May we lead a balanced life, working, serving, loving and giving according to what Christ places in our hearts

Koyaanisqatsi

The title of today’s reading is a Hopi word (Indigenous) that means "life out of balance". It's a compound word made up of koyaanis-, which means "corrupted" or "chaotic", and qatsi, which means "life" or "existence". The author today speaks about a movie with said title and remarks “It makes you stop and think about ‘life out of balance.’" He then goes on to say, “This leads to an urgent question: How can we keep hold of the insights we receive to keep our lives in balance?” We have situations and things that have taught us the importance of having balance, but life continues to happen and we don’t always keep things in perspective. We are encouraged to think about what changed our mindset and caused us to pay attention to our lives and whether or not we are out of balance, and keep those things close for reference to work to not be out of sync and off balance.

There are three things that I contribute to me and my times in life where I have been most balanced: my journal, the book “The Power of I Am” by Joel Osteen, and above all else, the Bible. The journal allowed me to get thoughts off my mind, freeing me and giving me a visual of what to work on and deal with, and the book reminded me of the importance of staying true to me and taking time for me. Most importantly, is the consistency and examples found in the Word, reminding me the importance of remaining grounded and knowing I can do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13), but Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 9-12 says, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…. What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live…”. May we always seek the Father as we set out to do the work each day, and as we go along the day, listen to our bodies, mind, and heart to maintain and not avoid imbalance.

FMBC Weekly Reading: Jeremiah 7:16-28

“As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry or prayer on their behalf, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger. Is it I whom they provoke? says the Lord. Is it not themselves, to their own hurt? Therefore thus says the Lord God: My anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on human beings and animals, on the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. For in the day that I brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt, I did not speak to them or command them concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices. But this command I gave them, “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people; and walk only in the way that I command you, so that it may be well with you.” Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but, in the stubbornness of their evil will, they walked in their own counsels, and looked backward rather than forward. From the day that your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have persistently sent all my servants the prophets to them, day after day; yet they did not listen to me, or pay attention, but they stiffened their necks. They did worse than their ancestors did. So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. You shall say to them: This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.”

‭‭This passage is a reminder that we should pray for others; however, there comes a time that we must cease. There are many we pray for and God has given them signs but they fail to follow Him. In those situations, pray and then let go as with everything else, and leave them to God.

Youversion Verse of the Day: 3 John 1:11

Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

May we look for examples and be examples for others to do good as we work for our Father along life’s journey.

May we lead a balanced life, working, serving, loving and giving according to what Christ places in our hearts, my friend.🙏🏽💚🦋🌈