Ed Christian's World

Not A rotten Word…

Although man has continuously encroached upon the crow, the crow has thrived. What’s its secret? The crow is a very social bird with a relatively developed communication system.

Crows can rapidly communicate ideas and warnings to other crows. Crows even assign guards or sentries to stand look-out at various watch posts to warn the others of danger.

It’s largely because of their interdependence, their communication, their concern and responsibility for each other, and their cooperation in all things, that enables the crow to thrive in adverse circumstances.

What about believers? How do they stack up against crows? Not too well. Believers in the West tend to be relatively disconnected. So when a believer falls, it’s rare that his or her fellows come to their aid.

We need to learn from the crow, for we too have an adversary and we too find ourselves in adverse circumstances. We need to stick together, to look out for each other, pray for each other, lift each other up, even warn and exhort each other to the path of life. So, get connected today. It’s for your own good. To neglect that is to be dumber than a crow.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34

Remember today one of your brothers or sisters who are of the “household of faith” and lift him or her up to the Lord and make it a practice to do so.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Going Dayglow…

Back in the sixties, there was a “dayglow” fad. Dayglow referred to paints or materials that glowed in the dark. There were dayglow buttons, decals, posters, everything. And there were black lights, which also glowed in the dark.

You were cool only if your bedroom looked like the result of a radioactive meltdown. This craze eventually died down, but there was something Biblical about it.

If you belong to God you should be a dayglow person, or rather, a glow-in-the-dark person. It’s written, ‘… in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world…’

You are to appear as a light in the world. It’s not the good or easy times which best reveal who you are.. but the hard times, when the going gets tough, how you deal with problems, and when all hell comes against you. Anyone can have daylight love… But you’re called to have dayglow love.

God wants you to show the world a glow-in-the-dark love, joy, peace, hope, praise, and a glow-in-the-dark victory. Next time you find yourself in the dark… start glowing. It’s the only cool thing to do!

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Matthew 5:14

Today, be that “dayglow love,” that witness of Messiah, that light that shines in the darkness. There may be someone in your path that needs to see and sees what they need that’s in you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Gospel Of Matthew…

For the Jewish people, the New Testament was a forbidden book, the most un-Jewish and anti-Jewish of books.

For many Jewish people, their first opening of the New Testament is like one’s first indulgence in an illegal substance.

They smuggle it into their homes, lock themselves in their bathrooms and with trembling, fear, and centuries of guilt and trepidation for breaking the rabbinic injunction, they open its first page.

They see: ‘The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, Son of David, Son of Abraham.’ We thought the New Testament was so un-Jewish that just touching it was enough to make one turn Swedish.

To be hit with such a Jewish opening, such a totally kosher opening…! The fact is the New Testament is Jewish. It’s amazing how many Jewish people miss it; more amazing how many Christians miss it – or the fact that Jesus is Jewish.

You can relate to the Lord your whole life and never really know Him. It’s written, ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Get to know who God really is. You might find He has a surprise Jewish opening.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10

Open the New Testament today – how many things can you see on the page that show you that the Gospel is Jewish? Pray for the Jewish people today.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Twig That Shut Down The Power…

Jesus taught us that not even one sparrow falls to the ground without God’s care. Yet what about the sparrow’s twig? A sparrow dropped a little twig at the SWEPCO station. in Waskom, Texas. When the twig hit the insulator, there was a 69,000-volt flashover which destroyed three insulators and blew out two 69,000-volt fuses.

The city of Waskom had no power for almost a half an hour… all because of a twig dropped by a sparrow. It’s hard to believe that something so little could cause a city to come to a halt.

It happens in our lives too. One careless word can destroy a friendship. One careless indiscretion can destroy a marriage. One careless choice can destroy a ministry. One careless action can destroy a career.

Beware of being careless with the words that come out of your mouth. Better to say nothing than to let one word of anger, frustration, gossip or evil come out of your mouth.

Live every moment as holy, sacred, and beautiful for Him who cares even for the sparrow, and sees the drop of the sparrow’s twig.

The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit. Proverbs 15:4

Today, choose your words carefully – not carelessly. Make every word count for life and blessing.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Assembly Directions…

I get catalogs in the mail. Sometimes I’ll send for something and when it arrives, it looks nothing like the picture in the catalog. It’s a box filled with screws, bolts, washers, and an instruction sheet the size of a small area rug. I didn’t notice those three fatal words written in small print beside the picture… ‘Some assembly required.’

Three hours later, I have a shiny new bicycle in my living room. The problem is – it’s supposed to be a rowing machine. The picture in the catalog looks nice, but getting it to look like that takes work.

God gives you visions and promises of what your life is to become in Him. The thing is, it doesn’t come fully assembled. It takes work – applying and persevering when you don’t feel like it, following the Master’s instructions until the job is done.

A good vision is worth sticking to and persevering for. Get moving and stick to it even when it’s hard. That promise, vision, life, that you saw, you will one day see with your eyes – fully assembled.

Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. Romans 4:20-21

Is there something in your life that is out of the will of God? Get back into His will.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Show-Em…

In the early twentieth century, people of India were under the rule of the British. Mahatma Gandhi, the father of modern India, was approached by Lord Irwin, the British viceroy. Irwin asked him what he considered to be the solution to the problems of India and his country.

Gandhi took a book and opened it to the Gospel of Matthew, the fifth chapter. He answered, “When your country and mine shall get together on the teachings of Christ in this Sermon on the Mount, we shall have solved the problems not only of our countries but those of the whole world.”

It took a Hindu to remind Christians of the British Empire of the teachings of Jesus and to notice the striking disparity between what many Christians quote on one hand, and how they live their lives on the other.

It took a Hindu to remind Christians that Jesus’s words are to be applied to every area of our lives and say that if one doesn’t do that, one has no business calling oneself by the name of Jesus.

Let’s conform our lives to Jesus’s words, that we may have the honor of being called His disciples.

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes

He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:1-12

When you read the Bible today, don’t take God’s words lightly. Take one verse that you’ve read today and apply it to your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Zeus on Moriah…

Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks comes from the Indian Sanskrit “Dyaus” which means, “The Bright Sky,” or the “Brightness of the Day.” He is also called “Dyaus Pita”, or “Zeus Pater” (Jupiter), which means, “Father of the Day.”

In ancient times, a Greek general even set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple of Jerusalem, thus making the Temple desolate and defiled. The Feast of Chanukah is all about the cleansing of the Temple, and the smashing of Zeus. Zeus was an imitation of God.

He came as the “brightness of the day,” just as the enemy comes as an angel of light. Zeus teaches us something important: beware of imitations. The enemy will gladly offer you a wide selection.

 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 3 John 11

You only have room for one God in your heart. Make sure it’s the Real One. Your life only has room to follow one course, make sure it’s God’s best. There’s only one Light. Reject Zeus. Choose God. And your days will be filled with brightness.

What “imitation” or substitute has replaced the joy of God in your life? Tear it down, get rid of it today. Choose God instead. Replace it with God’s presence.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Price…

William Tyndale lived in England in the 1500s. At that time, according to one source of the 308 clergy in one diocese, 40 did not know the Lord’s prayer and 168 did not know the Ten Commandments.

Tyndale approached the Bishop of London for permission to translate the Bible into English. He was denied permission. Tyndale then left for Germany where he began working on a translation of the New Testament into English.

He finished and published it in 1525. He smuggled it into England, the first printed edition of the New Testament in the English language. The authorities burned it, but it still spread, Sometime later, Tyndale was arrested and burned at the stake. The same people leading the church were the very ones forbidding and then burning Bibles.

Now think about it…if others were willing to give up their lives so that we could have the Word of God, how much more must we treasure it, read it, apply it, live it?

All the more, it is for us now, to give our lives to the receiving and to the giving of this same Word, for which the saints before us so willingly shed their blood.

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. Acts 8:30

Think of an activity that you can give up for today and replace it with the reading of God’s Word. Read it as if for the first time.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed