Ed Christian's World

The Floating Palace…

People have the idea that the Titanic struck an iceberg and then sank. Instead, the Titanic scraped along the iceberg and it didn’t sink until several hours later.

At the beginning there seemed to be no change at all. Everything was still level and solid, and only a few people even saw the scraping. People were playing cards and they saw the iceberg through the windows.

The general feeling was that there wasn’t any real damage. The waters began flooding the chambers. It still seemed steady, though it was mortally wounded, its’ fate was sealed. The band continued to play as if everything was fine. But it wasn’t, there was a limited time left.

That’s a real picture of life. It seems steady, but it’s an illusion. Beware of growing comfortable in a sinking ship. No matter how much it glitters, it’s still sinking and will take your eyes off what is really happening.

Put your treasure in what you can’t lose. Jesus is the Rock. Build your hope on Him, for all other ground is sinking sand or like the Titanic.

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

Don’t get comfortable in this world. Remember you are just passing through. You are Heaven bound. Seek to see everything today in that light.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Don’t Feed The Scapegoat…

I knew a lady who would feed squirrels. Since she always had food for them, they would come back for more. As a kid, I used to sneak food under the table for my dog that was always waiting for more.

Have you noticed that some parks have “no feeding” signs? That’s because if you feed an animal, it will come back for more. Scapegoats were animals.

On the day of Yom Kippur, the scapegoat that received the sins of the people was led out of the camp, and never seen again. No one tried to feed it.

In Jesus, past sins are taken away. And once they’ve been taken away, don’t feed them. You feed the scapegoat when you dwell on past sins. And what you feed will come back for more. So stop dwelling on all those negative things of the past–that guilt, that regret, or that mistake.

If it’s been given to Jesus, then it’s gone. If you stop feeding it, it will go away. So when you are tempted to dwell on past sins, remember that in the Lord there’s a big sign-“No feeding the scapegoat.”

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:11-12

Stop feeding the goat! Don’t dwell on things of the past, your failures or sins. In Jesus, He chooses to remember them no more. He paid the price for you, so you too remember these things no more.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Hidden Inside The Tower…

Proverbs 18:10 says “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.” But what does that mean? The name of the Lord is His authority, His identity, Him.

To run into the name of the Lord means to get inside His identity, inside Him. During Passover, the ancient Israelites had to get inside the house with the lamb to be safe.

So it is with you. Salvation means getting your life inside His life. Get your name inside His name, your weaknesses inside His strength, your unrighteousness inside His righteousness, and your sins inside His holiness. When you run into a tower, you disappear. It’s no longer you that live, but Him. Is your life showing or is His?

Is your ego showing or is He evident? If your life is still showing, it’s not safe. Get covered. Get your life, heart, emotions, sins, fears, ego, ambition, and everything else inside the Name, identity, authority and will of God.

If you want to be safe, then disappear into Him. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. Run into it, and be safe.

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2

Get your life fully into the Tower of His Name. Submerge yourself into His name – and His name will be your strong tower.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Join In The Joy…

As Christians we say, make the Lord the Lord. And that’s correct. Things can only be right when the Lord is Lord. We say, make God King. That’s right too. It can only be right when God is King.

But there is something else we need to do. Bach wrote a piece called Jesus, the Joy of Man’s Desire. Jesus is the delight, the joy of the universe. For things to be right in your life; He who is the universe’s joy must become the joy of your life.

We are commanded to rejoice in the Lord always. When we rejoice in Him, we affirm Him as Lord and King. We also are commanded to delight ourselves in the Lord. When we delight in Him, He becomes our focus.

It can only be right in our lives when the One who is the joy, the delight of the universe becomes our joy and delight. Have you made God, God of your life? Good! Have you made Him Lord and King of your life? Very Good! Now take it one step further and make the Joy of the universe the joy and delight of your life!

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice. Psalm 97:1

Delight yourself in the Lord and in all his ways. Let Him be the source of your joy and that’s where your focus will be.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Issue Of Under…

Recently, the Federal Court under the Supreme Court, in the Circuit Court of Appeals, declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because of the words “under God.” God is being removed from American mainstream culture, but it is more than that.

It’s not just about the word “God,” it’s about the word “under.” Without God there is no under. The state becomes the final authority and everyone becomes a god. A true believer versus a false believer or a non-believer lives under God.

They submit their lives to God. They don’t just talk about God; they actually live under submission to His will. When God’s will is not the same as yours, do you submit your will, under God? When your life is not in accordance with God’s Word, do you submit your life under His Word?

The desire to remove the words “under God” is not good, but the real point is not simply the words “under God.” The real point is whether God’s people are actually living under God. Put “under God” in your own Pledge of Allegiance to God. Live your life as a true believer, one believer “under God.”

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:7-8

Make it your aim today to live a truly ‘under God’ day. Seek to do all things under God, under His will, under His purpose, under His hand and plan in your life; under God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Root Of Goodness….

Psalm 37:3 sums up a great theological truth in the New Testament “Trust in the Lord and do good”. If you don’t trust, it doesn’t matter what else you say, you are not going to be able to do good.

Trust, believe, and then act on your faith. Don’t try to do good without believing, don’t try to force it. Don’t just believe without applying your faith to action. Let every work come from faith and let your faith work.

There is an old hymn that goes, “Trust and obey, there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” That’s simple, but really profound. Believe the Word and then act on the Word. Trust and do good. Believe God’s love and then let it become works of love.

Believe God’s promise and then act on His promise. Believe God’s mercy and then do works of mercy. The key to abundant life is simple. Believe His Word and then just do it. Keep it simple. Trust in the Lord and do good. “Trust and obey because there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”

As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead. James 2:26

Today, focus on truly trusting God, more than before. Then put that faith into action.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always!

Ed

The Road Of The Magi…

The Magi were Persian priests of a strange religion called Zoroastrianism. They were pagans heavily into the occult. They were the ones who found Jesus because they were seeking God.

The Jewish priests and leaders knew about God, but they were heading away from God. It’s not ere in a bad position with the occult, but they were heading in the right direction for the Lord.

The leadership of Israel was in a good position knowing scriptures, but heading away from God. Better is the non-believer turning to the Lord than the one who knows all about God and turns away.

Better is the carnal believer who repents turning to full devotion than the one turning cold. Are you seeking God or did you stop? Paul said “I daily beat my body, lest after preaching to others I become a castaway. Forgetting what lies behind, I press on.”

He started out every day as if he were a new believer in the Lord. Have the same attitude of a new believer. Seek God again as you first did. It’s the road of the Magi.

Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. Matthew 7:7-8

Forget your yesterday’s; approach God with excitement and joy about what is in store for you today; renew your spirit by seeking His face.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The New Heaven…

Shamayim is the Hebrew word for heaven. The “im” at the end is always plural, but in heaven it has a special form which specifically means two. Shamayim means two heavens.

We think of heaven as that which comes after this life is over. Heaven is what happens then, but that’s not the whole story. Heaven is shamayim, and that means two. If one is coming after, then the other heaven is now.

Heaven can’t just be the place you go to after this life; it has to be the place you live now. For the child of God, heaven is not just something to happen in the future.

It’s what we live in now. We already have been born from above. It’s not just about getting into heaven, it’s about letting heaven get into you.

If heaven were only heaven, then you could never know it until you die. But heaven, shamayim, means there is more than one. Don’t wait until you die to start living in heaven.

Start dwelling in it right now. Don’t wait until you die to live in it. Heaven is too important to not live it now.

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

Live today as if you were in Heaven now. Have a heavenly day.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Priests Privilege…

In the Old Covenant, those who ministered to God were called the kohanim, the priests. They served God, and were given access to the Holy Place behind the veil. The priests had to dwell in the secret place.

Those who minister to God have to dwell in the presence of God. The more you serve Him, the more you do in the Kingdom, the more God uses you, the more you have to be dwelling in His presence, filled up, empowered.

You can only minister for the Lord as you receive from Him. The Lord has opened the doors of His sanctuary to meet you, His servant, in the secret place. If you are committed to doing His will, He will open the doors to show you His glory, to fill you with His power to do His work.

You are the spiritual kohanim, priests of the New Covenant. So serve the Lord with all your heart, draw near into the Holy Place where the glory, the power and the presence of God are waiting for you, His priests. Enter in the secret place, behind the veil, for that is your privilege and your access.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

Meet with God in His Holy Place today, dwell in His presence throughout the day, serve Him with the authority as a priest of God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Hitler’s Father

The Bible speaks of Isaac blessing Jacob, and Jacob blessing his sons. Generations of fathers bless their children. The father is supposed to bless his children, and children are to receive the blessing.

The greatest evil the world has ever known was by Hitler. He was responsible for the deaths of six million Jews, and millions of others propelled into World War II. Hitler never received his father’s blessing. He was treated harshly with anger and beatings. He was a cursed man who brought a curse on the world.

It’s important to receive your father’s blessing. Maybe you never did; maybe your life has been affected by it and you haven’t lived a blessed life. The good news is that you still can. If you are born again, you now have a heavenly Father and He will never refuse to give His blessing to the child He loves.

You are now a beloved child of God and you can receive your Father’s blessing. So receive it; it’s time to live as a beloved child. If you want a blessed life, you need to get blessed. Be blessed…your Father is waiting to give it.

When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:14-16

No matter what you received or didn’t in this world – today make it your point to receive the full and unconditional blessing of your Heavenly Father.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed