Ed Christian's World

Today If You Hear…

Hebrews says, “Today if you hear.” Today is the present. The word present refers to time and space. In space, the present is that which is here. In time, the present is that which is now. Time and space come together in the presence of the present.

People often live their lives dwelling on the past, what was or what was done to them, or on the future, what they’re striving for- working two jobs, neglecting God, family, and the rest of their lives.

Never stopping or taking the blessings of God now, never relating to God now in the present. If you don’t live in the present, you’re going to be living in the ab-sent, with your mind always on other things.

You’ll be absent from your loved ones – wife or husband, children, parents, and God. If you don’t live in the present, neither will you live in His presence. So stop living in the absence and start living a present life.

God is a very present God, a very present help in time of trouble. His presents are only found in His presence in the present now.

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, ‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness.’ Psalm 95:7-8

Spend time in the present and in the presence of God and your loved ones.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always

Ed

The Power Of The Fallow…

Believers talk about going back to the Book of Acts – God’s Spirit pouring out miracles and power. Why was it so powerful? The Book of Acts was to 100% fallow ground-ground that hadn’t been touched, to people and a world that had never before heard the gospel.

The gospel was going to people and places it had never gone before. It was virtually 100% evangelism and discipleship, new territory, and new soil. That’s why there was conflict, fighting, beating, persecutions, and slander – the light was coming into the darkness for the first time.

The seed of the gospel was being cast as never before to those living in darkness and paganism. But that’s also why it was so powerful. Fallow ground produces the greatest harvest.

So start going out to the world, the unsaved, bringing God’s love to the lost, getting out of your house of worship and bringing the gospel to those who need it – to those who don’t agree, don’t follow, and don’t know.

When you start doing that, there’ll be rejection, struggles, and battles, but there will also be miracles, salvation, and the Book of Acts.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age. Matthew 28:19-20

Today, go out to fallow ground. Apply the Gospel to the unreached and unsaved people around you and to the untouched places of your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Chosen Love…

Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me?” In the tale, “Fiddler on the Roof,” Tevia echoes this to his wife after 25 years of an arranged marriage, “Do you love me?” She eventually says, “Yes, I suppose I do.”

Marriages back then were not like today. They were arranged by the parents. There was no romance, infatuation, or head-over-heels emotion. They were just told this is the one. For most of human history, those marriages survived more than marriages of modern times because they were based on commitment.

When you base love on feeling, love becomes fleeting because feelings come and go. You don’t always feel like loving, you choose to. If you are married, it doesn’t matter whether you feel love or not- you have a commitment, a covenant. Love them because you choose to love.

God doesn’t just love you when He feels like it, He made a covenant with you, and it’s an arranged marriage. We’re never commanded to ‘feel’ like loving God. We’re commanded to love Him regardless, with our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Why? Because that’s just what love is.

For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. Isaiah 54:5

Today, practice voluntary love, conscious chosen love. Make the choice to choose to love those you are to love, especially your loved ones.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Practice of Weaning…

Psalm 131:2 says, “I have quieted my soul as a weaned child.” A weaned child is finished with its mother’s milk and not crying for it anymore. So in order to receive from God, you have to wean your soul.

When you first take a child away from its mother’s milk, it cries, but then becomes weaned and at peace. It’s the same way with us and the world; we tend to get attached to it and have to wean ourselves from it.

You need to take time away from the noise- radio, internet, business, chores, and even from doing things for the Lord- just to be in His presence, to quiet your soul so you can rest and receive from Him.

The more time you spend in God’s presence, the more weaned you’ll be from the temptations of this world- what people think of you, the lusts, the dependencies, the emotional ups and downs– and you’ll be blessed.

Turn off the distractions, stop dwelling on issues, and draw near to the presence of the Lord. Be quiet, be at peace, and be blessed – just like a weaned child.

Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:1-2

Take time today to practice weaning your soul, your desires, your mind, your heart from distractions and attachments. Spend time in His presence and receive from Him.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The World Beyond The End…

Peter stands atop a house by the sea in Joppa praying, surrounded by the wind and smell of the ocean. This is where he has the vision saying that the Gentiles are to be saved too.

If you’re not Jewish, then today you’re saved through that vision. God had to bring Peter to Joppa, to the end of Israel, to the shore – the end of everything he knew – so He could bring him something new.

So, too, God brings us to the end of things to bring us to the beginning of something new. We have to come to the end of ourselves to know the beginning of what God has for us. God’s child has to believe beyond the end. Do you have something ending in your life?

Then, believe beyond the barrier, beyond the limit, or the hopelessness. When it seems that it’s impossible, then believe beyond the end.

Don’t fear coming to the end, because in God, every end is the beginning of something new, something greater, and your life will be like that of Simon Peter. In God, every Joppa leads to the beginning of the world.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

Do you see an ending in your life, a barrier, a finishing? Believe beyond the end and look for the new beginning that God has for you.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Anointing of Your Tears…

A woman weeps at Jesus’s feet and wipes them with her hair. Where did those tears come from? She was a sinner – rejected and condemned by people all around who looked down upon her.

She probably looked down upon herself until all her wounds and pain became the tears coming out at Jesus’s feet, washing and anointing them. He tells her she did well, and her sins, which are many, are forgiven, but He rebukes the Pharisee who didn’t wash His feet.

The wounds, rejections, pain, scars, and life of this sinful woman have turned into the anointing of Jesus’s feet. Everyone on this planet has pain and disappointments. Wherever you are, when you give it to Jesus; it changes, and all those things become redeemed.

Pour out your heart before the presence of God like water and your sins that are scarlet will become white as snow. God can redeem your past.

Don’t keep it to yourself – let it touch His feet and anoint Him. Bring it all to Him and let it flow. Because it’s holy to wash the feet of Jesus with the tears of your heart.

A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.” Luke 7:37-39

Pour out your heart to the Lord today and let your tears anoint His feet.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

Friday Through Sundays Eyes…

Why is Good Friday called Good Friday? It’s the day of Jesus’s death. It is good because He was dying for our sins. But it didn’t seem good at the time. It seemed to be a horrible Friday. The disciples were crushed, broken, confused, in mourning, vanquished and hopeless.

Everything was finished. But then came Sunday. Good Friday is good in view of Sunday morning. And in this is a secret of living. Don’t see things solely through today’s eyes, but through the eyes of tomorrow.

Because God promises that for those who love Him, He’s going to work all things for good. It doesn’t matter what you’re going through now, Sunday morning is coming and it’s going to turn around.

Before you see it, thank God for the solution. Learn the secret of seeing things in your life now through the eyes of heaven, through the finished work, when all that’s now- your good, your bad, your problems, your troubles- is going to be turned into perfect good.

Thank God for your situation, and it too will become a Good Friday. And it’s a Good Friday through the eyes of Sunday morning.

He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ Luke 24:6-7

Look at all things today through heavenly eyes to the resurrection. Through every trial, hold onto Sunday morning.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Radical Anti-tree…

In the Garden of Eden there was a living tree- the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And from this tree came death. On the mountain of Jerusalem, there stood another tree with no roots, branches, leaves, or fruit – The Cross.

It was a dead tree, yet, no tree has ever produced so much life or been so fruitful. From a living tree came death and from a dead tree comes life, salvation, redemption, and all the blessings of fruitfulness.

Do not despise the way of the cross. Though it seems hard, sorrowful, and of death- more fruit comes out of living and walking in its way than any other way. The ways of this world may look alive, but they end up bearing the fruit of death.

The way of the Cross- sacrifice, selflessness, living by faith and not sight, righteousness, and service to God- looks hard. But remember, it’s not just a cross, it’s a tree.

Those who live under the shadow of this tree will not regret it but will find life – a life that is filled with fruitfulness, joy, and blessings.

This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 1 Timothy 2:3

Spend time today meditating on the way of the cross, and then take up your cross and follow Him.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Centurion Of Israel..

Jesus blessed and brought a miracle into the life of a centurion. Out of the many centurions stationed in Israel, this one loved the Jewish people, not just with his heart but with his deeds. He blessed Israel and built them a synagogue.

God promises to bless the people who bless Israel. This is one of the surest promises that you can ever read from 4000 years ago until now. The greatest way to bless them, aside from prayer, is to share Jesus with them. Most Jewish people don’t know Jesus.

But as a centurion built them a house of worship, you can do the same by helping them come to worship God in Jesus, praying for the peace of Jerusalem, loving them, standing with Israel, and giving them the greatest gift.

Give the gift of salvation to them by sharing the Gospel with your Jewish friends or by giving to ministries that do. Do you want to be blessed? Be like this centurion and bless Israel.

Help them to come to God in worship by coming to Jesus. Give them the Gospel, and you will be as blessed as the blessed centurion.

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 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 12:1-3

Today, in some way, bless the Jewish people. Pray for their salvation, give to ministries touching them, or however you can, bless a Jewish person.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed

The Full Moon Redemption…

Hebrew months are lunar, beginning on the new moon. Jesus died on Passover, which is in the middle of the month, meaning that He died during the time of a full moon.

The full moon wasn’t a scary thing to the Hebrews, but beautiful. Because it spoke of fullness and fulfillment – just as Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment. He fulfills all emptiness and makes all things full to those who have accepted Him.

How did the moon become full at the time of His death? Not by trying to do anything but simply by reflecting the light of the sun. How do we become full? It’s not by trying to become more than we are, but by reflecting the light of God.

Just as the moon was made to reflect the sun, we’re made to reflect His glory. Let the light of God shine from you, touching every part of your life, emotions, secret things, talents, and dreams.

As it’s written, “We, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of God, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as from the Lord.”

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill can not be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Let your light shine for all to see that you reflect Jesus. Let God use you to the fullness of His glory as He touches your life.

Walk daily with God at your side!

Love always,

Ed