All Things Skin, Wellness & Faith

BREADCRUMBS OF FAITH DEVOTIONAL 40: Finding Balance: Holiday Joy, Faith, And Service

• Natasha Dias

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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 aesthetician, 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. Good day unto you. Welcome back to this week's episode of Brightcrumbs of Faith by all things skin, wellness, and faith. On today's Bright Chrome, I want to kind of balance out what we spoke about last week. Excuse me, last week on our full episode, we spoke about the holiday season and we spoke about not overindulging in, you know, holiday sweets and treats and things like that. And I didn't want to come off harsh on you guys, but I did want to bring you into a space, into an area where we were focused on balancing everything as far as not overindulging, because I know that the holiday season is a time where we can kind of justify what running wild and rampant. I'm so sorry, excuse me. When we can run wild and rampant with what we're eating and what we're consuming. And this week, I just want to take a turn from that. I kind of want to balance that out a little bit. This week I want to talk about bringing joy and experiencing joy within the holiday season. The holiday season can bring on stress. There's a lot of things that go on from many different angles. You have holidays that can be hard for people because it reminds you of a time of loss or separation. There may be loved ones that we have lost, or, you know, just hard feelings or memories that come up at holidays, holiday times and holiday seasons for some of us. You may have, you know, estranged family members, or, you know, different people have different things that go on in holiday seasons. And I just want this holiday season to be for you, my listeners, to be a time of joy. This is what the Lord wants us to walk in. He wants us to walk in his peace, his love, and his joy. And while we do absolutely need to balance, you know, what we're doing, what we're eating. It does not mean that we cannot, you know, still enjoy the things of the holiday season. And foods are one of those. So while we are being mindful of what we are eating, we're not overindulging, it does not mean that there cannot be a balance to that. And there's a spot where you can, you know, still enjoy a little bit of sweets, enjoy, you know, your family members, enjoy, you know, a time of gathering. And so today's message where I'm coming to you from is in Nehemiah 8.10. And I think those of us that know the scripture know it for the basis of it, which is the ending of it, which is the joy of the Lord is my strength. And that is what I want to focus on today. This holiday season, I want us to experience less stress and more joy. And I'm gonna read the scripture to you as it was presented to me when I was researching the scripture. I'm very familiar with it, but when I read the word, I like to dissect it, I like to study it. And so today, when I went to go look at the scripture, I actually looked at it in one of my favorite um translations of the Bible, which is the message. And I think I spoke to you guys about the message translation on last week's podcast. So I'm gonna read to you today Nehemiah 8 and 10 out of the message. And it reads He continued to go home and to prepare a feast, holiday food, and drink, and share it with those who did not have anything. This day is holy to God. Don't feel bad. The joy of God is your strength. There's a couple things I want to hone in on in this particular scripture and from this version in this translation. Number one, I absolutely love and I want to say thank you, Holy Spirit, that he mentions that he continued to go home and prepare a feast for the holiday, food and drink. So I think the Lord is just, you know, telling us, you know, to go home, go prepare, enjoy your family, you know. And not only did we does this scripture focus on preparing holiday food and drink and enjoying it, but it also speaks about the less fortunate, which is something that I'm very passionate with. I do work, you know, with a lot of the unsheltered is how I like to call them, you know, homeless people. And I think that what I also want to mention is this holiday season, not only enjoy your family, your friends, your feast, but take a moment to reflect on your quiet time and your prayer time for those that are less fortunate, those that are out there living in shelters or in tents. And if you can and if you are able to, I would encourage you to go out and to volunteer, to give back, to, you know, join a local shelter, maybe serve a Thanksgiving meal, um, maybe bag up some bags. I know different churches are doing different things at this time of the year for those that are less fortunate. And I just want to, you know, ask us to kind of shift our focus on not just ourselves and our families, but our brothers and sisters that are out there that are in, you know, dire straight situations that don't have what we have. And of course, it is Thanksgiving and holiday time. It is a time of thanks. Let's just make sure that we are taking the time to be thankful for all that the Lord has given us. I know that last year when I first started serving with a particular ministry that does a lot of outreach to the homeless, that the Lord just really shifted my focus. And he shifted my focus on the left fortunate. And it just put me in a place in a posture of just being thankful for all that I have, rather focusing on what I don't, and just allow me to be thankful for the warm car that I drive in, um, the house that I have that's heated. You know, I may not live in a mansion or I may not, you know, have everything that I want at this moment, but he has blessed me with so much. And this Thanksgiving, I think we all know what Thanksgiving is about, being thankful. But I think that we should also not just be thankful, but try to, you know, give the love of Christ to those who are less fortunate. So if you are able to donate, to give your time and your prayers, I would definitely encourage you to do that. If you're not able to give your time, definitely in your private time, give your prayers. The Bible says the prayers of the righteous availeth much. Very important. And then also the ending of the scripture just speaks about, you know, the joy of God is your strength. So let us just be strengthened and encouraged in this season. Instead of focusing on things that are stressful, let us just shift our focus and lift our eyes up to the mountains. Let us lift our eyes up to the Lord and just take a moment to say thank you for all that he has given us. And let us enjoy within balance and with the reason the holiday season. And let us remember that as we are coming up on Christmas, that is Christmas with Christ first, and that Jesus is the reason for the season. So rather than getting caught up in, you know, the secular portion of it, the gift giving, you know, all the things that we can be concerned about right now. I know travel is a huge concern for a lot of people with everything that's going on in the government. Let's remember who our God is. Let's remember that even if we are traveling and we have government shutdowns and we have, you know, issues with, you know, planes and trains and, you know, different types of transportation. Let's just remember that we have a God. We have a God who is mighty and who is powerful and is able, according to Ephesians 3 and 20, to do exceedingly and abundantly far beyond our imagination. So I just want to encourage you with that little message today. I hope that it reaches your spirit and touches your soul and just, you know, encourages you, one, to be thankful, two, to give back, and three, to just keep your eyes fixated and focused on our Father, our Lord, our God. All right. I pray blessings over your day, your night, your evening, whatever time that you're listening to this. And until the next time, be blessed and be a blessing. And please make sure to, you know, if you were blessed by this podcast, please leave a nice review. Please share it so that we can begin to grow and you know, kind of get up there in the algorithm. Share it on your social media pages, your Facebook, share it with a friend, a family member, a husband, a wife, a sister, anyone you can. All right. I love you guys. Until the next time, be blessed and be a blessing. Bye for now.