Ed Christian's World

You Are Bar Elyon…

Many names in the Bible contain the word “Bar,” meaning “son of”. Simon Bar-Jonah, Bartholomew and Barabbas which means “son of the father.” The word Bar-mitzvah, means “son of the commandments.”

Jesus is called Bar-Elyon, which means, “Son of the Most High.” We’re to be little versions of Him, a little child of the Most High. What does that mean? Your identity isn’t based on yourself any more. It doesn’t come from you, your life, or your past. It comes from your Father in heaven.

You are no longer Bar-bitterness- -a child of bitterness, Bar-failure- -a child of failure, Bar-sin- -a child of sin, or Bar-hurt- -a child of rejection, hurt and wounds. All those things are not you anymore. You are Bar-Elyon, a child of the Most High.

That’s your identity, you are born from above. Your identity comes from Elyon, the Most High. That’s who you are, a beloved, holy child of the Most High.

Start believing it. Start receiving it. Start living like it and acting like it. Because you, too, are a little version of Bar-Elyon, a child of the Most High.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16

Throughout the day today, encourage yourself that your identity is as a child of the most high God…you are Bar-Elyon!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

A Profhetic Commentary…

A famous commentary from the 1880s, dealing with the prophecies of Israel becoming a nation again, said this, “It has been for 18 centuries a down-trodden country, it will be hereafter so no more.

Let us not doubt the word of God. If God has said it, He will perform it. Let us not be faithless but believe it will happen.” In the 19th century, the land of Israel was a barren desert and hadn’t been a nation for 2,000 years. Scripture said, “God would cause it to bloom and become a nation again.”

Other commentators said, it wasn’t going to happen, God is finished with the Jewish people; He replaced them with the Church. Well now, Israel is again a nation. Jewish people gathered back from the ends of the earth.

These faithful commentators stand as a testament to God’s prophecy and power, as a lesson to us. Have faith in God’s Word when it looks impossible! Stand strong in faith, because God will do it. If God can bring life to a land that was dead for 2,000 years, then how much more will He do it for you.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:3

Today in prayer, surrender the barren, desolate areas of your life to the Lord. Ask Him to bring life to these areas for His glory and to show you His goodness.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Tohu Principal…

Are there things in your life that confuse you? Do you have a hard time understanding where your life is going or what’s happening around you? Do parts seem wasted or without purpose, and you can’t figure out why?

In Genesis it says “the earth was formless and void.” The word formless in Hebrew is tohu. It means confused, meaningless or wasted. But God said, “Let there be light and there was.”

So it’s okay if you don’t understand the way your life is going, why this or that happened. You are dealing with tohu. That’s what you have just before you have a miracle. God wants to change that confusion, that emptiness, into something great.

Give it to Him. Don’t dwell on the tohu, but look up. God will bring His light into the emptiness and confusion. When Jesus was in the tomb, He lay in the darkness, it was all tohu. But God said “Let there be light.”

God’s light is greater than death or whatever you are dealing with. Lift it up to God, let there be light, and there will be light and no more tohu.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6

Bring your tohu, those things in your life that seem confusing and meaningless to God today. Ask Him to shine His light into them and turn them for redemption.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Thorns Into Crowns…

Jesus was to be crucified. Roman soldiers took thorns, wove them into a crown for His head to mock, torture and humiliate Him. We know the crown of thorns as a horrible thing, but there’s another side to it.

In Genesis, the curse of the fall is epitomized by thorns. “The ground shall bear thorns for you.” So why did Jesus wear a crown of thorns? Because He was becoming the King of the Curse.

The power of Jesus is so strong that He can even make thorns into a crown. He can take your sorrows and wounds and make them beautiful and glorious.

Give Him every part of your life even the worst part, and thank Him for it. Because even the hard things, in His grace, will be used for your good. He is a King that not only wears a crown of thorns but wears the thorns that are turned into a crown.

If you follow Him, then all the things in your life that make you say, “Why God?” will be turned around. He will take your thorns and weave them into a crown of glory.

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. Psalm 30:11

Take all the thorns in your life and give them to Jesus, to take them and weave them into a crown. Cast all your burdens upon Him.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Boggie Man…

As a child I heard, “Don’t let the Boogie Man get you.” I didn’t know who he was or why he was interested in getting me, but I was afraid of him, scared that he was under the bed waiting to grab my feet.

Years later I found out that to boogie was to do a dance, and the Boogie Man was a man who just wants to boogie. All that fear was for nothing. You have fears too – maybe the fear of rejection, of harm, of abandonment, of pain – or something else.

The enemy uses the fears we have to cripple, hinder or limit us. But at the end of every fear, God is there. He promises that He’s above everything. So what are we afraid of? All the enemy’s threats and intimidations, it’s just the Boogie Man.

If God is for you, who can be against you? The Boogie Man, that’s it. Whom shall you fear? Stop letting the enemy hinder your walk. Stop giving into fear, anxiety and worry. Live free, fearless, with faith in God, any other way is to live in fear of the Boogie Man.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

What are you fearing? Give it to God today in prayer, release the burden of it to Him. And in the assurance of His love, overcome it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Bread Of Jesus…

The Last Supper was a Passover Seder. Every Passover contains a special mystery linked to the unleavened bread, the Matzah. The second matzah of a “trinity” of matzahs was called the “Afikomen.”

The Afikomen is broken, wrapped in a cloth like a shroud, and hidden away. The children search for it and Passover can only continue when they find it. This same matzah Jesus lifted up 2,000 years ago and said, “This is My body…” Afikomen is a Greek word that can mean, “He Who Comes.”

The Afikomen stands for Him who comes, the second of the Trinity, whose body is broken, shrouded in cloth, hidden away, and without which, everything comes to a halt. Every year, the Jewish people search for the Afikomen. Without knowing it, they search for Yeshua, Jesus.

When they find Him, the Kingdom will come. Pray that they find their Bread of Life, and that you never lose sight of your Bread of Life. When you lose the Afikomen, everything becomes empty and life comes to a halt. Keep His presence in the center of your life and you’ll always be filled with the bread of His presence.

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Matthew 11:25

Spend special time today enjoying and receiving in the bread of His presence.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Passover Gospel…

Passover is the first and central celebration of the Jewish faith. It’s when they remember they were once slaves in Egypt. God saved them by sending a Redeemer, and by the blood of the Lamb.

It’s no accident that Jesus, the Messiah, is called the LAMB of God and He died on Passover. Every time you have the Lord’s Supper, you’re eating the bread and drinking the wine of Passover. He arose during Passover week, for Passover was the celebration of new beginnings and new life.

There’s no other Messiah but Jesus; only He could do all this. We believers have a truly Jewish faith – a Passover Faith. Remember once you were a slave far from God, but God in His mercy sent you His Redeemer.

By the Blood of the Lamb, He broke your chains, and set you free. He set you on a journey home to a land flowing with milk and honey, the Promised Land. Keep your eyes on the Lamb, and celebrate your salvation. You are a spiritual child of Israel and you’re saved in a Passover faith.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

The Lamb of New Beginnings Rejoice and apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to every part of your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Millennial Man…

Do you know how long the Jewish people have been waiting for Jesus? Since the time of the prophets. They waited through the first century, the second century, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the Twentieth Century.

That’s a long wait, and they haven’t given up. The religious among them are still waiting. Imagine waiting for someone for 2,000 years. That person must be so important. And yet, you have the One for whom the Jewish people have been waiting thousands of years.

How much more should you live gloriously in light of that. How great is Jesus and your salvation. If they waited and longed for Him so long, how much more must you live for Him with all faith, confidence, joy, and perseverance.

You have the One worth waiting for, for more than a millennium. You don’t have to wait to know Him, love Him, follow Him, sit at His feet and dwell in His kingdom. Go all out for Jesus, because He is the One worth waiting for.

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. John 8:42

Take time to sit at His feet today. Let Him know How grateful you are for your salvation.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

In The Wilderness…

Romans 8 says, “What shall separate us from the love of God? Shall famine, sword, tribulation…” Some believe that this means that God is going to keep His people from such things – trouble, tribulation, famine. But those who believe that, when they go through trouble and tribulation, their faith will fail them.

The Scripture does not say God’s love will keep you from these things. In fact it says, “You will have troubles and tribulation.” But here’s the key – none of these things will be able to separate you from the love of God – they can’t.

The victory of our faith isn’t to escape this world – it’s to overcome this world. Stop living in fear of problems; that’s not your faith. Rather pray, “Lord don’t let me run away, let me overcome and have faith that Your love is greater than all these things and the world itself.”

You haven’t come into the world so that you could avoid the world; you came into the world so that you could overcome the world.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Meditate on the fact: Jesus has overcome the world and you are in Him. So be courageous and bold today; move forward, knowing that this same power is now in you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Most Particular Book…

If God were to reveal to a people His revelation or give a book, you would expect that people to become the most peculiar, most touched and affected, the most controversial, focused upon, opposed and influential people. They would become the most unique of peoples.

There is one people who actually fits all that– the Jewish people, with absolutely the most intense and peculiar history of any people. So if God were to reveal His revelation to a people on earth to give His book, then He already has.

The most peculiar people just happen to have written the world’s most peculiar book, the Bible. The Bible isn’t just a book, it’s the Word of God. It’s living, miraculous and powerful! Treasure the Word.

Read it, soak in it, and take it as the treasure it is, brought to you over thousands of years by a people unlike any other. It is THE BOOK. It is the Word, the revelation, the treasure given to you from God, unlike any other.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

Find a Bible verse that speaks to you; meditate on it, memorize it, write it down and post where you will see it. Let it inspire and minister to you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed