How Grace Gives Us a New Identity

Here are my takeaways from D-group Ephesians bible study this week and how God’s word continues to reveal our new identity in Him!! 

You are LOVED back to LIFE!!!

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

About seven years ago, my 66-year-old young, vibrant, and joyful Father got sick. No big deal, he’s super healthy and will feel better soon, I thought. But when we got the call that he couldn’t get out of his bed and needed to be taken to the hospital, I knew in the depths of my soul something was very wrong. It was soon confirmed by the doctors that he was in the final stages of liver cancer brought on by Hepatitis C. That was June 19, 2018. And on July 5, 2018, He went home to be with Jesus. It was too late to save him; the cancer had grown so fast, and they gave us the worst possible prognosis: terminal.

But something else happened when he died. The old me died too. While my Dad’s story on earth came to an end, God had planned to use His death to bring me back to life. His death broke me in a way that was irreparable, but that was actually a good thing. I couldn’t get by in my own strength anymore. I couldn’t stuff my feelings and a lifetime of wounds anymore. I could no longer handle the grief, combined with postpartum anxiety, intense work stress from a new promotion, a Gonzaga University leadership program, and being the sole executor of my Dad’s estate. If I was going to survive, then I needed something more.

Although I’d been a “Christian” for over 10 years and believed in Jesus, I wasn’t really following Him. I was living a double life. I was straddling the fence. I wasn’t all in. But now I had to make a choice—was I going to be all in or not?

I believe He used my utter brokenness and despair to push me headfirst into the deep end of His love. And over the last seven years, Jesus’ love has invaded my life. It’s been the medicine God used to give me a 100% cure rate and take me from death to life. It drove out the infections and darkness of anxiety, depression, drunkenness, fake masks of perfect people-pleasing performance, and so much more. This "love medicine" also began to grow new things in my life: love, joy, peace, grace, humility, freedom, rest, identity, purpose, and so much more.

You don’t have to receive a terminal notice from the doctor to die. I was spiritually dead, but by the grace and healing power of Jesus' love, I am now more alive than I’ve ever been! And I will never stop singing Jesus' praises and telling everyone what I know!

Jesus and His powerful love and grace are always the cure for any problem in this life. We were all born spiritually dead and separated from God, but He sent His Son to rescue us, to bring us back to life, and to seat us in the heavenly realms with Jesus—our place in Heaven is secured by Him.

Saved by Grace, FOR a Good Purpose

Saved by Grace =

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Saved FOR a Good Purpose =

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Our Who comes before our Do.

Notice that you are not saved by your works, but saved by grace for a good purpose. Remember our formula: Believe = Saved > Obey.

Now that we’re set free from saving ourselves through performance, we can rejoice and be thankful we don’t have to save ourselves. Gratitude is now the fuel and motivation behind doing what God has called us to do. It’s serving from the overflow He has produced, and it’s so much more powerful than working from insecurity trying to earn love, acceptance, or approval. That never works and only leaves us more empty.

When I serve and act from overflow and fullness, somehow I get more full. But when I served from emptiness, I got more empty. You cannot serve from an empty cup.

The only way to fill your broken cup is to receive God's healing and filling power of grace, love, and acceptance. Running to the world will never fill your broken cup; it will only break you more (Jeremiah 2:13).

• Serving from Self-Saving Power + Emptiness = Broken by burnout and exhaustion.

• Serving from God's Grace Power + Fullness of God's Love = Fullness of joy and gratitude.

This grace doesn't just save us from something (burnout); it saves us for something: a new home and a new family.

You are a Citizen of Heaven & Member of God’s family 

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭17‬-‭19‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We were all born spiritually dead and separated from God—alienated, strangers, having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). That is some BAD news!

But we have to know the Bad News to fully understand the greatness of the GOOD News. Jesus has now made a way for everyone to be welcomed and invited to join God’s forever family as:

• A fellow citizen of Heaven: “enjoying an eternal freedom to remain, passports stamped with the King’s blood, entitled to all the benefits of the new-creation paradise.” - Richard Coekin

• A member of His family: “adopted as children and heirs of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus, to be loved, protected, disciplined and lavishly cared for by God forever.” - Richard Coekin

The access code to get in is: Jesus. His blood gives us an all-access pass of peace to the Heavenly Father. It’s always been about His peace > our performance.

“Deep inner peace is only found where there is spiritual dependence upon Christ crucified…It’s the positive harmony expressed within us by the spirit of the divine Prince of Peace.” - Richard Coekin

The foster system today has over 400,000 children without forever families, just waiting for parents to pick them and permanently adopt them. We all have something in common with these children. At one point in our lives, we were orphans too. By birth, we are all spiritual orphans.

But by God’s wonderful grace, He comes into the orphanage, looks at us with a warm and loving smile, and points to you across the room, saying to the workers, “I want to adopt her.” The workers come over to tell you that you were chosen! In the excitement, you pack up your few belongings and make your way to meet your new Father. Your life is about to change forever in the best kind of way.

But can you imagine being picked and, instead of accepting it, you refuse to go? You are scared, you don’t like change, you don’t know what this will mean. So you remain at the orphanage. One by one, all your friends leave. And daily, He returns to ask if you’d like to come home yet.

I did that for a very long time. I wanted to live life my way. I wanted to party and have fun. I wanted to spend money on things for myself. And the resulting separation from God led to anxiety, darkness, insecurity, depression, loneliness, addiction, heartbreak, and feeling lost and confused. Then one day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I cried out to God; I surrendered my life and my ways, as they weren’t working. I felt like I was falling deeper and deeper into a dark pit, but then I saw a flower blooming from the dark soil and coming into the Light. I wasn’t falling deeper; He came into the pit to rescue me and pull me into the light of His love, into His family!

You are loved back to life. You are Saved by Grace for a Good Purpose. You are a Citizen of Heaven, a Member of God’s Family.

We don’t have to chase the love, attention, or approval of others through perfect, people-pleasing performance.

We can rest in His grace, since we know who we really are now.

His grace changes everything!

With love, grace and peace,

Jessica Grace Pegram

How Grace Transforms Every Problem

I’ve spent the last six weeks reading through Galatians with my D-group Bible study. I think Galatians has now become one of my favorite books in the Bible because its #1 focus is GRACE.

Grace is something we talk about a lot, but in my experience, it's often misunderstood. It took me almost 15 years of following Jesus to awaken to the true meaning of Grace. And five years later, I’m still wrestling with how to reconcile the fact that I’m saved 100% by grace (Ephesians 2:8-9) with the performance culture I grew up in and the world we live in. It’s been very hard to wrap my head and heart around the concept that all I have to do to be saved is believe in Him. I’ve heard it. I’ve read it. But I haven’t acted like this was true. I haven’t really believed it—it just seemed too good to be true.

Especially with my sinful past. I really believed and acted like I needed to do enough good deeds to outweigh the bad and make Jesus pleased with me. So I got busy doing a lot of good religious activities—reading my Bible every day, going to church, serving, joining various Bible studies, trying to pray more, listening only to worship music, or reading only Christian books. The only problem was why I was doing them: to prove that I was worthy of saving—I was trying to save myself, rather than acting from a heart posture of love and gratitude for all Jesus had already done to save me.

Then one day I was listening to a Tim Keller sermon where he discussed how new or immature believers often misunderstand grace. He noted that one can often notice this because early in their walk, they get so busy doing all these good religious activities to appear mature, but really, they are trying to save themselves with good deeds. They don’t truly grasp grace.

Ouch. I realized I was the immature believer Keller described. In trying to appear mature and impressive, I said yes to everything and was trying to do all the right things. But this can only last for so long. Eventually, this leads to burnout and exhaustion because the motives are not pure, and this is never how Jesus designed us to live.

My own burnout breakdown came about a year ago when my anxiety, insomnia, and physical, emotional, and spiritual exhaustion hit me like a freight train. I had no choice but to say no to all the things and take a sabbatical summer—no to Bible study, no to serving, no to all the extras and external pressures so that I could get back to what really mattered: a personal, abiding relationship with Jesus and the internal state of my soul. I needed Jesus like never before to show me where things had gone sideways and to revive my weary soul. Because I was ‘doing’ everything I’d been taught to do, and yet my soul was a weary wreck. Where had I gone wrong?

Over the last couple of sabbatical summers, He began to show me the unforced rhythms of His grace (Matthew 11:28-30 MSG) as I laid down my performance and traded it for His presence, learning to do things from a motive of love, not fear. It’s been nothing short of life changing. As I surrendered, said no, and did less, somehow He showed up and grew me more than when I was hustling. As I surrendered many of the religious activities, He showed up in unexpected ways and spoke through ordinary daily moments. As I focused on being and abiding in Him, I felt more of His love and pleasure than I’d ever felt in my performance. And once He reordered my priorities—being with Him, becoming like Him, and then doing as He does—He placed me in a Bible study to go verse by verse through Galatians. In all the wrestling, I finally have hope that these powerful seeds of grace are starting to take root.

I wanted to share the top five things that He’s been teaching me about grace that are moving from head knowledge to heart transformation. I pray these will help you on your grace journey as well.

1. Saved by Grace Alone through Faith Alone

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Faith in Jesus alone leads to salvation by God’s grace and Jesus’ finished work on the cross. This is the gospel (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)—the good news—that anyone who would believe in Jesus would be saved (John 3:16). The gospel is all about what God did for us, not what we do for Him.

Tim Keller famously says, “Gospel + Anything = Nothing.” I’m a CPA, so I love Bible formulas, and this one is powerful. God does all the doing, as teachers like Tara-Leigh Cobble remind us. Our sin debt is already paid by Jesus (Colossians 2:14). God doesn’t ask for two payments for the same debt; that would be unjust, and God is not unjust. So, our works gain us nothing when it comes to salvation and eternal life (Titus 3:5). It is finished (John 19:30).

Also, this is probably one of my favorite things I just learned: when God made a covenant promise with Abraham, it was over 400 years before He ever gave the Law (Galatians 3:17). Mind blown. God’s plan was that we’d always be saved by believing in Him (Genesis 15:6). His covenant promise is like a Will—it’s an unconditional promise, and the beneficiaries never had to obey in order to get what’s provided in the will. If you’re in the Will, you get the inheritance—simple. Just like if you believe in Jesus, you’re immediately put in His Will and get promised eternal life (Ephesians 1:13-14). The Will is sealed by the blood of Jesus and can never be changed; your salvation is secure and can’t be taken away (Hebrews 9:15-17; John 10:28-29; Ephesians 1:13-14). It’s always been about the promise > performance.

2. Set Free

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Once our faith is rooted in being saved by grace alone, it sets us free from the bondage we’ve been under in trying to save ourselves. Faith leads to Freedom. We’re awakened to areas of our lives where we’ve relied on works and self-righteousness (like excessive religious activity), which are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6) because they are often done to feel better about ourselves rather than truly loving and serving others. Whatever we think we need to fulfill ourselves is what we worship, and when we worship anything besides Jesus, it enslaves us and becomes an idol or false God (Romans 1:25).

As Tim Keller states, the root of every problem in life is often because we are trying to add something to the gospel of grace in order to beautify and cleanse ourselves. And by adding to the gospel, we become enslaved and actually subtract from its power. Remember: Gospel + Anything = Nothing.

Early on in my life, rejection led to shame and a lifetime of perfect, people-pleasing performance. I was exhausted. I couldn’t rest and never knew why I was so driven to constantly be busy pleasing and achieving. But in counseling, God showed me that I was still trying to please man above Him (Galatians 1:10) and prove to everyone that I was lovable and worthy. I was adding to the gospel and making it nothing. God never called me to be a perfect people-pleasing performer. So now I can be free from the fear of man (Proverbs 29:25). Free from people-pleasing. Free from performance. Free from it all! He told me that I could stop running and finally rest.

3. Rest

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11‬:‭28‬-‭30‬ ‭MSG‬‬

“We find no rest for our weary bones unless we cling to the word of grace.” - Martin Luther

Once I finally knew that I was 100% saved by the gospel and that adding my works to it was absolutely a waste of time, I could finally rest. I can’t save myself, and the great news is that I don’t have to. My perfect, people-pleasing performance and constant Christian religious activity accomplished nothing for my eternal salvation—it only led to burnout and exhaustion.

We’ll talk more about the good works God created for us to do later (Ephesians 2:10), but for now, understand that the Law’s primary job is to reveal our sin and our need for a savior (Romans 3:20). The more we see our sin, the more beautiful His saving grace becomes, and the more we can truly rest from any self-saving efforts.

As Martin Luther emphasized, “No person has ever sunk so low that we cannot rise again. On the other hand, no man’s standing is so secure that he may not fall. If Peter fell, I may fall. If he rose again, I will rise again.” Our best works or worst mistakes don’t change our salvation status—so I can finally rest in God’s grace, rest assured that I’m on my way to heaven to spend eternity with Jesus.

Here are signs to examine if you’re living under grace or the law/works:

• Living under Faith/Grace

• Rest

• Blessings

• Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)

• Living under Law/Works

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Burnout/Exhaustion

• Insecurity

• Works of the Flesh - pride, envy, jealousy, guilt, discouragement (Galatians 5:19-21)

4. New Identity

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The moment we’re saved by grace, we become an adopted child of God with an entirely new family and new identity (Galatians 4:4-7). Now we’re unconditionally loved, chosen, approved, forgiven, worthy, valuable, and known (Ephesians 1:4-6). We no longer have to struggle with feeling superior or inferior to others. Because we are rooted in grace and emboldened by our new identity in Christ, the eyes and opinions of others lose their grip on us. Suddenly we experience being loved, seen and accepted by the only eyes in the universe that count and the chains of competition and comparison are broken. The rejection, the betrayal, the hurt — it’s all washed away by His love, and our souls are finally filled and satisfied. We are freed from the exhausting role of being a perfect, people-pleasing performer. We no longer need to seek love and acceptance from others to feel complete, because we find our wholeness and satisfaction entirely in Christ.

Tim Keller says, “Externalities are about our doing, internalities are about our being, and Christianity is about who I am in Christ, not what I do for Him.” He also explains in his book “Galatians for You,” that clothing ourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27) implies four amazing things:

• Our primary identity is in Christ—our clothing tells people who we are.

• The closeness of our relationship with Christ—clothes are closer than any other possession. We are called to practice His presence.

• The imitation of Christ—we are to continually think and act as if we were directly before His face. We are called to take Jesus into every area of our lives and change it in accordance with His Will and Spirit. We are to “put on” His virtues and actions. We are to “dress up like Jesus.”

• Our acceptability to God—In God’s sight, we are loved because of Jesus’ work and salvation. When God looks at us, He sees His Son. The Lord Jesus has given us His righteousness, His perfection, to wear.

5. New Purpose + New Fruit

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh….But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬, ‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“By the grace of God we know that we are justified through faith in Christ alone. We do not mingle law and grace, faith and works. We keep them far apart.” - Martin Luther

Only once we understand the gospel of grace and that our eternal salvation is secure can we turn correctly towards works and our new purpose. We now want to obey because of our love for God and our gratitude for His grace; no longer do we obey to gain something from God, for He has already given us all that we need and more.

As Martin Luther taught, faith, born of God's grace, is the root (the tree), and good works are the inevitable result (the fruit), not the means of salvation. He also stated, “Once a person has been justified by Christ, he will not be unproductive of good, but as a good tree he will bring forth good fruit… The Holy Spirit will not permit a person to remain idle, but will put him to work and stir him up to the love of God, to patient suffering in affliction, to prayer, to thanksgiving, to the habit of charity towards all men.”

