Life is hard, but God is good.

So as life’s sharp edges try to hold up your inner beauty and inner strength, fear not. Jesus is with you and he reminds you that you are a saint now. (The biblical meaning of saint is a forgiven believer.)

You are holy now. (This doesn’t mean you’re perfect but as a saint you have the perfection of Christ.)

You are the Father’s daughter now.

Chosen, blameless, redeemed and forgiven.

You have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms now. You cannot get more blessing. You dod not need more blessing. Why? You already possess every spritual blessing.

Every is. . .well, every.

You don’t have to get your act together before God will bless you. He has blessed you. Present tense.

You don’t have to check off every item on your spiritual to-do list.

You have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and cannot lose your salvation that he guaranteed because God cannot not be God and unseal and un-guarantee.

What does this all mean?

Find your rest in your identity in Christ.

You’ll find these promises in Ephesians 1:3-14. If you have want a copy of my “Who You Are in Christ” handout, leave a comment. Thanks.

You Are a Saint!

Hi, everyone. I’m having foot surgery on Tuesday so I’ll run readers’ favorite posts all week.

Sensing deja vu? Me too. The doctor de-bunioned foot Number One in June. Now it’s time for foot Number Two. Since I’m running out of feet, this will be my final surgery. After the surgery, I’ll crutch for three weeks. No fun. Then I don an oversized blue boot. Not pretty.

By the time I can walk — in five weeks – I’ll have cute shoes selected. Can you say high heels, no pain?

It’ll be a few more weeks before the swelling is down and I can actually wear them. Any and all prayers for no complications, minimal pain and quick healing are welcome.

Enough about me.

With you in mind, I remodeled my website and added a “Resources” tab with articles you can read, print and share. Some are from women who need hope, others for ministry leaders who need help. I plan to add resources every week. Come and peek.

Question: I have not been able to wear high heels comfortable for 15 or 20 years. Yep, I said years. What color shoes do you think I should buy? Please leave a comment. I need your help.

You Are Blessed!

Your enemy, Satan, is the father of lies. He and his demons tempt you to think rotten ideas about your worth. “You aren’t good enough! You aren’t pretty enough! You aren’t strong enough! And you never will be!”

Then, when you’re feeling down and out, he dangles treasures before your eyes, pretty things like new clothes, invites to parties, good health, a happy family, a big house or chic condo and stuff to fill them. Lots of stuff.

In hopes of feeling less afraid and more secure, we feed our gods, hungry gods that help us feel special or important – like money and pleasure, others’ opinions of us, busyness, fame and privilege and honor.

Often when we possess such treasures, we think we are doing okay, that we are okay, even better than okay, maybe even valuable and worth something.

This is faulty thinking.

God says you are beautiful and strong in Christ even when. . .

Your checks bounce.

A colleague steals your idea and gets the credit and a bonus.

Your daughter shoplifts a bottle of nail polish and is arrested.

Cancer strikes a good friend.

A bully harasses your son.

Your husband comes home late, again.

Question: Can God be good when life turns bad? Leave a comment.

You Are Awesome!

We women long to hear:

You

are

beautiful!

Yet we rarely do. We live in a put-down world with impossible beauty standards. Flawless faces leer at us while we wait in the checkout line. You’ve seen them, haven’t you?

Blemish-free skin, perfect noses, impeccable makeup. And just below the faces. . .

. . . big bosoms and slender, sculpted bods.

Who can compare?

Not me.

Not you.

No one.

Seriously, even supermodels are air-brushed.

I surveyed a dozen Christian women, ages 20 to 60, who attended my workshop “Inside Out Beauty.” The question I posed: What are two things would you change about your looks? They wrote their answers. No names. Complete anonymity.

The results: All but one mentioned weight.

No surprise. Everyone I know wants to lose a little, a little there.

The other things they’d change: hairy arms, wrinkles, age spots, eye color, hair color, even “my whole body.”

Ouch!

Here’s the big Q? How can we learn to see ourselves like Jesus does?

Question: What would you change about you? Leave a comment.

You Are Blessed,

The other day my 14 year old told me a guy on the schoolbus called her a fag and me a whore. Where did that come from? Do his parents rail on him? Was he trying to look tough? Be a macho-man?

All I know is it bothered my daughter. . .and she knows his words spoke lies. This is the same beautiful girl who wonders if she’s fat. She’s not. When pimples show up like unwanted guests, she furrows her brows and asks, “Mom, do you still think I’m pretty?”

“Yes, honey,” I reply. “You are beautiful on the inside and the outside.”

Decades ago I had similar questions. My mom soothed my insecurities. But my new friend Lori Moore, whom I had the privilege of interviewing on my Sisterhood of Beautiful Warriors blogtalkradio show, has battled insecurity well into her 30s. To prove her worth to herself, she even held down seven jobs at one time. In fact, she was an marketing rep by day and a stripper by night at one point. The last place she’d figured she’d ever set foot in? A church.

You can listen to the archived show. If you’d like a compimentary copy of her book From Zero to Christian in Just 35 Years, leave a comment below.

What about you? Did your mom or dad or mean girls at school call you names? “Chicken legs?” “Blimp?” “Ho?” “Stupid?”

Something worse?

These names hurt. They pile on insecurity, the feeling that you aren’t good enough.

You may unwittingly join the chorus of ugly voices by repeating the names to yourself. The lies that hit you like a tornado — spinning spinning spinning the truth — may have turned you into a liar too.

The truth is

you are blessed.

Go ahead, read Ephesians 1:3 and find out that you have every — repeat, every – spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms now.

Isn’t our Lord marvelous?

Question: Are you going to leave a comment and take a chance on getting a copy of Lori’s book? It’s great for any woman who struggles with insecurity. Would a friend like it?

You Are Blessed!