by MeredithNMills | Jul 4, 2017 | abiding in Christ, fear, Hope in the Midst of Heartache, Identity in Christ, knowing God, Uncategorized, Victorious Living, Walking by Faith
by Meredith Mills
@DazzledByTheSon
I’ll never forget what I saw that day.
I had heard of slavery, but to me it was a remote problem – a shameful period in our nation’s history and a distant atrocity in far-away lands.
And then I saw them. Flesh and blood people trapped in the insidious web of human trafficking. Sex slaves and beggars lining busy streets. Drugged children and lepers waiting for alms. Victims of human cruelty and depravity.
I saw real-life slaves that day. I looked in their eyes and felt as though I gazed into their souls.
And my heart broke into a million pieces.
So this is what slavery looks like.
The powerless trampled by the powerful. The weak exploited by the strong.
No mercy. No hope. No means of escape. Only the monotony of a slave’s daily existence.
The event I describe took place during a mission trip to Bangkok, Thailand several years ago. It is burned in my memory, tucked away in the deepest corner of my heart.
Yet in reality, it’s a picture of my life. I’ve experienced sin’s heavy chains, enslaving me to destructive habits I despise but keep on doing.
And I’ve felt the crushing condemnation of a Law I can’t keep, no matter how hard I try.
I know the tyranny of a master who cares nothing for his slaves.
But thank God, Someone came to my rescue. Someone stronger than my old master. Someone rich enough to pay my ransom. Someone so relentlessly loving He’d exchange His own life for mine – and yours.
This is God our Redeemer. Lavish in love. Extravagant in grace. 
“He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7-8 NLT).
Let that sink in for a minute. Our God is rich, abundantly wealthy…in kindness and grace.
He looked on us in our wretched slavery, when we had nothing to offer Him, and He loved us.
He wanted us.
He knew we’d broken His law. He realized we’d not always love Him in return. Yet He loved us and was delighted to make us His own.
Do you feel it? The overwhelming realization that, no matter what, you are wanted.
I’ve spent the past several days reading through Ephesians one. Our Redeemer’s abundant generosity is striking. For those united with Christ:
- He has given us every spiritual blessing.
- He loved us, chose us and decided to make us holy – all before He uttered creation’s first life-giving words.
- He made plans for our adoption so we could be close to Him, though we were once His enemies because of our sins.
- His richness of kindness and grace compelled Him to pay our ransom and purchase our freedom.
- He poured out abundant favor on us, showering us with kindness.
- His incredibly great power works on our behalf – the same power that brought Jesus back from the dead.
Abundance. Riches. Greatness. This is the lavish love of our Redeemer.
Have you experienced it? Do you know His redemption? If not, I invite you to check out In Case You’re Wondering.
If you know Him, I rejoice with you in the freedom He gives.
How have you seen Him as Redeemer in your life? How does His redemption affect your daily life? Please comment below. Let’s get to know Him better together!
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by MeredithNMills | Jun 27, 2017 | abiding in Christ, knowing God, Uncategorized, Victorious Living, Waiting, Walking by Faith
I have a garden this year. 
I love saying that. It feels so…earthy. So…natural. So…not me.
You see, I’m not really a gardener.
I want to be. I try to be. But I get a bit lost when plants don’t just…grow. I put the seeds in the ground, so now they should do their thing. Right? But when bugs invade or plants start dying, I don’t always put up a fight.
This year, however, I’m determined. I’m going to figure this cultivating thing out.
Last night I spent some time working in my garden – pulling weeds, pruning rogue cucumber plants, transplanting mint to improve its chance for survival. It was sweaty, prickly work. But it felt so good.
And then I saw it – a bunch of tiny green tomatoes growing in the middle of the tomato cage. I was so excited to see the plant I’ve been tending start to bear fruit.
It’s small, so far from ripe. But it’s fruit, nonetheless. It’s progress, the promise of more to come. And it thrills me.
As I looked at those itty bitty tomatoes, it struck me that maybe God feels a similar joy over us. When He sees us growing, does His heart burst with happiness?
Sometimes I get so impatient with myself.
Surely I should be producing lots of mature fruit by now. I’ve known Jesus for so long, why am I not bursting with the fruit of His Spirit? Why, oh why, do I struggle with the same old sins? Why am I not more grown up in my faith? Why do I doubt? Why do I get irritable or angry with those I love?
Do you ever feel that way? Ashamed of yourself for not being…better? More productive? More mature? Closer to perfect?
And like the scorching sun on a mid-summer day, condemnation threatens to wither the fruit that’s growing, be it ever-so-slowly, in our lives.
I don’t think God looks at us that way. In fact, for those with faith in His Son, He declared us free from condemnation (Romans 8:1).
Like a patient gardener rejoicing over not-yet-ripe fruit, I believe God is okay with the process. More than okay, I think He’s excited to see us growing, responding to His master touch.
No gardener expects ripe fruit the same day the seeds are planted. There’s a whole season of tending yet to be done. 
In the garden of our hearts, our God is all about the process. Because, unlike me with my tomato plants, there’s a relationship being cultivated. In the tending – the daily watering, the pruning and pulling of weeds – we get to know the Gardener.
What do you think? How does the Gardener tend the soil of your soul? What are you learning about Him in the process? Please comment below! Let’s get to know Him better together!
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by MeredithNMills | Feb 28, 2017 | abiding in Christ, Hope in the Midst of Heartache, knowing God, Uncategorized, Victorious Living, Waiting, Walking by Faith
Have you ever won the lottery?
No? Well, don’t feel bad – I haven’t either. (Of course, I hear you have to play to have a chance at winning, so maybe that has something to do with it.)
How about being chosen in a drawing, like at the Home and Garden’s Expo? You just fill out a little slip of paper, giving them all your personal information, then sit back and wait for a phone call. Sounds easy enough. I’d enjoying having new windows for my entire house.
Or even just the “guess how many jelly beans are in the jar” game? Nope. I’ve haven’t won that one either.
I’ve never been a lucky person.
My husband, on the other hand, now he was an altogether different story. He used to win drawings and prizes a lot. Until he married me.
Whatever your views on luck versus the sovereignty of God, there’s something inside each of us that loves to win. Be it small or big, we humans delight in attaining something of value.
Recently, I was wrestling through a life circumstance I wanted God to change. I thought this change would simplify life and add value to my days. I read and began memorizing the following verses – “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (Lamentations 3:25-26).
So, I waited. And I prayed. And I tried to change things on my own, which I guess isn’t really waiting on God.
Then I grew resentful when God didn’t bring the change I sought. I prayed and waited and tried some more.
And then I gave up.
God showed me that, while I love Him and desire to follow Him, I was fighting the direction He’d given. I was fighting Him.
You know, if I were God (and it’s a good thing I’m not), I’d be pretty irritated when my child wouldn’t follow my instructions. When, after lavishing goodness upon her, she kicked and squirmed and tried to run the other direction, I would find my patience growing thin.
But wonder of wonders, God didn’t treat me that way.
First Timothy 1:16 describes Jesus as “immensely patient.” And that’s exactly what I’ve found. With gentleness and grace, He led me to a place of surrender.
Oh, that word. Sometimes it makes me cringe. It feels so unnatural to surrender to someone else’s control. But this, like everything else in Christianity, is a matter of faith.
It’s a conscious choice to believe that the heart of God is good. To trust that He really does have my well being in mind. To act upon the belief that He sees the bigger picture and higher purpose.
I was waiting for God to grant me the “prize” for which I prayed. Instead, He gave me more of Himself. And I realized that Jesus is the prize, the treasure of infinite value.
People “surrender” many things for the chance at winning a prize – time, money, personal information…And any prize that we gain is temporal and sometimes worth very little.
But when Jesus asks us to surrender, He offers us in exchange the priceless gift of friendship with God.
Surrender
Paul said “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8).
And might I add a side note? When I surrendered, I told God, “Lord, I’ll do what You ask. But I can’t keep living like this – discontent, restless, angry. You have to change my heart. I’ve been trying to change myself, to pull myself out of this pit. But I can’t do it. So You’ll have to.”
And that’s exactly what He did.
After that step of faith, God began restoring joy to my soul. Where there was striving, there is peace. Where there was resentment, there is rest. I don’t know what the future holds, or how He will lead tomorrow.
But I know He’s good. And that’s good enough for me.
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by MeredithNMills | Jun 17, 2016 | Hope in the Midst of Heartache, Identity in Christ, knowing God, Uncategorized, Waiting, Walking by Faith
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
I sit in a hospital room, surrounded by beeping and whirring machines. Otherwise, it’s silent.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
A beloved family member sleeps fitfully in the bed in front of me. The surgery went well. Anesthesia effective. Thank God for good doctors. Now begins the rocky road to recovery.
As I stare at her, something deep within me revolts against what I see. In this room, all over this hospital, are people who bear God’s image – each with a story to tell. They have hopes, plans and dreams. They are loved, and they love in return. They want to be healthy, happy, free. They want to be anywhere but here.
It wasn’t supposed to be this way.
Sickness. Pain. Aging. Loss. Broken bodies. Broken hearts. Broken lives. It’s all so…wrong
We were made for more than this..
My mind wanders back to a Garden, the first and only perfect Garden. Teaming with life, bursting with beauty, this Garden showcased the handiwork of the Master Creator. He spoke everything into existence and pronounced it good – everything, that is, until He was ready for His magnum opus. For this, He would use extra special care. He would craft man and woman as the pinnacle of His creation. Now, He says, everything is very good.
Teaming with life and bursting with beauty
Beauty. Fruitfulness. Each day an extension of yesterday’s friendship with God. No knowledge of pain. No conflict between man and wife, humankind and God. Trust and peace. Wholeness and well-being. Unhampered joy. Unhindered life.
This, this is what we were made for. This was God’s design.
Not what I see in this hospital room.
Not what we see all around us today.
Not life as we know it in this sin-ravaged world.
When mistrust of God and self-exaltation came on the scene, everything changed. Absolutely everything. (See Gen 3.)
Creation itself groans under its “bondage to decay” (Rom 8:21). Thorns and thistles. Death and desolation. Predators and Prey. Famine, drought, natural disasters. And we, the masterpieces of His Creation, we cannot escape this broken existence either. No matter our position or status or story, we all know the pain of living here.
But it will not always be so.
Because a Deliverer came to our rescue.
The Creator became as the created.
The One who holds our universe together stepped into our brokenness and lived among us.
He knew our pain. He faced our battles. He bore our shame.
He chose the cross and took our sin – the very cause of all this heartbreak in the first place.
The Holy One waged war on sin and death. And He won.
The victory has been decided. Jesus is the Champion. And soon, we will know the full reality of all He accomplished that day at Calvary.
Someday God will restore His creation. He will deliver us from this fallen world. He will usher in a new heaven and a new earth where we, His own, will be with Him forever. In our new home, there will be no more death or pain or sickness or tears. He will make everything new.
And so, as I sit here in this hospital room, I take comfort. As I read the news and feel the heartbreak of each new tragedy, I find hope. This fleeting existence is not all there is. Someday, everything will be made right.
Our Deliver is coming. Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
Come quickly, Lord Jesus!
How do you comfort your heart in times of suffering and pain? I’d love to hear!
(If you want to know more about a relationship with this Deliverer, please check out In Case You’re Wondering.)
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by MeredithNMills | Dec 25, 2014 | Uncategorized
“‘Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us’” Matthew 1:23.
Emmanuel…God with us. Wow. That just blows my mind. God with us. God Himself. The Most High God, Sovereign Ruler and Creator of all that is, who exists outside of time and whose power knows no limits. Radiant in glory. Spotless and Holy. Worshipped by angels. Feared by darkness. Incomprehensible. Uncontainable. This God, He took the initiative to come to us.
He saw the terrible mess we are in. Death and destruction trump life and order. Hatred and violence fill the planet. Pain infects every heart. Suffering touches every life. Creation itself groans under the weight of our condition (Rom 8:22). All because of a choice made thousands of years ago. A choice to exalt self and be our own gods. And since that fateful day in the garden of Eden (Gen 3), each person ever born has been infected with the disease of sin. We’re born with it (Rom 5:19). We choose it (Isa 53:6). And it breeds all kinds of wickedness and destruction in this world we call home.
God knew we needed a Savior. In fact, He knew we would need a Savior even before He created mankind (Eph 1:4). So He wrote the plan for our redemption. He would send a Rescuer – not a representative, but God the Son. He would take on human flesh, with its frailties and limitations. He would know human pain, experience human suffering. The pain of a broken heart – He felt it. The agony of loss – He experienced it. The humiliation of betrayal – He bore it. Sickness, hunger, temptation, exhaustion…He knew them all. He lived the whole range of human emotion. He became like us, so we could become like Him.
He would do what we couldn’t do – live a life of sinless perfection (2 Cor 5:21). He would pay the penalty for sins He didn’t commit. He would experience the final human reality…death. But it would not, could not, contain Him. Like a victor bursting through the finish line ribbon, He rose to life, never to experience death again (Heb 7:27).
So this Baby in a manger that we celebrate tomorrow…that was why He came. To do all that for us out of immeasurable love (Eph 3:17-19). To be “God with us.” To walk among us so that He might redeem us.
But there’s another facet to this name Emmanuel. He was “God with us” during His physical life on earth. But when He ascended to Heaven, He left His Spirit here to indwell the hearts of His followers (Jn 16:7). So, even today, 2000 years after the first Christmas, He is still our Emmanuel,”God with us.”
And that makes all the difference in my life here on earth. Because God is with me through His indwelling Spirit, I have victory over sins that once controlled me. I have hope when life feels hopeless. I have peace when life is not peaceful. I have strength when I am weak. I have wisdom when I feel clueless. I can be whole when my life is broken. I can have joy when life hurts. I have a Friend that sticks closer than even flesh and blood (Prov 18:24). He will never leave or forsake me (Heb 13:5). He is the ultimate satisfaction of every need I will ever face. Because He is Emmanuel, God with us. This is the wonder of Christmas.
