Ed Christian's World

Momentum…

To win a race, ski downhill fast, launch a rocket into outer space, or operate a nuclear particle accelerator, you need momentum. Whether it’s a small thing or a great thing, you need momentum to excel.

It’s the same way in the Lord; there’s a certain momentum needed for breakthrough. The problem is that when we start gaining momentum, we often fall into the same stupid sin.

It’s not just that sin hurts your life, it also robs you of the momentum you need to be able to excel and get your breakthrough in the Lord. You don’t have to keep falling.

You need to set your heart to be focused on God, single-minded, and believe you can rise in God. If you’re on the right track-good. Why put in a little backsliding or a little failure or a little indulgence?

Keep going. Dare to go straight, rise higher, and not slow things down with unrighteousness. Go in the spirit of repentance, in holiness, and in victory.

You’ll get your momentum. Break the gravity barrier, and your walk will be launched into heavenly places.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

What breakthrough do you need today? Start working on gaining spiritual momentum – then use that momentum to take off.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Waters Of Bitterness…

In the beginning, darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved on the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. But after the fall of man, there’s darkness, confusion, void, fear, bitterness, and lack of meaning.

When God came again to bring light into the world, to bring His presence, the Spirit of God came not on the face of waters, but upon a human being named Miriam; or Mary, whose name means waters of bitterness or sorrow. God’s Spirit again moves upon the waters and upon Mary’s life.

From Mary comes Yeshua, which means Salvation. From bitterness comes Yeshua – salvation. From the sorrows of our life, God brings joy. From your disappointments, His will is to bring hope. From darkness is born life.

For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts. Whatever that thing is in your life- the bitterness, the darkness, the sorrow – lift it up to Him like Mary and He’ll come upon it and from the waters of bitterness, will come Yeshua; Salvation.

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

Examine your heart today and let Yeshua come into any bitter area.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Going Overboard…

There’s a ship at sea. It’s stormy and it’s going to be destroyed. They’re out of God’s will and there is only one answer: throw Jonah overboard into the raging sea.

They could have prayed all they wanted but without doing that act, without repentance, there’s no calming of the storm.

When the storm in your life, in your soul, in your heart comes, when you don’t have peace, you can have peace but you have to ask yourself what needs to turn.

The answer comes when you do what God is calling you to do. Take that step of repentance. The storm is going to stop when you repent. You’ll only have peace in your heart when you do it. Don’t waste your life beating around a bush – do what you have to do.

Make that change – that decision – and get that ungodly thing out of your life. Get the holy thing into your life that God is calling you to do. Just do God’s will.

With repentance will come peace and victory through the storm, and it all begins when you throw Jonah overboard.

First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds. Acts 26:20

Throw that sin overboard today and do what God is calling you to do.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Kaddish…

When a Jewish person dies, they recite the Kaddish. It’s known as the prayer for the dead or the mourner’s prayer. It says this: Magnify and sanctify His great name. Blessed, praised, glorified, exalted, honored, magnified, extolled, and lauded be the Holy One, blessed be He.

There’s nothing about death in it. It’s all a hymn of praise. We need to praise God always, even when we’re hurt or sorrowful. When you’re down, lost, or everything is going against you, magnify Him anyway, and you’ll be blessed.

In times of death, there’s no mention of death in the prayer, only praise for God. This means that no matter what your problem is, don’t get wrapped up in it. The answer to the problem isn’t in the problem. It’s in praising God.

The more time you spend dwelling on your problems, the more time you’re going to be in your problems. Praise God, and your life will be filled with blessing.

Bless God at all times. Praise Him in the valley, and you’ll end up praising Him on the mountain tops, too. That’s the lesson of the Kaddish.

Your hand will lay hold on all your enemies; your right hand will seize your foes. Psalm 21:8

When problems arise today, don’t get caught up in them; start praising God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Your World and The World We Live In…

I listen to people rant and rave over how bad our world is and how everything is changing — for the worse, and I ask myself why. Yes, we have grown in technology, and people tend to think life is harder than ever, and it may be. However, as the world changes, are we required to follow in its ways?

In my post, “Love Is Stronger,” I talk about how divided our world has come and how we, as Christians, should shine our lights and try to make things brighter. I received a response “I wish this would happen, but I am not sure it will. I don’t see love being displayed much today, I see just the opposite. I feel the only way for love to flourish is for Jesus to come back and start the Kingdom.”

This saddened me because “Your World” is quite a bit different from “The World We Live In” or it should be. Being raised on the bible I look at the greatest commandments– “Love your neighbor as yourself and as I have loved you” along with “Put no other God before me” as a rule to live everyday life. Nowhere do I see where it says, “Let yourself blend into the outside world.” And nowhere do I see where we are to allow negativity control our world and our family life.

Yet I see it every day where petty disagreements tear a family apart, and negativity spreads to the point where it makes life miserable. I ask you, where is the love your neighbor as I have loved you enter when you refuse to offer forgiveness and love to your own family member, whether it be an extended family member or your own flesh and blood?

Let’s all take a close look at the world in general. Yes, things have changed, people have become bitter, our country is divided, and hate seems to be more prevalent than love. But God has not changed, He is the same today as yesterday and will be the same tomorrow!! He promised to always be here for us and has never let anyone of us down. We, as Christians, are the extension of God, and we should be showing His love to everyone in the family. Forgive past indiscretions and open your hearts to the love of all the family.

So when you feel the world is closing in on you, look up and thank God for all the blessings He has given you and the security you have with Him in your life. He is always there!!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Masklessness…

We often speak of people wearing masks, putting on a mask of smiles. When I was growing up, in our house was a box of masks of monsters and ghosts for Halloween. The truth is, in life, people wear masks that are nicer than the way they are inside – it’s a facade.

