Ed Christian's World

The Devine Liturgy…

Acts Chapter 13 speaks of ministering to the Lord; liturgeo in Greek. From it we get liturgy, a public service of worship or obedience. It’s the same Greek word used to speak of the ministry of the priests of the Old Testament.

Thus, the function of the Church is priestly. 1 Peter says that we are a royal priesthood; kohanim in Hebrew. You really are a priest. You’re not just a believer, you’re a priest.

Whatever you do, do it as a priest. The priests, kohanim, ministered with holiness, and with great care as sacred liturgy. You need to do the same.

Whether you’re doing dishes, taking a walk, or leading worship, do it as liturgy, a holy act of worship to the Lord. As you are counseling, encouraging, serving, do it as holy to the Lord.

Live your daily life as if you are a priest. Live at home as if it were your temple. Live like a priest, walk and talk like a priest; be holy to the Lord. Because in the New Covenant that’s exactly what you are. Just like the priests of old, only more so.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

Whatever you set your mind to do today, sanctify it as holy unto the Lord and minister in all things as a priest of the Most High God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love.always,

Ed

No Turn Living – How To Live it…

Proverbs 15:21 speaks about walking straight. God calls us to live straight, to walk straight. Since the closest distance between two points is a straight line, the less you turn, the quicker you will get to where you are going in the Lord.

The less you turn, the less you waiver. The straighter you walk, the faster you will get to your goal in the Lord, to where you are supposed to be.

The straighter your thoughts, the faster you will go. The straighter your heart, the faster you will grow in the Lord. The straighter your walk, the faster you’ll go, the more progress you’ll make, and you’ll have momentum.

The more momentum you have, the more power you’ll have to gain the breakthrough. The more you waiver and are double-minded, the less momentum you gain. You lose time, momentum, energy and power.

Therefore, live straight; think, act, talk, and be straight. You will walk with power, and have your breakthrough. Learn to live a no-turning walk, with a no-turn faith and no-turn heart. Your walk will be powerful, blessed, victorious. That’s the truth. Straight up.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5:8

Keep your eyes and focus set upon the Lord as your guiding light. Maintain your straight course and do not waiver left or right and you will have power for many breakthroughs.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Reverance of the Scribes…

The Bible has come down to us so accurately because of the hand of God and through the hands of many Jewish scribes. Generation after generation of Jewish scribes meticulously copied the Word, every jot, every tittle.

If they make one mistake, the whole scroll is deemed unkosher and they have to start all over again. Before they write the name of God on the scroll, they will bathe themselves. See the reverence they had and held for the Word and the name of God.

We have the fullness of the New Covenant in Jesus and we have the fullness of the revelation. It’s amazing how often we treat the Word carelessly. We don’t really follow it or we take it lightly or we take it for granted.

We have gotten used to the fact that we have it and we don’t really treasure it. We may have five Bibles and we don’t read them. Treat the Word at least as reverently as the scribes of Israel, as something holy and a sacred treasure in your life. See, the Word is a treasure, but it only gives life to those who treasure it.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you. 1 Peter1:22-25

Open your Bible and apply the Word to your life today, cherish the times spent in keeping the ways of the Lord in your heart.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Past The Flesh…

In Ephesians 2:2, it says, “When in times past, you walked according to the course of this world.” It’s interesting, the key is, times past, when you walked in the flesh.

In Jesus, the flesh is past, He is finished with the flesh. He finished it at Calvary, so also for the child of God. To live in the flesh is to live in the past. To live in the past is to live among the dead. To live in the past is to live in a realm where nothing can be changed.

Live in the Spirit. Those who are led by the Spirit walk in the newness of life. The Spirit is present and now. The only way you can live in the Spirit is to count the flesh as old. In the past, we walked according to the course of this world.

But now we walk in the Spirit and newness of life. Say goodbye to the flesh and say hello to the Spirit because that’s what is going to happen when you are done with the past. You will be new in the Spirit.

As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 1 Peter 4:2-3

Walk away from the things of the flesh, the old you. Instead be walking in the power of the Holy Spirit because you are a new creation now.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Blessing The Blesser…

In the Book of Acts, Paul was sent to Jerusalem with a gift for the Jerusalem believers. The gift was from the gentile church to the Jewish people. The gentile congregations particularly wanted to bless the Jewish believers of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem was the mother church, the first Messianic congregation or synagogue. The church has an obligation to bless the Jewish people because it was the Jewish people who gave the gospel to the world.

All the blessings you have in God came through Israel to you. So you need to bless the Jewish people with salvation. Bless the children of Abraham. Bless the Jewish believers, but also bless the Jewish people who don’t have salvation.

The promise is that all who bless the Jewish people will be blessed. God wants you to bless Him, please Him. It’s a radical concept, but bless the Lord. We don’t realize what it means, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, bless the Lord.”

You can actually bless Him. That’s a great thing and He will be blessed. Do something to bless the Lord today, for His sake, for His blessing. Bless the Lord today. Make your Father smile.

I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Genesis 12:3

Look for how many ways to bless Israel and the Jewish people. Pray for them. Give to the purposes of their salvation. You will be blessed!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love.always,

Ed

The Logos Reason…

Jesus is called the Word, but in Greek, the word “word” is “logos.” That’s significant because “logos” doesn’t just mean “word,” it also means “the reason.” What it means is He is not just the Word, He is the reason for existence, He is the reason for the universe, He, as Jesus, is the reason for everything.

Before there was anything, there was the reason and from this came everything. So it also means that without Him, without the Logos, there is no reason. That’s why if you don’t have Him in your life, there is no reason for life.

The universe exists because of the Logos, the reason, so your life, too. It will never be right. It will always be empty until He is again the center and the reason for your life.

Do you want your life to have reason and purpose? Let Him become the reason. Let Jesus become the Logos; the reason for your walk, the reason why you speak, the reason why you do everything you do, the reason you get up, the reason you work. Make Him the reason of everything.

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Ephesians 2:11-13

Before you do anything today, start with the Logos, the Word, Jesus. Let Him be the reason and impulse you do everything.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Gift Heart…

Jesus is a gift. Salvation is a gift. If you received the gift, your life must be characterized by the gift. The first evidence is that you have something. Not your bank account or material possessions, but your heart and your spirit.

If you live with an attitude of never having enough or always wanting more to be happy, then you are testifying against the gift. If you are wrapped up and running around after what you do not have, your life does not evidence of the gift.

If you received the gift, your life is characterized by that. A special thing has come into your life and you have something precious. It does not matter what is happening on the outside because on the inside you have a reassurance, this treasure.

We have this confidence, it is written. Stop dwelling on what is going on in the world and what you do not have. Focus on what you do have. You have this treasure, this confidence, this hope. You have this salvation. You have Him. Live like it. It is the secret of your life.

For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

Treasure the treasure today – live as one whose life holds the greatest of treasures and walk today a priceless walk.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Simple Bread…

Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem. Bethlehem comes from two Hebrew words. The first is “Beth” or “Beit” which means “house of,” and the second is “lehem” which means bread. He wasn’t born in Beth-sushi, or Beth-manicotti, or Beth-chicken-lo-mein, He was born in Bethlehem.

He was born in the house of bread. Jesus is the “Bread of Life.” Bread is not complicated; it is simple. It is man’s nature, even the nature of believers, to complicate what is simple.

We would rather have Jesus born in Beth-chicken-cordon-bleu than in Bethlehem. Men would rather get into the latest doctrine, teaching on the latest revival rather than the simple love of God.

We all tend to complicate our lives, our walks, our ministries and our faith–with all sorts of issues. God is simple. Jesus is simple and the Gospel is simple.

Come out of the complicated place you have been living and come back to the simplicity of your faith; your first love–the gospel–and His love for you. For Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the House of Bread. It is that simple.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35

We tend to always complicate our lives. Today, return to the simple love of God. He is the Bread of Life. Keep it simple in the simplicity of His love.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Cool Under Fire…

God’s Word tells us what to do when adversity comes. Rejoice! Rejoice in adversity! In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul says that the sign of God’s grace to the Macedonian churches during their most severe trials was this: they had overflowing joy!

They rejoiced in adversity! Now I realize that when you are going through tough times, it is hard to rejoice. It’s hard to rejoice when the IRS audits you. It’s hard to rejoice when you lose your job. But the Bible says to rejoice in all things and consider it pure joy. It is hard to do like walking through deep snow.

But when you come out of it, walking is a breeze, a joy. It’s as if you have more power than you ever did. It’s the same with rejoicing in trouble which causes you to grow stronger. Adversity is like a crash course in growing in the Lord.

It’s intensive training that’s more powerful than a sermon. So today rejoice in the hard times. Rejoice so that when the hard times are over, you will have more strength and more faith. And your faith and your joy will overcome the world.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

Any adversity in your life today is an exercise in pure faith. Draw even closer to the Lord and know He is in control of all things, so stand strong and rejoice.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Stopping The Curser…

Can someone put you under a curse? Can someone practicing witchcraft put a curse on your life even if you are a believer? The answer is yes, but it’s not someone practicing witchcraft or even the evil one.

The person who can put a curse on your life is– you! Remember Balaam who tried to curse Israel, but couldn’t? Yet a curse came upon Israel, but not from the outside, but from Israel itself. When Israel turned away from God and to sin, they were cursed.

Likewise, if you live in sin or in bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, self-centeredness, pride, anxiety, fear, hatred, worldliness or carnality, then you are already putting a curse on your life. So stop any curse by dealing with the real culprit–you! Renounce the sin, the bitterness, the unforgiveness or anything else and turn back to God.

In God there is only blessing. If you dwell in Him, and walk in His light, every weapon formed against you shall not prosper, and will come to nothing. For God is greater than the enemy, and the blessings of salvation are stronger than any curse.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Break away from any unforgiveness, selfish or sinful ways in your life today. Dwell in God’s shining glory. Break the curse and receive His blessings on you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed