Ed Christian's World

The Mystery Of The Malkosh…

In Israel, there are rains called the former and latter rains. One in the spring, the Moreh and the other in the fall, the Malkosh.

In the Bible, rain is often used as the symbol of the Spirit. The Spirit was poured out upon Israel 2,000 years ago on the Day of Pentecost. At that time, Peter quoted from the Book of Joel about the outpouring. In Israel there’s not just one outpouring, there’s a second, the latter rain.

Pentecost was the Moreh, the early rain. There’s another rain coming, the Malkosh. The outpouring always comes to Israel, when the Jewish people repent. The first rain came on Pentecost with 120 Jewish believers.

It changed the world. How much more will the outpouring of the last days of the Malkosh touch the world when the Jewish people return to God. Never stop praying for the salvation of the Jewish people. It’s in their repentance that the rain of the Spirit comes.

Remember this in your own life. It’s after you repent that the rains of blessing will be poured out upon your life. Repent, and He will pour out upon your life the waters of the Malkosh.

Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because he is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before. Joel 2:23

Change your world today. Start by praying for every Jewish man, woman and child to proclaim. Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Heartbeats In Your Tears…

You might have had a lot of tough times in your life – times of trouble, pain, loss, and sorrow. Even though you went through all that, your heart was beating every moment. Your heart was beating so you could cry. Your heart was beating every moment to keep you alive.

When you’re filled with sorrow and trouble, even then your heart is beating to keep you alive. Even for you to be able to cry, your heart is working – because your life is a gift. It means you are alive. Even your tears are borrowed.

To cry them you have to be alive. It’s the gift of life that God has given you. The next time you’re going through a hard time, or a time of trouble, loss, pain or sorrow – stop. Be silent and listen. Your heart is beating.

That’s a gift from God. Your life is precious. There’s a purpose, a calling for your life. In God, even the tears have a purpose. The troubles, in Jesus, will all be turned for good. Stop listening to the problem, and listen to your heartbeat.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 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 8:27-28

Stop and listen during the tough times today. Be still and know that God is ever faithful in your situation, with every heartbeat, keep going and persevere.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Love/Joy Secret…

We have this idea that we get joy, not by being loving, but by being selfish. We think if we’re selfish enough we’ll get everything we want. We’ll look out for ourselves and we’ll be joyful.

Not so. In the end, the more selfish you are, the less joy you have. Jesus has the secret of joy. He says, in John 15:12, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you, that your joy will be full.”

You want joy? Lose yourself in love, in loving another above yourself. Bless freely, forgive freely. There’s no greater joy than giving yourself in love, in the love of God who gave Himself to you.

Not just an occasional act of love, but a heart of love, a life that’s motivated by love, by giving. Turn your heart and your life from living for yourself to living for God.

Because in love there is no fear, no anxiety, and no defeat. Learn Jesus’s love/joy secret. Live a life of love and you’ll end up receiving a life of joy.

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

Today, cultivate a giving, generous, flowing heart – Find a need and fill it. Lose yourself in random acts of love to others and find your joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

A Year Of Joy…

What kind of a year will this New Year be for you? When Jesus began His ministry, He went to the synagogue and read from Isaiah 61.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for He has anointed me to preach the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

What was it about the year that has to do with Jesus’s ministry? When He comes to fulfill the Scripture, it will be the year of the Lord’s favor. Every year He ministers is the “year of the Lord’s favor.”

The word in Hebrew is RATZONE meaning favor, will, pleasure and satisfaction. The year that the Lord wills, takes pleasure in, and is satisfied with is to proclaim this year for His people.

Consecrate this year and commit every part of your life to HIS WILL. And Jesus will give you the anointing to live it. It will become the Year of Ratzone, the Year of the Lord’s Favor … on you!

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Psalm 84:11

Today, seek the favor of God. Commit this year and your life to His will and to always live in His ways.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Surrounded in Nigeria…

A friend of mine told me this story one morning:

We had a flat tire in Nigeria at night and the driver left me in the car alone to get help. I was surrounded by a gang-like crowd of Nigerian men.

One of them said, “You look like a Hebrew. We are Muslims. What do you think of Mohammed?” I am a Jewish believer in Jesus, surrounded by Muslim men, and I need to tell them what I think of Mohammed.

I asked God what to say? I said, “Mohammed says that Jesus is the Messiah and Islam says that Jesus is coming back to reign over the world. So then you must listen to Jesus. He says ‘you must be born again!'”

I expected that to be my last sermon, but they listened. Before I left, the leader asked me to pray for them. They all bowed their heads and I prayed that they would come to the knowledge of salvation and become born again.

I prejudged them as being closed to the gospel. I could have gone with that, held back and hoped to stay alive. How can they come if they do not hear? Keep sharing! He is your hope and their hope, too.

For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Luke 21:15

The battle is the Lord’s. Do not fear the appearance of evil but be bold in sharing the Gospel to those who more desperately need to hear it. Angelic armies are surrounding you!

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Mystery of the Ma’arav…

Micah prophesied that, “one will go forth from you Bethlehem, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.” The Hebrew word for ancient times is kadem, which also means the east or the sunrise.

Jesus’s origins are from the sunrise. He is the Light of the world. If He is from the sunrise, then His destination would be the place of the sunset or the west, which in Hebrew is the ma ‘arav, the sunset place, the going down.

Jesus’s destination was the cross. Where was the crucifixion? It was to the west, the ma’arav of the city. When did He die on the cross? He died as the sun was setting, the ma’arav of the day. In fact, there was a temple sacrifice called the ma’arav, or the sunset sacrifice that was offered up at three o’clock in the afternoon.

Jesus died at three o’clock. Thank God that Jesus is the ma’arav, the sunset sacrifice. This means that the sun has gone down on your sins, your old life, your past, even today’s sins. So be finished with your old life because Jesus, your ma’arav, has come.

You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; Ephesians 4:22-23

Live by the power of the Ma’arav, Jesus’s sunset – the ending. Break away from your old life, today. You are a new creation in Jesus. Your old life is under His blood.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Master of the Magi…

The Magi were from Persia, considered wise men, priests, astrologers. Astrology is condemned in Scripture. God could use anything to speak to them, but why could they connect a star to a Jewish child born as Savior?

When Nebuchadnezzar began taking Jewish people captive to Babylon, among the first captives was Daniel. Daniel correctly interpreted the king’s dream and was made chief over all the wise men. When Persia took over Babylon, Daniel retained that position.

The wise men of Persia were the MAGI, and Daniel was the Hebrew prophet given the exact timetable to the coming of Jesus. He wrote this prophecy down in Babylon, Persia.

While master of the magi, it’s not unlikely that the magi would be aware of this and be waiting for the prophecy to come true.

The Magi were pagans, yet because they searched for Him they found Him. We could learn a lot from them. God wants you to seek Him.

He promises if you do, you will find Him. For those who seek and keep seeking shall find. Their footsteps shall be led to the exact and perfect place.

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29

Today, seek first the Lord and spend time in His presence, let Him lead you to His perfect plan for you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Two Origins Of Micah 5:2…

MICAH 5:2 says, “But you Bethlehem Ephrathah …of the clans of Judah, from you, one shall go forth to Me, who shall be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from ancient times… days of eternity.”

First, Jesus can only be born in Bethlehem; “whose goings forth are from ancient times and in Hebrew, “m’may olam” means “from the days of forever,” “from eternity past”, “from everlasting.”

Who can be from everlasting? No one created being with a beginning, that rules out everyone but One: GOD. In the natural, His goings forth begins in a particular place and time but in the supernatural,

He has no beginning, but is from forever. God calls you to love, to give, to live righteously. Each of these in the natural begins in a specific place and time, so also with you just like Jesus came from Bethlehem.

The love you are to give doesn’t begin with you or at that moment, but comes from ETERNITY- the VERY LOVE OF GOD. Receive Him and He will come to you… from the days of forever.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. John 1:12-13

Let God’s love flow from you that comes from the Eternal Fountain. Let Jesus go forth from you today.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Waterfalls // Psalm 42…

Have you ever noticed how calming a waterfall can be? Grandfather used to tell me that the beauty of a waterfall is you can throw your troubles and fears into it and they will be washed away.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Psalm 42:1-3

All your sins, worries and problems you can lay down before God and He will wash them away. No questions asked, just a total deep love for you.

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng. Psalm 42:4

In essence, this is the Spirit of God reaching deep into the spirit of His children, bypassing all that which would attempt to impede that sweet communion and fellowship God so passionately desires to have with us.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. Psalm 42:5-7

And my prayer unto the God of my life – To God, who has given me life, and who preserves my life. The meaning is, that in the dark night of sorrow and trouble he would not cease to call on God. Feeling that he had given life, and that he was able to sustain and to defend life, he would go to him and supplicate his mercy. He would not allow affliction to drive him from God, but it should lead him the more earnestly and fervently to implore his aid. Afflictions, God’s apparently severe dealings, which it might be supposed would have a tendency to turn people from God, are the very means of leading them to him.

By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:8-9

He is always there, He will not forget you or abandon you. Let us never think that the God of our life, and the Rock of our salvation, has forgotten us, if we have made his mercy, truth, and power, our refuge.

I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?” My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?” Psalm 42:10

Thus the psalmist strove against his despondency: at last his faith and hope obtained the victory. Let us learn to check all unbelieving doubts and fears. Apply the promise first to ourselves, and then plead it to God.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:11

I do not ask for youth, nor for delay
in the rising of time’s irreversible river
that takes the jewelled arc of the waterfall
in which I glimpse, minute by glinting minute,
all that I have and all I am always losing
as sunlight lights each drop fast, fast falling.

I do not dream that you, young again,
might come to me darkly in love’s green darkness
where the dust of the bracken spices the air
moss, crushed, gives out an astringent sweetness
and water holds our reflections
motionless, as if for ever.

It is enough now to come into a room
and find the kindness we have for each other
— calling it love — in eyes that are shrewd
but trustful still, face chastened by years
of careful judgement; to sit in the afternoons
in mild conversation, without nostalgia.

But when you leave me, with your jauntiness
sinewed by resolution more than strength
— suddenly then I love you with a quick
intensity, remembering that water,
however luminous and grand, falls fast
and only once to the dark pool below.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Mystery Of The Sandhedrin…

For 2000 years rabbis have argued against the resurrection of Jesus, saying it never happened. But in the writings of the Talmud, they often use a code name to refer to Yeshua, Jesus.

One code name is Balaam, since they viewed Him as a false prophet who led Israel astray. In Sanhedrin 106:b, it says that this man was put to death and that his age at execution was between 33 and 34 years…just like Jesus.

Now concerning this same man they say, “Whoa! Woe unto him who makes himself alive again by the name of God.” The rabbis are saying that this man, who they thought was a false prophet, made Himself alive again by the name of God. Whoa! What’s going on?

The rabbis are admitting that Yeshua, Jesus was executed, and though He was dead, He became alive again by the name of God. So if the rabbis believe and testify He rose again, how much more must you believe and testify.

How? By living a life that makes even skeptics say, “This is a life that is risen from the dead by the name of God.”

We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. Romans 6:4

Today, live in the power of Jesus, as one who has truly risen from death to life, alive from the dead, to live for the glory of God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed