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

The Ultimate Missionary // Micah

If we want to be where God is at then on mission is the place to be. Having left His heavenly dwelling, He became a poor foreigner with no hospital to be born in, no inn or home to reside in, and not even a grave of His own to be buried in. He embraced a robe of human flesh, absorbed rejection and humiliation and ended up being hung on a tree He created, by men He gave life to, for sin He did not commit. All this so that God may be glorified through the redemption of mankind. What a Savior! What a missionary!

 "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." 2 Corinthians 5:21

- Micah McElveen