Author: Sharon Luzzi

Author and Podcaster

Be At Peace

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

Today is a world full of chaos and head spinning events almost too much to comprehend. If you happen to be brave enough to turn on the news, you might find yourself getting a major headache and a heavy heart. Tuning your ears to the ever present sound of sirens from emergency vehicles blaring all day and night. The occasional gunshots that permeate your peaceful thought process and quiet mind space. They all are ingredients for stress and worries to build up enough pressure to send us emotionally places we would rather not be. There are many more stressors that we can add to our lists. Our own set of worries keep us in a state of worry and continuing to be ill at ease.

When we are robbed of our peace it is hard to function in life. Sleep goes, health goes, good decisions go, relationships suffer, and anything else that requires our attention. Our joy is taken away. We can’t seem even to enjoy the day we planned of our favorite thing to do. Our worry is still lurking in the back of our mind. Anxiety is a creeper when it comes to invading our daily thoughts. We worry, often missing the opportunity to gain information on solving a problem. It is by way of the fear associated with anxiety. We push out the incoming peace to walk out our daily life. The worry is like a vice that squeezes harder the more life we give to it.

How Do We Resolve This Vicious Cycle?

First our mindset has to be one that knows God will always take care of us and all that concerns us. Secondly, if we make a list of the facts, pros and cons and take our emotions out of the problems, we will have a much clearer mind to proceed with problem solving. Things we have no control over we have to let go of. The majority of fears are never realized. Our best place to be, is living in the moment. The centered peace will bring us to just BE. Learning how to just BE in the moment or just being , is an attainable place in our life. There is no striving or jockeying for position. We fully accept our realm of peace.

Here Below Is The Famous Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; lcourage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world As it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right If I surrender to His Will; So that I may be reasonably happy in this life And supremely happy with Him Forever and ever in the next. Amen.

(Prayer attributed to Reinhold Neibuhr, 1892-1971)

This prayer is a great way to start realizing how we can slow down, breathe and be grateful for our peace.

Life Giving Scriptures

But you are obsessed with whether the godless will be judged. Don’t worry, judgment and justice will be upheld. – Job 36:17 NLT


A psalm of David. Don’t worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. – Psalm 37:1 NLT


Be still in the presence of the LORD, and wait patiently for him to act. Don’t worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes. – Psalm 37:7 NLT


Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up. – Proverbs 12:25 NLT


They keep saying to those who despise my word, ‘Don’t worry! The LORD says you will have peace!’ And to those who stubbornly follow their own desires, they say, ‘No harm will come your way!’ – Jeremiah 23:17 NLT


“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? – Matthew 6:25 NLT


“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today. – Matthew 6:34 NLT


When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. – Matthew 10:19 NLT


Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. – Luke 12:22 NLT


And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? – Luke 12:26 NLT


Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. – Philippians 4:6 NLT


But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. – 1 Peter 3:14 NLT

TRUSTING GOD

Leaving everything at the feet of Jesus who died for us to live in wholeness is the best way we can navigate this world. It is full of ups and downs and instabilities. We can always be at peace knowing He will never leave us. The following scriptures are descriptive of how he loves us.

What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? – Romans 8:31 NLT
Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? – Romans 8:32 NLT


Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one–for God himself has given us right standing with himself. – Romans 8:33 NLT


Who then will condemn us? No one–for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. – Romans 8:34 NLT


Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? – Romans 8:35 NLT


(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) – Romans 8:36 NLT


No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. – Romans 8:37 NLT


And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. – Romans 8:38 NLT


No power in the sky above or in the earth below–indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:39 NLT

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. – John 14:27 KJV

Forgiveness

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Forgiveness is the hardest things us humans have to work thru. Depending on what we became involved in, it can be really messy when we sit back and try to figure out what just happened.

Our immediate thoughts after the air clears is it hurts so bad and you have no idea what I just went thru. And there it stays, if we don’t take care of our emotions and directly process and work thru the forgiveness process.

Hurt and anger are two of your first emotions when we are processing. These emotions actually lead us to what really happened by assessing what brought us to be hurt and angry.

Next make sure you remove yourself out of the situation so you can honestly evaluate what really happened.

Thirdly, when you understand, honestly what happened, you can then work on the formalities of forgiving the other person(s), or yourself for the event that just happened.

This is a great time to do a heart check of your own personal growth (or not) in how it took place.

The act of forgiving is about Grace. Grace toward the other person or yourself or both. Grace is the application of Forgiveness. Grace is the substance that says “I am sorry and will you please forgive me?” because us humans are known to trespass into and onto others, whether it is in word, action or deed or not. Sometimes God asks us to forgive even when it may not really be our fault. Or find the solution to bridge the gap when there is a clear misunderstanding.

Swallowing our Pride (self) is hard to do no matter whose fault it is. When we admit our weaknesses and failures and apply forgiveness, it releases us to be free from the bondage of self or Pride.

Jesus died on the cross so we can spend eternity with Him. His death on the cross accomplishes the Grace we need to be forgiven and forgive. He knew we would trespass against each other due to the fact we are human and not perfect.

Ask Him today to forgive you for trespassing against Him or your neighbor! I promise a great burden will be lifted off of you and you will be free.!

Psalm 32:1-2 1 Of David. A maskil. Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

Acts 2:38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.


Acts 13:38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.


Ephesians 1:7 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace

FAVORITISM

James 2:1 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

How Do We Love ?

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Love, the Motivation of Our Lives

First Corinthians Chapter 13:1-13

The Passion Translation

If I were to speak with eloquence in earthā€™s many languages, and in the heavenly tongues of angels,Ā Ā yet I didnā€™t express myself with love,Ā Ā my words would be reduced to the hollow sound of nothing more than a clanging cymbal. And if I were to haveĀ the gift ofĀ prophecyĀ Ā with a profound understanding of Godā€™s hidden secrets, and if I possessed unending supernatural knowledge, and if I had the greatest gift of faith that could move mountains,Ā Ā but have never learned to love, then I am nothing. And if I were to be so generous as to give away everything I owned to feed the poor, and to offer my body to be burnedĀ as a martyr,Ā Ā without the pure motive of love, I would gain nothing of value. Love isĀ large andĀ incredibly patient.Ā Ā Love is gentle and consistently kind to all. It refuses to be jealousĀ Ā when blessing comes to someone else. Love does not brag about oneā€™s achievements nor inflate its own importance.Ā Love does not traffic in shame and disrespect, nor selfishly seek its own honor. Love is not easily irritatedĀ Ā or quick to take offense.Ā Ā Love joyfully celebrates honestyĀ Ā and finds no delight in what is wrong.Ā Ā Love is a safe place of shelter,Ā Ā for it never stops believing the best for others.Ā Ā Love never takes failure as defeat, for it never gives up.

.Perfect Love

Love never stops loving.Ā Ā It extends beyond the gift of prophecy, which eventually fades away.Ā Ā It is more enduring than tongues, which will one day fall silent. Love remains long afterĀ words ofĀ knowledge are forgotten.Ā Ā Our present knowledge and our prophecies are but partial,Ā Ā but when loveā€™s perfection arrives, the partial will fade away.Ā Ā When I was a child, I spoke about childish matters, for I saw things like a child and reasoned like a child. But the day came when I matured, and I set aside my childish ways. For now we see but a faint reflection of riddles and mysteriesĀ Ā as though reflected in a mirror, but one day we will see face-to-face.Ā Ā My understanding is incomplete now, but one day I will understand everything, just as everything about me has been fully understood.Ā Until then, there are three things that remain: faith, hope, and loveā€”yet love surpasses them all.Ā Ā So above all else, let love be the beautiful prize for which you run.Ā 

In our everyday life we rush thru and often don’t have a heart reflection of our relationship skills. Our fast paced life blurs the finite details of loving ourselves, family, and neighbors. The passage above points to a heart check for loving.

When Paul wrote this, he was writing to the people of Corinth, who were very diverse yet had many pagan beliefs. There were many factions and obstacles towards the Good News of the Gospel. Paul was addressing the outcome of their spiritual immaturity in the form of divisiveness, lawsuits, selfishness, immorality, abuses in liturgy and spiritual gifts. The Corinthians were in danger of possible denial of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Today’s culture reflects many of the same things. Love is always the answer to living in peace and growing into the full stature of Jesus. We should strive to love. It is the glue that keeps everything together. Be Love!

Obedience and Blessing

Genesis 12:1-2 ESV – 1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

The Keys of Truth

Photo by Marci Angeles on Unsplash

Greetings,

February 2, 2021

I sat down with the Lord to inquire for today’s topic and He told me about the Keys of Truth. Keys are the understanding, opening and strategy to help you be stronger and grow in your relationship with the Lord. It also helps us walk out our journey and be in fellowship with our brothers and sisters. It helps learn about the Kingdom and how it operates.

You see, all the shaking in the world today and the last year has to do with lies that are being confronted in the way the world operates. We serve a God who is Truth. In a simple understanding, lies can be shaken and don’t last. Everything that is not of God will not stay or work. It’s in our best interest to discern the lies from the truth especially in this hour of history.

In the Hebrew language, the Hebrew word `aman means the following: assurance, establish, firm foundation, believe and believe in, verified, pillars, supporters of the door, sure, lasting, uphold, nourish, confirm, reliable, to be certain and trusted. It means to turn to the right and stedfast.

The word for lies, in the Hebrew word Ka-zav means fail, vain, deceitful and a liar. In the Greek the word pseudologos is used meaning, speaking lies. We know that pseudo means false, counterfeit or fake.

These definitions make it quite clear about their meaning and intent. Lies straight up cause failure and everything opposite of what the truth means.

  1. The first thing He showed me is “Truth is the way out.” It is the way out of being stuck. stagnant, the prison of our own thinking, lies we believe, ( strongholds) and not having a clear direction.
  2. The Truth opens up the door of your heart/mind. Truth has no fear in it. It’s safe.
  3. It unlocks the lies we believe. Your heart is presented with the Truth to breakthrough the lies.
  4. Truth is a firm foundation.
  5. Truth is the Highway for the journey and destiny. The Truth is like arrows that are shot and always hit the target.

The scriptures and God are the only ones with absolute and pure truth. Our hearts get clouded with lies, opinions and vain imaginations. Often lies are caught, passed on, brought in by an outside source, and just plain old not knowing the truth due to our human nature. We also can fall prey to lies because we don’t put the effort into searching out the truth of a matter. It’s hard work to find the truth and apply it.

Here are some supporting scriptures as follows:

Hebrews 4:12 ESV – 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Deuteronomy 32:4 KJV – 4 [He is] the Rock, his work [is] perfect: for all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right [is] he.

1 Kings 17:24 ESV – 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”


Esther 9:30 ESV – 30 Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth,


Job 34:12 ESV – 12 Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.


Psalm 5:9 ESV – 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.


Psalm 15:2 ESV – 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;


Psalm 25:5 ESV – 5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.


Psalm 43:3 ESV – 3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!


Psalm 45:4 ESV – 4 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!


Psalm 51:6 ESV – 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.


Psalm 86:11 ESV – 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.


Psalm 119:43, 160 ESV – 43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. ā€¦ 160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.


Psalm 145:18 ESV – 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.


Proverbs 12:17 ESV – 17 Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.


Proverbs 23:23 ESV – 23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.


Ecclesiastes 12:10 ESV – 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.


Isaiah 10:20 ESV – 20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.


Isaiah 45:19 ESV – 19 I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.

Zechariah 8:16, 19 ESV – 16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; ā€¦ 19 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.

2 Timothy 4:4 ESV – 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.


1 John 1:6, 8 ESV – 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ā€¦ 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.


1 John 5:6 ESV – 6 This is he who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.


2 John 1:2 ESV – 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

I put many scriptures up here and there are more. I encourage you to do a search on truth in your Bible program. It’s so important. Truth is our foundation. It can’t be replaced. Also Truth is a fact. It can be proven.

For Jesus says,

John 14:6 ESV – 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Blessings

JOY!

Photo byĀ Noah SillimanĀ onĀ UnsplashPhoto

God’s desire is for us to experience ALL of Him. We too often do not think of God as having emotions except maybe anger as it has been portrayed to us as His only emotion. It has been long used by people with wrong heart motives. God made us in His image. We have His attributes inside of us. I think we should discover what Joy really means in the Kingdom of God.

Joy has seemed to escape us on a larger scale. I had to dig deep to fully understand Joy. Happiness is a temporary state of our hearts. Joy is inescapable and lasts forever. It is so important to God that he has a whole season dedicated to being joyful. It is called Sukkot and is one of the Fall Festivals or as we know it in the western world, The Feast of Tabernacles. The reason for the commanded Joy is remembering that God redeemed us and restored us. It also is associated with the understanding that Jesus will come dwell with us in the Millennial reign. His presence is something we can’t live without. Knowing that His presence will be on the earth permanently is a highly anticipated event. When people go to Israel they always refer to feeling the presence of God on the footprint of Israel. They are often overcome with tears of Joy when they set foot onto the land of Israel. Jesus walked the land over 2,000 years ago!

Let us look at where Joy comes from.

Galatians 5:22-26 KJV – 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Our key to receiving Joy is by learning how to walk in the Spirit of the living God. The next verses are key verses about how it relates to us being connected to God. The Hebrew understanding is that we gain strength being connected to God from HIS JOY.

Romans 15:13 ESV – 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Nehemiah 8:10 ESV – 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

In this verse, the Prophet Nehemiah was a prophet used to re-introduce the people to the festivals after the captivity in Babylon. They were in agreement, (the people) with God’s ways. Therefore they were connected to God. In that they were given His strength to carry on to rebuild Jerusalem. Coming out of captivity was coming into restoration. Life was very hard and difficult in captivity.

Happiness is defined as a state of well being, experiencing pleasant emotions.It then becomes fleeting and unstable. Happiness is conditional to what is going on around you making it very temporary. Happiness is a state of mind, not an attribute that we carry. It is also stated that it should not be confused with joy.

Joy is defined as triumphant, jubilation, rejoicing, exhilaration, elation, bliss, radiance and enjoyment. Joy is present even when things are very hard and long-suffering. Joy also is an attitude we carry that brings hope. It brings hope because by God’s Spirit He will accomplish that which we can’t. It gives us strength to believe we will overcome. Joy is a product of God’s love for us to carry through the difficult times and times of increase and blessing. Joy also brings freedom because the burden is God’s, to take care of the problem. Joy hedges us in from discouragement and loss. Lastly, joy is the ultimate picture of God’s light shining through us while we walk out our journey. If someone walks up to you and says that they could never tell what you were going thru and you looked so happy thru it all, then Joy is king of your life!

Jesus Heals

John 5:1-9 NASB – 1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep [gate] a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.] 5 A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying [there,] and knew that he had already been a long time [in that condition,] He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and [began] to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

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