Excessively Generous // Micah

One of the most under-discussed attributes of God is His generous nature. This is a shame as this quality is so deeply ingrained in His core that it overflows into His conduct and profusely floods out of every pore of His being.

Consider just four out of a million implied acts, in creation. When furnishing His beings with a pool to swim in, he did not stop with a pond but orchestrated springs, creeks, lakes, rivers and oceans of a billion hues. More waters than one could explore in 100 lifetimes. For food, He did not stop at bread but produced a thousand varieties of meat, vegetables, fruits, grains and sweets. If that were not enough, He placed in the anatomy of man an ability not only to mechanically process sustenance but to experience the wonder of taste in ways that electrify the buds. In the garden, He saw man needed help and went beyond engineering a robotic assistant by forming an entirely capable, equally enlightened and superiorly attractive mate. To cap it off, He turns to His crowning creation with a sigh after saying, "What I have created is good," (huge understatement) and He gave them dominion over it all with unbroken access to Him. Really, isn't that a bit excessive?

Consider the cross. The ones in creation that He gave the most unearned favor to, squandered the gift. They, and along with all mankind, rebelled against Him and traded His magnanimous entrustment for a piece of fruit and a lie. Man's act unleashed evil, death, and decay to all parts of this once utopian earth.  Justice called for a consequence of the highest order. Wrath had to be poured out against the evil that now tainted the once pure. But... God GAVE. Looking at the rebels awaiting judgment, bound in chains earned by their own treason, God was moved to act in an over the top excessively generous manner. In place of the guilty, He offered Himself on the altar of sacrifice. In Jesus, He took the wrath due the rebels and offered undeserved pardon, relational renewal, and an eternal inheritance. Are you kidding me? Who takes an enemy and forgives, adopts then incorporates them into their estate planning, one full of eternal riches in glory? No words.

The more I consider my Jesus and His calling for me to follow Him, to emulate Him, the more I am sure it is a call for me to be Excessively Generous.

"You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich." I Corinthians 8:9

"Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus." I Timothy 1:14

"The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers." Psalm 37:21

- Micah McElveen

Rolled Away // Micah

Do you ever have days you would rather forget? You know, the ones that seem to be headed downhill from the time you roll out of bed. The thought of a button that wipes the memory of regret, failure, and disappointment is quite appealing on those days. While memory swipes are not realistic fresh starts are.

At Calvary, Christ paid the price our sin debt required in horrific fashion. Pronounced dead, His lifeless body, broken and beaten for us, was pulled from the cross and placed behind a massive stone inside a borrowed tomb. But Christ, who was thought to be overcome by death, rolled away the stone meant to keep Him from life. In doing so, He conquered death and made a way for all who trust in Him to be granted eternal life. The power of Christ's death is sufficient to secure the pardon of sin and His resurrection affords new life now and forever.

This same power that rolled away the stone and raised Christ from the dead is effectual for living renewal. Yes, it secures eternal salvation futuristically but it holds the power for current victory over that which ensnares us today. Fresh starts come on the back side of us laying down what holds us back and allowing ourselves to be raised up to what lies ahead.

As the end of Holy week draws near we intently gaze upon the cross and the tomb. May we look to the cross and lay down our sin and unbelief. May we come to the tomb and see, that while we can't erase the past, He can roll away our guilt and shame both now and forevermore.

"They found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, but they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus." Luke 24:2-3

"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:55–57

- Micah McElveen

Sex: The False Idol // Micah

The gift of sex that God has given to humanity is a wonderful thing when exercised inside God’s plan. Aside from bringing new life into the world, God made sex as a means to enjoy the beauty of one's spouse in a way that brings pleasure and enhances intimacy. Like any good thing, sex, when turned to as an ultimate thing, makes for a bad god. When sex is worshipped, it consumes and births sexual perversion, which in turn fathers all kinds of devastating off-spring. Adultery, rape, pedophilia, pornographic addictions, incest, sex-trafficking, prostitution and so on are all branches on the family tree of sexual perversion that grow from the root of sexual idolatry.

We are tempted to seek fulfillment that can only come from Christ in sex. We make gods of the beautiful and give glory to sex icons in society. We miss the fact that beauty in its various forms is ultimately intended to elevate the creator of it, not the object itself. 
In idolatry we are enticed to give worship to objects over the one who made all things including: beauty, humanity and the gift of sex. When we are tempted to give into sexual temptation, to seek physical fulfillment outside God's plan, may we reject the lie and run to Him instead. When we are enticed by the idol of sex, may we raise our gaze to behold the beauty of The One who is beautiful beyond compare.

"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;" I Corinthians 6:18-19

“One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Psalm 27:4

- Micah McElveen

Looking Back to See Forward // Micah

The turn in the season leads my bride to break out the pumpkin spice creamer, as October is rich for us. 12 years ago this month, love struck, and 11 years ago, Vapor Ministries was born. Truth be told, I didn't always view this time of year as blessed. To the contrary, for a long time I marked it as the worst month in my life.

21 years ago, in October 1995, I was found body limp and color blue drifting face down in an ocean current, unconscious with no pulse. I had dived into a wave, shattering 4 vertebrae in my neck and was rendered completely paralyzed. Having filled my lungs with water in a desperate attempt to reach the surface, I, in essence, drowned. CPR, then a life-flight led to ICU and a battle to survive. Survival led to months in hospitals filled with tubes, IVs, catheters, wheelchairs, and countless hours of painful rehab. Needless to say, the tragedy forever marked me and my family physically, spiritually and emotionally. It complicated many basic functions like feeding myself and took with it the dreams of a young quarterback, pitcher and point guard. For the longest time fixated on what was lost, relived the fading of past hopes and fought in vain to get back to "normal". Try as I might, spinal damage and some associated paralysis were not to be altered.

It was not until sometime later that my eyes were opened to what I had gained. Looking through a different set of lenses, I saw entitlement has no place, as all I had before and everything I have now is a gift from God. Yes, I lost tangible things, but He granted intangible gifts of far greater value. In time, looking back became an exercise in praise instead of regret. My eyes were opened to God's faithfulness, provision, and purpose in and through both trial and blessing.

It is ironic that what was once considered the worst day of my life, I now view as one of the best, a gateway day through which some of God's greatest blessings have entered. The master architect used loss to usher in countless gain. The brevity of life and the reality that it is like a Vapor has no doubt been impressed into my inner man and changed my life's course. He is teaching and I am learning that to look back in regret is futile, but to peer into the past to see God's hand in every season can give courage and hope for the future. May God help us to only look back in order to better see the way forward.

"I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands." Psalm 143:5

"No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it." I Corinthians 10:31

"I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old." Psalms 77:11

- Micah McElveen