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

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