Grace Warriors

Now that we are in the month of November, it is a good time to do a check-in with our hearts and see if our hearts are being filled with thanksgiving and generosity. The first biblical figure Sara and Kathy bring up today is David. As you read through the psalms, you see the amount of times David uses the word “thanks" or "give thanks”. David didn’t have an easy life and he also made many mistakes, just like we do, and we see He came back to truth and that truth is that God is shelter in the storm, his hiding place, his rescuer and these truths changed David’s heart and filled his heart with thanksgiving. One of the questions Kathy brings up is “How does God feel?” when many times we take credit for things God has done. He is the giver of ALL good things and His presence is everywhere! Satan wants us to stay busy in our own minds and lives but God is calling us to slow down and see the gifts He has given us. They’re everywhere and He is actually giving us these gifts to worship him! As we enter another busy week, let’s slow down, shift our minds to the gifts all around us. Take time this week to write down gifts as you begin to recognize him throughout your week.

We all reach a point in life where we wonder who we are. If you have been listening to our previous episodes you’ll know we have been unwrapping, week by week, who you are in Christ and what the Word of God says about you. We have focused on the importance of casting off the lies from the enemy that tells us we don’t matter, we aren’t worthy, we aren’t enough and so many more. Embracing the opinion of the only one that matters can be difficult but running to His word is the best place we can go and that is exactly what guest speaker, Simi John talks about with her new devotional “I am not.” Kathy and Sara spend today’s episode interviewing author, blogger, speaker and physical therapist, Simi John. Simi John grew up in India but lives in Oklahoma now with her family. Not only is she a super woman with work and family, she is a woman who is grounded in her identity in Christ! She wrote a devotional book to help women break free from lies and fully embrace who they are in Christ! The book is unique because she uses women in the Bible to challenge us with the Word and to help us really find our identity in Jesus. If you want to learn more about Simi John, tune into today’s episode! You can purchase her book on amazon and be sure to follow her on social media!

Being overwhelmed has nothing to do with how capable you are, how educated you are or how efficient you are. Sometimes good things overwhelm us, it isn’t always bad! Most of the time overwhelm leads us to becoming fatigued. 2020 has been such a tough year circumstantially but that doesn’t mean we have to sit in the emotion of being overwhelmed. And actually God has something so much better for you! Let’s look at what He says in Matthew. Jesus invites us to him with our overwhelm and he reminds us time and time again the significance of running to Him with any emotion or feeling! He meets us there and wants to free us from it! Sara and Kathy speak more in-depth on Matthew 11:28-30 in today’s episode, and share the tender but important command Jesus gives when he says “Come to me…”, he is calling us to something deeper and better! He promises to give you rest. He is gentle with us ladies! We all have choices and sometimes they’re hard choices and sometimes they’re easy but we all have them! When we choose him, even in the hard we are choosing Christ over chaos. We are exchanging overwhelm for a light burden! We want you to be overwhelmed with the fruits that only God can give us! Wouldn’t it be great to be overwhelmed with peace and self-control? Jesus invites us into this place, turn to him first. He has so much good in store for you!

We are wrapping up our “I am” series (for now) with the statement "I am complete in Jesus". Today Sara and Kathy recap all of the “I am” statements they have covered throughout the last 11 episodes. Our identity is the root of so many issues so it was important to start the podcast and address the root problem. Many of us struggle to believe who we TRULY are. It is God’s grace for us to be able to embrace who Jesus says we are and when he does, it changes our identity. Actually, it changes everything. We want you to experience the grace that we have (and continue to experience) in finding your identity fully in Christ, because He is enough! He is all you need! One of the best ways to know and believe you are complete in Him is by pouring into the Word of God. It is alive and as you read it, He gives you the heart to believe it. It is a process but remember all scripture is God-breathed and He promises to complete the work He has started! The best thing is that whether you believe it or not, these truths are TRUE about you. Embrace your identity in Jesus this week. Rest in the fact that you are complete because of Jesus and allow that to stir your heart to fall deeper in love with His word.

Today in the podcast Sara and Kathy talk about the “I am” statement "I am blessed". The term blessed is thrown around everywhere and determining the difference between worldly blessings and God’s blessings can be difficult because all things were created by God therefore all good things come from him! The difference between a worldly blessing and a divine blessing is that many of us think a blessing is just something we have control over, or some type of “good”(by worldly standard) circumstance that has happened. Blessed in scripture is described as holy, consecrated, and declared sacred! See how much deeper our blessings go as Christian women? We are blessed no matter the circumstances and no matter the outcome of situations and that is such good news! We battle a world of uncertainty and suffering, so imagine if we only considered ourselves "blessed" when good things happened? We’d miss out on so much God has to offer us! Embrace the blessings from God and His word today. He will never leave you. He will always love you. He chooses you. He sees you. He has sealed you with his love and you are His beloved daughter. He doesn’t see you as broken and when we are broken He brings healing. We have the ability to talk to him anytime. We have a Father who pleads on our behalf and prepares a room for us in His house in eternity. We are blessed beyond comprehension and that is even a blessing! Remember these things today and allow His grace to flow over you.

Body image and how we view ourselves as women is never an easy topic to cover. Many people don’t know how to address it so it's easier to avoid it. Many of us have struggled with it off and on most of our lives and have just accepted that this is how it is. The Good News of Jesus is that the gospel doesn’t shy away from hard topics. It doesn’t avoid uncomfortable subjects, but instead Jesus speaks perfect life and truth over them. We don’t have to wonder what God thinks about this topic because He gives us His word and there are tons of verses on how He sees us! Sara and Kathy talk about the importance of allowing what God sees in us to shape what we see in ourselves. God made you perfectly (yes, even your little stomach pooch!). He knew what he was doing and He doesn’t make mistakes! You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are beautiful. You are His workmanship. He took time and detail when creating every part of you. Tune in today to hear how the gospel of Jesus actually makes you beautiful. It makes people crave to be around you and when you have Him, you carry a light that you didn’t have before! He knit you together in your mother’s womb and calls you beautiful daughter. What amazing grace!

It is very trendy to “brand” yourself right now and social media is filled with influencers and brand ambassadors. What does it mean to be an influencer? Today Sara and Kathy discuss how we, as Christian women, are all ambassadors for Christ. The way we live our life tells people a story, and as believers we can either be good or bad ambassadors for Jesus. What is the fruit you are showing as a representative of Christ? Are you making people want Jesus with the way you speak or treat people? Do you live in peace or chaos? We have the good news that many people don’t know about and our actions do matter as believers. We have a high calling and to be able to fulfill our role, be useful and eternally significant to the Kingdom, we must know Jesus. Just like influencers must know their product, we must know ours! The best way to be transformed into a useful disciple of Christ is to pursue Him, know Him, believe Him and trust that as you do that, He will change you from the inside out. He truly is all we need and in a world that seems to be falling apart, that is good good news. When we are changed by the gospel, it comes out of us naturally and people crave the peace that comes with knowing and being known by Him. Allow yourself to get curious about Jesus this week, open your bible and see what it means to be an influencer for Jesus. He is better than anything and is more than enough! He is worth it.

This week Kathy and Sara talk all about the statement “I am enough.” The truth is none of us measure up, none of us are “enough”. That is why God sent His son Jesus. He loved us so much to give us the only one who is enough! What we lack, he makes up for. Instead of beating ourselves up with the statement “I am not enough”, we can embrace the fact that we don’t have to have it because He does! It’s over time that we learn we are not enough due to the lies of the enemy, and it is over time in the Word of God that we learn to believe we are enough. God’s word is alive and allows us to slowly become people who look at ourselves and others through His eyes. His eyes for us are that we are perfectly perfect. We can’t cultivate this in our own hearts. Believing what God says about us can only occur with the help of the Holy Spirit. But when we do, friends, it’s the most beautiful, peace-giving thing we can experience. God created us in His image. This was a divine activity and that means we resemble Him. Our hope is that this episode will encourage you to run to His word and begin believing you are who He says you are because it changes everything!

We asked you all what you’re dealing with and a lot of people responded they are struggling with worry. Anxiousness and worry can be all-consuming and sometimes it feels like there is no way out., Sara and Kathy wanted to discuss this topic today. Many times the worry we are feeling in the moment is a lack of trusting the Lord. We become consumed with our circumstances and forget we have a good God we can trust. This all boils down to having a fear of losing control. Sound right, ladies? Yeah, we ALL struggle with control! The TRUTH is, none of us are in control and if 2020 has shown us anything, it is that we aren’t in control, but there is hope! As Christian women, we have something very powerful, the Holy Spirit, so we don’t have to be ruled by fear. We have a God fully in control! Sometimes we forget how powerful this Spirit is and we allow the enemy to keep us in our worry. We are safe and secure today because we have God’s word to show us feelings verses truth. Choose to not waste time in worry, tormenting yourself. Slow down today, capture the thoughts that are capturing you and surrender them to the God who knows all and loves you deeply. Remember, He is for you!

This week Sara and Kathy talk about the importance of allowing God to heal us. When we live our lives, even as Christians, with wounds, we are unable to fulfill the true purpose God created us for. The Father is inviting us to experience His love and His restoration over the wounds that others have caused us and the wounds from our own sin. He is a good God that sent His son so that we can experience this freedom! Yes, healing brings pain but we are already in pain from our wounds! Once we are healed we experience the true freedom, victory and grace, if we could get this on our own Jesus wouldn’t have had to go to the cross! Satan cannot take anything from you, he doesn’t have the authority to, but when he steals your joy and peace, you’ll give him anything. If we aren’t healed, the enemy uses our past against us and many of us live in this shame and guilt for years. Jesus nailed our shame to the cross and took our past, present and future sins. You are loved, chosen and forgiven friends! God came to bring healing to our stories, we just have to allow it.