I have known a lady for years --- I'll call her Janet --- who has really had a rough life. Janet is not a "model Christian." She has had encounters with the Lord, made commitments etc., but she says she doesn't feel like she has every fully surrendered to Him. She doesn't practice Christian disciplines, like reading her Bible or attending fellowship with other believers, but Janet definitely believes in God. Every time we talk about Him she gets very serious and refers to Him as God Almighty. She has consistently done this over the years. It's as though she thinks the use of this adjective allows her to express greater honor to the Lord.
I don't know, but I personally think "God" alone is enough. After all, what do we mean by God? Isn't it redundant to say God Almighty? I suppose the appropriateness of expressing God's name this way depends on the reason for doing it. If it's a way of honoring Him with my lips, hoping that will make up for my lack of honoring Him with my life, I can forget it. If I refer to Him this way because I can't say enough good about Him, then it is glorifying.
I read a verse in the book of Zechariah this morning. Interestingly enough this is God speaking. "Tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty." Zechariah 1:3. Three times God refers to Himself as the Lord Almighty in this one short verse. Why? Of course I don't know all of the reasons God does anything, but this is what I got out of it.
This verse contains the announcement of a message, a command, and a promise. First of all, there's an announcement of a message. "Tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says:" I don't know about you, but if I had lived back then, and knew that Zechariah was a reliable prophet, I might have listened a little more intently to a message in which God referred to Himself as the Lord Almighty than one in which He referred to Himself as "Your loving Father." The Lord Almighty sounds somewhat more intimidating.
The next part of the verse is a command. "Return to me," declares the Lord Almighty." Again when God is referring to Himself as the all powerful one and He gives a command, I think we tend to pay more attention. Even though He should just be able to say, "Tell them God said," He knows the tendency in us to need motivation to set up and take note.
The last part of the verse is a promise. ".'..and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty." Isn't it amazing that God makes promises to man. This brings to mind Hebrews 6:13. "When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself." All that was necessary was for Him to say was, "I, God, declare this, but I love the fact that He put the same weight behind the promise, as He did behind both the announcement and the command. He reassured them that it was the all-powerful Lord Almighty who was making this promise to them.
If this fills your heart with awe and gratitude, join Isaiah and me in some redundancy and let's praise the "...Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!" Isaiah 9:6
I don't know, but I personally think "God" alone is enough. After all, what do we mean by God? Isn't it redundant to say God Almighty? I suppose the appropriateness of expressing God's name this way depends on the reason for doing it. If it's a way of honoring Him with my lips, hoping that will make up for my lack of honoring Him with my life, I can forget it. If I refer to Him this way because I can't say enough good about Him, then it is glorifying.
I read a verse in the book of Zechariah this morning. Interestingly enough this is God speaking. "Tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the Lord Almighty, 'and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty." Zechariah 1:3. Three times God refers to Himself as the Lord Almighty in this one short verse. Why? Of course I don't know all of the reasons God does anything, but this is what I got out of it.
This verse contains the announcement of a message, a command, and a promise. First of all, there's an announcement of a message. "Tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says:" I don't know about you, but if I had lived back then, and knew that Zechariah was a reliable prophet, I might have listened a little more intently to a message in which God referred to Himself as the Lord Almighty than one in which He referred to Himself as "Your loving Father." The Lord Almighty sounds somewhat more intimidating.
The next part of the verse is a command. "Return to me," declares the Lord Almighty." Again when God is referring to Himself as the all powerful one and He gives a command, I think we tend to pay more attention. Even though He should just be able to say, "Tell them God said," He knows the tendency in us to need motivation to set up and take note.
The last part of the verse is a promise. ".'..and I will return to you,' says the Lord Almighty." Isn't it amazing that God makes promises to man. This brings to mind Hebrews 6:13. "When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself." All that was necessary was for Him to say was, "I, God, declare this, but I love the fact that He put the same weight behind the promise, as He did behind both the announcement and the command. He reassured them that it was the all-powerful Lord Almighty who was making this promise to them.
If this fills your heart with awe and gratitude, join Isaiah and me in some redundancy and let's praise the "...Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!" Isaiah 9:6
