are in the parking lot and when you walk into your home. He’s there in your mountaintop experiences and in your valleys, in your good times and your bad, when you’re doing great in holiness, and when you’ve fallen in sin.

So don’t dwell on your situation, on how things are going, or even how you’re doing. It’s not about where you are. It’s about Who is with you. Rejoice in that. He’s not the God of where. He’s the God of wherever!

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20

Wherever you go today, take time to stop to be in and enjoy the presence of the Lord.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed