Ed Christian's World

Calling His Bluff…

In Acts 4, the Sanhedrin commanded the apostles to stop preaching. But the Sanhedrin didn’t have the power politically or spiritually to stop them. If the apostles had listened to them or believed that they had the power, they would have, in effect, given them their power by their agreement.

Instead they said, “We can’t stop speaking about what we’ve seen and heard,” which resulted in the spreading of the gospel of Jesus. The enemy tries to stop you with the same strategy. He says, “You can’t do God’s will; you can’t open your mouth and share; you can’t overcome; you can’t defeat that sin; you can’t live victoriously. But it’s all a bluff.

If you believe the lies, you won’t live free, you’ll stay in bondage. The enemy has no power unless you let him. Be like the disciples, tell the enemy “I’m obeying God! You’re a liar, and all the more I’m going to follow God.”

Fight the bluff. Live victoriously. You can if you follow God. You can’t be stopped, because He that’s within you is far greater than he that’s in the world.

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:13-20

What is the enemy using to hinder you, intimidate you, panic you, and stop you from stepping out in God’s will? Call his bluff – and do it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Nameless Gospels…

Almost every book you read has the name of the author on it, who worked long and hard to create it. But not with the gospels. We put names on them according to whom we believe wrote them. But they didn’t put their name on them.

The fact is, the gospels are nameless. The point is whom they’re written about, not who wrote them. The point is Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus. The gospels glorify Him, communicate Him and reveal Him.

So you are called to glorify the Lord and reveal Him to the world. But to do that, you need to be like the writers of the gospels. You need to take yourself out of the picture. Take your glory out of the scene and become more selfless and anonymous.

Get into the joy of losing yourself, doing things only for God to see them. Then He will be revealed, as in the gospels. Then His glory will shine through your life as in the gospels, and your life will become a gospel, good news, everywhere. Because the gospel is nameless, except for God’s name. You be likewise.

I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. Psalm 86:12

Today seek to be as the gospel writers. Put away all concern for recognition, and make it your aim to only lift up the Lord and His name.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Chained Ambassador…

In Ephesians, Paul calls himself, “an ambassador in chains.” There were chains on his hands even as he wrote or dictated. But notice, he doesn’t call himself an ambassador of chains. He doesn’t even call himself a chained ambassador.

Someone who is chained is defined by their limitations, they can’t move. But an ambassador is someone on the move, sent on a mission. Paul isn’t defined by his situation. He might be in chains, but he’s not of them. He’s an ambassador for God no matter what. He’s going to share the gospel and fulfill the mission.

Learn from Paul. Don’t be defined by your circumstance. You might have problems, but you’re not a problem person. You’re a child of the Most High. You’re free, unlimited. God is un-limiting you. Forget the chains. You’re an ambassador.

Nothing can stop you from doing God’s will and fulfilling your calling, no problem, no person, no trouble, no situation, no prison, nothing. You can say like Paul, “I can do all things through Messiah who strengthens me.” I’m an ambassador who happens to have some chains.

I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

What have you seen as a hindrance or obstacle in you fully doing God’s will? These are only chains. Follow Paul’s example, and do God’s will anyway.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

To Every Wilderness…

Are you going through a wilderness period in your life? The Hebrews went through the wilderness to get to the promised land. We think of the wilderness as just a place, when actually it’s a journey. It’s what leads to the promised land, the land of milk and honey and blessings.

Stop looking at it as simply a thing that you’re in, it’s a path that’s leading you somewhere else. For every wilderness in God, there’s a promised land at the end. Every hard time has a blessing at the end. For every problem, there’s milk and honey at the other side.

At the end of every trial, is a promise. You must pass through the wilderness to get the inheritance, the land of blessing. Every sorrow, obstacle, challenge, hindrance, hardship in God, leads to the land of promise.

So are you in the wilderness? Praise God, and rejoice! You can rejoice when you realize it means you’re going through it. Go with faith and confidence and joy that it’s going to lead you to the fulfillment of your calling. For every wilderness in God, there’s a promised land.

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. Deuteronomy 2:7

Think back on the wildernesses you’ve gone through in life – and the blessings, the promised lands God led you to, through them. Take encouragement in that for the present.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Timeless…

Seven hundred years before Jesus came, Isaiah 53 declared, “He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. By His stripes we’re healed.”

Those words are written in past tense, as if it already happened. Why? In Hebrew you have two real tenses; perfect and imperfect. Past is used for the perfect. This means it’s a finished thing. So we say, it’s past, because it’s complete. But it really means it’s perfect.

Jesus’s perfect work of salvation, transcends time, it covers everything, it’s finished. Your salvation is in the perfect tense because it’s finished, from the start. So stop living in the imperfect as if you have to achieve it.

Live from the finished perfect work of Calvary. Learn how to start from the end, how to grow in the completion and be filled in the fullness. Learn how to fight the fight that’s already fought, to win the victory that’s won.

Pray the answered prayer, live the completed life, because your salvation is perfect, it’s finished, even from the beginning. Start living from the finished work because what is finished is perfect.

I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. John 17:4

The victory is already yours. Believe in that perfect work. Walk in it and thank Him for it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

God Running…

The prodigal son leaves the father, sinfully losses everything and comes back hoping to be received as a slave. The father sees him from a distance and actually runs to his son – he runs!

This is a picture of God. If we repent, it’s enough that he actually forgives us, loves us and comes to us. But he doesn’t just come to us, he runs to us. The bible says “He longs to have compassion on us.” He delights to have compassion on you. He doesn’t just allow you to approach Him, He runs to you.

That’s how passionate His love is. Never doubt the love of God. If you return to Him, He runs in His love to you. Learn to run to Him. Don’t just wait for God, run with passion into His presence, as someone who can’t wait, who delights to be with Him more than anything else.

Song of Solomon says, “let us run.” So run in love, in joy, in faith, in serving Him. Run in worship, in righteousness, run in His spirit. Don’t walk, run! Because He didn’t just come to you, He ran.

The Parable of the Lost Son

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’ “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’ “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” Luke 15:11-32

Let go of your burdens. Let go of your hindrances. And just run into His open arms. He will run to yours.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Making Your Wrong Name Right…

There have been times I’ve called someone the wrong name. It’s embarrassing, but God has the same kind of problem. God often calls people by the wrong name.

In Matthew 16:18 He called Simon – Peter: the rock. He called an old man with a barren wife – Abraham: the father of the many. When you are still struggling, He calls you victorious.

When you read in the Bible that you’re a royal priesthood, holy, you’re tempted to tell God He has the wrong person, He called you by the wrong name. Like God, we need to call people by the wrong names, names that don’t fit the present reality. If you’re just calling them what they are, you’re just reflecting what is.

Learn to speak in faith, to call the weak in God, strong, the struggling in God, victorious, the battered down, prevailing. Then what happens, is the old man actually becomes the father of many, the shaky apostle becomes a rock and you become victorious and blessed.

Learn the secret of speaking and receiving the wrong name into your life, and in God it will become the right name.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18

God calls you “holy,” “royal,” “beloved,” “the light,” “victorious,” and much more. Take one of these today. Believe it, claim it, and live it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Praying For Paul…

In Ephesians 6, Paul says many things, but then he says, “And pray for me.” Pray for me? Paul, the great teacher of the truth of the New Covenant? Those who read his words 2,000 years ago were his students.

Still today we’re his students. He was revealing great truths of God and then he asks for the prayers of his students. What does this teach us? No matter how much you’re used of the Lord, how mature you are in the Lord, never forget that you need prayer. You need God at every moment.

The moment you forget you’re dependent on God, you’re in trouble. Don’t learn the hard way. Even a great fruitful branch that has borne the largest, most beautiful fruit, will become useless the moment it’s not continually connected to the tree. Paul, with all his gifts, knowledge and credentials in the Lord, knew that he needed God every moment.

We all do. Pray without ceasing, always be in communion with God. Pray for each other, for your teachers, for your leaders, for yourself and while you’re at it, please pray for me, too. Thanks.

Pray without ceasing. 1 Thessalonians 5:17

If you need prayer today, don’t be ashamed or afraid to ask someone, and then pray for them also. And let your every need be known to God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

All That Is To You…

In Hebrew, there’s no real word for “have”. “Have” really means “to”. You don’t have a car, but the car is to you. You don’t have a house, but the house is to you. In other words, they’re “for” you. God promises to work all things together for your good.

The choice here is, you have it or it is for you. If you have possessions, then your possessions won’t be for you, they’ll actually be against you, to weigh you down. Let go of your possessions and they’ll be for you, to bless you. Stop saying, “I have a problem’. Rather, say “the problem is to me, for me.” If it doesn’t belong to you, then it can work for your good.

Give up ownership, then past mistakes and failures are going to work for your good. Let go of the burdens, the future, the past, desires, hurts, or bitterness. In the Holy language of the Bible, you don’t have anything but a promise of something better. When you let go of those things in God, they won’t weigh you down anymore. They’ll be from now on, for you.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Let go of all ownership today, even of your problems. And see, and receive, all things today as gifts from God, for your good and your blessing.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Nonmiraculous Miriacles…

Matthew 25 says, “When I was hungry you fed Me, thirsty you gave Me to drink, a stranger you took Me in, naked you clothed Me, sick you visited Me, in prison you came to Me.” He didn’t say, you called down manna from heaven, you spoke to the rock and water gushed out or you laid hands on Me and healed Me.

Isn’t it easier to call down miracles? It’s possible. So why not here? Sometimes God restrains miracles so you can be part of the answer. He wants to do something greater. Manna coming from heaven is a miracle.

So is loving and buying someone food. In some way that’s even more Jesus-like. Often you have a problem in life with no immediate answer, because God wants you to rise up and be part of it. He wants your whole life involved in the answer.

Getting manna from heaven won’t necessarily make you more like Jesus, but loving, blessing and giving in righteousness will. When you don’t see the miracle coming out of heaven, it’s a sign that now the miracle is to come out of another place.

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21

Ask God for a compassionate heart today, to see the needs of others, and be a blessing as He enables you. Perform a miracle!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed