How Are We Redeeming the Time?

Re-post of Episode 4 from 2025 "Redeeming the Time"

Today I'll be sharing a sample of my "Questions for Life".  It comes from a variety of questions I wrote for myself back in 2019, but highlighting the most important area of my life, "How is my relationship with the Lord?"    

Within that, how I am receiving "correction and training in righteousness"?  Whether it's from God's Word, or directly through another sister or brother in the Lord - am I willingly and humbly receiving?

Health tip/encouragment for this week :)

Take one-step-at-a-time in your health journey 💁🏽‍♀️

Transcript

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Ephesians five verses eleven to sixteen And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret but all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Greetings, sisters in Christ and any brothers as well. Welcome to Word and Walk Podcast, Episode 4. As we meditate and glean on God's infallible word, let's take care of these bodies the Lord has given us. As we take care of our physical, ultimately we must remember to feed, nurture, and exercise our spiritual above all else. When that is cared for, everything below that will fall into place. Let us seek the Lord, resting in his will, knowing he will accomplish all that concerns us in his perfect time and perfect way. So once in a while I'm going to be sharing a slightly different episode from our normal series as we've been going through Psalm 139 together in a series called Fearfully and Wonderfully Made. And for this week we'll be doing a little more of a topical episode, and today we'll be looking into the verses I read in the intro today, and we'll be asking the question How are we redeeming the time? So let's reread the verses. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them. For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret, but all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, Awake, sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time because the days are evil. Back in twenty nineteen I began to think more on this area of my life, asking myself, how am I redeeming the time? It was around that time I started to become more aware of significant events happening in the world. The clock continues to tick, most days pass by quite quickly, it seems, and this reality caused me to think more on how I was spending my time. I began to write questions to ask myself. I titled it Questions for Life, with the subtitle What are my goals? It includes various topics of life, the first and foremost being How is my relationship with the Lord? Questions like this would be wonderful conversation starters with someone close to you. For you ladies, it could be your mom, sister, spouse, or a sister in Christ, just to name a few. Sometimes it requires another person to observe our attitude and character. And for myself it's definitely a humbling experience to ask someone who knows me well what they think my strengths and weaknesses are, but it's certainly a very important thing for our growth and maturity, and the Lord first and foremost, and then as we mingle and interact with our family and friends and those around us. Before anyone else we ought to go to the Lord in prayer with these questions. He may answer our prayer by using that other person close to you to give a tap on the shoulder and expose something we need to address, change or make right. You can probably relate with me. It isn't always easy to be corrected or called on something that needed to be exposed, but sometimes we need that spur in our sides to humble us. Psalm nineteen verse twelve says acquit me of hidden faults in Psalm fifty one verse two, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. I'd like to share a sample of the questions I wrote, and you're welcome to write them down or share them with whoever you'd like. Also, if you would like to receive all the questions, feel free to reach out to me and I'd love to send them to you. And you can personalize them as much or little as you like. So here's a sample of the some of the first few questions that I wrote. Number one Am I with the Lord's strength and forgiveness putting on the full armor of God, destroying speculations and every lofty thing raced up against a knowledge of God, and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ? And that was from Second Corinthians chapter ten. Number two Am I laying aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles me and running with endurance the race that is set before me? And that's from Hebrews chapter twelve. Number three, how do I respond when I am confronted with something I have done that is contrary to the character of Christ and his word? Am I willing to be corrected and make it right without any time going by? Or do I dwell on it with a self-centered attitude and become down and depressed? And see Psalm chapter forty two verse eleven. four. How do I plan my day, week, month, and year? Does it involve more than just what I want to do? We are all in different seasons of our lives, but God never changes. Regardless of the things you do that are seen or not seen, may we do it all to the glory of God. Whether then you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. No one is excluded in this. This is for all the Lord's children. What a blessing to serve God together. Jesus says in John sixteen thirty three, Take courage, I have overcome the world. He also said, In this world you will have tribulation, that's the first part of that verse. But we're to take courage, for he has overcome the world. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. Let us faithfully abide in Christ, moment by moment, day by day, and let us inspire our brothers and sisters in Christ to do the same. When we abide in him, we will bear much fruit. And please read John fifteen verses four to eleven. Jesus talks about pruning us and that he is the vine dresser, and we are the branches. We need the pruning. You gardeners know well that when you prune your plants and trees, that might they might look a little sad at first, but in the long run they will bear much more fruit and beautiful fruit. And for this portion of the episode today, I'd like to close with reading from one of my favorite books by Elizabeth Elliot called Keep a Quiet Heart. And this is a quote that she includes in one of the chapters from an out-of-print book called The Life and Letters of Janet Erkson Stewart. And I really appreciate this, and you'll see how it relates to what we were talking about today in redeeming the time and self-searching of how we're using our time and does it involve more than just what I want, what I want to do, my plans, my goals? Which certainly there's many good goals that we have, but are we including others? Are we praying about every single plan and decision and dream, laying it in the Lord's hands, holding it with open hands, allowing him to give and take as he wills? So here is the quote from the book, and this is an assistant of Janet Erkson Stewart says of her, of Janet, and I quote, she delighted in seeing her plan upset by unexpected events, saying that it gave her great comfort, and that she looked on such things as an assurance that God was watching over her stewardship, was securing the accomplishment of his will, and working out his own designs. Whether she traced the secondary causes to the prayer of a child, to the imperfection of an individual, to obstacles arising from misunderstandings, or to the interference of outside agencies, she was joyfully and graciously ready to recognize the indication of God's ruling hand and to allow herself to be guided by it. Isn't that an amazing inspiration and example to follow? That lady wanted God's will so much that even obstacles and misunderstandings and unexpected events did not hinder her faith. She thanked the Lord for them, as it says in 1 Thessalonians. And that includes the hard things as well. So let's be encouraged. All this I'm speaking to myself as well. So let's run this race together and remember how important it is to encourage each other in the Lord, leading and directing one another to God and to his word above anything else, and upholding one another in prayer is also a wonderful blessing and encouragement to everyone. So for my little health tip or encouragement for this week can be applied to many different areas of life, but in this realm of health and wellness, is simply to take one step at a time, one rep at a time. If you're not used to eating healthy, it could be adding one healthy God-made food to your meals each day, swapping out one unhealthy thing with a healthy thing each day, or starting with one push-up and tomorrow doing two instead of one and slowly increasing. Any step, even if it's a baby step, is a step. Sometimes it might feel like two steps forward, one step back, but keep praying through every decision you make in your health and wellness. Do not leave God out of your health journey. Be encouraged and be encouraged by the little steps. And praise the Lord for all the victories and even through the failures or feeling like everything is at a halt. Don't give up. Remember the verse that I quoted before that this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. He teaches us something through every circumstance, even if it may feel like a failure. So that's my reminder for you this week to take it one step at a time, one day at a time, praying through it, praising the Lord through it, that God is with you, He'll never leave nor forsake you. In closing, let's read the last verse in the book of Jude. To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. And until next time, keep being in the word and keep walking, and God bless you.