Names of God Series: The Almighty

 By: Rebekah Hargraves 

Photo Courtesy of: Getty Images

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” ~Revelation 1:8

As is true with each name of God, the name we come to today in our names of God series is a great comfort to us in times like these. This name, the Almighty, points to our God as being the All-Powerful One, showing us that nothing is beyond God’s control.

The Greek word translated "Almighty" is pantokratōr, the precise definition of which is as follows:

1. he who holds sway over all things

2. the ruler of all

3. almighty: God

   
   

   
   

   
   

   What this means is that no matter what the earthly rulers of this world may think, our God is the One in control. He holds sway over all things; He is the ruler of all.

   
   

   What does this mean for us?

   
   

   It means that our all-wise, all-loving, all-gracious, all-righteous, all-merciful, all-holy God is the One in control of all things. Which means that nothing is allowed to touch us or affect us apart from His permission. And if we know that, as Paul points out in Romans 8:28, the Lord causes all things to work together for our good, then we can rest at peace and in joy knowing that nothing will happen in our lives apart from God's promise to make it good and right and for the best.

   
   

   No king, president, dictator, governor, emperor, or other ruler can touch you apart from the permission of God.

   
   

   No weather pattern, trial, loss, surprise, or heartbreak can occur in your life without your loving Heavenly Father allowing it to come to pass.

   
   

   So, dear friend whatever you may be facing today, know this:

   
   

   All will be well. The Almighty is in control. And only that which is good for you will be allowed to happen in your life. Praise God for that! 

   
   

   
   

   Reflection Questions:

   
   

   1) How does this truth bring you comfort today?

   
   

   2) Who do you know who could use the encouragement today of knowing God the Almighty is in control in their lives?

   
   

   
   

   3) How does your thinking need to be conformed more to this truth and what worries need to be taken captive to the reality of Who our God is in our lives?

Now My Eyes See You

By: Joanne Viola 

 

Let’s talk about Job for a bit.

With the mention of his name, we tend to think about his losses, his grief, his suffering, or the poor advice of his wife and friends.

Or we go to the opposite extreme of remembering the restoration and blessings which God bestows on him in time.

But who is Job? What are we told about the man he is?

“There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; 
and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” 
(Job 1:1, NASB)

Did you catch that description of Job? He was blameless, upright, feared God, and shunned evil. There can be no better character reference given on a person.

What does this description tell us about Job?

The New American Commentary (all quotes from Volume 11 on Job, page 48) gives us insight into this man:

• “Blamelessness referred to the absence of certain observable sinful acts. The author of the book was thinking of honesty, marital fidelity, just treatment of servants, generosity to the poor, and the avoidance of idolatry.”
• Feared God. “The picture here is not of a man cowering before an offended diety but of a devout man who respects God and obeys his laws.”
• Shunned evil. “Good people turn to God and away from evil. The good life involves not only the doing of right but also the avoidance of wrong.”

We see here a description of a man of integrity, wholeness, completeness. The man Job was on the outside was truly the man Job was on the inside.

This is the man Job was before tragedy struck. When Job loses his all of his his cattle, sheep and shepherds, camels and servants, and lastly his sons and daughters, he had only one response:

“Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” 
(verse 22, NASB)

Job brings an important lesson: We must be faithful to God in the middle of our difficulties.

We will all have our difficult or trying moments. It is in these very times that we will have to make two important decisions for ourselves:

1. Either God loves us or He doesn’t.
2. Either God is good or He is not.

We decide not based on our feelings or what we hope but on these truths:

God loves us.
God is good.

The difficulties we experience throughout the course of our days will bring us to declare the same conclusion as it did Job:

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You;”
(Job 42:5, NASB)

May we see Him
in all the circumstances in our life,
in all of our days.

 

 

Reflection:
How do we develop character like Job? We need to remind one another of God’s love and goodness.

 

Photo by Mark Tegethoff on Unsplash

 

 

 

Performance vs. Integrity

By: Lauren Thomas

The message went something like this, “thank you for reflecting Jesus to me in your patience.” It was from a former piano student who had found me on social media. Shame washed over me. I may have been patient with this young woman, but she didn’t see how I had interacted with my children that day. She hadn’t seen me in my home.

How I wished she was right! How I wished I were reflecting Jesus in my patience! But I knew why she wrote what she did. It’s because that’s what I wanted her to see. I’ve been “good” at “showing” patience. I’ve been performative, putting on displays of patience, making it look like I have fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5), while hiding the rotting decay of my sinfulness. 

 

Crafting the persona is a common and acceptable practice in our world. We only show what we want to be seen. We perform image management and create perceptions that cast us in the perfect light. 

 

But this is not acceptable for the Christ follower. 

 

God graciously took that message and began to speak to me about integrity.

Integrity is a virtue that has nearly disappeared from our vocabularies. It’s the opposite of image management. It’s who you are when no one is looking. It’s consistency whether in the light or in the dark, in the open and behind closed doors.

 

The integrity of the upright guides them,

but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.

Proverbs 11:3 NIV

 

Image management is a lot like the legalism that Paul argued against in the New Testament. It looks good on the outside, but it has no power to transform us on the inside. Image management is performance based; it says, “if I can perform well enough, I will be good enough.”

 

While we tend to think we can change ourselves from the outside in, such change is ineffective. Only Jesus can change us from the inside out. Only Jesus can create integrity in us. Only by the Spirit can true spiritual fruit be grown in our lives. 

 

and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

Acts 13:39 ESV

 

Jesus, free me from performance and image management. Change me from the inside out. Grow true and healthy fruit in my life. Make me a woman of integrity. Amen!

 

Reflection:

How’s your integrity? Does any part of this post resonate with you? 

Read Galatians 5. Compare performance-based religion to Spirit-led relationship. 

Don't Offer Empty Excuses

By: Jenifer Metzger

A couple of years ago I was pulled over for doing 30 mph in a 20 mph zone. The officer came to my window and asked the question, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" I replied, "I was speeding." He then said to me, "Give me one reason I shouldn't give you a ticket." I could have given him multiple excuses for my speeding and reasons I don't need a ticket. Instead, I simply said, "You should give me a ticket, I was breaking the law." His eyes got big, then softened. He simply said, "Ma'am, slow down," then he left. No ticket. No warning. Grace.

I've been thinking of that day and grace extended lately. You see, normally someone, I've done it too, gets pulled over by an officer and we immediately go into defensive mode. "I wasn't speeding!" "Let me see your radar!" "I'm going to fight this ticket!" "Officer, I am running so late!" "But it's an emergency, I have to get there!" The excuses just fly. Even when we are clearly wrong and know it. 

We often do this song and dance with our sin too.

"I couldn't tithe, I needed to pay this bill." "I needed that drink, I was so stressed out." "She gossiped about me first, so I am going to gossip about her." "My husband is being a jerk so it's okay to disrespect him." "The clerk gave me too much change back but it was only a couple of dollars, no but deal." "I have to yell, I am so mad at these kids." Excuses, excuses.

God already knows. He sees our actions. He hears our words. He knows our thoughts. There is absolutely nothing we can conceal from Him. Therefore, there is absolutely no reason to hand God empty excuses. Instead, when we acknowledge our sin to God, just like the officer when I was pulled over, He extends beautiful grace.

Then I acknowledged my sin to You

and did not conceal my iniquity. I said,

“I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”

and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

Psalm 32:5 CSB

When we are struggling, we need to turn it over to God. "God, I can't afford this bill right now, but I don't want to skip my tithe so I will pay You first. Please provide for my needs and help me to trust You." "God, she gossiped about me and it is untruth and hurts. Help the truth to come to light and help me to extend grace and kindness even though I was wronged."

And when we sin, we need to seek repentance. "God, I disrespected my husband. Please forgive me and help me to be a kind and respectful wife to him at all times." "God, the clerk gave me too much money. Forgive me for taking it and be with me as I return it now."

When we seek God through the struggle and for repentance, He is faithful to forgive us from our sin and cleanse us from unrighteousness.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful

and righteous to forgive us our sins and

to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9 CSB

Excuses don't work with the police officer handing you a speeding ticket, and they don't work with God. Instead, we need to admit our sins and struggles and turn them over to God in repentance. Thankfully, we can trust that God will forgive us every time.

Discussion:
1. Think of a time you have been offered grace. Maybe my a police officer, boss, spouse, or friend. 
2. Now think of a time you have been offered grace by God. We are undeserving of grace, but God's grace is so sweet. Thank God for His grace and repent of any unconfessed sin you have.

Names of God Series: The Advocate

 By: Rebekah Hargraves

Photo Courtesy of: Tingey Injury Law Firm

"My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

~1 John 2:1

In our names of God series, we come now to another of my favorite names, Advocate. This special name points to the fact that Jesus is our Defender, the One Who intercedes on our behalf and is our intermediary. 

One of the things I love most about this passage is what it reveals to us about the heart of Christ on our behalf. I come from a background of legalism wherein I was always beating myself up for my sin struggles and viewing the Lord as being Someone Who looked down on me with a scowl on His face and His proverbial arms crossed each and every time I fell back into sin again. 

Those thoughts and feelings were nothing but lies from the enemy. Because the truth of the matter, the reality in which we live, is that we have an Advocate with the Father - Jesus Christ the righteous. And when our Heavenly Father looks down upon us, He sees nothing but the righteousness of Christ that has been imputed to our account. We are declared righteous in His sight because of the work and sacrifice of our Advocate, Jesus.

So the next time you sin? Yes, repent. Yes, feel and experience conviction for that sin. But do not sit in grief and despair over it. Instead, delight in and be thankful for the good grace of Jesus as Paul Himself did. At the end of Romans 7, Paul laments that he does not do the things he knows he should and does the things he knows he should not. But rather than sitting in that frustration and grief, he follows that confession with the beautiful truth of Romans 8:1, that there is "there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus".

Praise God for the Advocate we have in Christ Jesus! 

Reflection Questions:

1) Have you ever stopped and taken the time to really think about what it means that Jesus is our Advocate?

2) How does it make you feel that Jesus is busy advocating for you?

3) If you were to explain to someone else what it means for Jesus to be their advocate, how would you put it into your own words?