by MeredithNMills | Dec 25, 2016 | Identity in Christ, Uncategorized, Walking by Faith
“Look! The virgin will conceive and bear a Son, and they will call Him Emmanuel, which means ‘God with us’” (Matt 1:23) NET.
God.with.us.
Those three words astound me.
For thousands of years, God had been worshiped from afar. His holiness stood in stark contrast to mankind’s sin. A thick veil separated His earthly presence in the temple from those who approached Him.
Until Emmanuel.
His arrival changed everything.
The Eternal One stepped into time and wrapped Himself with humanity. The Creator became one of us. The King who controls armies, who sets up and tears down nations, that King made His first appearance in an unceremonious stable.
And such would be His life – a homeless Miracle Worker, a traveling Teacher, a King rejected by His own people.
He came not impress us, but to save us. Not to condemn us, but to restore friendship with God.*
He came to do what we could not do – to keep the Law of God, and die as if He hadn’t. To taste death for us, then render it powerless so we could be set free.
He came to tear the veil that separated a holy God from His people, and to make us holy, too.
This is Emmanuel – a God so in love with His people that He would walk among us, know our pains, experience our emotions, and die in our stead.
And He beckons us, even today as we celebrate His birth, to draw near to Him as well.
As we give and receive gifts this Christmas day, may we remember the greatest Gift of all time. And may we offer ourselves back as a gift to Him.
Merry Christmas!
This changes everything
* If you’re curious about how to begin a relationship with this Jesus, please check out In Case You’re Wondering.
Related Posts:
The Sunrise of Christmastime
The Wonder of Christmas
What’s Inside
by MeredithNMills | Jul 29, 2016 | Family, Identity in Christ, knowing God, Uncategorized, Victorious Living, Walking by Faith
By Meredith Mills
@DazzledByTheSon
“You can’t deny that one’s yours!”
Mini-me
That was the comment we heard as my husband carried our littlest into the church where he would be speaking later that morning. It’s true – she definitely bears his image. In fact, I’ve been told she’s the female version of him as a child. There’s something really special about seeing ourselves in our children.
It’s pretty amazing, this image-bearing business.
Even more amazing is the fact that we bear our Heavenly Father’s image.
In the beginning, God set out to make humanity as a reflection of Himself. He wanted creation’s climax to resemble Him. And they did.
But then sin entered the picture. The pinnacle of creation, the creatures after His likeness, the first man and woman chose the one thing God had forbidden. And God’s image in mankind was distorted.
God’s image was distorted.
Instead of reflecting His purity, they were infected with the nature of sin. This new nature would be passed on to every human ever born (with the exception of the God-man, Jesus).
Instead of reflecting God’s eternal nature, their spirits died instantly and their bodies began the fatal process of aging.
Instead of reflecting God’s sacrificial heart of love, they became self-protective and accusatory, pointing fingers to conceal their guilt.
Instead of uninhibited friendship with God and each other, they felt the pangs of shame, so they covered up and hid from God.
At that decisive moment, everything changed.
Well, not everything.
The relentless, unfailing love of God stayed the same. And His sovereign plan still reigned supreme.
For you see, all was not lost. His image was defiled, but it was not destroyed. Repeatedly in the Old Testament, God reminds us that humanity still bears His image. In fact, that’s the basis for how we’re to treat one another – we all carry His likeness, so we’re to honor each other as fellow-image bearers.
Yet His image was marred, so He would fix that. He would not leave us this way.
In the greatest recovery mission of all time, the Son of God stepped into our world – in human flesh, yet exactly representing the Father. He lived and died and rose again – all to redeem a people made in His image. All to restore His true likeness in mankind.
That’s us, fellow Jesus lover! We’ve been made in His image at conception, reborn with a new nature at salvation, and are being transformed into a true picture of our God!
He can be seen in us in so many ways…
- When we love that difficult person, we look like our forgiving Father.
- When we endure the hardships of this life, we model our Suffering Savior.
- When we enjoy the good things He’s given, we show the world a Daddy who delights in His children and loves giving good gifts.
- When we engage in our professions, we reflect various aspects of His character. He’s our Parent, Teacher, Healer, Counselor, Helper, Leader, Judge, Creator, Designer… Whatever we do on a daily basis, God’s image can be seen in us.
That gives so much meaning and purpose to my daily life. Wiping noses, cooking meals, teaching children, cleaning up messes, putting thoughts on paper, building relationships – it all can be a picture of God. It’s an overflow of His image in me.