Which leads me to the Bible verse that would always scare and confuse me:

“So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:17-18 ESV

This verse is NOT saying you have to work to gain eternal life. It is saying that once our faith is established (like a healthy tree), then we will naturally bear fruit as we stay connected to the vine (Jesus). Our #1 priority is always to abide and remain in the presence of Jesus (John 15:4-5), and then by remaining connected to the life source, He will bear good fruit through us and prove to the world that we’re His disciples. Phew, what a relief! He produces the fruit, not me.

As we daily walk by and surrender to the Spirit (Galatians 5:16), desiring God and saying yes to His will above our own, then we crucify the flesh with its desires (Galatians 5:24) and say no to the flesh’s disordered desires for even good things, which can eventually turn into the idols we talked about above. Only from our true being and new identity can we then approach our doing correctly.

No longer does the law or the 10 commandments secure our eternity, but they are God’s best plans for us to live an abundant life on earth. I like to think that God is the best life coach, and His ways lead to the best life until we go to Heaven. As Martin Luther taught, “To divide Law and Gospel means to place the Gospel in heaven, and to keep Law on earth”—meaning we rely on Grace for eternal life in Heaven and can rely on the Law (summed up as loving God and loving others) to guide us toward the best life on earth. This never guarantees an easy life, but if we love God, we will want to follow His ways of loving Him and loving our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40).

And I have another fun formula for you from Tim Keller:

“Believe = Saved >> Obey.

NOT Believe + Obey = Saved.”

He also says from “Galatians for You” about the Fruit of the Spirit:

• Christian growth is gradual—like botanical growth, you never see it happening—you can only measure it after a time.

• Growth of the Spirit is inevitable—there will be growth. If someone has the Spirit in them—if they are a Christian—the fruit will grow; the fruit of the Spirit will burst through; it’s inevitable.

• The Fruit of the Spirit has internal roots; it’s about deeper change. Fruit-growth of the Spirit can only happen in a child of God. The only test that the Spirit has really indwelled you as a child of God is the growth in the fruit of the Spirit.

• Christian growth is symmetrical—Paul uses the singular word “fruit” to describe a whole list of things that grow in a spirit-filled person. The real fruit of the Spirit always grows up together.

Now that we know we’re saved by grace, we are set free, we can rest, we have a new identity, and a new purpose to walk in the Holy Spirit to love and serve others above ourselves. We rely upon the Holy Spirit's power and abide in Him to bear new fruit.

Grace > Set Free > Rest > New Identity > New Purpose + New Fruit

• Grace save us

• Grace sets us free

• Grace gives us rest

• Grace gives us a new identity

• Grace gives us a new purpose + new fruit

Grace is the answer to every problem we have in life.

I hope and pray this helps grace move from your head down into your heart and that it begins to take root and change you as it has me.

With love, grace, and peace, 

Jessica Grace Pegram

Tired of Performing? You Can Rest Here.

I’m so very glad you are here! Before we jump in, let’s take a few deep breaths together and clear the chaos in our racing minds.

I love to use the box breathing technique: 4 breaths in, hold for 4, 4 breaths out, hold for 4, repeat a few times. I know if we're anything alike, you’ve been running around all day and trying to do all the things—a faithful follower of Jesus, a present wife and mom, a dedicated employee or stay at home hard-working mama—all the things. We barely get a few minutes just to pause and be.

And when we do get a few precious moments, we often quickly turn to social media and see everyone else doing it all and killing it. Everyone else seems to have figured out the best way to balance it all, the best new book or bible study, the best workout, the best diet, the next life hack that promises to change your life but never does. It’s always more, more, more, and we’re left feeling more inadequate at a never-ending list of things we can never get to. We perform, we achieve, we people-please, and say yes. We genuinely want to help others, make a difference, and be used by Jesus, but if we’re honest, it’s all gotten so out of control, and we’re plain exhausted.

I’ve had so many days where I feel like a robot, like I just have to keep going, an endless machine proving my worth to my family, friends, and the world and even to Jesus.

But I’m not a machine, and neither are you. God didn’t create us to live at this speed and pace. And he never intended for us to strive and hustle for our worth and value.

Are you tired of performing? If so, this is your invitation to rest here with Jesus and me. Resting in His Grace leads to discovering your new Identity and the wonderful Purpose He has for you (and that doesn't include constant busyness).

From Shame to Performance

I’ve been on a 40-year wilderness journey, and God is finally breaking the performance stronghold that has kept me stuck on the performance treadmill my entire life. I’d love to share what he’s been teaching me so that you can be set free and rest too!

Early in life, I experienced rejection and betrayal from people who I thought really loved me. This left me feeling so ashamed, believing something must be wrong with me. In an effort to hide my shame, I decided to get dressed up in performance to show everyone how great I was.

But here’s the thing: when you never heal from shame and don’t take off the shackles, it doesn’t matter what you try to cover it up with—shame is still there, and it causes the most severe insecurity.

So there I was, in a prison cell of shame, wearing shackles and trying to run as fast as I could on the performance treadmill in a fancy performance pantsuit. Can you just picture the craziness of that? Trying to run with shackles around your ankles and hands would be hard enough, but then try adding a fancy pantsuit. I was one sweaty hot mess!

But the praise from someone at church, a boss, family or friend was fuel to my insecurity, a small drink of water that kept me running faster and faster. I needed more praise, more water, so that I could keep running. It’s ironic that the very thing I thought I needed was also the thing that was destroying me.

When we’re empty and broken inside and chasing after the things of this world to fill us up, it's never enough and never satisfies.

It reminds me of this Bible verse:

For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

— Jeremiah 2:13 (ESV)

I’d spent the majority of my life forsaking the living water God had for me and instead was running after the water of the world to fill my broken cistern of a soul. No wonder it never worked!

The Better Way: Resting in Grace

But God and his powerful and wonderful grace. He finally allowed me to get to the end of myself and my self-saving efforts, which were actually destroying me, and showed me a better way. I had been running for decades to prove my worth when one day after a counseling session to deal with yet another bout of burnout, he spoke so gently to me and asked, “What if success now is to stop and to rest?”

I had been running my entire life because no one told that little girl she was safe, loved, and accepted by her Heavenly Father. She didn’t need to prove anything to anyone anymore. She didn’t need to be so preoccupied with ‘doing’. She could finally rest at the feet of Jesus like Mary and she could surrender her inner Martha.

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

— Luke 10:38-42 (ESV)

I replied, “Yes, I will stop and rest now.” When I came into agreement with God, the performance treadmill that had kept my soul in constant restlessness and anxiety stopped. The sweaty and dirty performance pantsuit fell to the ground where it belonged. And the shame shackles broke into a million pieces.

When I looked up, the prison cell was open—it had been open for over 20 years since I first put my faith in Jesus. But this was the first day I decided to walk out. Jesus had set me free, and I was finally ready to receive his gift of grace—a gift I still have to choose to receive every day.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

— Ephesians 2:8-9 (ESV)

This is How His Grace Transforms Our Identity and Purpose, Trading Old Lies for His Solid Truth:

Lie	Truth
Rejected: I am unlovable.	Fully and unconditionally loved, accepted and adopted (John 15:9, Ephesians 1:5)
Shame: I must hide myself.	Set free (Galatians 5:1)
Performance & People-pleasing: My worth is in my striving.	Presence: My worth is in being present with Jesus (John 15:4)

The Final Invitation: Learn the Unforced Rhythms of Grace

I hope and pray you stay here with me to get rooted in God’s restful grace so that we can be set free to bloom in your new identity in Jesus and discover the wonderful purposes he has for you.

But for now, I leave you with Jesus’ invitation into rest:

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.”

— Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)

With Love,

Jessica Grace Pegram