Ed Christian's World

The Departed…

In the New Testament we are told that we are children of Abraham. It doesn’t matter if you are Jewish or gentile; if you are born again, you are a child of Abraham.

Abraham is the first person in scripture to be called a Hebrew. Now the Hebrew word for “Hebrew” is actually Ivri. It means one who crosses over. Crossing over means leaving something or someplace behind.

That’s what Abraham did. He left his old life behind to follow God. So if you are born again, you are a spiritual Hebrew, an Ivri. And like Abraham, you have the power to leave the old behind.

One of the most important things you can ever do in the Lord is to leave. Leaving is a key to releasing blessings in your life. So learn to be good at leaving. Become a master at leaving… leaving sin, old habits, second best and what’s familiar or comfortable.

God desires to do something new in your life. But you can’t walk in newness of life unless you leave the old life behind. Always remember, you are a spiritual Ivri. And the power of a leaver is in you!

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

Cross over those barriers in your life. Leave the sins and old ways behind to enter the blessings in store for you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Secret of Vanishing…

In Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem had to make a decision regarding circumcision for gentiles. But Acts 15 is also the very last time Peter is mentioned in the historical account of the Bible.

Though he turns up in Paul’s letters and his own letters, he vanishes after Acts 15. The rest of Acts centers on Paul’s ministry. What is cool is that in his letters, Peter only blesses Paul. There is no indication of ego, pride, or hurt feelings even though Peter opened the door for ministry to the gentiles.

Serving the Lord isn’t about us at all. We can’t serve the Lord and be wrapped up in ego or pride. The Lord is the One who gave Himself up on the cross. So we must serve Him with selflessness and humility.

Be honest! Could you disappear like Peter? Could you continue to serve God’s purposes while someone else became the focus of attention? If not, then learn the joy of being so wrapped up in God that you disappear.

For the one who can disappear with joy will appear in glory in the Kingdom… just like Peter, the vanishing apostle.

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Psalm 100:2

Seek to disappear today, to lose yourself, and live a day totally focused on God. Experience the pure joy of serving the Lord with a servant’s heart.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Yellow Lights In Your Life…

You’re driving somewhere, and you’re late. The light is green, but it’s turning yellow, and you are a believer. Like many of us, you floor the gas pedal. A hint of red is coming up, so you go through it.

It wasn’t red, not exactly yellow, sort of reddish-yellow. You zoom through; everyone is reading your bumper stickers, “Honk if you love Jesus,” “If you see this car without a driver, I’ve been raptured!” and you’re going through a red light.

In life, some things are definitely wrong: smoking, drunkenness, sexual immorality–those are the red lights. Then there are things that seem questionable. That television show, that activity, that relationship, that decision, that compromise. These are yellow lights.

You know adultery is wrong, but that flirtation, that second glance–that’s the yellow light! You can speed up or put on the brakes. The problem is, yellow lights become red lights and if you don’t stop that flirtation, it will become adultery. So stop that thing. It’s not only the red lights, but more importantly, it’s the yellow lights.

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. Psalm 13:7

Look for those warning signs of compromise to sin that lead away from God’s will in your life and steer away from them.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Strange Material of Joy…

The Bible contains a beautiful promise. It says, “I will turn your mourning into joy.” It doesn’t say, “I’ll stop your mourning, make it disappear, or I will add joy.” Nothing like that. It says “I will turn your mourning into joy.”

It’s one thing to take away mourning, but God does better than that. God uses your mourning. He redeems your sorrow. He takes your heartbreaks as raw materials for joy. God causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him, including your mourning. He uses it to become joy.

We look at our sorrows, disappointments, tragedies, and losses, and we mourn. Be encouraged. God promises to take your sorrows, disappointments and tragedies and turn them around to actually produce joy and blessing.

One day, you will thank God for that mourning. Stop living in sadness; give that mourning to Him and see Him turn it for good and into joy. Start giving Him thanks even now before you see it, and you will see it turn.

Your mourning will stop being mourning, but the raw material out of which comes your joy.

And provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Isaiah 61:3

Expect God’s promise of blessing even before you see it. Watch how God turns your sorrows into your joy.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Show Me Your Glory…

In Exodus, Moses begged the Lord for one glimpse of His glory. The Lord said, “When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I pass by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”

Moses longed passionately for God, and God honored it. He was so overwhelmed with God’s presence, that when he went down the mountain, his face was radiant. The people feared looking at Moses’ face.

If you want to glow, you need to seek God’s presence and long for a glimpse of Him. If Moses glowed with the glory of God just seeing His back, how much more would you glow seeing His face. It’s written in 2 Corinthians, we have something greater.

We can behold God’s glory in the face of Jesus and be changed into His image. You need to seek His presence to behold His glory. Spend time with Him, my friend. Draw closer; He will show you the awesome glory of His presence, and you will shine with the light of God.

Be passionate for God’s presence in your life; long for Him and be changed so that others see you glowing, wanting what you have.

Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Psalm 24:7-8

Be passionate for God’s presence in your life; long for Him and be changed so that others see you glowing, wanting what you have.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Jehovah of Nazareth…

In the beginning of the Book of John, it is written, “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, and all things were made through Him, and apart from Him, nothing was made that has been made.”

The Greek word for “word” is “logos.” In the first century there was a Jewish man named Philo Judeaus, a very famous philosopher. As far as we know, he never heard the Gospel; yet look what he writes in his commentary on Genesis 2 on the creation.

He writes, “No mortal thing could have been formed on the similitude of the supreme Father of the universe, except after the pattern of the second deity, who is the Logos.

Even in his ignorance of the Gospel, he is bearing witness of the truth of the Gospel. Life is not so much about living with Him, but living through Him, for through Him we came into existence, and only by living through Him can we come to the fullness of life.

My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. Psalm 119:50

Don’t go through today alone – but live today through Him – see things through His eyes, feel things through His heart, and walk in His footsteps.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Avrams Road…

Avram, you probably know him as Abram. Abram, became Abraham when he answered God’s call. He was called by God to leave his homeland and leave his old life.

He walked by faith. He believed God’s word and he acted on it. He walked and he kept walking and he kept continuing and persevering in faith. He kept walking away from the old life and continuously walking towards the new life, away from the seen and to the unseen, away from what he knew and to the unknown.

He walked very consistently, and every footstep was another action of faith; one step farther away from the old life, one step closer to the new.

If you are born again you are a child of Abraham You need to be walking away from the old and step to the new every day of your life with consistent, continual steps in faith.

Act on your faith, my friend, and keep acting on it and walk on your faith and keep walking consistently and faithfully. Leave the old, enter the new. Don’t just feel your faith, live it. So you too, will enter the land of promises.

Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Galatians 3:7

Live today like Abraham. Go through the day as a journey, taking steps away from the old life and the old you, and stepping forward to new things, to a new life and a new you, you have not yet known.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

From All Things…

In Acts 13:39, it says something like this, “Through Him, everyone who believes is freed from all things, from that which you could not be freed through the law of Moses.”

It means that whatever that bondage is in your life, that it has to be part of that “all things.” In Jesus you have the power to be free; by believing in the One who saves.

Those who believe, anyone who believes, not some but everyone who believes, really believes will be free indeed. The more you believe, the more faith you have, the more you get that into your heart.

The more you really believe what the Bible says, the more you will be free from all things, everything. In Jesus, you have the power, not to be free from a few things, or some things, or even many things.

It doesn’t say that, it says all things. Good news. That thing that is a bondage in your life is a thing. It means it is covered. So start your process of freedom today; take the first step in Jesus. You are freed, not from some, but from all things.

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:36

Believe in the One who has redeemed you. And in that, step out in freedom from all those things that kept you in chains.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Storm Brother…

Akh” in Hebrew means “brother.” Proverbs 17 says, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother (Akh) is born for adversity.”

A brother is born for hard times, not just good times. A true brother is born in times of hardship, adversity, to stand with you when everything is against you. When we say brother; it doesn’t mean much unless it’s tested.

Those who stand in adversity are the true ones. That’s the most important time for being a brother. You are the brother of the Lord because you’re born again; for times of adversity, to show yourself true, not just when God blesses you, but in times of testing.

That’s what you’re born for, not to abandon or forsake Him, but to stand with Him all the more in adversity, trouble, persecution. When times are tough, show your true devotion to Him.

When you go through a trial, don’t despair; praise Him. You will be blessed because you were born as His brother, and a brother is born for adversity and He stands with you in your adversity.

I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:1-3

When you encounter a test today, stand strong in devotion to Jesus, above all; praising Him through any adversity.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Consider It Pure Joy…

In the book of James it says, “Consider it all joy my brethren when you encounter various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance.

The word in Greek is “peripipto,” meaning when you find yourself surrounded by Him. Consider it pure joy when you are surrounded with troubles. You would think, maybe surrounded by coconut trees or palm trees or water and attendants.

No, no. Consider it pure joy when you are surrounded by trials, or surrounded by evil, or surrounded by adversity, surrounded by temptation, or when you are being attacked by the enemy.

Usually being surrounded by adversity and trouble is not pure joy. It doesn’t say “pure joy.” It says, “consider it pure joy.” It doesn’t seem that way, but consider it.

You have to choose it. If it naturally produced pure joy, you wouldn’t have to consider it that way. Why? Because it is really about producing faith in you.

It’s the testing of your faith. It’s producing something great. Even more radical, consider it pure joy. And pure joy is exactly what you will have in the end.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, James 1:2

Embrace the challenges that test and stretch your faith, and gain the power for the greater things God has called you to be.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed