"Redeem The Time For The Days Are Evil"

Oh, how I wish that my spirit would wake me up in the middle of the night bringing tidings of joy and good news for mankind! Instead, I am once again being awakened with a deep sense of urgency to warn my fellow Believers that how we spend our time from this moment forward is more important than ever. 

I don't have to tell you that we are in a battle for our nation and our very lives. Because the building blocks of our national DNA are freedom and liberty, we instinctively know we are losing the foundation that is necessary for our continued development, purpose, and growth. And if you've paid any amount of attention during the last three or four years, then you know that our God-created DNA is under attack, too.

Just reading the headlines today is enough to send some into a downward spiral of fear and despair ... increased military action is threatened in the Middle East as the leaders of Israel, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey are beating the drums of war; Venezuela is descending into utter chaos after "sham" election; Russia is training its troops for nuclear war; UK warns of elevated risk of new pandemic of "bird flu"; the German economy is on the verge of collapse, bringing into view David Wilkerson's prophecy that Germany would be first, followed by Japan, and then the U.S.; the Western food supply is diminishing... 

I don't write this out of ignorance that the Battle is the Lord's, and the ultimate victory is ours. And I definitely am not fear-mongering to deliberately arouse alarm among my fellow countrymen and brethren in Christ. Rather, I am writing to encourage everyone to harken upon the words of the Apostle Paul when he tells us in Ephesians 5:14-16, to "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you and give you light". He goes on to tell us to "redeem the time, because the days are evil". 

So, I am talking to those Christians who have convinced themselves that they don't need to worry or do anything during these dark days because Jesus has promised He will not abandon us, and we just need to trust in Him to take care of everything. But He never said we would be free of the consequences of Satan's dark kingdom on earth. In fact, He warned us of the evil things to come! And for those nonbelievers who are still mired in their normalcy bias and think nothing can ever defeat us because "we're America and we'll always be on top" -- look around you! I'm talking to you, too! 

The Bible tells us that Satan is "the god of this world" and he has been very successful in deceiving the masses and recruiting humanity to rebel against all righteousness. There is a global war in the spiritual realms as Satan and his demons bring increasing rage against those who belong to Christ. They know their time is running short because God is exposing their lies and schemes; Our Almighty God is ripping off the blindfolds and dirty veils of those who have been unable [or unwilling] to see His Truth, and He is revealing the works of those who are in league with Satan and his anti-Christ agenda. But the Light of Christ is shining brightly on their wicked deeds! Are you beginning to see the strategies of the Evil One to form an alliance with unholy men and claim masses of people as his victims, bringing them into utter destruction and eternal torment? Are you ready to redeem the time remaining to us?     

If so, what does it mean for us to "redeem the time"? There's lots for us to consider, and Paul gives wise counsel in that Ephesians 5 passage. For too long, we just groped our way through the mess Satan was creating, compromising our moral standards, and thinking our religious prayers were going to save us. But now that Jesus has shined His Light on the wickedness and perversion, we should see plainly our way forward. So let's redeem the time we've lost -- let's make the most of it and be constantly aware that the clock is ticking! Yes, I believe Jesus is close to returning, but because we don't know the day or the hour, we need to figure out what He wants us to be doing until He makes His appearance .. and then do it!

Speaking for myself, I don't want to waste my time on the useless, shallow things of this world... the barren pursuits that don't produce any fruit for His Kingdom. Maybe it's because I am advancing in years and know my time is short, so I want to be intentional with my time, carefully watching my thoughts, my words, and my deeds to make sure I am not only preparing the way for Him, but can stand before Him with as little regret as possible. I want to be in constant touch with the Holy Spirit, conscious of His every word of knowledge that can give me the wisdom, understanding, and discernment as to how I can rise up in my own righteous Might and help others to do the same. 

I want to commit every day to looking for the opportunities the Lord gives me to glorify Him. I want to sing His praises, worship Him by studying His Word, and share all the goodness and mercy He has bestowed on me through my salvation. I want to educate people by spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom; that He came the first time to restore dominion of the earth back to us so that we might walk in power and authority from our Father in Heaven to reclaim His Creation from the Usurper and Thief. And I want to become better at loving my neighbor, praying for my enemies, and taking care of the poor. I want to spend my time healing people [physically, emotionally, and spiritually] -- seeing people set free from disease, demons, and their own sins.

And I am suiting up in my Spiritual Armor, tearing down the strongholds and demonic structures in the spiritual realms that have enslaved so much of humanity. Redeeming our time here on earth means we regain possession of all that Jesus has given us -- dominion, salvation, power, authority, righteousness, peace, prosperity, wisdom, love for others, eternity with Him, and Heavenly treasure. In the end, our days "pass away like smoke", and "like a passing shadow". We are here for what seems like a breath, and then we are gone. It is urgently important that we make the most of every opportunity we have in our remaining time. Our Heavenly Father is shouting from Heaven with a wake-up call for those who can hear in the Spirit. Do you hear it? The hour is late for both our nation and the world... For those who are called by His Name, it is time to be wise and understand the will of the Father and His Son. 

We have the spiritual weapons to win because we have the Strength of the Lord on our side. Let us each redeem our remaining time here on earth by doing the Father's will -- here, as it is in Heaven. Let us do all that is Good, all that is Right, and all that is True! Unmask Evil and its fraudulent disguises, exposing its ugliness to the Light of Christ! Understand what pleases Christ and then just go do it! These are desperate times for the world. Don't waste another minute of it!

1 John 2:17      The world is passing away, and it, its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever. 

Ten Years Later: Why The Purpose Has Not Changed!

It's hard for me to believe, but it has been ten years since my spirit heard a prompting from the Lord to begin this blog. Over 2,220,000 people have read 2,303 posts since I began this journey with the Holy Spirit. I know that is small potatoes compared to the "big boys", but for this average American woman, who just wanted to speak to people [like me] who were concerned about the state of our nation, I am still amazed that people might be interested in what I have to say. 

And actually you need to know it hasn't all come from me. From the beginning, the purpose of this blog was to show women [and eventually men would find their way to this site, too] that they weren't alone in their fears and doubts about the direction in which we saw our country headed. So, I wrote about whatever the Holy Spirit prompted me to say -- I researched timely topics, discerned red flags that indicated our foundation was shifting, and heard the importance of taking a good hard look at the condition of our faith.

The one thing I knew for certain was this: no matter what current event, issue, or concern I was writing about, I wanted to always point people back to the Word of God, so each post ended with a verse from the Bible that would cause people to meditate on the message I was trying to convey and find God there. I knew people were searching for answers to the changing undercurrent in our lives, and I knew God was the key to encouraging them, emboldening them, and turning their uncertainties into knowledge and action in their lives. I wanted to make people think outside their "normalcy bias" and see our world from God's perspective, not just our human desires and self-gratification. And as I look back on where the Holy Spirit has taken me, it's not surprising to see a pattern develop throughout these posts that I believe foreshadowed where we find ourselves today.

From the beginning, I wanted people to understand the importance of our history -- the history of our nation, our families, and our faith -- because if this nation was to survive beyond the average age of most empires (250 years), then we must safeguard these important elements of our history, lest they erode and be replaced by another system that changed our national identity. Americans, by definition, are liberty-loving, independent, industrious; living self-determined lives where the poor can become wealthy, there is no limit to what the uneducated are allowed to learn, and men and women have the freedom to go as far in society as their hard work can take them. I remember one of the first times my husband and I were part of an exhibition where artisans from across the country set up their booths to sell their creations. On the last day of the event, when everyone was tearing down booths, and packing up trailers to leave, I was overwhelmed with all the commerce I saw before me, and thought, "This really is the land of opportunity! Anyone can start a business and make of it what he will! No one has to be under the thumb of a tyrannical government limiting our freedom of choice. America is the greatest nation on earth!"

I still believe that. And even in the most uncertain of times, I trusted that the basic freedoms promised in our Constitution would stand -- the freedom to worship as we pleased; the freedom to petition the government; the freedom of expressing our individual views, and the freedom to peacefully gather to protest a discerned injustice. But the Holy Spirit kept prompting me with subjects that needed addressing. I was concerned that the fabric of our identity was coming unraveled. It wasn't hard to see spiritual forces aligning to undermine the unique freedoms that are our American legacy and inheritance. Programs like Agenda 21 and Common Core, and terms like "global initiative" and "transgender" began to creep into our lexicon, and before long it seemed as if the average, everyday American was rocked back on his heels. Over the last ten years, it has appeared [to me] that American citizens were in a state of confusion and unable to function against what seemed like strange and unfamiliar ideologies. Surely, we would regain our balance and everything would return to normal, right?

That's when the Holy Spirit ramped up His promptings. He made it clear to me that America was in danger of forgetting who she was. God was still willing to be faithful to His covenant established at the outset of this nation, but we, the American people, needed to remain faithful to Him and the principles on which we were founded. We needed to decide who we wanted to be, and until we could establish that identity, the spiritual rulers, authorities, and powers of His Enemy would continue to weaken the heart of who we were meant to be. That included us both as a nation, and as individuals. Americans needed to reclaim their faith from the godless entities that had stolen our identity. We needed to shake off the bonds of those who would enslave the nation, demolishing our national sovereignty and destroying the reason we were born for such a time as this. We needed to grow our faith by grasping the understanding of the purpose of our Salvation: to enter and establish the Kingdom of God on earth.

I will admit that there have been times of deep discouragement, but I have never given up hope. These last two years of the pandemic have deeply tried the soul of America. There has been much confusion, deception, and death -- the hallmarks of an Enemy that seeks to steal, kill and destroy. But I see a remnant of my Christian brethren awakening to the greater truths of their faith and transitioning into living a transformed life under the jurisdiction of God's Kingdom. I am seeing my fellow citizens awakening from a long slumber of denial and pulling the dirty veil off their eyes to see the condition of our education system and how it has constructed a long, slow campaign of deceptive curriculum to try to fundamentally change who this nation is meant to be. I am not naive enough to think we are perfect, or that there are changes are still to be made, but I know that the Godly foundation of this nation needs to remain intact. The family needs to remain intact, just as God designed it. And parents are not to be silenced when it comes to how their children are raised. 

There's a breath of fresh air circulating over our nation. The Holy Spirit is blowing across the land. But we must not be deceived. God's Enemy has enjoyed too much success to give up easily. And we must continue to grow in our understanding of the greater spiritual agenda, and take our place in God's plan to redeem our nation and our lives. It is for this purpose that I am still writing, ten years later. And I pray that the Holy Spirit still finds me worthy to receive His promptings, and can use me to encourage everyone who finds their way to this blog. I am humbled and privileged to write for my Lord, and I promise that I will always write with the purpose of glorifying Him to my best abilities.

Psalm 115:1       Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your Name [we] give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!