When I found out I was pregnant with my second child a short 6-months after my first was born, I made two promises to myself. Once this baby was born…
- I was going to get a really cute new haircut.
- I was going to start taking Zumba classes at a local dance studio.
I’ll never forget the first time I stepped into that cramped little studio space on Main Street, my freshly cropped hair drawing attention up and away from my post-partum midsection.
For 45-minutes, three times per week, I was transported into a different world.
It was a magical place where upbeat music charged the atmosphere, where pretty girls glistened instead of sweated, and I danced my heart out.
If I squinted ever so slightly when I looked at my reflection on the wall of mirrors, I could almost imagine the happy girl looking back at me was a good dancer.
But no matter how often I attended that class, no matter how much effort I put forth, I simply could not get my body to mirror the precision and finesse of the “front row girls.”
What they accomplished with great ease, I failed to accomplish with my greatest effort.
What they accomplished with great ease, I failed to accomplish with my greatest effort.My lack of coordination and inability to keep up with the beat often made me feel unworthy of dancing alongside these younger, fitter women.
So as soon as my pre-pregnancy jeans “almost” fit, I stopped attending class at that posh little downtown studio.
No matter how much I enjoyed the class itself, I just didn’t like how being in that class made me feel about myself.
It made me feel unworthy.
As I’ve been pondering this idea of walking worthy of our heavenly calling, I’ve realized many Christian women feel the same way about attending Church or a Women’s Bible study as I felt about that Zumba class.
Judged.
Inadequate.
Deficient.
Unworthy.
And if we really feel that way about engaging in Christian community, how are we ever going to learn how to walk worthy of our heavenly calling?
You see, there’s a lie floating around like a vicious contagion, ravaging women’s hearts and bodies, leaving them spiritually handicapped.
This lie is from our enemy—the father of all lies—and its sole purpose is to cut us off from our Heavenly Father and render us powerless and ineffective in our Christian walk.
Never forget—Satan’s #1 goal is to demolish us. Obliterate us. Destroy us.
And He’s found an extremely efficient way to do that.
Satan’s lies confirm our deepest fears.
Satan's lies confirm our deepest fears about ourselves.He whispers this lie in our ear as we usher our family past Sally-has-it-all-together to our favorite spot in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, “You’ll never be as good as her.”
He reminds us of our inadequacies when we were too busy to complete our homework for Bible study on Tuesdays, “You are a failure.”
He pushes us to our breaking point and when we crumble in exhaustion he towers over us and declares, “How could God ever love someone like you?”
He taunts us, he tricks us, and he traps us.
And we let him do it! Time and again, we let him win. Why?
Because Satan’s lies confirm our deepest fears about ourselves.
We feel unworthy, we feel like a failure, we wonder if God could really love us.
All Satan has to do is whisper lies confirming of all those nasty feelings and insecurities.
How do we fight back? How do we find victory?
The only way to fight lies is with the truth!
We only achieve victory when we choose to fill our mind with all the beautiful things God says about us in His Word:
Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens. For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6
You are God’s daughter. Created for His glory, and Chosen by Him before the foundation of the world. You are holy and blameless in His sight and He has blessed you with EVERY spiritual blessing.
The only way to fight lies is with the truth! God's Word is the ultimate truth.Focus on this truth for long enough and you will discover Satan’s lies have no power over you any longer.
BAM! Take that, Satan.
And this, sweet sister, is just one of the beautiful truths woven into the book of Ephesians.
One of the many bold declarations about who God made you to be.
It’s just the beginning of your journey of discovering all God has done to equip you to walk worthy of your heavenly calling.
Because God’s work always empowers our walk!
I’ve spent the past six months studying the truths of Ephesians, and I am excited to share all I’ve learned with you through my free 31-day online Bible study entitled “Worthy of the Calling.“
If you are sick and tired of Satan’s lies, this study is for you!
If you want to know who God says you are, this study is for you!
If you need a loving friend to journey alongside you, this study is for you!
This 31-day e-mail based study on the book of Ephesians was created for busy women just like you.
All you need to complete the study is 15-minutes per day and your mobile device.
Finally, a way to dig deeper into God’s Word in those precious few moments before the kids wake up and start making demands—while you are stuck in the drive-through line at school—at the end of the day when you’ve just got enough energy to lay in bed and scroll through your phone.
And with all the free goodies packed into this study, you’ll be excited to open your inbox and click on the daily e-mails.
Still unsure? Take a moment to listen to this beautiful song my friend Jessi McNeal wrote just for us.
Click Here to listen to more of Jessi McNeal’s Music.
This song is inspired by the beautiful truths of Ephesians, and it echos the cry of my heart for every woman who struggles to believe she is…
Chosen.
Beloved.
Worthy.
If you’ve struggled to understand God’s love for you. If you’ve ever felt unworthy of His call on your life. Please know you are not alone.
This is why I have deeply enjoyed studying Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (and why you will too!).
You see, Paul understood where his worthiness came from.
He understood that the only way to walk worthy of his heavenly calling was to believe God made him worthy (it was nothing he could do on his own!).
When God looks at us, He’s not judging us by the same standard we judge ourselves.
When God looks at us, He’s not judging us by the same standard we judge ourselves.Not…even….close!
Sign up for the study today and together we will walk through the beautiful truths of Ephesians. Together we will discover who God says we are and how He equips us to walk worthy of our heavenly calling.
{Click Here to Register}
I hope you join us for the Worthy of the Calling Bible Study.
It’s going to be EPIC!