But in God, it is the opposite. You think the real you is an unholy, wretched failure. If you’re born again, it’s the ugly part of you that’s the monster mask. In the Lord, the inner man is beautiful. In the Lord, your old self isn’t your true self; your past self and all those habits are not your real self anymore. That’s just a mask of old ways.

Take off the mask of failure, rebellion, and all those things. Take off the old self, put on the new, and live in the beauty of the new and whose image you have been created.

Live as the beloved, holy, pure child of God that you are now and see the rest of it for what it is – just an old monster mask.

And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Colossians 3:10

Live this day without maskless – transparent, truthful, and in the light

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Salmon People…

The ways of salmon amazes me. They swim upstream against the current, choosing to go against the flow and take on the adversity. They don’t just persevere through the adversity; they embrace it.

As believers, we’re to be like the salmon of this world. The way to deal with adversity isn’t just to deal with it, but do it as the salmon does, taking life head-on. It chooses to go against the flow and against the current.

As a believer, you’re not supposed to go through life on the defensive, surprised by problems, trying to get away from the fight. Instead, take on sin, flesh, and the ways of this world head on. Take the kingdom of the enemy head on.

Choose to fight the good fight and choose to freely go against the flow. Every day is a choice for a good fight, a good challenge, and a good conquest. Go for it!

That’s what David did. That’s what Paul did. That’s what the first believers did. Live like that, and you’ll be blessed and victorious. You’ll go uphill or upstream, just like the salmon.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:4

Commit today to go against the way of the world, the way of the flesh, and the way of the problem.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Heaven Above The Ceiling…

On the Feast of Tabernacles, God commanded His people to dwell in a sukkah, a temporary hut. The sukkah roof had gaps in it, so when you looked up, you would see right through it to the stars. Believers meet in houses of worship, and over every house of worship is the heavens.

This tells us Heaven is above religion, above theology, and our ideas of God and what we’re familiar with. If we just live in what we’re familiar with, we’ll never live a heavenly life. Heaven is bigger, and God is always greater than what you think. He’s above the roof.

That’s why on Tabernacles, you had to learn how to look through the roof, above your ideas, your theology, above yourself. Peter even had to get on top of the roof to get blown away by God’s purpose.

Get out of your rut, get out of your familiar thoughts, your routine, your notions of God, get above it and see God for Himself; see God afresh and new and seek a new encounter, because God is waiting to meet you there above the roof.

As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9

Go above the roof today; look above your life, your routines, and your thoughts and get a new revelation of God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Other Parsdise…

The Egyptians thought paradise was an underworld, a terrifying place. If you were good, you would be put in charge of keeping dams and canals in good repair. The Egyptian version of paradise was road work! They took the present miserable life that they had and projected it onto paradise.

With God, it’s the opposite. In God, it’s not just about waiting for paradise. Heaven is so awesome that it spills over and affects earthly life. It’s so great that it touches here and now. It’s on earth as it is in heaven.

For the pagan world, the present life spills over into the future. For the believer, the future life spills over to here and now. It transforms our present life. Live in the heavenly now. Dwell now in the heavenly. Rejoice and learn to get the joy of heaven now because heaven is too big to be kept only for then.

Heaven is so great that it will change your life. If you seek it, receive it, and walk in it, then it’s here and now that the heavenly life begins for you.

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Matthew 16:19

Keep the right focus and look at your life and every situation of your life today from a heavenly perspective.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Forgive and Forget – Life Is Too Short…

Jesus taught us how to love and to forgive and forget. Yet so many Christians have a problem over the forgetting part. They have no concern over the forgiving but insist on keeping the burden and stress of the problem with them; they just can’t forget. As Christians, we should, like God, wipe the slate clean, purge our minds of the problem, and continue living a loving life.

Why is this so important to God and for us? Today, I will give you the reasons I learned from my grandfather and hopefully help you understand the importance.

The phrase “forgive and forget” is not found in the Bible. However, there are numerous scriptures commanding us to “forgive one another” (Matthew 6:14; Ephesians 4:32). A Christian who does not forgive can reap bitterness and the loss of eternal rewards (Hebrews 12:14-15; 2 John 1:8). Forgiveness is a decision of the will.

Since God commands us to forgive, we must make a conscious choice to forgive. This frees us from the past. The offender may not desire forgiveness and may not change (Matthew 5:44). Ideally, the offender will seek reconciliation, but if not, we should still make known our decision to forgive.

In one sense, it is impossible to truly forget sins that have been committed against us. We can not selectively “delete” events from our memory. The Bible states that God does not “remember” our wickedness (Hebrews 8:12). God is all-knowing. God knows that we have “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). However, having forgiven us, He treats us as if the sin had not occurred.

If we belong to Him through faith in Christ, God does not hold our sins against us. In that sense, we must “forgive and forget.” If we forgive someone, we must act as if that sin had never occurred. We remember the sin, but we live as if we did not remember it. Ephesians 4:32 tells us, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

I am not saying it will be easy, but if when you forgive and ‘wipe’ the sin into the past, time will heal your wounds, and the memory of it will fade away. Grandfather probably said it best “When you carry all those hurts with you, you are adding a great burden on your shoulders. Not only are you keeping the hurt alive in your mind to dig at you every time you think of it, but you are also giving the offending person the glory over and over for hurting you. That means every time you remember it, the person who worked so hard to hurt you just hurt you again.”

Life is just too short for these things, which are petty when it comes to family, to continue to keep burning away in your heart. Let the hurt go and bring the love in, especially when it comes to family.

To me, this is a win-win situation. You forgive others to release the hurt and put it completely behind you never to surface again. This is the love Jesus talks about when he said to love your neighbor as I have loved you.

Where do you stand on forgive and forget? Can you put it behind you? Your happiness just may depend on your answer.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed