Ed Christian's World

The Who’s This Factor…

Song of Solomon 6:10 says, “Mizote? Mizote? Who’s this? Who’s this who shines like the dawn?” It’s talking about the bride. And those who are talking are the maidens of the bride.

This is a spiritual book. The bride is you, the bride of Jesus. So you must have a “Mi zote?” quality. A quality that makes others say, “Mi zote?” “Who’s this?”

Even people who know you best. And how does the Bride do that? By always changing in the grace of God. Are you surprising people?

Are you making people say “Mizote?” “Who is this?” You need to start today. How can you surprise your family? How can you surprise your friends, congregation, enemies, boss, employees, wife, husband, children, parents, the cashier, and all the rest? Do it – surprise them.

Because you’re the “Mizote” person and this is your job. Do what you need to do. Do over and above what you need to do, until they look at you and say “Mizote?” “Who is this?”

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Step out of your normal routine today and do something special for someone – Make them look at you twice.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Shutting The Dragons Mouth…

The actual case of a man killed by slander, John Abercrombie, a retired Air Force colonel with a distinguished World War II combat record was accused of stealing a 63-cent can of bacon.

He was brought to court and found innocent of shoplifting. But the accusation broke him. He grew depressed; his heart gave way and he died. The court found him murdered by slander.

The Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” You can actually kill someone with words. When you speak words of slander, gossip, false accusation, hatred, criticism, discouragement, and contempt, you can actually kill someone.

Such words over days and weeks, months and years can actually break someone’s spirit. Are you guilty of murder? Repent.

Keep your mouth far from any evil word. Instead speak words of life, praise, love, encouragement, compassion, and thanksgiving. If words of hate bring death, then words of life can raise the dead.

Speak a new and unexpected word of life today to someone. Death and life are in the power of the tongue.

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Proverbs 18:21

Shutting The Dragon’s Mouth Be mindful of those you come in contact with today. Think before you speak.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Tents Of Abraham…

Abraham’s nephew, Lot, chose to live in Sodom. One day he’s visited by two angels. The people of Sodom were so perverted that they followed the angels to Lot’s house.

In an attempt to protect the angels, Lot basically tells the people, “Listen, I have two daughters. I’ll bring them out to you and you can do whatever you like with them.” Lot grew up with and looked up to Abraham. But he settled down in Sodom.

Abraham too lived among pagans, but he never settled down with them. He stayed in a tent, and journeyed in the presence of God. Lot gradually grew comfortable in Sodom. He even called the people of the city “my brothers.” It weakened him.

It probably happened without him even realizing it. Maybe you’ve let yourself grow comfortable with what you used to know was wrong. Don’t be corrupted like Lot. Turn from Sodom and put away all its unclean ways.

Dwell instead in the Tents of Abraham, and the Lord will bless you with an everlasting inheritance in the Promised Land.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

In your time of prayer today, ask God to search your heart and show you those unclean things that must be put away for good.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Intimacy With Jesus – The Adelphos Mystery…

In the book of Mark, chapter 3, Jesus called us His “brother.” But the actual word used in the Greek for brother is “Adelphos,” which comes from the Greek root word “Delphos,” or “womb.” Why? A brother is someone who is born of the same womb as you. So if Jesus is our brother, what does it mean?

There are two mysteries here. The first mystery is about Jesus’s incarnation. He was born into this world in flesh and blood from the same place all people come from – their mother’s womb. The second mystery is that we now have the chance to be born of heaven’s womb as Jesus also was – to be born of the Spirit in the second birth. In fact, the two mysteries are joined.

Jesus was born of an earthly womb that we might be born of heaven. Or, in other words, Jesus is your adelphos, in that He so intimately joined every part of His life to your life, that you, now, would make it your aim to so intimately join every part of your life to Him – your adelphos.

Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother. Mark 3:35

Today, get intimate with God in the intimacy of His presence. Let every part of your life be joined to every part of His.

The best way to become intimate with God is through prayer. John chapter 17 reveals that Jesus prays for us to be one with God as He is.

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. John 17:1-5

Here he is asking God to glorify him and so that he may glorify God. Then he continues on to include all believers.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:21-26

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Private and The General…

In an army, you can be many things: a private, lieutenant, corporal, captain, colonel, or general; each rank has its own rights, status, and responsibilities.

You might be looking at your rank in life, your status, your situation, your job, your rank in the Lord. But that doesn’t really matter. It’s not your rank that means anything in the end, but what side you’re on or whose side you’re on.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a private or a general; if you’re on the winning side, you’re a winner. When victory comes, the private rejoices as much as the general. If you’re born again then you’re on the winning side.

You’re going to rejoice in the end. So you might as well start rejoicing now. Stop looking at your rank. Stop being intimidated by the enemy. Stop fearing.

Start rejoicing now, for you are more than a conqueror through Jesus who loves you, a heavenly private on the winning side.

He rescues me unharmed from the battle waged against me, even though many oppose me. Psalm 55:18

The Private And The General Whatever battles you might be facing, your assignment today is to: Praise the Lord. Be at peace, for it’s already been won.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Power Of Being Wrong…

The apostle Paul, wrote an amazing thing at the end of his life: “Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy.

Jesus came into, the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst”. Paul was saying, “I was wrong. I was wrong about the Lord. I was wrong about the Bible. I was wrong about Judaism. I was wrong about religion. I was wrong about my life.”

Had he never been able to say “I was wrong,” he’d never been able to preach the Word, or proclaim the Gospel, or be an apostle, or write the Epistles, or change the world. The Book of Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, and Ephesians, all rest on three initial words, “I was wrong.”

These three words turned the chief of sinners into the foremost apostle. Don’t fear saying, “I was wrong.” For those very words, in the grace of God, will set you free from the old and open up your life for the glory of God.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

Think of one area in your life where you can honestly say that “you are wrong” and repent. Know that the grace of God sets you free.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Faithful…

There was a Collie named King. King’s master, Del Plato, was close to the dog. Del Plato was killed in a car accident. King stood by as the casket was lowered into the ground.

Every day King went to the cemetery to visit his master’s grave. If he was tied up, he’d break the ropes to get to the grave. We live in an age of little faithfulness.

It spills over to the church. Believers make commitments to help out; but when they don’t feel like it anymore, they stop. When it costs something to follow the Lord or requires something to maintain a marriage, they give up.

When it means being unpopular with the crowd, they compromise. We can learn a lot from a dog. The dog stayed devoted to his master and by his master’s grave. “Don’t we owe more faithfulness to Jesus” – at least as much as that of a dog?

Let’s stay by His grave, and bear the reproach of the cross. Let’s be faithful to Him and each other. The Lord is the Master of masters and deserves more devotion than the faithfulness of a dog.

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: Psalm 37:5

Have you been tempted to give up? Today, renew your commitment to do whatever you said you would do.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Angel and The Virgin…

In Biblical times, Nazareth was pretty much… a dump. When people heard that Yeshua, Jesus, came from Nazareth, they asked, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” The answer is no.

Jesus didn’t come from Nazareth. He came from Heaven. Jesus came through Nazareth. That’s important because this difference can change your life. When you look at your life, your past, and your circumstance, you might ask yourself, “What good can come from it?”

The answer is no good can come from it, but good can come through it. Maybe no good can come from your past or that situation, but good can come through it. Yeshua, Jesus, is not the one who comes from Nazareth, but through it.

Whatever that less than perfect life you’ve been living in… that’s your Nazareth. True, good can’t come from it… but good can come through it – and out of it. The good is Jesus.

Open up your life, heart, problem, situation to the presence of Jesus. Let Him come through it. From that thing from which nothing good can come, much good will come – in it, out of it – for Jesus came through Nazareth.

“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” John 1:46-47

Open your heart and let Jesus lead you through your situation instead of being discouraged in it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Spirit Step…

The Bible says that those who are led by the Spirit walk in the newness of life. You walk in newness by not walking in oldness; but by walking in a new direction.

Every new direction requires a first step. It’s easy to take second, third and fourth steps. All you’re doing is following what you’ve done before. A Spirit-led life is a life of walking in newness – a life of many first steps.

Those who walk in newness in life have a greater percentage of first steps in their life than those who don’t. If you want to walk in victory, you have to master the first step.

The first step is the hardest because you’ve never taken it before. When you take it, you’ll open the way for God’s Spirit to have its way in your life.

Do what you’ve never done before and the Spirit will lead you. You’ll have the joy known only to God’s children – the joy of walking in the newness of life.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. Romans 8:14

Is there something new that God has put on your heart to do? Take the first step and see how the Lord leads you to the next.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Mercy and Truth…

There was a young man, a matchmaker proposed that he marry a certain young woman. The man says, “No, she’s blind!”

“You call that a fault?” said the matchmaker, “On the contrary, it’s a virtue. She won’t see your faults.” “She can’t talk.” “Another virtue,” said the matchmaker, “you’ll never hear a critical word out of her mouth.”

“She’s deaf!” “Another virtue,” said the matchmaker, “She won’t hear your complaining.” “She’s a hunchback!” The matchmaker replied, “Can’t you even tolerate one fault in the woman you plan to marry?”

This isn’t only a comment on matchmaking but on your life. If you’re a child of God, you and your circumstances are matched up. You may find a lot of faults with your circumstance.

The Scripture says that God is working all things for good as you love and follow Him. Your circumstances may not look that good, but they really are.

All those problems you complain about are actually blessings in disguise which will bless your life eternally. Put a positive spin on every problem – because in God’s grace – it’s true… your life really is something beautiful.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Look at the positive in your problem or circumstance today. See it from God’s point of view.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed