Ed Christian's World

Your Father’s Blessing…

Up until the 1980s canaries were used in coal mines. If the canary became disoriented or died, it was a sign that the air was toxic and everyone was in danger.

Today we’re seeing an attack on fatherhood. Fathers are depicted as bumbling fools, childish, and irrational. More and more children are being raised without fathers.

Fatherhood is the white canary of modern society. Their minimizing and disappearance is a sign of a toxic culture in which we live – one that is at war with family, gender, and humanity itself.

Fatherhood is only the first to vanish. Next will come motherhood, childhood, and the very nature of being human. As God’s child, be all the more true to God’s ways.

Uphold the sanctity of fatherhood, motherhood, parenthood, childhood, male/female, marriage, and life itself. Do your job as end-time believers and stand up for what’s right.

Shine the light of Jesus more brightly than ever before. Because the darker the world, the brighter must be the light to that world.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. 1 John 2:13

Today, do your job and shine Jesus brighter than ever before.

Walk day with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Mystery of the Seventieth Seven…

The prophet Daniel prophesied that the Messiah would come to Jerusalem and then “the city and the sanctuary” (the Temple) would be destroyed.

It all came to pass in 70 AD. So Israel’s Messiah had to come before that moment. The Rabbis have followed other people claiming to be the Messiah and observant Jews are still waiting for Messiah.

But the cut-off date was already given and there’s only one contender in all of human history: born in Bethlehem, rode a donkey into Jerusalem, and died for our sins – all according to Hebrew prophecy.

And He did it all before the year 70 AD. And yet for 2000 years, Jesus’s own people have still been searching. We can be like that too.

Even though you know the Lord you can still be searching for your fulfillment through other things in a million other ways. But God’s made it clear. There’s only one way you can be fulfilled.

Joy, peace, and true blessing are only found in Him. There are no other contenders. Get your eyes back on Him. He’s still the One, even for you, there’s no one else.

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

Today, put your thoughts and actions towards being fulfilled in the One who has no contenders.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Chrysalis…

You may find yourself dealing with old habits and feeling stuck in them; thinking old thoughts or repeating ungodly or unhealthy behavior. But don’t conclude that that’s who you really are.

Consider the butterfly. It starts out as a worm-like creature that goes into a shell and becomes a chrysalis. The chrysalis bears the shape of the old body, the caterpillar.

In order for the butterfly to become the new creature it was born to become, it has to break out of the old shape. So you have an old self and a new self.

Those old habits you deal with are no longer part of the new self. They’re nothing but a shell. The new you is not that, but inside it. Learn to see the shell for what it is.

Break out into what God has for you. The old thoughts are things that you can break out of. It’s not the real you in God anymore. So become that heavenly creature you were meant to become.

Break out of that thing which is no longer you, it’s just the shell of the chrysalis.

But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Colossians 3:8

Today, don’t accept the limitations of the old you, the old life – break the shell, break out of that chrysalis – and live as the new creation you are.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Revolutionary Handbook…

The world is filled with revolutionaries who will do anything to reach their goal.

But imagine if revolutionaries were like many believers – and gave up on changing the world because they didn’t feel appreciated or ministered to – or if they just didn’t feel led.

If most revolutionaries were like most believers there would be no revolutions. That’s why there’s not a lot of revolutionizing of the world going on among most of God’s people – because most believers don’t take the Lord’s purposes as seriously as people in the world take their causes.

Revolutionaries know if their revolution’s going to succeed, they have to put it first above everything else. We are the true revolutionaries of this age. Do you really want to see the world transformed?

Put God first and seek first His kingdom. Put the purposes of the great commission first above your own will, agenda, and your own wants.

For the revolution will succeed when the revolutionary decides it’s time to be serious.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Revelation 1:3

Today, live as a revolutionary – put God’s agenda above your own and do something to further the great commission.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

To Transcend Life…

In Hebrew when a plural word is used for a singular, it represents intensity. It denotes such great intensity that it can’t be put into one word.

In the prophecy of Messiah’s death given in Isaiah 53, 700 years before Jesus’s coming, the words appear, ‘in His death.’ But the Hebrew reads in His deaths.’

You see, Jesus didn’t just die a death, He died deaths for us all. What He went through was so colossal that the word ‘death’ doesn’t even explain it.

We’ll never know the depths of His suffering, or the sacrifice He gave for us in love. Therefore, we each need to live our lives to the utmost, in a manner worthy.

He died for you a death that transcended death.Therefore live a life that transcends life. He gives you the power to live a life that is beyond this life.

So live in that power, beyond what’s expected, beyond the flesh, beyond the natural, to the supernatural. Live a life intensely alive for Him. So that your life becomes a life beyond life, because He died for you a death beyond death.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 1John 2:2

Live to transcend your old life. Do something for the Lord beyond what you normally do.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Great Bluff…

I know a Jewish believer who has a congregation that went through opposition. His congregation was firebombed and the sanctuary was destroyed.

In the days after, they decided to hold their services in the bombed out room, with dancing, joy, praise, and thanksgiving.

He knew that his enemies, and more importantly, the enemy, was trying to intimidate him. Instead he took it as an encouragement that he had something to do that must have been greatly important or the enemy wouldn’t have bothered.

It turned out that more people came to the Lord after that bombing than before. God blessed His ministry, and even gave him favor with the government. The enemy will stop you if you let him.

If the enemy’s trying to intimidate and stop you, it means you’re doing something important. So be encouraged!

Praise God, give thanks, and rejoice all the more! Press on, because you must be doing something right. Keep doing it, because the enemy can never stop you from doing God’s will, unless you stop yourself.

When the wicked advance against me
to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident. One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord. Psalm 27:2-6

Today, don’t allow the enemy to intimidate you from doing God’s will. Go against all fear and all the works of the devil.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Heavenly Calling…

When I took the test in high school to tell me what my vocation should be – it never said anything about ‘ministry’ – but it should have. We are all in some sort of ministry and that is part of our vocation. The word vocation comes from the word voc or vocal, as in voice. It comes from a biblical truth.

Your vocation is your calling. You’re not supposed to just do ‘something’ in life, you’re supposed to fulfill your calling. You have a calling on your life.

It doesn’t come from you. It comes from God. He’s calling you and you have to follow it. It’s okay if your life doesn’t match up with it yet. Your calling is higher than you and often something you wouldn’t expect. You just have to respond, follow the voice of God, and you’ll become that person.

You’ll fulfill your true heavenly calling when you follow the Voice, the Word, and the Spirit of God. Follow the voice of His leading and keep following it, today and every day. For your heavenly vocation was given to you by nothing less than the Voice of God.

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. Hebrews 3:1

Today, make it your aim to look for, hear, and follow the voice of God’s leading in your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

The Weight Of Our Culture…

Proverbs 16:11 says “A just balance and scales belong to the LORD; All the weights of the bag are His concern.” The weights of the bag were the standard measures used on the scale.

Proverbs 20:23 says, “Differing weights are an abomination to the LORD.” Other ways of defining weights, are standards or values.

One of the signs that a civilization is corrupted, or in moral decay, is the sign of altered weights or values. When values are changed, standards are lowered, and words are redefined: fornication becomes living together, sin becomes a disease, adultery becomes an extramarital affair, and perversity becomes alternate lifestyles.

When morality is redefined as intolerance, when an unborn baby is called ‘just a fetus,’ or a pregnancy can be terminated, it shows there’s corruption in the society.

We as believers have to be all the more grounded in eternal truth. Altered weights are an abomination to God. The weights belong to Him.

Don’t alter them, don’t dilute them, don’t change them. You are called to be a keeper of the weights of God.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. James 4:4

Today, choose to stand firm in God’s Word, stand strong against the corruptions of our culture, and strong for the truth.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Beast Of A Thousand Faces

Martin Luther did great things in trying to make the Bible more accessible. He first appealed to the Jews but later became embittered against them.

He wrote: “concerning the Jews and their lies… their synagogues should be set on fire. Whatever doesn’t burn up should be covered over with dirt. And it should be done for the honor of the God of Christianity, in order that God may see we’re Christians.

Secondly their homes should be broken down and destroyed.” Later these writings were used by Adolf Hitler.

When the Nazi’s launched their attack of Kristallnacht, destroying Jewish businesses, buildings, and synagogues, they said it was in honor of the anniversary of Martin Luther’s birthday.

The devil is always looking for a place even with people who are used for great things. He’ll look for any gap of bitterness, jealousy, unforgiveness, lust, or anything to get a foothold in your life.

Give the devil no room. Close up the gaps and be used for God’s purposes. Give the Lord all the room, and you’ll be used mightily for the kingdom of God.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Ephesians 4:31

Close up any gaps in your life, your home, your calling, your mind, and your heart. Give the devil no room!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Honeycomb…

Young honey bees stay in the hive while older bees bring back the nectar. As the bee matures, it starts going out to find the nectar for itself, from the source.

In this is a lesson about spiritual growth. When you’re young in the Lord, you receive much of your spiritual food from others; teachers, writers, friends, older more mature believers and that’s good.

But growing spiritually means that like the bee, you have to start getting the nectar for yourself. You need to deal with the Word of the Lord for yourself firsthand by going directly to the source.

Spiritual growth is about getting closer to the Source; moving from the outer courts to the Holy place. It’s not so much concerned with secondary things about God, but God Himself, to receive directly from His throne the riches of His mercy.

Learn from the bee, and more and more, go yourself. Receive the rich nectar of the Word, of His love, of His grace, of His presence for yourself. Go direct. Because your maturity and growth in the Lord is linked to one thing; you, going yourself to the source.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? Psalm 42:2

Make it your aim to go to the nectar, the source, go directly into His presence and receive directly from Him.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed