ed rea
Pastor Ed Rea has been the senior pastor of The Packinghouse Christian Fellowship in Redlands, California for more than two decades. You can hear and watch his teaching by web cast on the church web site at www.thepackinghouse.org or at www.hischannel.com. Ed spent thirteen years as senior biochemist in hospital clinical laboratories as well as five years as a research biochemist with a major pharmaceutical company. He has studied and served throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East sharing the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Ed Rea
Humanity is notoriously forgetful. It is a rare person who frequently remembers the importance of the commitments they have made to others, especially to those they care deeply about. So setting aside a time to remember our vows becomes a guidepost in life. Here in Deuteronomy 26, the people were remembering that they had committed to follow the LORD. From a New Testament believers’ perspective, we can remember the moment we asked for forgiveness and surrendered to God’s Lordship over our lives. Our re-birthday comes once a year, every year, and it serves to remind us of our vow to God, to follow Him and serve Him as long as we breathe. Today as we read these verses, let’s remember that vow again. -Ed Rea; Daily Devotions; 3.13.23
Ed Rea
Since God said one day, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11), we can all be certain that sooner or later we will bow our knee to God the Son. The decision is ours whether we will bow now, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord, or bow later, when we are called before His judgment seat. Bowing today will bring forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life. But waiting until that later date, when we bow because we are forced to do so, will not result in any eternal benefits. So wisdom cries out that every thinking person do it now. -Pastor Ed Rea
Ed Rea Files
God appointed Jeroboam to rule over northern Israel, promising him: “if you heed all that I command you, walk in My ways, and do what is right in My sight . . . then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house” (1 Kings 11:38). But Jeroboam didn’t walk with God, and his apostate religion caused the eventual downfall of the 10 northern tribes. However, we will see that God Almighty was very patient and slow to anger, and the downfall was still years away.
There is an important lesson here for us concerning God’s patience. We must be careful not to mistake God’s patience as God looking the other way. We might be tempted to think that God is ignoring our sin or accepting it in our lives. But in reality God is simply giving us time to turn from our sin and repent, time to give our lives back to Him. --Ed Rea; Packinghouse Redlands; 7.16.23
There is an important lesson here for us concerning God’s patience. We must be careful not to mistake God’s patience as God looking the other way. We might be tempted to think that God is ignoring our sin or accepting it in our lives. But in reality God is simply giving us time to turn from our sin and repent, time to give our lives back to Him. --Ed Rea; Packinghouse Redlands; 7.16.23
Ed Rea
Peter meant every word of his bold declaration of faithfulness. But he didn’t realize he was being completely self-sufficient in that moment and was leaning on his own abilities to resist fear and temptation. And within a very short time, under the pressures surrounding the crucifixion, he folded and denied even knowing Jesus, 3 times. Of course Jesus was well aware of Peter’s flaws, even on the first day He called him to be His disciple. He also knew that this blustering disciple had a tender heart, so He extended grace to him. The first thing God instructed the angel to say after the resurrection was, “go and tell His disciples—and Peter—that He [Jesus] is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him” (Mark 16:7). How good those words must have sounded to this radically discouraged disciple: “and Peter.” We serve the God of the second chance, the God of another opportunity, and the God of great grace. In John 21, after His resurrection, Jesus asked Peter a penetrating question, giving him the opportunity to reaffirm his love for Jesus. Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” (John 21:17) The question must have pierced Peter’s heart and caused him pain. The word of God does sometimes wound us so that we can admit, repent, and receive forgiveness. It is like a surgeon’s scalpel that must cut into the flesh so that it can remove some foreign cancer. When the surgery is done, when we obey, we immediately find grace available for healing and restoration. When we feel conviction, we need to not run from it but toward it. Great grace awaits the disciple who runs into the arms of his Savior.
--Ed Rea; Packinghouse Redlands; 6.24.22
--Ed Rea; Packinghouse Redlands; 6.24.22
Ed Rea
"Satan used 3 kinds of temptation against Jesus, and he still uses the same ones against all believers to this day. The first is the temptation to do it by yourself. The second is the temptation to take the easy way, the way of least resistance. And the third is the temptation to not believe it until you see it. "--Ed Rea 2.15.22
Ed Rea
The writer of Hebrews quotes God’s promise from Jeremiah 31:33, that His new covenant will be much different from the old one. The new covenant is one that works from the inside out, as God implants His thoughts and desires into our hearts. The old covenant worked from the outside in, meaning it consisted of a list of dos and don’ts that pointed out the failings of carnal man, but didn’t change man in any way. It provided a mirror that convicted the humble and sometimes even moved the rebel to sin more. --Ed Rea; Daily Devotions