Pruning

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I'm always grateful for discipleship meetings like this (online in our case). 
I get to listen about sharing life experiences, reflect and relating on God's shaping up process because let's admit we are all still work in progress.

Sheryl is my constant disciple now. I praise God for her life. She is helping me to be always accountable, since I would share to her my morning devotions every day. I think I have somehow posted our encounter on this post 👉Meet Up with Sheryl 

Our meeting time won't be complete without our special guest - David of course! 
He gets a chance to share his experience at school too. I'm glad Sheryl won't mind if he's joining us during closing prayers. 

Here are some of the lessons (take away) during our sharing time. We have reflected on John 15:2 - there are two separate actions that Jesus mentioned in here: the step of cutting off what's dead and process of pruning fruit. 

I have shared before that I love plants a lot! perhaps one of my guilty pleasures would be all about plants. I don't have any green thumbs, in fact there were also many times I would witness some of my plants would die and whittled. And it's frustrating because I spent time caring for them. I needed to realize the process of pruning is revitalizing! 😛

Plants make me happy just by seeing them around. Infact I might have overboard a bit that our house is becoming a tiny jungle in the making haha (as my husband would comment)😂 here's my previous post about my garden 👉My garden

Pruning my home plants means cutting out dead leaves, roots etc. is actually beneficial as it reduces weight, hinders productivity, blocks sunlight, and steals energy from healthy branches. 
I'm still a newbie when it comes to plants, but over the years, I have reflected and observed the following on "spiritual pruning" from the ways I care for my own plants. 
- Provides opportunity for more growth 
- Improves yield 
- Allows me to experience breakthrough 
**Spiritual pruning requires perseverance, compassion, and dedication to personal growth. Approaching with an open mind and curiosity fosters spiritual discovery and growth.

BONUS Sharing!
The process of pruning for us Christians would sometimes be transforming that mostly involve the healing of our hearts. Allowing God to prune our hearts takes a lot of humbling experience. 
Yes it's true this process is sometimes painful, but it is needed so we would be able to develop and would be aligned to God's will. God loves us that He wanted us to learn how to grow in Him. 

To be honest, I also felt guilty about it. I confessed that I was super Kdrama fan even before I got married. It was a conscientious decision between me and Vandy not to even get any movie subscription (Netflix and such) because movies would really make us get hooked! 
We need to set an example to our son David, since he is only allowed to watch dvd movies on weekends - we should do the same.

Just when I thought I have already surpassed it and won't be hooked to any dramas anymore. I confessed that these past few weeks, I let my guard down and watched the popular kdrama- Queen of Tears! 😭 would you want to know the negative impact on me? I had few sleepless nights that made me physically weak, irritable, and unproductive at work!

God used His words to remind me that kdrama is taking much of my time instead of spending time with my husband and son and even spending time with God should have been my priority. 

God's gardening approach involves pruning and preserving our lives for our benefit, while also ensuring we are overgrown and dysfunctional, demonstrating His love and care. 
He tenderly prunes things in our lives that don't work so that we can have more fruit.

How about you what’s your guilty pleasure that needs pruning from the Lord?

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