Ed Christian's World

Preparing For Your Marriage…

Most churches have premarital counseling. Marriage is sacred. Thus, ministers counsel the couple on how to prepare for married life. Preparation makes a big difference. Premarital preparation has been shown to greatly increase the chances of having a successful marriage.

So too, there’s a wedding coming for every true believer – the wedding of God and us. Heaven is married life, but you can’t prepare for heaven in heaven. The only time you have to prepare for heaven, as for a marriage, is now.

This whole life on earth is premarital, and the wise person spends their time preparing for the marriage to come. The only time you have to store up your treasures in heaven is now. Life’s joys, sorrows, victories, and losses are all to prepare you for the marriage so that you might become beautiful and spotless.

Don’t lose sight of the reason you’re here. Remember, it’s the only time you have to prepare for eternity. It will never happen again – so, use it wisely.

Use everything in your earthly life to prepare for heavenly life because heaven is the marriage, and this entire life is your premarital course.

This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:32

Treat every situation today as a class in Heaven’s premarital course.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The First Christmas Gift…

I look at the fallen snow laying across the fields like a warm blanket of white covering the ground in a quiet, serene peace.

I stand there in quiet prayer as I prepare for my journey into the canyon for three days of solitude at the Angel Grotto a few miles inside the Grand Canyon. If you have never been to the Grand Canyon in the wintertime, you have never realized the real beauty of the gift God has given us.

Grandfather comes up beside me and asks “Graywolf can you tell me what the first Christmas gift was?” I turn and look up at him and smile, saying I think that would be love. He responds that I should ponder on that during my retreat and give him an answer when I return in three days.

As I begin my journey, I think more about what Grandfather had said. When I told him that would be love, he just smiled at me. So was the first gift of Christmas love?

Father, I laid my head upon Your chest
Your arms encircled me,
It was as if we were
What You meant us to be,

I closed my eyes and heard your heart
Your soft smile in my hair,
I’d never felt so whole and safe
Our hearts beating as a pair,

You found my eyes and told me of
A love for me undying,
You kissed my face, and I knew right then
It was in Heaven we were lying.

Yes, Father, you were there,
To warm and comfort me in my despair.
It was Your glory that I sought,
It was Your love that You brought.

Certainly love is the greatest gift from God, and it must have been the first Christmas gift. but wait, what about Joy, what about peace?

May the light be with you.
May your life be filled with joy and abundance in all areas of life.
May the light shine in your hearts so that love may be expressed.
May love and peace fill your life.

Christmas is all about love, joy, peace, and hope. One is not more important than the other, for they are all needed to complete our life. It was in this revelation that I discovered the first Christmas gift, it’s Jesus.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

When I returned to the reservation, I looked at Grandfather in the eye and gave him my answer. He responded, “God’s greatest gift!”

That was on November 28, 1955, a few weeks before I turned 12 years old. I had just completed my intense training to become a Shaman. This retreat was my final lesson, and I was to spend three days in seclusion to examine myself and present my being to God.

Today, I think people are so wrapped up in what is under the tree that they overlook the real meaning of Christmas. Let us all take time to thank God for everything He has given us and remind ourselves of the real reason He has blessed us.

From my house to yours, I wish you a very Merry Christmas full of love, joy, peace, and hope!!

With all my heart,

Ed

Hedges…

You need hedges in your life. They’re meant to protect you. The word in Hebrew is charootz – which means a hedge or a trench, but it also means a decision or determination, as in digging in.

It’s a decision, as if you’re digging a trench, of what will be in your life and what won’t be. Draw the line. This is the line for the hedge in your marriage, in your prayer life, your relationship with the opposite sex, for your time in the Word.

You can’t have hedges without determination. Make your decision, protect your life, build your trench, and build it big. That means you stay far away from that sin, far away from the temptation, and you’ll have a blessing and a lot of room for growth in God.

You need to make your hedge, which will only be as strong as your commitment. Dig your trench, build your hedge, make your decision and make it strong, for as the Hebrew “charootz” reveals, your hedge is only going to be as strong and as real as the decision you make in the Lord.

And do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27

Make the commitment today to put up strong hedges and stand firm on your commitment.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

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