Ed Christian's World

The Need For Talking Bushes…

An old man is standing in the wilderness. He’s eighty years old. He’s minding his own business and he hears a voice… his name.

You don’t go out into the middle of the desert and expect to hear your name. There’s just sand, rocks and bushes. He turns around, and he’s being called by a bush.

When you find yourself being talked to by a bush, it’s not going to be a normal day. Of course it wasn’t really a bush, it was God talking. God is into surprises.

He doesn’t want business as usual for your life. He wants you to change and step out of business as usual. Be open to the new, even when you don’t understand it.

If God ceases to surprise you, you’re not dealing with God anymore. The problem with too much of Christianity is there’s no burning bush, no surprise anymore. We have it all down to a science.

Our religious systems, organizations and lifestyles could pretty much function without the intervening and surprising presence of God. Break out of your routine today, get alone with God, and you might end up hearing from a talking bush.

When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” Exodus 3:4

In your alone time with God today, pray and ask Him to speak to you in a new way, to surprise you. Expect to hear from Him.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Miracle Keepers…

Unless you live in the tropics, you have to think about heat loss. There’s an old proverb – a house with open windows retains little heat. That’s also true for hearts, lives, and walks in the Lord.

If your mouth is always open, your ears always filled with television and radio, your heart always responding to what’s going on outside – you’re not going to be able to keep the warmth of God inside.

It’s written that Mary treasured the things of God in her heart. You do the same. Have secret chambers in your life in which only you and God can dwell. Have secret times with God, secret treasures that are only for you and God into which no one or nothing else can come.

No husband or wife make public every detail of their marriage. Otherwise they’d lose the intimacy and warmth of it. It’s the same with you and God. Have deep secrets between just you and Him.

Close the doors, shut the windows, get alone with Him, face to face, presence to presence. Don’t tell anyone else about it. Don’t lose the fire. Keep the heat.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:21

Establish a secret time and place today – just for you and God – where you can be in His presence – and be there!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Hanging Haman…

King Saul was told to destroy the house of his enemy, King Agag. But Saul would not. He spared the king and his sons. And he did so long enough for one of Agag’s sons, apparently, to get away.

Years later, a man rose up, named Haman, who sought to destroy the Jewish people. The Bible records that Haman was an Agagite. In other words, he was a descendant of King Agag.

So from the same house that King Saul was told to destroy, came a man who would one day and almost destroy every Jewish man, woman, and child in Persia.

So God raised up Mordecai from the same tribe as Saul, the tribe of Benjamin, along with Esther, to defeat the son of Agag. What does this reveal?

Don’t neglect dealing with sin, or evil, or any gap in your life, even if it doesn’t seem that big. Because if you don’t deal with it, in the end it will become big, and empowered, to harm or destroy your life.

Deal with sin as soon as it starts, deal with the problem at the beginning, and you won’t end up dealing with Haman.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. Luke 4:8

Think about that sin or problem you need to deal with today. Pray and ask God to help you to destroy it before it destroys your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Gallows Principle…

Haman and Isaac Newton discovered the same thing. Isaac Newton discovered that for every action there’s an equal and opposite reaction. Haman discovered the same thing in the Gallows Principle.

Haman was a vain, spiteful, judgmental man. He was furious because Mordecai, a righteous man, refused to bow down to him. He plotted to kill Mordecai by hanging him and built a gallows.

In the end Mordecai was lifted up. Haman was hung on the very gallows he built for the man he saw as his enemy. The Gallows Principle is as sure as Newton’s law of motion.

The gallows you build for others, will end up hanging you. Jesus said, “In the same way you judge, you will be judged.” This affects eternity and every area of your life.

When you judge someone, hold a grudge, or you’re bitter about something – there’s a gallow in your heart. When you curse someone in your heart, there’s a curse darkening your life.

It affects your emotions, health, relationships, family, and the course of your life. Gallows are for hanging. You can’t be blessed until you destroy your gallows. Then the darkness will lift and the dawn will break.

Reference: Esther Chapter 7

Seek to apply this principle, and to sow only what is good and right, godly thoughts, and godly actions.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

And The Two Shall Be One – Life Reflections – Our Daily Walk…

One of my favorite times of day, when I was growing up, was when Grandfather and I would walk down to the Colorado River and reflect on our day. We would peer into the water and go over the day’s events as we saw a perfect reflection of ourself in the water.

Grandfather would explain that as our day went so would our reflection on the water gleaming for a good day and cloudy for a difficult day. He would then drop a small pebble into the still water. The perfect concentric circles developed represented how our day would go tomorrow.

I’m sure Grandfather had a different lesson planned for that day, but I was the one who initiated the lesson. I have a question, I said, How does one live up to the standards of God? How does one attain such high standards?

One can’t, said Grandfather, the only one who can live up to the standards of God… Is God. And the only one who can live the life of Jesus is Jesus. So how do you live up to His standards? How do you live a Godly life?

There’s only one way — you let Him live it. You let God meet the standards of God. You let Jesus live the life of Jesus through you. This is where our reflection and these concentric circles come into play.

Later in life he explained the reflection we saw in the water represented how we looked in God’s eyes and we were seeing what God saw in us. If we lived our day as He wanted, our reflection would be crystal clear and gleaming, if we strayed off the path our reflection would be cloudy and dark.

The concentric circles represented the ring of protection God has placed around us to protect us from evil. He further explained that God would guide us along our path of life providing us protection from all harm as long as we followed His lead and if we should wander off into the dark brush, He would be there to guide us back to the path and give us comfort and peace.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Many years have passed since those days and I no longer have the Colorado River to reflect my day in, but I do have a clear mind that will reflect my day for me. As I reflect my day in this virtual space God is always there to lead and guide me through good and hard times and He always comforts me and gives me peace when I need it. When I drop the pebble into the water, perfect concentric circles are formed around my center to protect me from evil.

I never once questioned He would be there and never once considered what would happen if He took a day off and was not there to lead me. I know, without Him, I would be lost. I thank Him for always being there for me.

As Grandfather taught, It’s Him through you that we live. It’s Him living His life …through your living your life in Him. In the Book of First Corinthians 3:9 it is written, ‘We are God’s fellow workers. You are Gods field, God’s building.’ But in the original language the words “fellow workers” are just one word – sunergos.

Ergos, replied Grandfather, means to act, to work, or to do. And sun means with or together. So sunergos means to act together, to work with, to move together or to do as one. That’s the key. It’s impossible for you to live the life of God. But it’s impossible for God not to live the life of God.

So the key is not to live up to the standards of God, but to let God live out His life through you. It means to let God live in your living… as in His living, you live. It means to let God live in your loving… as, in His loving, you love.

It is through sunergos we get the word synergy. That’s the energy of salvation, the energy of God, and the energy of you flowing together as one…one energy, one motion, one life. As it is written, ‘Be strong…in the power of His might’ …sunergos. Ephesians 6:10

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 1 John 4:9

Are you the same person to everyone you meet or do you change yourself to fit who you are meeting? More importantly, are you the same person everyday of the week? If you can’t answer these questions affirmatively then maybe you need to change your walk.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

If you were to look at yourself through God’s eyes what would you see? What would you want to change? Start living today in the synergy of God. Live in His moving, act in His acting and love in His loving…as one.

May all your days be bright and clear.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Sunrise Commandment…

People say, “It’s fine to have faith and dreams, but ultimately, you have to be a realist.” Well, you don’t have to be a realist. In fact, you shouldn’t be a realist.

We’re supposed to be like God, and God isn’t a realist. God doesn’t just accept things as they are. God doesn’t limit Himself by the reality of the world. He made the world.

If He were a realist, He would’ve just looked at the situation and said, “Well there’s no light and we just have to accept that fact.” Instead He said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.

God never just accepts things as they are. He doesn’t care how things are. In the same way, if you call yourself a child of God, then you also can’t be a realist. You can’t be bound by what is real.

You’re not called to accept the world, you’re called to change the world. Whenever you’re faced by a situation of darkness, fear, gloom, anger or sin – don’t accept it. Say, “Let there be light!” For God is your Father and your Father is no realist.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:3

Don’t be bound by your situation, your problems, your circumstances today – but live solely by the Word of God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Wherever You Dwell…

In the Book of Ruth, Naomi tries to convince her Gentile daughters-in-law, Orpah and Ruth, to leave her and not follow as she returns to her homeland in Israel. Orpah agrees to leave, but Ruth refuses.

Finally Naomi let Ruth come because she saw that Ruth was amats. Amats is the Hebrew word for steadfast, stubborn, and hardened. It’s not good to be stubborn in sin and hardened to God.

Yet it’s very good to be stubborn in love and hardened for righteousness. We must not only follow God, we must be amats in following. We need to be stubborn in faith, steadfast in love, hardened in our commitment.

If you’re not stubborn about what is good, then the enemy will discourage you from entering the blessings God has for you. Ruth refused to be discouraged. Ruth was stubborn. When Naomi saw she was amats, she let her come.

When the enemy sees that you are amats, he will give up. Be steadfast in faith, unwavering in hope, and stubborn in love. Don’t just be a believer, be an amats believer, and nothing on earth will keep you from all the blessings God has in store.

My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Psalm 57:7

In what areas do you tend to get discouraged or give up? Make it your aim today to keep going in holy, stubborn, amats!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Atheists Testamony…

Madeline Murray O’Hare, the famous atheist who helped remove prayer from public school, was speaking at a college. Her speech denigrated all clergy, mocked those who trusted in prayer, and labeled all religious people “stupid.”

At the end, a petite girl spoke up in a soft voice filled with compassion. “Mrs. O’Hare, so happy you came to speak to us tonight. Thank you for showing us what an atheist is.

We are grateful for your visit, because now we have strengthened our Christian beliefs by listening to you. We really feel sorry for you. Thank you because you have strengthened my faith.”

Madalyn O’Hare was at a loss for words. The applause for the young woman’s response was deafening. Atheism might testify against God, but atheists only testify to Him. For without God there can be no real hope, trust, meaning, and no real love.

Atheists like Lenin, Stalin and Mao, even in their denial of God, bear witness of His existence by their examples. If atheists who deny God, bear witness of Him, how much more must you, who affirm God, bear Him witness. God lives. Even atheists bear Him.

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands — remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  Ephesians 2:11-13

Think of a way today to show a non-believer that Jesus is real, that He exists, and that He lives.

Speak you truth softly….

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

God and The French Revolution…

In the late eighteenth-century, France was overthrown. The new revolutionary government proclaimed that there was no God and declared France a nation of atheists.

After this, the revolutionary government learned that man cannot exist without God. What came out of it was the reign of terror where thousands were butchered. Finally, Robespierre declared that belief in God was essential.

Without it, there could be no morality, and thus no Republic. The national representatives voted that “the French people acknowledged the existence of a Supreme Being and the immortality of the soul.”

They learned the hard way what the Bible said from the beginning. Man cannot live without God. Without God, there’s no meaning in life.

This is just as true for Christians. You can call yourself a believer, but live as an atheist. You proclaim God with your lips, but you deny Him with your life. If you believe in God, then God must be Lord of your life. Renounce all atheism, especially Christian atheism.

Proclaim God by living a life in which God is God and the Lord is Lord. When He isn’t, then life isn’t a whole lot better than a reign of terror.

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Matthew 4:4

What part of your life do you, in effect, live without God? Bring Him into that part.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Mystery Of The Divine Loves…

Song of Solomon says, “How beautiful is your love my sister, my bride.” However the original Hebrew says something quite different. It’s one of the strange and unique mysteries of the Hebrew language.

In the original language it reads: “Mah Ya foo Do dah yich A kho tee Ka lah,” “How beautiful are your LOVES ….. The Song of Solomon is an allegory about God and us. He’s the Bridegroom. We’re the Bride.

The Lord is saying to us, “How beautiful are your LOVES…” It’s not enough to love God with one love. We must love Him with many loves. It’s not enough to love God once. We must love Him every day with a new love. If we love God with an old love, our relationship will become old and dead.

You can’t love God with the love you once had when you first came to God. God wants you to love Him with a love that is different. Your love is not better than wine, but your LOVES are.

Love God today with a new love. Open your heart today with a new surrendering – because it’s this about which God says, “How beautiful.”

How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than any spice! Song of Solomon 4:10

Take time in prayer today to let God know how much you love Him – and in a new way, a new expression, a new song.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed