Ed Christian's World

The Sailboat Princical…

The first time my father and I tried sailing a sailboat, the instructor gave us directions. He said that we couldn’t keep the sail in just one position; we’d have to adjust it continuously.

We didn’t so we ended up in the water with a turned-over sailboat. When sailing, even if you are only 5 degrees to the right or left, you will be soon completely off course and eventually totally lost.

So it is in life and with the Lord. The Bible says to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. You can’t just commit your life to the Lord yet never check to see if your life and your heart are still on course.

It’s easy to go off a few degrees to the right or left. Are you off a few degrees from prayer, from the Word, from the joy of the Lord, or from your first love in God? Then it’s time to adjust and correct your course.

Renew your love and your devotion to Him every day. Continually refocus and concentrate your journey on Him. Then you’ll stay the course and not become lost or shipwrecked.

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13

Check your bearings today. Are you on course or off course. Adjust whatever needs to be adjusted and sail ahead.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Spirit Graduates…

On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came. Why then? One reason is because the disciples were at a crossroads. Their discipleship was over, they finished the course, their teacher was gone, and it was time to go forth and disciple.

They had been taught; now they were to become teachers. They watched Jesus perform miracles; now they were to perform miracles by His power.

They listened as Jesus spoke and operated as the representative of God; now they were to speak and represent God by His power. They watched Jesus minister; now they were to become ministers.

But how were they to do all this? Through His Spirit. The Spirit came so they could graduate from observing to doing. Do you want to walk in the power of the Spirit in your life?

Stop expecting others to minister to you, and start ministering. Stop waiting on others to bless you and become a blessing. Take the reins of your calling and set your heart on attaining maturity in Jesus.

Be ready to graduate and do the work of Jesus. Then He will send His Spirit, anoint you, and give you His power.

Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13

Start your day by being in the presence of the Lord and walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. Minister to others, find the need where He leads you and be the blessing.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Unsharpened Pencil…

As I started working on this devotional this morning I was reminded of a story about Albert Einstein, the great physicist who in 1999 was honored by Time Magazine as the Man of the Century.

Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train, when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger.

When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there. He looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.

The conductor said, Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it. Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets.

As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket.

The conductor rushed back and said, Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one. Einstein looked at him and said, Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.

Now you are probably wondering where this leading to. The question to ask is do you know where you’re going? If you’re a Christian, yes, you can say I’m going to be with Jesus. But, are you really sure? Have you followed His commandments to go out and shine your light to lead others to Him?

Have you loved your neighbors as yourself and as He has loved you? Last month we talked about why He said love your neighbors as yourself. How many of you paid attention to that and adjusted your path in life? How many now realize how important it is to have God in your life?

We all have excuses for wandering off the path He has set out for us and we know He will guide us back if we confess our sin and ask Him for help. He is always there to turn us back in the right direction.

So now, some of you are wondering what is the point of all this? The point today is God! He gave His son to redeem us from our sins and to give us eternal life. Without him we are an Unsharpened Pencil.

Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

My prayer is each of us have lived our lives so that when our ticket is punched we don’t have to worry about where we are going.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Satan’s Fear…

The devil, satan, is real. This was the hardest thing to believe when I first came to the Lord. Yet when you consider Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler, the Holocaust, and Hitler’s obsession with destroying the Jewish people, no words less than satanic can describe it.

Hitler was a man possessed and used by satan; one who spoke the enemy’s words. The truth is, that Hitler was afraid of the Jewish people.

Though the enemy goes about as a roaring lion to destroy God’s ancient people Israel, he is actually scared of them because from them came Jesus, and from them will come the Kingdom.

He is scared of you too if you are a born-again child of God who walks according to God’s will. The enemy is afraid of you because you have the power to defeat him and to undo his work.

So if you are receiving special opposition from the enemy and going through tough times, praise God! Take all that opposition and all the troubles you are going through as encouragement to press ahead in the will and the power of Jesus. And give the devil even more to fear.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

Persevere through your struggles today, punch through, push through and be encouraged that the battle is the Lord’s and the victory has already been won!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Power Of Up…

No matter where you are or what you are doing, you have to deal with gravity every moment of your life. Gravity has a job and that is to hold you down.

Just look at your body. As you age, your body becomes a graphic display of the laws of gravity. You look in the mirror and everything is a few inches lower than it used to be. Your face, your stomach, it’s all heading south of the border and you can’t even see the border any more.

Jesus is the opposite. Jesus rose! And the power of Jesus and of salvation is the power to rise. In Jesus, you have the power to rise and to go against the way the flesh pulls. In Jesus, you no longer have to be oppressed, suppressed or depressed.

So stop being dragged down, pulled down, pushed down, knocked down and kept down. Jesus rose and you can do the same. The law of gravity and of the flesh cannot stand against the power of Jesus. Nor can anything or anyone hold you down if you will live in the power of His rising.

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Luke 24:6-7

Declare victory over your problems and temptations. You are free to rise in the power and love of Jesus.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Mystery Of The Malkosh…

In Israel, there are rains called the former and latter rains. One in the spring, the Moreh and the other in the fall, the Malkosh.

In the Bible, rain is often used as the symbol of the Spirit. The Spirit was poured out upon Israel 2,000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost. At that time, Peter quoted from the Book of Joel about the outpouring. In Israel there’s not just one outpouring, there’s a second, the latter rain.

Pentecost was the Moreh, the early rain. There’s another rain coming, the Malkosh. The outpouring always comes to Israel, when the Jewish people repent. The first rain came on Pentecost with 120 Jewish believers.

It changed the world. How much more will the outpouring of the last days of the Malkosh touch the world when the Jewish people return to God. Never stop praying for the salvation of the Jewish people. It’s in their repentance that the rain of the Spirit comes.

Remember this in your own life. It’s after you repent that the rains of blessing will be poured out upon your life. Repent, and He will pour out upon your life the waters of the Malkosh.

Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. Joel 2:23

Change your world today. Start by praying for every Jewish man, woman and child to proclaim. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Heartbeats In Your Tears…

You might have had a lot of tough times in your life – times of trouble, pain, loss, and sorrow. Even though you went through all that, your heart was beating every moment. Your heart was beating so you could cry. Your heart was beating every moment to keep you alive.

When you’re filled with sorrow and trouble, even then your heart is beating to keep you alive. Even for you to be able to cry, your heart is working – because your life is a gift. It means you are alive. Even your tears are borrowed.

To cry them you have to be alive. It’s the gift of life that God has given you. The next time you’re going through a hard time, or a time of trouble, loss, pain or sorrow – stop. Be silent and listen. Your heart is beating.

That’s a gift from God. Your life is precious. There’s a purpose, a calling for your life. In God, even the tears have a purpose. The troubles, in Jesus, will all be turned for good. Stop listening to the problem, and listen to your heartbeat.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 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 8:27-28

Stop and listen during the tough times today. Be still and know that God is ever faithful in your situation, with every heartbeat, keep going and persevere.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Love/Joy Secret…

We have this idea that we get joy, not by being loving, but by being selfish. We think if we’re selfish enough we’ll get everything we want. We’ll look out for ourselves and we’ll be joyful.

Not so. In the end, the more selfish you are, the less joy you have. Jesus has the secret of joy. He says, in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you, that your joy will be full.”

You want joy? Lose yourself in love, in loving another above yourself. Bless freely, forgive freely. There’s no greater joy than giving yourself in love, in the love of God who gave Himself to you.

Not just an occasional act of love, but a heart of love, a life that’s motivated by love, by giving. Turn your heart and your life from living for yourself to living for God.

Because in love there is no fear, no anxiety, and no defeat. Learn Jesus’s love/joy secret. Live a life of love and you’ll end up receiving a life of joy.

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

Today, cultivate a giving, generous, flowing heart – Find a need and fill it. Lose yourself in random acts of love to others and find your joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

A Year Of Joy…

What kind of a year will this New Year be for you? When Jesus began His ministry, He went to the synagogue and read from Isaiah 61.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

What was it about the year that has to do with Jesus’s ministry? When He comes to fulfill the Scripture, it will be the year of the Lord’s favor. Every year He ministers is the “year of the Lord’s favor.”

The word in Hebrew is RATZONE meaning favor, will, pleasure and satisfaction. The year that the Lord wills, takes pleasure in, and is satisfied with is to proclaim this year for His people.

Consecrate this year and commit every part of your life to HIS WILL. And Jesus will give you the anointing to live it. It will become the Year of Ratzone, the Year of the Lord’s Favor … on you!

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Psalm 84:11

Today, seek the favor of God. Commit this year and your life to His will and to always live in His ways.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Surrounded in Nigeria…

A friend of mine told me this story one morning:

We had a flat tire in Nigeria at night and the driver left me in the car alone to get help. I was surrounded by a gang-like crowd of Nigerian men.

One of them said, “You look like a Hebrew. We are Muslims. What do you think of Mohammed?” I am a Jewish believer in Jesus, surrounded by Muslim men, and I need to tell them what I think of Mohammed.

I asked God what to say? I said, “Mohammed says that Jesus is the Messiah and Islam says that Jesus is coming back to reign over the world. So then you must listen to Jesus. He says ‘you must be born again!'”

I expected that to be my last sermon, but they listened. Before I left, the leader asked me to pray for them. They all bowed their heads and I prayed that they would come to the knowledge of salvation and become born again.

I prejudged them as being closed to the gospel. I could have gone with that, held back and hoped to stay alive. How can they come if they do not hear? Keep sharing! He is your hope and their hope, too.

For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Luke 21:15

The battle is the Lord’s. Do not fear the appearance of evil but be bold in sharing the Gospel to those who more desperately need to hear it. Angelic armies are surrounding you!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed