Ed Christian's World

The Witches of Honduras…

Our mission team led an event for thousands of people in a city park in Honduras. A crying young woman came up to Annette, our team member, and she prayed for her.

Then the young woman got her sister to come too. When Annette touched her, she started twirling around out of control. Then the first woman twirled wildly too like a tornado.

Finally, they both fell face down on the ground; no life in them for a long time until they finally sort of woke up. We learned that the head witch of the region came along with her two witch daughters to oppose the event.

The two twirling women were witches. When Annette touched them and prayed, the power of God came upon them; it was like an exorcism. God is far more powerful than the enemy.

So don’t fight in your strength; fight in God’s strength. You take care of His will, and He will take care of you. Be a blessing and all the powers of hell, like twirling witches, will fall to the ground before you, to the glory of the Lord who is stronger than anything in the world.

If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 4:11

Dedicate yourself to the will of God today. Engage the enemy by fighting your spiritual battles in God’s strength and not of your own.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

House of ill Repute…

On a mission trip to Central America, we discovered that we had been booked into a house of ill-repute, a house of prostitution. The prostitutes were away, but still, staying in a house of prostitution is not exactly the kind of thing to put in a ministry newsletter.

Something led us to stay and pray. We anointed all the rooms and gathered to worship the Lord. Then hotel employees joined and listened. A woman there had a dream that she was in a party and people were going to hell, but then she saw Jesus and He came to her.

When we told her what her dream meant, she accepted the Lord as well as the hotel manager and many others there. The Lord called us to go there. Jesus was called a friend of sinners.

God came to this world so you could overcome your circumstance, your situation, to bless and transform the people in your life. Don’t run away. Don’t react, but be a light to them. We are here to bring the Good News and life to this world which is a house of ill-repute.

When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:16-17

No matter where you are today, no matter what your situation, find God’s purposes in it and work it to redemption.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Blotted Enemy…

In Exodus 17, the first battle that Israel ever fought was against the Amalekites or Amalek. Then God says, I will blot out the name of Amalek. He will not be remembered anymore. But then He says, I will be at war against Amalek from generation to generation.

If the enemy of Israel, the Amalekites, are blotted out, how can God keep fighting them, or how can God’s people keep warring against them if they are already blotted out? That’s the key. God fights a blotted out enemy.

The key to fighting your fight and having victory in your life is to see that you are fighting a blotted out enemy. We act as if we are fighting an enemy that is not blotted out.

The old sin doesn’t look defeated, yet Jesus finished the battle on the cross. The enemy is blotted out. You will win the fight, but you have to fight a defeated enemy.

Win the battle that is already won. Fight the fought battle in His strength. You live on the winning side. On the cross, it is already blotted out.

You armed me with strength for battle; you humbled my adversaries before me. Psalm 18:39

Fight your spiritual battles as if they are defeated already. Lay the groundwork covered in prayer before even stepping on the battlefield.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

Whisper Soft 2….

I remember one day while hiking the Grand Canyon grandfather telling me “The voices of the world are loud and sparse, but the voice of God is a constant whisper.”

At nine years old I never gave it much thought as I loved walking in the canyon and the woods listening to nature tell me it’s story. Little did I know that voice was God leading me along my path. His guidance through that soft whisper, constantly encouraging me and gently scolding me when I chose a different direction, but always ready to lead me back to the correct path.

A few years later when grandfather passed his words came back to me as a reminder that I should be in constant conversation with God and always listening for His response as He whispers in my ear. I am, for the most part, in continuous prayer or conversation with God and lean on Him for just about everything.

Saying that brings back another favorite phrase of grandfathers. “Don’t trust to hold God’s hand; let Him hold yours. Let Him do the holding, and you the trusting.” He always reminded me to turn things over to God and to let Him handle it. We often find ourselves turning things over to God, just to take them back to try a different approach. How much easier it is to trust Him to handle things while He is holding our hand.

Prayer is a personal conversation with God and God as my closest friend is always there to offer guidance and comfort. My prayer is for His will to be done and His grace to bless us all. His answer always brings me comfort. As I strive to follow His lead, which I sometimes fail, He continues to bless and encourage me.

I think we are totally blessed in spite of ourselves and need to be thankful for the blessings He gives us everyday for I really think we take them for granted.

After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19:12

If you’ll be sensitive to the still, small voice, the promptings, the suggestions, the alarms, then God will save you from heartache and pain.

I wonder just how good life would be if we all took the time to listen to His whisper soft in our ears. I bet life would be outstanding.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Galifian Storms…

Jesus said “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

We were on our pilgrimage in Galilee, a part of the tour. It was a calm and peaceful day, a time to have a peaceful meditation with the Lord. We arranged a kayaking trip down the river Jordan to get to the Sea of Galilee, but suddenly there was a storm and the wind was taking us to the other end of Galilee which would eventually lead us to the Dead Sea.

People were struggling against the wind and we found ourselves rescuing others. This trip turned out to be “Survivor Galilee” instead. The Sea of Galilee is not always peaceful. One day it is calm, the other stormy; very unpredictable.

You are Christ’s disciple; you would like to stay calm and peaceful but it will not always be that way. Your peace is found in Jesus. He is our peace. Don’t look at the storm look at Jesua. He is your Shalom even in the storm.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Don’t focus on the storm, but on the Jesus. Don’t focus on your problems, but on the answer – Him.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Your Guilt – His Asham…

This is an amazing mystery- 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah, the prophet prophesied in detail about Jesus’s death, “And He made His grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death.”

He was struck down and oppressed for our sins, yet it was the Lord’s will to take on all our sins; past, present and future; for all time. The word ASHAM in Hebrew is the same word used in Leviticus for the levitical sacrifice. It does not just mean guilt offering but guilt itself. The animal that was offered up was called the guilt.

Jesus became guilt for us. ASHAM means that when you are in sin and oppression in your life, Jesus has His name on it now. You do not have to bear it.

Jesus is your guilt. Your sins and guilt belong to Him. Give Him your guilt; He is ASHAM; give Him your burden, give Him your past and He will lift it and release you from it because He made His life an ASHAM, a guilt offering specifically for you. Jesus has set you free.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Isaiah 53:9

Whatever guilt, shame, or sin you’ve been dealing with, release it to God. It has His name on it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Can you hear? We will see…

The book of Hebrews illustrates that the writer had many things to say, but he writes that the recipients of his letter have grown dull of hearing, as they’re not bearing the fruit of God in their lives.

There is no difference between the one that cannot hear and the one who hears but does not respond to it. If you hear the Word of God and do not respond by acting on it, you are spiritually deaf.

When you are not hearing God, you are spiritually dead; you hear the words but cannot discern the meaning and cannot respond to the instructions or commands. In the world there are so many voices which cause deafness, but in God lack of responding has the same effect.

How is your spiritually hearing of God’s voice? Are you in danger of going deaf? Would you like to hear the voice of the Lord and improve your hearing? Just do what the Word says to do, and you will hear His voice more and more. God will lead and encourage you. Those who hear are those who do the will of God.

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Hebrews 5:11-12

Dwell in the presence of God today. Dwell in the Word. Listen for His voice and His Word specifically for you. Then do it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Colors Of The Priest…

The veil of the temple had colors in it: blue, purple and scarlet; these are colors representing separation. The garments of the priest had the same colors, blue, purple and scarlet.

The High Priest was the only one who could enter behind the veil. They had to be dressed in this special garment before they could minister before the Lord.

We are sometimes overwhelmed by the standards that God has. It’s like the veil, the holiness, the purity and goodness of God that makes us feel far away at times.

The only way we can live the Christian life is having Jesus living inside of us. We cannot do it on our own. We have to be dressed by God as He commanded.

All things are possible with God; put on your priestly garment; put on His righteousness and you will walk through the veil. God will put His standard of righteousness within your heart so you can walk in it.

Purity is not far that you cannot attain it; commit yourself to serve Him and ask of God and He will give you your heart’s desire. He will do it through you.

This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Hebrews 8:10

Today, instead of struggling to do what you need to do for God, let God do it in you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Crown of The High Priest…

The High Priest of Israel had a crown on his head, a crown of pure gold called the nezer; symbolically it circles his mind and his thoughts. We get the word “Nazirite” from the word nezer. Nezer means to cut off.

The Nazarite was one who made a vow to the Lord to be separate and to abstain from things that are not of God. To have a holy thought life. You too have to separate the thoughts that are not pure.

When things come in your thoughts that are not of God, cut it off immediately and do not let it dwell within you. Separate yourself from all thoughts of anger, jealousy, lust, indulgency, depression, gloom and doubt; whatever it is, cut it off.

Set up boundaries or hedges in your heart and mind to warn yourself from sin creeping into your life. Do not minister without your crown; circle your thoughts with the crown of God, the nezer.

Cut off the old ways of your life and consecrate the new, so your thought life will be crowned with the glory of God.

I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. Leviticus 11:45

Set the “nezer” around your mind and your thought life. Establish boundaries against ungodly thoughts. Let your thoughts be as holy as the high priest’s crown.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Set Your Face…

We have to learn the secret of “Face Setting.” In the book of Luke, Scripture says that as the time drew near for Jesus to ascend to Jerusalem and show Himself among the people there,

He sent His disciples ahead of Him to go into a village in Samaria, but they did not receive Him because they knew that His ultimate destination was to go to Jerusalem.

Jesus was not aimlessly stopping in this village; He wanted to be a blessing for these people at this time of His life. Surely this town missed out on the purposes of God in their lives.

Jesus knew His purpose; He knew His goal and so He set His face like flint to complete His purpose of God’s command. You have to be like Jesus, do not be sidetracked, know your purpose in this life that He has specifically given to you.

In Jesus, your life has a great and high purpose; set your life, heart, eyes, thoughts and everything on Him. Like Jesus, you will get to that high ground and you will finish your course in victory.

As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; Luke 9:51-52

What has God called for your life – set your face, your life to this goal. Let no distractions take you off course.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed