I was watching a show with my girls the other night.  It was a karate show based on the classic Karate Kid movie from the 80’s.  A group of yogi women walked into a dojo space with their mats in hand.  They looked around the space and saw that it needed work.  They started to prepare the space by covering up what was already there, putting up signs, and  laying down their mats.  The space was no longer designed to be a karate studio, but it was transformed into a yoga studio.

 

I use this example, not because I am a yoga expert but because it is relevant to our day and time.  Many of us turn to things like yoga, religion, work, or therapy as a way to find balance in life.  We are always looking for a way to be happy or at least okay.  We recognized that where we are is not where we want to be.  So, we look around and we take inventory of our lives.  We try to cover up what is not relevant anymore; we hang signs, and we put down mats.  We try to change the purpose of our space.  We try to operate in our new space as though we have changed.

 

The truth is, change comes from within and it is not found in the covering up of things.  Instead, true change takes time.  True change takes a long process of self discovery, deep cleaning, and removal of the things that are no longer needed for your purpose.  We know that it is time to start taking better care of our spirits.  If we don’t, then we are going to end up in some pretty dark spaces. We may hear things such as taking personal time, self care, increasing our spirituality, or caring for the soul, but we have to be careful of the interpretations of these activities.  We are responsible to always remember and include Jesus in our living.

 

As Christians, we don’t do whatever we want, but we are compelled by the Holy Spirit to do what is right.  What is right for me, may not be what is right for you.  For example, I am supposed to write this blog because part of my purpose is tied to developing my writing.  If I chose not to write, then I would not be working towards my purpose, which would cause me to stop growing.  I had said it before;  THIS LIFE IS ABOUT GROWING!!  Sometimes we grow in spurts, some of us grow on a steady continuum.  Whatever your growth pattern is, keep growing!  You are a Christian and your job is to listen and obey the Lord.  What is it that he is telling you to do to change your life?

 

There are a lot of voices in the world that will tell you that you need to find balance in your life.  This is misleading because this so-called “balance” is referring to worldly concerns.  It is usually referring to how someone can find balance with work, life, family, and hobbies.  The Lord is concerned with your spirit.  You cannot be “centered” or “balanced” or in “harmony”  when your life is split in many directions.  You cannot be centered when you are trying to meet different purposes, for different people, in different situations.  The world will try to convince you that you can do it all.  Why?  Because the world wants you to push yourself in order to meet its purpose.  But the bible tells us to seek first the kingdom and its righteousness; the other things will be added to you.

 

Seeking the Kingdom means clarity.  Seeking the kingdom means learning God’s purpose.  Seeking the Kingdom means knowing and doing what is right.  The seeking takes time and process.  Through this seeking you will be washed.  You will be prepared.  You will be tested.  You will be washed again.  And you will go through whatever process you have to go through in order to find your centeredness.  HOWEVER, you must go through the process.  You can’t be lazy about it and expect the Lord to do everything for you.  That would just be putting on the sign of Christian.  That would be putting the WWJD bumper sticker on your car and still having severe road rage.  That would be going to church every Sunday, but not developing a relationship with Jesus.  That would be like, stretching on your yoga mat but not gaining any muscle!!  Where is your strength??  You are supposed to be training for the battle that is coming.  Friends, not only is the battle coming, but it is here!!

 

I want to give a warning for the things that are coming in our society. We will be bombarded with a series of mindfulness practices so that we can “center” ourselves.  We will come to appreciate people more because we learn that it helps us. We will learn how to do things for selfish reasons, which ultimately kills the spirit. We will engage in spiritual practices that help us transcend to higher consciousness.  We will take time for ourselves so that we don’t burn out with too much stress.  However, this practice will also become selfish in nature because we will be concerned with only ourselves.  The easy life will be handed to us on a silver platter and it will seem delightful.  It will seem magnificent, at first. But for those of us who know the struggle and for those of us who understand the delicacies of the enemy will see that it is only food to feed our self-loving culture.   It is only food to keep us alive, but has no nourishment.  It is only food to make us think that we are growing, but we are not.  We will be dying, because the enemy will offer a counterfeit healing world without Jesus. This will not bring us happiness.  It does not please the Lord to fall into a deep sleep.  It does not please the Lord to close our eyes to the suffering that is going on around the world.  It does not please the Lord to trust in tactics to manipulate the pleasure sensations of the body.  It is time to wake up from these things and realize that the covering and the changing of the atmosphere is only the first step.  Don’t get stuck in the first step.  Understand that you have to do the work.  You have to do the 

 

Stretching

Bending

Seeking

Quiet time

 

You have to:

 

Change your eating habits

Change your company

Change your work

 

You have to then let Jesus:

 

Heal you

Bless you

Correct you

Wash you

Grow you

 

 

Why?

Because we don’t know the way but the Lord knows the way.

We have to keep moving forward with the Lord.

 

To be centered or to find your balance in life is not about pleasing yourself, but it is about pleasing God.  A strange thing is happening in this land.  We have to be strong enough to stand up for what is right.  We have to encourage those who don’t know that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  There is no way to the father but through Jesus.  Yes, our journeys look different but that is just because we are different people.  We come from different cultures, places, and belief systems which make us see things in different ways.  We make different decisions about life based on what we believe.  But understand that there will be a wave of mindfulness that hits this country and it will not work in the long run.  People need Jesus.  He is the center of everything.

 

How do you promote Jesus in your life?

 

 

I write this blog from a Christian Worldview. It is dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming of his Kingdom.  Therefore all content is God centered and adheres to the word of God.  My Goal is to motivate you to find your purpose.