Every person looks like God to some degree or another. But those redeemed through faith in Christ – we can become more like Him each day as we participate in His Spirit’s work in our lives.
I don’t know what a heavenly reception looks like, but how awesome would it be to wake up in the arms of our Daddy and hear whispers going through the crowd – “We can’t deny that one’s His! She looks so much like Him!”
Oh, how I want to look like my Daddy! How about you?
Transformed into His image
How do you reflect God’s image in your daily life? In what ways have you seen Him transform you? I’d love hear!
Related Posts:
It Wasn’t Supposed to Be This Way
We’re Free!
Welcomed Home
by MeredithNMills | Jul 22, 2016 | Family, Hope in the Midst of Heartache, Identity in Christ, knowing God, Uncategorized, Walking by Faith
A frantic scream broke the afternoon stillness. I immediately tried to diagnose the sound – my littlest was either angry or hurt. Following the direction of the crying, I found her in her daddy’s arms. He was carrying her toward the bathroom where he would wash and dress the cut she’d received when her foot was under the door she tried to close.
She was crying hysterically, writhing against the strong arms that held her.
She was in pain.
She was mad.
She was afraid.
She didn’t want to be carried by the “doctor.” She didn’t want him to clean it. And she certainly didn’t want a Band-Aid. (Unlike most kids, she seems to think Band-Aids contribute to her pain.)
But despite her efforts to resist, her daddy did what was best for her. He cleaned and doctored the little cut, all the while assuring her of his love.
After she calmed down, we had a heart-to-heart talk. I asked her the following questions –
“Do you trust your daddy? Does Daddy take good care of you? Does he love you? Protect you? Want the best for you?” She answered yes to each question, slowly realizing that her daddy’s actions had come from his love for her.
As we talked, I was struck by how very much this child is like her mother. I often respond to my heavenly Daddy in similar ways.
I get angry when life hurts, as if the pains of this human existence are His fault.
I sometimes pull away when He draws me close for comfort.
I doubt His intentions – His love and His goodness.
I’m afraid of His efforts to cleanse, heal and protect.
I want to leave the pain alone, instead of submitting to His cleaning, healing hands.
As a mother, I saw my baby girl’s situation so clearly – her daddy loves her and would do what was best for her, not matter how she fought him. And yet it could have been a moment of tender comfort and affection, if she had trusted her daddy’s heart.
As a follower of Jesus, I want to trust His heart.
It’s a matter of faith.
“…I took them up in My arms. But they did not realize I was the one who took care of them. I led them with kindness and love. I was to them like a person who lifts a little child to their cheek. I bent down and fed them” (Hosea 11:3-4).
“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty One who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing” (Zeph 3:17).
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).
“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jer 29:11).
The One who takes care with kindness and love.
He is a good, good Father. His intentions toward us are kind (see Eph 1). He heals and gives restoration. He brings beauty out of ashes. He creates mosaic masterpieces out of broken, shattered lives.
All He does is good.
I want to trust Him. I choose to trust Him. Will you?
How do you remind your heart of truth when doubts flood your soul? Do you have a favorite Bible verse that comforts and reassures you in times of pain? Please join the conversation! I’d love to hear!
Related Posts:
Welcomed Home
I Quit!
by MeredithNMills | Oct 14, 2015 | Uncategorized
“You can use my keys, Daddy,” she offered in her tiny sweet voice. Our baby girl held up her plastic rainbow keys as Hubby prepared to leave for the day.
Sweet. Thoughtful. Adorable. But of course, completely impractical. Hubby knew they would never start his car.
But do you know what I noticed? He didn’t scold her for her childishness. He didn’t turn her away or ignore her unrealistic suggestion. He smiled and got down on her level, looking with delight into her bright, attentive eyes. She had come to him, and he was thrilled.
I wonder if that’s a little glimmer of how our heavenly Father relates toward us?
He doesn’t need our help, our gifts, our solutions, even our prayers. He is completely self-sufficient. And yet we, His kids, are His delight. (See Ps 149:4, Zeph 3:17.) It pleases Him when we come for any reason.
We don’t have to have the perfect prayer or really even know what to say (Rom 8:26). He loves it we talk to Him. He invites us to share life with Him. (He calls it “abiding” in John 15 and says that it’s the crux of the Christian life.)
If you know God through faith in His Son, you have an all-access pass to His presence (Heb 4:16). Come anytime. Come all the time. For any and every reason – big or small.
Are you happy? Talk to Him about it! Thank Him for big and small joys. (See 1 Thess 5:18.)
Is your heart heavy? Throw your burden on Him! He’s big enough to handle it. (See 1 Pet 5:7.)
Do guilt and regret make you feel unwelcome? Come anyway. Let Him speak forgiveness over you. (See 1 Jn 1:9, Ps 103:12, 2 Cor 3:5.)
Are you entangled in sin? Bring it into His light. Let Him break your chains and teach you to walk free. (See Jn 8:36, Rom 12:2.)
You, child of God, are the apple of your Father’s eye.
You are delighted in. Your salvation is all about relating to God, not about doing things for Him. He wants you to love Him, to delight in Him, to share life with Him. Out of that love for Him, everything else will flow.
Our Father is good. His love for us is so deep, so wide, so long and so high we could never find its borders.
“Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you” Ps 116:7.
by MeredithNMills | Jul 15, 2015 | Uncategorized
Like dry, parched ground – that’s how my heart has felt lately.
It’s been a while since I blogged. The reason? I haven’t had much to say. I haven’t known what to write about.
Last weekend, I went to a Beth Moore conference and that’s when I realized how very parched my soul has been. I have been catching snippets of time with God, but honestly, I’ve been lazy in my pursuit of Him. During the conference, I was reminded of the magnetism of Jesus. He is relentlessly pursuing my heart, even when I’m not pursuing Him.
Beth talked about the concept of gravity, which she defined as “a force of attraction between two objects; that which pulls an object of lesser mass toward an object of greater mass.” She gave the following acronym to illustrate what she called “divine gravity” – God Revealing A Vast Intensity Toward You.
God, the far greater “mass,” is constantly pulling this lesser “mass” (me) toward Himself. How awesome is that? He doesn’t wait for me to initiate. He doesn’t demand that I meet Him halfway. His heart of vastly intense love never stops loving, never stops drawing. I am so grateful.
When I lived in a performance mindset, I was pretty disciplined in reading Scripture and in prayer. But I often did it because it was the right thing, the spiritual thing, to do. As God is setting me free from performance-based living, I’ve wrestled with the why behind what I am called to do. If all things are lawful for me in Christ (1 Cor 6:12, 10:23), if I am fully accepted in Him regardless of what I do (Rom 8:1), then what motivates me to seek and obey God? What should compel me to “discipline myself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Tim 4:7)? I’d like to take the next few blog posts to share what I’m learning on this subject.
We often think of eternal life as something we get when we die. But in reality, eternal life begins the moment we are born again through faith in Jesus. (“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” 1 Jn 5:11. And “…I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” Gal 2:19-20.)
When we come to faith in Christ, we are given more than “fire insurance,” more than a key to heaven, more than a future inheritance. We are adopted into a new family, with a Father who longs to relate to us.
To view salvation as simply a future event would be like a street child adopted by the richest man in town, who then continues to live on the streets, content with the promise of an inheritance. Or like a prostitute wooed, loved and wed, only to continue in her former occupation, knowing her husband’s wealth will one day be hers. How short-sighted, how vastly inferior, would such a life be!
Such are our lives if we do not walk in relationship with the God who has saved us. He has revealed Himself in His Word. He has deposited His Spirit into our hearts. He has invited us to His throne room. He holds out the offer of eternal, abundant life here and now. How much we miss if we do not throw ourselves into walking with Him!
I do not have to read my Bible or pray or abide in Him to keep being His child or make Him like me. But I do have to read the Word and pray and abide in Him to experience the life that He’s given me. His Word and His presence are the Source of spiritual life and freedom. As a plant needs sun, water and food to bear fruit, so I need the Light of the World, the Giver of living water, and the Bread of life to bear spiritual fruit. I cannot produce it on my own.
If you are God’s child, you were adopted into His family for the purpose of a relationship with Him. (If you’d like to know more about becoming His child, click here.) You are vastly loved, constantly pursued, and infinitely supplied by the God who gave His life to make you His own. His Word is not a book of rules, but your very life. In His presence is fullness of joy.
So let us press on to know Him more. Let us throw off the sin that masquerades as our life. Let us persevere in this walk of faith. How? By fixing our hearts’ eyes on Jesus – the Source, Sustainer and Sanctifier of our faith (Heb 12:1-2).
If Jesus is the Source of our daily eternal life, how does that affect you in the moment-by-moment dailyness of life?
