Ed Christian's World

Law Of The Tomb Raiders…

In the first century, Caesar issued a decree: anyone robbing or disturbing any tomb in Nazareth or Judea was to be executed. What’s strange about that? Who on earth were less likely to touch a dead body than the Jewish people who had laws against it?

As for Nazareth, it’s not even mentioned in the rabbinical writings. So why did Caesar issue a decree there? Undoubtedly, a report or rumor came to him about Yeshua, Jesus of Nazareth, and an empty tomb.

The accusations in Matthew 28:13 of tomb theft only prove that the tomb was empty. But nobody could have made it empty except God. The only One who disturbed the tomb was God. So the Nazareth Decree is further evidence that the tomb was empty.

So, if you are with God, you have the same power – to disturb tombs. Disturb the tomb of the old self, the old habit, the old situation. You have the power to make things come alive that were dead. Go into that dead situation and make it come alive by the power of God. Go in there and disturb that tomb.

And the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. Matthew 27:52

Apply the power of God to the dead situations in your life today! Speak the word of God over these areas of your life and trust God to bring restoration.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

God’s Masterwork…You

The Mona Lisa, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven’s Fifth and Ninth symphonies are each considered a masterpiece. How do you make a masterpiece unless you are a master? A masterpiece is the work of a master.

So what about your life? Did you ever think that your life can become a masterpiece? Eph. 2:10 says “We are His workmanship.” The Greek word “poiema”, is where we get the word poem from. We are to be God’s poem, God’s piece–that’s a masterpiece.

If you want your life to become a masterpiece, you have to let your life be molded by the hand of the Master. You can’t make yourself by yourself. Only the Maker can make you. Stop focusing on your works.

Start becoming a work of God. Stop getting wrapped up in your good or bad works. Start learning how to become the work of God. By your work, you can only make what is imperfect, but ALL His works are perfect.

When you become His work, then your life becomes a work of the Master, and thus you become a masterpiece.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:18

Submit your life into the Master’s hands today. Allow Him to create the work of art that He wants you to become.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Gospel II…

As a child, I watched the original Frankenstein movie. It was a success, so they made sequels: The Bride of Frankenstein, the Son of Frankenstein, and I imagine, the ‘Uncle of Frankenstein, and on and on.

The point, when something is a success, there’s a sequel. After the Gospels, comes Acts, a sequel to the Gospel. In other words, the Gospel is so good, it has to keep on going, to spread, to produce life. It has to bring redemption, miracles, victory. That’s the Book of Acts.

So, too is The Gospel in your life – you read it, you hear it, you know it–but that can’t be all. When you read the Bible, it has to carry over, past your time of reading to become part of your life.

Jesus said, “Greater things will you do.” He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations and many signs and wonders will follow.” So get moving, spreading, proclaiming, doing, overcoming, producing miracles by His power.

Go for it, because the Gospel is too good to stop. It must have a sequel, and the sequel to the Gospel is your life.

And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2

How can you carry out your sequel to the Gospel today? Who can you bless, pray for or show the love of God to in your life? Do it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Naked Zeroah..

The lamb bone on the Passover plate is called the “Zeroah,” a mystery most people don’t understand. The word means “arm.” In Isaiah 53 it says, “To whom has the ‘arm’ of the LORD been revealed?” The Hebrew word is “Zeroah.”

Jesus is the Zeroah, the “Arm of the LORD.” And when it says “revealed,” the word is “galah,” which also means to strip, to make naked, to disgrace or to humiliate. So it could be translated, “To whom has the Zeroah been stripped naked and humiliated.”

This is what happened to Jesus. He was humiliated, stripped, He died for our sins, naked, to accomplish our salvation. Don’t ever underestimate the power of God. The Zeroah is the power of God. He gave His life for you, even in weakness and humiliation, the Arm of the LORD moved for your salvation.

That’s how powerful He is. He gave up everything and overcame everything. The Arm of the LORD is stronger than any power on earth. His love is stronger than anything else. That is Jesus, the Redeemer, the Zeroah, who was stripped for your salvation.

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44

The arm of the Lord has reached and saved you! Worship God today for His work of Salvation in your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Your Big Brother…

Imagine growing up in Nazareth with Jesus as your older brother, and someone wants to fight you. You’d say, “I’ll tell my older brother on you.” They might reply, “Oh yeah, I’ll call my older brother, he’s bigger and stronger.” To which you could reply, “Well my brother is Jesus. He’s going to rule the world with a rod of iron and subdue the nations; it’s all been prophesied.”

The truth is you do have a big brother, and He is Jesus. He’s there to protect you and watch your back. The enemy is a bully, seeking to harass, intimidate and push you around. When dealing with the enemy, a problem, a situation, a temptation, and it seems overwhelming, remember this: you have a big Brother, He’s the Messiah.

Call on Him. You can walk with confidence, live with boldness, face head-on situations that might be much bigger than you and still not fear, because your Big Brother is bigger than the situation.

Don’t despair, don’t get discouraged, have full confidence. Call on His name. Because you have a Big Brother and His name is Jesus, the Messiah.

We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. Psalm 33:20

Is there a situation in your life that appears too big for you to handle on your own? Bring it to Yeshua today. Trust Him to defend you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

You Are Bar Elyon…

Many names in the Bible contain the word “Bar,” meaning “son of”. Simon Bar-Jonah, Bartholomew and Barabbas which means “son of the father.” The word Bar-mitzvah, means “son of the commandments.”

Jesus is called Bar-Elyon, which means, “Son of the Most High.” We’re to be little versions of Him, a little child of the Most High. What does that mean? Your identity isn’t based on yourself any more. It doesn’t come from you, your life, or your past. It comes from your Father in heaven.

You are no longer Bar-bitterness- -a child of bitterness, Bar-failure- -a child of failure, Bar-sin- -a child of sin, or Bar-hurt- -a child of rejection, hurt and wounds. All those things are not you anymore. You are Bar-Elyon, a child of the Most High.

That’s your identity, you are born from above. Your identity comes from Elyon, the Most High. That’s who you are, a beloved, holy child of the Most High.

Start believing it. Start receiving it. Start living like it and acting like it. Because you, too, are a little version of Bar-Elyon, a child of the Most High.

The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:16

Throughout the day today, encourage yourself that your identity is as a child of the most high God…you are Bar-Elyon!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

A Profhetic Commentary…

A famous commentary from the 1880s, dealing with the prophecies of Israel becoming a nation again, said this, “It has been for 18 centuries a down-trodden country, it will be hereafter so no more.

Let us not doubt the word of God. If God has said it, He will perform it. Let us not be faithless but believe it will happen.” In the 19th century, the land of Israel was a barren desert and hadn’t been a nation for 2,000 years. Scripture said, “God would cause it to bloom and become a nation again.”

Other commentators said, it wasn’t going to happen, God is finished with the Jewish people; He replaced them with the Church. Well now, Israel is again a nation. Jewish people gathered back from the ends of the earth.

These faithful commentators stand as a testament to God’s prophecy and power, as a lesson to us. Have faith in God’s Word when it looks impossible! Stand strong in faith, because God will do it. If God can bring life to a land that was dead for 2,000 years, then how much more will He do it for you.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:3

Today in prayer, surrender the barren, desolate areas of your life to the Lord. Ask Him to bring life to these areas for His glory and to show you His goodness.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Tohu Principal…

Are there things in your life that confuse you? Do you have a hard time understanding where your life is going or what’s happening around you? Do parts seem wasted or without purpose, and you can’t figure out why?

In Genesis it says “the earth was formless and void.” The word formless in Hebrew is tohu. It means confused, meaningless or wasted. But God said, “Let there be light and there was.”

So it’s okay if you don’t understand the way your life is going, why this or that happened. You are dealing with tohu. That’s what you have just before you have a miracle. God wants to change that confusion, that emptiness, into something great.

Give it to Him. Don’t dwell on the tohu, but look up. God will bring His light into the emptiness and confusion. When Jesus was in the tomb, He lay in the darkness, it was all tohu. But God said “Let there be light.”

God’s light is greater than death or whatever you are dealing with. Lift it up to God, let there be light, and there will be light and no more tohu.

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

Bring your tohu, those things in your life that seem confusing and meaningless to God today. Ask Him to shine His light into them and turn them for redemption.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Thorns Into Crowns…

Jesus was to be crucified. Roman soldiers took thorns, wove them into a crown for His head to mock, torture and humiliate Him. We know the crown of thorns as a horrible thing, but there’s another side to it.

In Genesis, the curse of the fall is epitomized by thorns. “The ground shall bear thorns for you.” So why did Jesus wear a crown of thorns? Because He was becoming the King of the Curse.

The power of Jesus is so strong that He can even make thorns into a crown. He can take your sorrows and wounds and make them beautiful and glorious.

Give Him every part of your life even the worst part, and thank Him for it. Because even the hard things, in His grace, will be used for your good. He is a King that not only wears a crown of thorns but wears the thorns that are turned into a crown.

If you follow Him, then all the things in your life that make you say, “Why God?” will be turned around. He will take your thorns and weave them into a crown of glory.

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. Psalm 30:11

Take all the thorns in your life and give them to Jesus, to take them and weave them into a crown. Cast all your burdens upon Him.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Boggie Man…

As a child I heard, “Don’t let the Boogie Man get you.” I didn’t know who he was or why he was interested in getting me, but I was afraid of him, scared that he was under the bed waiting to grab my feet.

Years later I found out that to boogie was to do a dance, and the Boogie Man was a man who just wants to boogie. All that fear was for nothing. You have fears too – maybe the fear of rejection, of harm, of abandonment, of pain – or something else.

The enemy uses the fears we have to cripple, hinder or limit us. But at the end of every fear, God is there. He promises that He’s above everything. So what are we afraid of? All the enemy’s threats and intimidations, it’s just the Boogie Man.

If God is for you, who can be against you? The Boogie Man, that’s it. Whom shall you fear? Stop letting the enemy hinder your walk. Stop giving into fear, anxiety and worry. Live free, fearless, with faith in God, any other way is to live in fear of the Boogie Man.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

What are you fearing? Give it to God today in prayer, release the burden of it to Him. And in the assurance of His love, overcome it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed