Names of God: LORD Almighty

Last week, we looked into the name "God Almighty," and this week we will look into the name "LORD Almighty." They look like they should mean the same thing, right? I mean, we use Lord and God interchangeably. Logic would say that they should be the same title when you add "Almighty" to the end of them. Yet, they are totally different.

The first time LORD Almighty is used as a name for God is in 1 Samuel 1:3, which simply says:

"Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the LORD Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the LORD." -1 Samuel 1:3, NIV

Other versions, such as the ESV and HCSB (two versions I frequently use) replace "LORD Almighty" with "LORD of Hosts." These two names mean the same thing, and that meaning comes from a combination of two words.

The name "LORD" is different from "Lord." When the Bible puts LORD in all caps, their caps lock was not stuck. Instead, this signals that we are using the English version of the name "Yahweh." Yahweh is the most sacred name in the Hebrew for God, and we will cover it in depth later in this series. However, I had to state its presence here because of its importance to the name "LORD Almighty." Without Yahweh, we don't get the full meaning of this name.

Adding the Hebrew word "sabaoth" to "Yahweh" creates a combination that has a implication of God as the "Sovereign Warrior." The sovereign part implies His rule over the Earth and universe, which I will cover a bit more later in this series (yes, there are a lot of parts in this "Names of God" series...). What I really want to focus on is His title as a warrior.

Our God is a Warrior. He is not all rainbows and butterflies, unicorns and bunnies. There is a very real spiritual war waging all around and inside of us, and He is in the middle of it. This is a nice title to remember when stuff around you isn't so great and you need back-up. Not only is our God unmovable and stable, strong and powerful as we saw last week, but He is an active Warrior, able to challenge anything in our lives. When God battles something, let's just say it doesn't hang around very long.

Do you need the Warrior God to back you up in a battle you are fighting? Call on Him. He's ready to roll for His people at any time.

Names of God: God Almighty

QUICK! Describe, in your mind, this picture of a mountain. Any and everything, and I'm not talking about just physical description; I'm talking about the attributes of the mountain. Got 'em? Are they similar to: majestic, big, powerful, awe-invoking, immovable, strong and immense? If so, then you can begin to jive with where I'm headed in part one of our new series: Names of God.

Today, we're looking at the name "God Almighty" or "God of the Mountain." This is the Hebrew name El Shaddai that anyone that has been around church very long has heard. But did you know what El Shaddai meant? I know I never did. Let's look at it in Scripture and then discuss it.

"When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, 'I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life." -Genesis 17:1, NLT

The name we translate as God Almighty refers to God in a manner similar to how one would refer to a mountain: powerful, unmoving, strong. You see, we have a powerful God. By powerful, I mean POWERFUL. There is literally nothing in the universe that can move or wound Him. What could be a more difficult opponent than Mt. Everest? Can you imagine trying to take on Mt. Kilimanjaro? It would be impossible to defeat one of those mountains, right? In the same stream, who could possibly defeat God?! He's unmovable.

This directly relates to our life. The verse goes on to have God saying for Abraham to "serve [God] faithfully and live a blameless life." The King James Version puts it even more bluntly: "be perfect." Ha! How on earth are we supposed to do that?!

Obviously, we will not be 100% blameless and perfect. God is not being unreasonable here. He knows our limitations and abilities even better than we do. So why would he say that? Simple: he wants us to put our faith in Him and lean on Him. What is better to put all your trust and hope in something as solid as a mountain? How much easier is it to follow Him when we know how solid and secure He is? He wants us to rely on Him, and it only makes sense to do so. Putting our faith in anything else would be settling for less.

How does this affect your view of God? How does it change your thoughts and amount of trust you feel like you can put in Him?

What's Better Than the Daytona 500 for a Redneck?

I've recently been listening to Craig Groeschel (pastor at Lifechurch.tv in Oklahoma) and his "Better" series. In the series, he has been looking at verses that say something is "better" than something else. Today, I'd like to share one of the verses he looked at in the series, and talk a bit about it.

"For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness."-Psalm 84:10, ESV

It is hard to imagine how one day somewhere could be better than a thousand elsewhere. Yes, a day at the Daytona 500 this weekend would be pretty amazing for me, but it wouldn't be better than the combined happiness found in a thousand days elsewhere. I cannot fathom what kind of day that would be, and odds on, you can't either. My guess is that is exactly the point. Allow me to explain.

Have you ever seen a sunset or landscape (or alley-oop dunk, for basketball fans) that left you speechless? I think back to this picture I took a few years back in Ormond Beach, Florida. As I looked out of the window at the hotel, I saw this sunset and was awestruck at the beauty: so many shades of red, orange and purple, such unique cloud structure, the whole nine yards. It was such an amazing picture, and remains one of my favorite sunset pictures to date. I was simply left speechless at the splendor of the sky.

Now, imagine a moment that you were simply stunned at something amazing. Got it? Now extend that feeling until you are picturing yourself feeling that amazed for an entire day. That, my friends, is a taste of what it will be like to be in the presence of the Lord. That is why the psalmist said that a day in His place would be better than a thousand elsewhere.

Even this seems abstract to us and is difficult to imagine. I mean, our short attention spans only allow us to be amazed for brief bursts until we've moved on down the line. Yet, in His presence, we will not be able to divert our attention away. You could have the worst case of ADHD ever recorded, and it wouldn't matter; you'd be captivated by His glory.

No wonder the psalmist said he'd be willing to be a doorkeeper (aka nobody special), standing in the elements outside at God's house than live in the safety of the "wicked's tents." He got it. He understood this sense of wonder and amazement in God. He was so enthralled in God's majesty that he would be willing to stand outside, just catching glimpses of Him when opening the door.

Are you captivated by God and His glory? Would you be willing to trade a thousand days on Earth for only one with Him?

Two Mistakes People Make With Spiritual Gifts (And You're Probably Guilty of One)

I've been reading through Romans for a long time now, going at a pace of a few verses a day. I've wanted to soak up some information, and really dive into the book. Today, I'd like to share what I read this morning, and give a little bit of application for it.

"3 For by the grace given to me, I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think. Instead, think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one. 4 Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts..." -Romans 12:3-6a, HCSB

Paul says, toward the end of verse three, "not to think of himself more highly than he should think." In ordinary talk: "I tell everybody not to get all cocky and arrogant." He follows this with a better plan: "think sensibly, as God has distributed a measure of faith to each one." This is speaking directly to Christians: don't get all high and mighty. Instead, keep cool and remember Who runs your life. Remember Who gave you your faith. Remember Who gets all glory.

Then Paul seems to abruptly jump to talking about how the people in the Church (parts of the body of Christ) all have different jobs within the Church, all based on our spiritual gifts. What's up with that?

I think this section is a warning to all the people who get cocky in their spiritual gifts. Some Christians, particularly those who are leaders and teachers in the Church, get all holy and arrogant about being so "spiritual" and being "the only people that work around the church." If you are a leader in your church, you must remain humble in your gifts. Your fellow church members need to see humility in your leadership, and will be more likely to follow after you in your vision and mission to spread the Gospel. This is an area that I personally have had struggles in, and totally understand the difficulty in staying humble and not judgmental of "slackers." But we all get our spiritual gifts from God.

The word for "gift" in this passage is the Greek word "kharisma," which means a "gift of grace." Any spiritual gift that you may have is a complete gift of God's grace, and that leaves us ZERO room to be arrogant. It has nothing to with our superior holiness and everything with His supremely amazing grace.

If you aren't a leader, this passage has something for you, too. Notice that is says that gifts are given "according to the grace given to us." Have you received grace? Are you saved and a follower of Christ? If you answered "yes" to those questions... then you have spiritual gifts! Use them! You are part of the body of Christ, too. Maybe you think you're just an elbow, and no where near as useful as a hand. Maybe you are an elbow. Guess what: a hand can't do a thing without an elbow moving the forearm to where the hand needs to be. Without the elbows and eyebrows and taste buds, the hands, eyes and tongue couldn't their job. You may not be the person that's out in the open, preaching on stage or leading the bible study. But without your work in the church, the leaders cannot lead. Don't waste your gifts; use them to advance the Kingdom!

So, leaders, will you humble yourself, and lead like Christ led: by a humble, hands-on example? Other church members, will you step up and quit wasting your gifts? I pray that both occur.

Scar Tissue and Battle Wounds: When God Seems to Have Disappeared

Last week, I talked about how God is always with us, and how we are never alone. Yet, despite this, sometimes we still feel not just that we are alone, but that He has turned His back and done exactly what He said He wouldn't do in Joshua 1:9. Sometimes, we feel like God has dropped us off on a deserted island, and left us to fend for ourselves.

This is not an uncommon feeling. Even though we know that He loves us and saved us from our sins, and would never abandon us, we still feel this way. It's human nature. We are short-sighted and incapable of putting everything into perspective. Our problems we are having right now are always the "big one," the problem that's going to do us in. We won't ever recover from this one. We're forever doomed to sulk and weep, and it's all because God turned His back on us, right? I mean, He works for the good of His people, and this ain't good. Surely He has jumped ship!

No matter how spiritual you are, no matter how secure in your faith you are or how holy you think you are, you're going to have this feeling. I personally feel like this from time to time, and it is times like this where I cry out, "God, where are you?! I'm your child, heir and son. I'm saved by your grace, and I work for your good. Why won't you show me love?" This is why I love David.

David, the second king of Israel, slayer of giants and "man after God's own heart," was a lot like me in His approach to troubles. We both are/were emotional guys that wear our feelings on our sleeves. When things are great, David would sing a song (unfortunately, I cannot sing very well) and dance for joy. He loved worshipping the Lord. But when the crap hit the fan, David broke down. He'd scream and cry out and rip his clothes and fast and yell out to God, wondering why God would leave His side. Let's look at David's anguish in the 22nd Psalm:

"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest...

Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You rescued them. They cried to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disgraced...

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by people. Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads...

Do not be far from me, because distress is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me...

They open their mouths against me— lions, mauling and roaring. I am poured out like water,and all my bones are disjointed; my heart is like wax, melting within me. My strength is dried up like baked clay; my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.You put me into the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded me; a gang of evildoers has closed in on me...

But You, LORD, don’t be far away. My strength, come quickly to help me. Deliver my life from the sword,my only life from the power of these dogs. Save me from the mouth of the lion!" -Psalm 22:1-2, 6-7, 11-16, 19-21a HCSB

These are the words of a broken, desperate man. Imagine mighty King David, no longer majestic, but crying. Imagine him screaming out to God. He feels like he is going to die, and that his end is near. He has been beaten, kicked and knocked down, and all the while, it feels like God is far, far away.

But guess what? God wasn't as far away as David thought. In fact, God was working for David's good all the while, as we see one of the quickest turnarounds in all of Scripture in the second half of verse 21. Check this out:

"You have rescued me
from the horns of the wild oxen.

22 I will proclaim Your name to my brothers;
I will praise You in the congregation.

23 You who fear Yahweh, praise Him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor Him!
All you descendants of Israel, revere Him!

24 For He has not despised or detested
the torment of the afflicted.
He did not hide His face from him
but listened when he cried to Him for help."

-Psalm 22:21b-24, HCSB

You. Have. Rescued. Me. Those are four beautiful words. God. Has. Rescued. Us. We are no longer beaten. We are not alone. In fact, we never were. God was fighting for and alongside us the whole time. We're gunna make it out of this. Even if there is a permanent scar (as fighters and warriors often have), that doesn't mean we lost. A scar shows we made it through. When we die, we will all have lots of scars. We may be getting beat up over and over again, but God will keep saving us.

Kevin DeYoung once said that "Christians often forget that life is a pilgrimage, and we think Heaven is on Earth. If we are looking for Heaven on Earth, we will be consistently miserable and disappointed. If we remember that life is more similar to a desert, however, we not only will be less disappointed by our troubles, but will actually find ourselves more happy" (roughly quoted by memory from Just Do Something).

Life's a desert pilgrimage. We are marching forward towards the Kingdom. Things will trip us up, things will knock us down. We will be jumped by bandits and collapse of exhaustion. But I urge you: keep fighting. God is by your side and in your corner. If our God is for us, than what could stand against? And trust me, He is for us.