BREADCRUMBS OF FAITH DEVOTIONAL EPISODE 18:Trimming Away the Excess for True Growth

Ever felt weighed down by life's excesses, craving a fresh start? Join me, Natasha Dias, as I draw parallels between the delicate art of gardening and the transformative journey of personal growth. In the nurturing embrace of John 15:2, we uncover a treasure trove of wisdom that illuminates the path to spiritual and physical flourishing. As a holistic esthetician and spa owner with an adoration for herbalism, I bring to the table not just my expertise but also my personal experiences with letting go of the burdensome and making room for new blessings.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hey, there you're tuned into another episode of All Things Skin Wellness and Faith, a podcast where you'll learn simple ways to implement skin care and wellness techniques from a holistic approach. On this podcast, we'll explore practical ways to address skin health and overall holistic spiritual well-being, while deepening your faith. I'm your host, natasha Diaz, a licensed holistic esthetician, day spa owner and a faithful believer and follower of Christ, and it's time to get ready to get encouraged and empowered as we dive into all things skin wellness and faith. Hello, and welcome back to this week's Bright Crumb of Faith episode from All Things Skin Wellness and Faith. Today, we are coming to you, or I am coming to you, with a little bit of encouragement from John 15 too.

Speaker 1: 1:17

This is a scripture that speaks to me, definitely in the season that I'm in, as we are talking about still growth and we're talking about change of seasons, and for those of you that have been gardening through the spring season, it also talks about a little bit of gardening. And for those of you that have been gardening through the spring season, it also talks about a little bit of gardening. Now, while I do not have a green thumb, I am a herbalist and I do love the plants, and I do love flowers. I do not have the know-how or the skill to grow them, so I don't know a lot about that area. But this scripture may resonate with those of you that are in the realm of gardening, which I am not. So, again, that's John 15, 2, and I'm going to read this from the NLT, which reads he cuts off every branch of mine that does not bear fruit and he prunes the branches that do not bear fruit so that they can bear even more fruit. So that's very simple, very straightforward, right to the point. It just talks about getting rid of, basically, clutter, getting rid of branches that do not allow more fruit to grow, because the vine may be too cluttered and therefore it stunts the growth. So this can be a situation that we go through that if we are carrying too much or we have too much burdens, we have too much clutter, even in our lives, spiritually, or even, you know, just in the natural, in our homes, whatever it is, it hinders us from being able to move forward, to grow and to do better. So sometimes what we need to do is we need to remove some of the old so that we can make space for the new.

Speaker 1: 3:02

So, at a time where we're talking, or have been talking, a lot about detox and spring cleaning and things of that nature, I think that this goes right alongside with that, because not only are we in a seasoning or a time of gardening, but we should also, or could also be, in a season where we're gardening and pruning ourselves, or where the Lord, I should say, is rather pruning us, and sometimes you know that pruning season it's not fun If you're talking, you know, spiritually, with the Lord pruning us. There are things and I touched on this, actually, I think, a few episodes ago I touched on, just like detox and you know, pruning and removing of people from our lives and things that just inhibit our growth, and on that episode where I spoke about people being removed from our lives, that was a little bit of a painful situation for me, and pruning as your ie, cutting off things can definitely be a little bit painful, but it's basically it's what needs to happen in order to prepare you for the next season. And who doesn't want to elevate, who doesn't want to go to the next level? But you can't go to the next level when you are bogged down with things from the previous level, and this kind of reminds me of the scripture where he talks about the old wine and the new wineskins. You cannot put I don't have the exact number reference or book reference for that but I do know that that scripture says that you can't pour old wine, new wine, into old wineskins. So these two definitely sync up and go together. This is the same thing.

Speaker 1: 4:51

If we are in a season that we're going into something new, we have to remove the old things that will bring clutter into our lives. So if you are in a season of pruning and I know that I definitely am let just be just a little encouragement to go through that process, but go through that knowing that there's something better that's ahead for you. Go through that process knowing that this, although it may hurt physically, emotionally, mentally it is something that is there to prepare you for that new season. Don't go into it so focused on what you're feeling now, but go into it knowing that what you're coming into is going to be so much better than what you're leaving and it all serves for a greater purpose.

Speaker 1: 5:45

We serve a good and mighty God. We serve a God who is sovereign. We serve a God that you know does not hurt us. Everything that he does is for the greater good and sometimes, like I said, going through it it doesn't feel the best, but when we get to the other side we will definitely look back and we will definitely see that this is something that we had to go through in order to elevate and to get to the next level. All right, so that's my little tidbit encouragement for this week. Thank you so much again for tuning in and we will see you on our next full episode. I pray that you are all blessed as we go through our pruning process and we get ready to prepare and elevate and go to the next level. I pray that the blessings of the Lord are sustaining you and are upon you. All right, take care Bye.