Ed Christian's World

The Many Voices Of God…

Look at the Book of Jonah, only four chapters and yet it’s amazing how many ways God speaks – through His word, through circumstance, through adversity, through a sign, through trouble, through events, through a direct revelation, through illustrations, and on and on.

There are all sorts of books to tell you how God speaks and leads. But the fact is God speaks in all sorts of ways. In fact, chances are, God is speaking to you a lot more than you’re hearing.

You see the point of the Book of Jonah is not that God wasn’t speaking to him. The point is, he wasn’t listening. So even though God was leading, Jonah was still outside the will of God. The point wasn’t about knowing the will of God for his life, it was about following it, saying yes to it.

It’s obeying the will of God you already know. It’s doing what you already know He wants you to do, and to turn from doing what you know He doesn’t. God will give you all the leading you need. The point is obey what you already know is His voice and you’ll hear His voice loud and clear.

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3

Decide to do what you know God has already called you to do.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

His Name Is A Sentence…

In Hebrew the word for “God” is EL, as in Elohim. The word for “us” or “our” is NU or Ahnu or Aynu as in Elohaynu and Avinu. And the Hebrew word for “with” is EEM. Put them together and you have – El Eem Anu Or Eem Anu Ayl – Immanuel – God is with us.

That’s what Bethlehem is all about – a child named Eem anu ayl – But in Hebrew, Immanuel is never just a name – it’s a living sentence.

When He slept on the boat in the storm, it was Eem anu ayl, God is with us in the storm. When He rode into Jerusalem, it was God is with us in joy and victory.

When He hung on the cross, it was Eem anu ayl – God is with us in death. And when He rose from death, it was Eem anu ayl – God is with us, through all things, and forever.

Rejoice and be glad for EEM ANU AYL, God is with us yesterday, today, and forever and ever. Amen.

And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed. Matthew 14:35-36

Close your eyes and imagine touching the hem of Jesus’s garment as you lift up your prayers to Him today – believe God for His power to touch your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Journey 0f The Magi…

Who were the Magi? The Magi were a special caste of Persian priests. They were astrologers. They practiced that which God condemned.

No believer has any business with astrology, horoscopes, fortune tellers, psychic hotlines, or the occult.

But the Magi teach us something profound. Even though they were using astrology, they sought after God, and with all their hearts. So God, by His grace, met them where they were at, and led them to His presence in Bethlehem. If you looked at their doctrine, few people were as far away from God as the Magi. But if you looked at their hearts, few were as close.

So we as believers might have the doctrine down pat, but if we stop actively seeking God, His love, His truth, His presence in our lives, then all our knowledge and doctrine will mean nothing.

Be grounded in the Word and keep seeking Him with all your heart. Have the doctrine of a Christian, but the heart of the Magi. Keep seeking Him, to go farther, closer, and deeper in His love and presence every day of your life, and you’ll find Him waiting for you in Bethlehem.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” Matthew 2:1-2

Spend today especially seeking the Lord, following after Him, wanting more of Him, being open to and going wherever He leads you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Knowing God – 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 leaders will say how well they know God.

In my opinion, there lies the problem, because they think they know God, they don’t have to know Him anymore. They think they already know all there is to know. But, as we begin to study, 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 too 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.

The more I peer into the depths of God’s Word, the more I will both learn from and long for Him. His counsel is the surest; His opinion the only one that matters.

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

God’s gracious gifts are what allow me to live and obey His Word. I need to earnestly seek after the treasures He hides in His Word. My longing for it should be passionate at all times. When I wander from His commandments, it is a sign of arrogance, and He will rebuke me.

If I follow His commandments, I do not have to bear the blame I deserve. I should not care what anyone thinks of me, rather, I should focus on His Word. From it, I obtain much delight and wise counsel.

Pray to the Lord today and get 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

The Samaritan Miracle…

In Israel today, there live in the mountains a few hundred Samaritans. But in modern Western culture, the Samaritan shortage is even more acute. There’s a real absence of Good Samaritans.

Most people are too much into themselves that the virtues of duty, sacrifice, heroism, and laying down one’s life for another count for very little.

In New York City, a mailman was shot by a sniper. He went into a building lobby dripping blood but was ordered out because he was staining the floor.

In Oklahoma City, a woman unexpectedly gave birth on a sidewalk; bystanders turned away and a nearby hotel refused the woman a blanket.

In Dayton, Ohio, several people watched a woman drive her car into the Miami River. The woman screamed that she couldn’t swim. The people didn’t do a thing. She drowned. Why?

It wasn’t their business. Is that you? Are you so into your own walk that you won’t leave it to be like Jesus? You see – you are to be the Good Samaritans of this world. Start today – by reaching out, blessing, or helping a stranger in need.

On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “You have answered correctly,” 

Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 

A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 

But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 

The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37

Read about the Good Samaritan today. Then find something that you can do to be a blessing to someone in need.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Catterpillar’s Doubt…

What if you went up to a caterpillar and tried to tell it the truth about its life? You’d say something like: “Listen I know it looks like you’re a worm, it feels like you’re a worm, and you’re pretty much living a worm’s life, but… you’re not a worm. You’re a child of the butterfly. You’re not bound by earth. You’re a child of the heavens.”

Would the caterpillar be convinced? All it’s ever known is a worm’s life, an earthbound worm’s life. You’re asking it to believe what it’s never seen and beyond all its experience and comprehension.

It’s true… not only for the caterpillar, but for you! And I’m here to help convince you that though your life might look like a worm’s life, might feel like a worm’s life and if you take a good look at yourself in the mirror, you might see a worm… you’re not a worm.

If you’re born again, you’re no longer a child of your circumstance; you’re a child of the Most High. So stop living earthbound. Stop crawling through your walk. And start soaring… For you are a child of Most High… stop living like a worm.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. 1 John 3:1-3

Choose to believe today that you are who God says you are – and act like it – “children of God”.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Seventh Age…

In Isaiah 4:5, it says: “Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night, and over all the glory will be a defense.”

But the original Hebrew behind the word “defense” contains a treasure. The actual Hebrew word is “Huppah.” The huppah is the canopy of the Hebrew marriage, spread over the heads of the bride and groom, who sit together as king and queen as one.

In other words, in the days of the kingdom, God will spread a wedding canopy over His people. In that day, as the Bible says, even the land will be married, everything will be married.

If you want to live in the blessings of the kingdom now, then the key is marry everything in your life to the Lord – your dreams, your problems, your weaknesses, joys, desires, sins, plans, home, job, spouse, secret life, career, money, possessions, everything. Bring every part of your life under His Huppah, joined to Him. For that which is under the Huppah shall be blessed.

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

Share everything that you have with the Lord today, especially the secret things, and be blessed.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Gospel and Your Immune System…

In Isaiah 1, it’s written, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” An amazing thing. How can sins become white as snow?

When God forgives a sin, and when we receive it, our past sins become as white as snow. What was evil, is neutralized and is used for good. Sin is evil.

But a sin forgiven, and repented of, becomes something else altogether. In the same way, a deadly bacteria is something dangerous. But if that disease is neutralized, killed, rendered ineffective and put into the form of a vaccination, its nature is changed.

It becomes something altogether different. It becomes an inoculation that prevents and protects the person from the very disease it once was. So too, to have your sins forgiven, to truly receive the fact that your sins are forgiven, that your past is wiped clean, and you’re free because of the grace and mercy of God.

What that does is inoculate you against that sin and cause you to become new. So your sins… your sins forgiven, your past redeemed… by the blood of Jesus, will truly become as white as snow.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

If you’re still holding onto dirty laundry from your past, know that you’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb. You’re clean, you’re forgiven.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Secret 0f The Cup…

There was an old Quaker who advertised that he would give away 40 acres of good farm land to anyone who was perfectly satisfied with what he had.

One day a man seeking the land came up to the Quaker and said, “I would like to have the land.” The Quaker asked him, “Art thou perfectly satisfied with what thou hast?” “Yes,” answered the man, “I am perfectly satisfied.” “Then,” said the Quaker, “why on earth dost thou want this land?”

So the old Quaker never parted with his land, because the only ones perfectly satisfied with what they had weren’t interested in getting it, and those who were, were not perfectly satisfied.

So Jesus told us, “If you will lose your life, for My sake, you will find it.” And He told the rich young ruler, “If you wish to be complete, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor.”

It’s a paradox, but it’s true. If you want to be full, empty yourself. And if you want to be content, then let go of your want. For having nothing but God, is to have everything, an abundant life, and perfect satisfaction.

For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. Luke 9:24

Think about those things that you are afraid to let go for Christ’ sake. Give it to Him, for only then will you have everything that you need.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Ninth Candle..

During the Feast of Hanukkah, the Jewish people light the menorah, the nine branch lampstand. The problem is, there are eight days of Hanukkah – but nine candles on the menorah.

What is the ninth candle? It is the Shamash. The Shamash is the Candle that is lit first and lights up every other candle. And what does the word Shamash mean?

It means – The Servant. The Hebrew prophets called Messiah the Servant. Jesus is the SHAMASH, the Light that lights up all the others. So it is written of Him, “He is the true Light that gives light to every man.”

But for the Shamash to light up the other candles, it must literally touch them. So the key is this: Don’t just look at Him or just know of Him – let Him touch you, truly touch you, and your life won’t be able to help but become a shining light.

He isn’t only the light, He is the Shamash Light, the light that lights up by touching. Let your shamash light, light up every part of your life, and your life will as well shine as blazing light.

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. John 1:4

Today ask the Lord to help you shine His light through you by touching somebody’s life who is in need.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed