Ed Christian's World

Kill The Vision…

God showed Simon Peter a vision of unclean and unkosher food and said, “Arise and kill.” But it was a vision. How can you kill a vision? It’s profound. For God was killing a vision in Peter’s life, bringing an old vision to an end.

The old vision isn’t big enough, the view is too small, and it has to be broken and die because something bigger is to be born. God ended Peter’s narrowness of vision and purpose that could only be contained in Israel so that he could have a new vision that would encompass the world.

Change begins with a new vision- and the old vision has to die. Maybe God’s asking you to kill an old vision, an old attitude, dream, plan, or hope so that He can do a new thing in your life. Let the old ways die and embrace the new.

Open your heart, enlarge your tent, and lift up your eyes. God’s ways are greater than yours. His plans are better. God has something bigger – a vision as big as the world and bigger, but it all begins when you arise and kill the old and too small vision.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

What hopes have died in your life. Seek God for hope, a vision, a dream, that is from Him, and that is greater.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Power of The Good Heart…

Proverbs 15:15 says, “All the days of the downcast are bad. But a good heart has a never ending banquet.” In other words – it’s not the days that make your life or your heart – it’s your heart that makes your days.

Your life is not made by what’s around you – your circumstances, situation, what you have or have not, money, success, marriage, or a big house. You can have all of that and be miserable.

Your situation doesn’t make your heart, your heart makes your situation. You just need a good heart. It is that heart that will have a beautiful life. A loving heart is going to have grace and give thanks. You may not be able to change your surroundings, but you can change your heart.

Change your heart from depressed to cheerful, thankful, peaceful, and giving. And your life will become a never-ending banquet with blessings and abundance.

The secret of having a successful life isn’t success, money, fame, relationships, or anything else – It’s as simple as a good heart.

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:15

Today, focus not on your circumstances but on your heart. Seek in all things to have a good heart, positive, thankful, praising, and blessing.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Mission World…

Imagine missionaries going to New Guinea. They’re there to love the cannibals. Things are tough and the native peoples are against them, but they keep rejoicing. One day, two tribesmen hit them with rocks and the missionaries forget that they’re missionaries. It’s no longer a mission field- it’s home.

That’s exactly how it is for most believers. They treat the world as home and forget that it’s really a mission field. Most believers live their lives as missionaries with amnesia. We forget that we’re here on a mission and think that we’re here to survive or get by, to get the most out of it, to fit in, be successful, or impress people.

We care what people think of us. But we’re not here for that. We’re here to give and be a witness and to shine our lights into the darkness. Stop trying to fit in with the cannibals to become a successful cannibal.

Wake up! You’re not at home, and you’re not hanging out. You’re here to bless. This is your mission field! So get on with your mission. Everything else is just a bad case of amnesia.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 1 Chronicles 16:24

Live today as if everywhere you went was your mission field. Fulfill your mission.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

Resurrection and The Hidden Scrolls…

Luke records Jesus reading from Isaiah 61, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.” He also speaks about raising the dead. But if you look in the Old Testament, at Isaiah 61, you won’t see anything in those verses about raising the dead.

But then came the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In scroll 4Q521 is a quote from Isaiah 61. And it says this: “He will heal the sick, resurrect the dead, and announce good news to the poor.”

It’s amazing. It speaks of the resurrection – with the same words as in the Gospel of Luke. The Dead Sea Scrolls are confirming the amazing accuracy of the New Testament – and also reminding us that Jesus truly has the power to heal us, not just our bodies, but our lives.

He has the power to take what’s dead and make it come alive again. Hopeless dreams, broken promises, impossible situations, and messed up lives can become blessings in Jesus.

It’s in the scriptures and the Dead Sea Scrolls; let it be part of your life. In that blessing is the power to raise the dead.

Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

Turn over that impossible situation to Jesus today and trust Him to bring life from death.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Fuel Of Love…

Jesus told the Pharisees, “He who is forgiven much, loves much. He who has been forgiven little, loves little”. We’re all separated, infinitely distant from God and we infinitely need His infinite forgiveness.

It’s not a matter of who’s sinned more or less. The one who loves more is the one who realizes how much they’ve been forgiven of – and who receives it.

The Pharisee , whom Jesus spoke these words, didn’t believe that he had much to be forgiven for. Most believers fall into this. And when one believes one has not been forgiven much, one will love little, rejoice little, and glorify God little.

But those who know their sin and the price that was paid for their sins know that without God, there is nothing. They’ll have joy and love throughout their lives and will live all out for God.

You have been forgiven much – an eternity of judgment. That’s enough for you to become a person who loves, forgives, rejoices, and lives much- all out because Jesus has done all that. That’s enough for you to live a life full of loving, rejoicing, and glorifying the Lord.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, Acts 3:19

Take time today to ponder how greatly you were forgiven in Jesus – and what that means for your life. Now apply that to your life and to everyone around you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Menorah People…

Israel’s symbol is the menorah, a seven-branched lamp stand- the lamp that stood in the Holy Place, filled with oil and was kept burning by the priests.

Israel was called to be a light to the nations, a holy vessel filled with God’s oil, shining with His light, the light of His presence, and His salvation.

The Word of God says that if you’re born again, you are a fellow citizen of Israel. God’s nation is called to be a light to the world, and every citizen is called to be a light to those around it. So the menorah, the lamp stand, is the symbol of your nation, your citizenship, and your life.

But that lamp could not be a light on its own power. On its own, it was empty. It needed to be filled with the oil and the fire. In the same way, in order to be a light, you need to get filled and refilled every day.

Get filled with the oil of His Spirit, joy of His presence, bread of His Word, and fire of His will. Be the light you were called to be and shine at all times, in all things, and to all people. It’s your calling… and your heritage.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Commit that today you will not be overcome by any darkness – but you will shine the light of God into it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

The God Of All Places…

Israel has the Mediterranean seashore, the mountains that surround Jerusalem, and everything in between. This is amazing; small countries usually don’t have all this. They might be all desert like Yemen or all mountains like Tibet.

Israel is the ‘Every Land.’ People worshiped gods of the mountains, desert, sea, and farmland. But the God of Israel was, and is, different. He’s not just the God of the mountains but also of the valleys. Not just of the fertile plains, but also of the wilderness, He’s the God of every land.

And so it is in your life. God is not just the God of the good times. He’s not just there when your emotions are high, He’s the God of the low times as well.

His love is just as present in the valley. He’s God of mountains and the valleys, the abundant and the poor, the fertile and the dry, the God of every land, every circumstance, and every moment.

And He’ll be with you in every landscape of your life. He’s the every land God . . . You be His every land follower.

You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth, and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:6

Today, in every place you go, praise God. In every circumstance and situation, praise God. And in every challenge and problem, praise God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

The Tent Of The Moed

The Tabernacle was the place of God’s dwelling, where He met with His people and where Moses encountered God face to face. In Hebrew, it was called the Ohel – Tent of Moed, meaning The Meeting or The Fixed Time.

If you want to meet with God, you have to have a Tent of Moed. You need to set an appointed time to be with God – where you stop everything else and just dwell in His presence. It can’t be something you throw in while you’re doing other things.

If you don’t set an appointed time, the world and your busyness will push it aside. It can’t be a Tent of ‘Whenever I Feel Like’ or a Tent of ‘When I Have The Time For It.’ You need to give God your best, a fixed period of appointed time, every day, whether you feel like it or not.

Just dwell in His presence until you do feel like it. Make Him first and give Him your best, give Him your appointed time. You won’t be disappointed. For He will show up and indwell with His glory in your Tent of Moed, your Tent of the Appointed Time.

Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

Set aside a portion of each day, away from worldly distractions, to spend entirely with God. And let that time be the center and the joy of your day.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Unjewish Name Of Jesus…

The word Christ is one of the hardest words for Jewish people to hear. They’ve been called Christ killers for almost 2,000 years. And to the Jewish people, the word Christ was the most un-Jewish of names.

The Jewish people were the first to call Jesus, the Christ, or Christos. Christ is simply the Greek translation of the Hebrew word for Mashiach – Messiah. For 2000 years, Jesus’s own people didn’t recognize Him and didn’t realize what they were seeing.

We, too, can miss the blessing even when it’s in our midst. We can miss realizing His hand and His love in our lives. But the Lord is with you even when you don’t realize it or you don’t recognize His calling.

Your blessing may be right there, as with the Jewish people who’ve had the word Christ, but didn’t realize it was all about Jesus and their hope.

Look to see all the blessings in your life and the blessings you’ve missed. Even as the Jewish people are yet to see that Christ is really their longed Jewish Messiah, there are blessings in your life you have yet to unmask.

And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

Are there blessings in your life that you’re not seeing, not appreciating, not realizing? Seek to see them today. Give thanks for them. And cherish them.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Smashed Alters and Revival…

When Josiah became king of Judah, the kingdom had fallen into gross idolatry. The people had built altars to the Canaanite gods on top of the hills and mountains where they offered up their treasures, their offerings, and even their children.

King Josiah was righteous and loved the Lord. One of the first things he did was to go to the high places and smash those altars. The curse that rested on the nation was turned into a blessing and revival spread around the land.

Do you want revival to come to your family, friends, and nation? Start by smashing the idols and altars on which you offer up your sacrifices to other things aside from God. Start with yourself; let the Lord bring cleansing and purity to you.

Put away the distractions that are robbing you – the substitutes and idols. Let your heart become undivided, single-minded, focused on God and His glory.

You’ll receive the power to bring revival to your home, situation, walk, life, heart, and land. It all begins when you go up to the high places and smash those idols.

Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. 1 John 5:21

Today is the day to smash that altar, to put away that thing that takes your heart away from God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed