For a World Craving Joy & Peace

In Episode 3 of Season 3, Desireé covers the fruits of joy and peace. She discovered true lasting joy and peace almost on accident... in a last-ditch effort. She found out that unwavering, unshakeable joy & peace is available to each and every person – no matter the circumstances life puts us in. The God of Joy and the God of Peace becomes tangible in this episode.

Topics include:

• The fruits and some weather talk… mindblown  (1:12)

• Setting the stage for unwavering joy & peace (3:09)

• Worldly joy vs. Lasting joy (5:51)

• Worldly peace vs. Lasting, steadfast peace (8:03)

 
Join Desireé as she uses her trips around the sun to throw encouragement around like confetti!

 
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Transcript

Desireé Melfi Bozzo: 0:06

Ciao and welcome to Life out loud. I am your host Desireé Melfi Bozzo. We are going to use this space to share experiences and help you find lasting unshakable unwavering unmessable-with joy and gratitude. We're going to be throwing around encouragement, a little bit like confetti and giving you support to live your very best life. Ciao friends welcome to episode three of season three of the life out loud podcast. I am a creator of this podcast and your host, Desireé Melfi Bozzo, and friends, I am so glad you are here! As you may know, this season, we're doing a deep dive into the fruits of the spirit, the what of the what? What fruits? Who has fruit? I don't know. If you aren't familiar with them, head back to the first episode of this season. Give it a quick listen, it's going to give you the foundational knowledge to get you up to speed and ready for some big gains in life outcomes this season. Who doesn't like that? The fruits of the Spirit are really important because they act as a barometer and life. As you may know, barometer measures atmospheric pressure and is used to forecast the weather. When we apply it to our life, the fruits of the Spirit do just that. Whether we are bearing fruit or not, and the kinds of fruit we bear is a measure of the atmosphere in our life. And oftentimes, it's a really good gauge of the future and what's to come if we continue our patterns. Mind blown, right? Yeah, mine too. Galatians five, New Testament of the Bible way in the back, tells us the fruits of the spirit, are love, which we covered in the last episode, joy and peace which we're going to cover in this episode. And in coming episodes, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. So let me give you an example. Perhaps lately in life, you're feeling down in blue, not a lot of cheer. Maybe you're depressed, maybe you're sad. The seasons where you (ugh) can't seem to catch a break. And there are more metaphorical clouds than sunshine. This, my friends is a sure sign of a lack of joy in our lives. You might be thinking, huh? What? Yeah, just hang with me. I'll explain it. What about when – I'm gonna give another example life is more chaos than peace? When the to do lists seem to multiply even as we're checking items off. Have you ever been in that place in life where you're giving all you have and it's not even making a difference? Like you can't even make a dent? Perhaps feelings of discord or strife weigh heavy on you. That, my friends is a lack of peace. So I want to spend some time today talking about joy and peace because I truly believe like gut of my soul, truly believe that, no matter the circumstances happening in your life right now, like right this moment, the circumstances swirling around you I truly believe joy and peace is attainable. I believe this because I have lived through moments in life that have attempted to suck every ounce of joy and peace from me. And in those tumultuous moments, I've been able to uncover ways to become unshakable in the joy and peace I possess. Very easy for me to say, has it been easy in real time? Absolutely not. But it's allowed me to emerge on the other side of this with joy and peace embedded in my heart and my spirit in an unshakable way. And I want this for you, too, in absolutely every area of your life. Now, maybe you're sitting there like, yeah, she doesn't get it. Dez, you have no idea what I'm going through. You don't understand my circumstances, they are way worse than you can ever imagine. And to that I say, friends, come hang out with me and learn about our God. He's seen every trial, every mistake. He knows everything that's happened, and he knows everything that's going to happen. And he can walk us to joy and peace every time. One of my favorite pastors once said“you are not too far gone for our Savior.” Friends, that's all of us. So, here's what I want you to do. Trust me, grab your most delightful cup of coffee and Let's talk about the fruits that come after love – joy, and peace. I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm not a girl who likes to bet too often. Did you know that? I enjoy my money in my bank account and in my investments. That being said, I bet if I said close your eyes, and get really present to your most joy-filled moment, a few things would happen. A smile would probably appear on your face, perhaps your body would relax. You would probably breathe a little slower, and a little deeper. The tension of the moment, might ease up a little. The feeling of joy does that. Joy by definition is a feeling of pleasure or happiness that comes from success, good fortune, or a sense of well, being. That kind of joy is wonderful, and worldly, and is offered so many amazing and thrilling moments in this life. But the joy I'm talking about today is a deep, unshakable joy that is lasting, no matter the worldly circumstances. Joy is something that we should hold as a lasting heart posture. It's not positivity or optimism. This kind of joy that I'm talking about isn't from the world. It's sourced from God. And let me unpack that because that's, that's kind of heavy. When we get to know God and a deep personal level, we can access true joy. This is a joy that can surpass every understanding. Every circumstance. It’s a joy that can be accessed in any and all times. If you're anything like me, sometimes we think we are seeking joy. When we are searching the world for things to fill our yearning souls, we indulge in worldly pleasures, hoping that they will fill us with joy and make us happy. They won't. I know firsthand friends because I've tried. I've bought things I didn't need with money I didn't have to impress people I didn't even really like and the funny thing is, they didn't even notice because they were doing the same thing. I've indulged in amazing food to fill my yearning soul and all it left me with was a tummy ache. Anyone else feel me on this? Like joy, peace is also something that we should hold as a lasting heart posture. Where are my friends out there that are going through this world I breakneck speed just seeking a little peace, just a little slice of peace in between the dinging email and the demanding goals to reach in the call from the career ladder that we're supposed to be climbing a little peace when the littles and the laundry call for your attention. Peace when life doesn't happen the way we are hoping. And the world is in chaos and the people we love are sick. Should I go on? I'm sure if I do, I'm going to hit all of the places where you might need a little slice of peace for your restless heart and mind. Peace is defined as tranquility or freedom from disturbance. That is great on a worldly level. But we all know that everyday life isn't always or let's be honest, ever tranquil or free from disturbance. So this tells me we must go deeper. We need to seek a lasting peace that will be steadfast, no matter the circumstance. After spending a lot of time searching for joy and peace, I actually found it in the most unlikely of places. Well, not looking back, I guess it wasn't the most unlikely but I didn't know that at the time. Friends, I discovered joy and peace almost an accident in what was to be a last ditch effort. I found it in the Bible. I read countless stories of people who were able to have joy and peace in the most difficult situations. Through strife, through infertility, through sadness, through war, through marriage problems through death through sickness, and so many hard and horrible things. I read story after story of people who held joy and peace as a continued demeanor in the hardest of situations. They walked through situations that would have broken me and they walked through it unbroken. through the Scriptures, the god of joy and the God of peace becomes tangible to us. When we let the Holy Spirit guide our time between Genesis and Revelation, it is a time that is multiplied in joy and peace. I read once that joy is what comes from an intimate and consistent relationship with God. In John 14 Peace is what Jesus left us with when he left this world. So if I have an intimate and consistent relationship with God and Jesus left his peace here with us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Then I can look at Romans 15:13, and allow it to embed itself into my soul. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.” We have to actively trust in the Lord, actively get to know Him, trust Him and build a relationship with Him. I want you to think for a second about the anatomy of your deepest friendships like your people like your OG people, right? When I think about mine, they didn't come by accident, these relationships and friendships they didn’t just show up. They came by actively pursuing them, actively pursuing that person, reaching out being there being available to them showing up making time to talk to them, connect with them, learn everything about them, serve them. We have to know Jesus in this way. We have to keep our eyes fixed on him. We have to know who he is and what he's about. It is only through knowing him on a personal level that we're going to receive His joy in his peace. The kind that is unshakable, the kind that isn't defined by circumstance or situation. The kind that is everlasting. Friends, bearing the fruits of joy and peace in our life is not an easy task. It takes diligent intentionality over and over and over and over. It takes time with our Bibles open and the rest of the world on silent. Taking in the word, it takes time with our Bibles closed and quiet prayer with our Savior. I said it before I'm not the betting type, just not - not built that way. However, I'm willing to bet that if you get to know Jesus on a personal level, joy and peace will begin to bloom their beautiful, incredible fruits in your life. Friends, I hope you enjoyed episode three of season three. I hope that you see that joy and peace are things that you can attain every day, every moment of your life. Send me a message. I always love hearing your thoughts. Come back next time and let's throw more encouragement around like confetti. But be careful as always, if you get too close, you just might get some on you. And remember friends there is always always always something to be thankful for. Ciao! Thank you for joining me Desiree Melfi Bozzo for this episode of Life Out Loud. I would love to hear from you. Leave me a comment. Tell me what topics you want to talk about and how you take your coffee. If you enjoyed what you heard, text a friend the link share it on social media. Or if you're interested in becoming a supporter, be-bop over to my webpage lifeoutloud.me and sponsor a cup of coffee that keeps this podcast fueled. Until next time sweet listeners!