Ed Christian's World

The Grasshopper…

One of the greatest lessons of faith is that of Joshua, Caleb, and the 10 spies. They went to the promised land to spy it out. Ten of the spies came back saying, “There were giants in the land… and we were like grasshoppers.”

What do we know about grasshoppers? They’re dumb. They jump in almost any direction, even if it’s the worst or most illogical direction to jump in. They’ll even jump into their problem, into a wall.

So when you don’t walk by faith, as the ten spies didn’t walk by faith, you end up thinking and acting like a grasshopper. Without faith, you just look at the giant, at the problem, and you beat your head against the wall.

You might be stuck in the past, dealing with the same problem and acting the same way to solve it. Stop dwelling on that giant. Stop dwelling on your past and the darkness.

Live by faith. Focus on the promises of God. If you live by faith, the giants will stop being giants, the problems will stop being problems , and you will stop living like a grasshopper.

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly, I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” – Matthew 17:20

Every time you start to feel discouraged, or inadequate, or unable to declare to yourself and the world that you can do anything with God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Treasures Of The Tent…

The Israelites had to build a tabernacle so that God’s presence would dwell with them. They were to build it using their own costly possessions and materials – their treasures.

We want to have a good relationship and walk with God, to know Him and be in His presence, but so often we’re careless. We give God leftovers of our time and wonder why we don’t have the kind of walk and life we should. Learn from the tabernacle.

God would only dwell in a tabernacle made of costly things. Knowing God and dwelling with God will cost you, but it’s worth it. It’ll cost you to have a glorious life, but the treasure is without price.

We must treasure our time with God, make Him the most precious thing in your day. Treasure God’s presence and the time you spend with Him- let it cost you. Give up things for it, your costly things.

You’ll have a true tabernacle, and God’s glory and presence will dwell with you and your life. You give Him your best, and God will do the same for you. For His best is what He’s done already.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6

What costly thing in your life can you give up in order to be with God – a television show? Time on the internet, entertainment, and indulgence? Give that time instead to the Lord, to use to be in His presence.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Evil Witness of God…

Atheists and skeptics argue, “If there’s a God, how could there be all this evil in the world? If there’s evil in the world, there can’t be a loving God.” The truth is exactly the opposite. Evil doesn’t speak against God, it speaks against the world.

You couldn’t know evil without good. If there was no God or good, the evil would not cause a conflict. So they’re actually arguing for God. In the same way, when you see evil in the world, you have to look beyond it to God.

Things may be going wrong and you may be dealing with all sorts of wrong and evil things, but don’t get discouraged with God. It’s just one more thing pointing you away from the world, away from trusting in people or anything else, and pointing you to trust only in God.

Get your eyes off the world, off the people, off your problem, off yourself. Depend on and rejoice in the only One that will never fail you, never leave you, and never falter. God is different from this world and everything else – That’s why He’s God.

For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Let every bad or challenging experience today and every wrong lead you to what is good – and closer to God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Kill The Vision…

God showed Simon Peter a vision of unclean and unkosher food and said, “Arise and kill.” But it was a vision. How can you kill a vision? It’s profound. For God was killing a vision in Peter’s life, bringing an old vision to an end.

The old vision isn’t big enough, the view is too small, and it has to be broken and die because something bigger is to be born. God ended Peter’s narrowness of vision and purpose that could only be contained in Israel so that he could have a new vision that would encompass the world.

Change begins with a new vision- and the old vision has to die. Maybe God’s asking you to kill an old vision, an old attitude, dream, plan, or hope so that He can do a new thing in your life. Let the old ways die and embrace the new.

Open your heart, enlarge your tent, and lift up your eyes. God’s ways are greater than yours. His plans are better. God has something bigger – a vision as big as the world and bigger, but it all begins when you arise and kill the old and too small vision.

Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19

What hopes have died in your life. Seek God for hope, a vision, a dream, that is from Him, and that is greater.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Power of The Good Heart…

Proverbs 15:15 says, “All the days of the downcast are bad. But a good heart has a never ending banquet.” In other words – it’s not the days that make your life or your heart – it’s your heart that makes your days.

Your life is not made by what’s around you – your circumstances, situation, what you have or have not, money, success, marriage, or a big house. You can have all of that and be miserable.

Your situation doesn’t make your heart, your heart makes your situation. You just need a good heart. It is that heart that will have a beautiful life. A loving heart is going to have grace and give thanks. You may not be able to change your surroundings, but you can change your heart.

Change your heart from depressed to cheerful, thankful, peaceful, and giving. And your life will become a never-ending banquet with blessings and abundance.

The secret of having a successful life isn’t success, money, fame, relationships, or anything else – It’s as simple as a good heart.

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:15

Today, focus not on your circumstances but on your heart. Seek in all things to have a good heart, positive, thankful, praising, and blessing.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Mission World…

Imagine missionaries going to New Guinea. They’re there to love the cannibals. Things are tough and the native peoples are against them, but they keep rejoicing. One day, two tribesmen hit them with rocks and the missionaries forget that they’re missionaries. It’s no longer a mission field- it’s home.

That’s exactly how it is for most believers. They treat the world as home and forget that it’s really a mission field. Most believers live their lives as missionaries with amnesia. We forget that we’re here on a mission and think that we’re here to survive or get by, to get the most out of it, to fit in, be successful, or impress people.

We care what people think of us. But we’re not here for that. We’re here to give and be a witness and to shine our lights into the darkness. Stop trying to fit in with the cannibals to become a successful cannibal.

Wake up! You’re not at home, and you’re not hanging out. You’re here to bless. This is your mission field! So get on with your mission. Everything else is just a bad case of amnesia.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 1 Chronicles 16:24

Live today as if everywhere you went was your mission field. Fulfill your mission.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

Resurrection and The Hidden Scrolls…

Luke records Jesus reading from Isaiah 61, saying, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.” He also speaks about raising the dead. But if you look in the Old Testament, at Isaiah 61, you won’t see anything in those verses about raising the dead.

But then came the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In scroll 4Q521 is a quote from Isaiah 61. And it says this: “He will heal the sick, resurrect the dead, and announce good news to the poor.”

It’s amazing. It speaks of the resurrection – with the same words as in the Gospel of Luke. The Dead Sea Scrolls are confirming the amazing accuracy of the New Testament – and also reminding us that Jesus truly has the power to heal us, not just our bodies, but our lives.

He has the power to take what’s dead and make it come alive again. Hopeless dreams, broken promises, impossible situations, and messed up lives can become blessings in Jesus.

It’s in the scriptures and the Dead Sea Scrolls; let it be part of your life. In that blessing is the power to raise the dead.

Now about the dead rising—have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?

Turn over that impossible situation to Jesus today and trust Him to bring life from death.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Fuel Of Love…

Jesus told the Pharisees, “He who is forgiven much, loves much. He who has been forgiven little, loves little”. We’re all separated, infinitely distant from God and we infinitely need His infinite forgiveness.

It’s not a matter of who’s sinned more or less. The one who loves more is the one who realizes how much they’ve been forgiven of – and who receives it.

The Pharisee , whom Jesus spoke these words, didn’t believe that he had much to be forgiven for. Most believers fall into this. And when one believes one has not been forgiven much, one will love little, rejoice little, and glorify God little.

But those who know their sin and the price that was paid for their sins know that without God, there is nothing. They’ll have joy and love throughout their lives and will live all out for God.

You have been forgiven much – an eternity of judgment. That’s enough for you to become a person who loves, forgives, rejoices, and lives much- all out because Jesus has done all that. That’s enough for you to live a life full of loving, rejoicing, and glorifying the Lord.

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, Acts 3:19

Take time today to ponder how greatly you were forgiven in Jesus – and what that means for your life. Now apply that to your life and to everyone around you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Menorah People…

Israel’s symbol is the menorah, a seven-branched lamp stand- the lamp that stood in the Holy Place, filled with oil and was kept burning by the priests.

Israel was called to be a light to the nations, a holy vessel filled with God’s oil, shining with His light, the light of His presence, and His salvation.

The Word of God says that if you’re born again, you are a fellow citizen of Israel. God’s nation is called to be a light to the world, and every citizen is called to be a light to those around it. So the menorah, the lamp stand, is the symbol of your nation, your citizenship, and your life.

But that lamp could not be a light on its own power. On its own, it was empty. It needed to be filled with the oil and the fire. In the same way, in order to be a light, you need to get filled and refilled every day.

Get filled with the oil of His Spirit, joy of His presence, bread of His Word, and fire of His will. Be the light you were called to be and shine at all times, in all things, and to all people. It’s your calling… and your heritage.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill can not be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Commit that today you will not be overcome by any darkness – but you will shine the light of God into it.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

The God Of All Places…

Israel has the Mediterranean seashore, the mountains that surround Jerusalem, and everything in between. This is amazing; small countries usually don’t have all this. They might be all desert like Yemen or all mountains like Tibet.

Israel is the ‘Every Land.’ People worshiped gods of the mountains, desert, sea, and farmland. But the God of Israel was, and is, different. He’s not just the God of the mountains but also of the valleys. Not just of the fertile plains, but also of the wilderness, He’s the God of every land.

And so it is in your life. God is not just the God of the good times. He’s not just there when your emotions are high, He’s the God of the low times as well.

His love is just as present in the valley. He’s God of mountains and the valleys, the abundant and the poor, the fertile and the dry, the God of every land, every circumstance, and every moment.

And He’ll be with you in every landscape of your life. He’s the every land God . . . You be His every land follower.

You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth, and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:6

Today, in every place you go, praise God. In every circumstance and situation, praise God. And in every challenge and problem, praise God.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed