Acts 17:24-25 – He is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything

Paul distinguishes the true God from pagan gods in Acts 17:24-25:

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.”

He is wonderfully different from us in his self-sufficiency. He is OUR source, we are not His maker. He does not NEED us, but yes He wants to take care of us. We are His creatures, He is not ours. We can rest.

Ps 50:9-12 – If I were hungry I would not tell you

“I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it” – Ps 50:9-12

He is saying, I have no needs that you can meet! This is very reassuring to me. Modern theology says God is somehow bound by our permission (faith) and is limited by some faith laws and various other laws. God is setting me straight on that. I can rest in Him.

Ps 50:21 – You thought that I was one like yourself

In Ps 50:21 God corrects man with a strong accusation, “You thought that I was one like yourself, but now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.”

Heb 9:13-14 The blood of Christ will purify our conscience

For

if [the mere] sprinkling of unholy and defiled persons
with blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a burnt heifer is
sufficient for the purification of the body,

How much more surely shall the blood of Christ,

Who by virtue of [His] eternal Spirit [His own preexistent divine personality] has offered Himself as an unblemished sacrifice to God,

purify our consciences from dead works
and lifeless observances

to serve the [ever] living God?
- Heb 9:13-14

John 10:10 – Abundant life… life to the full

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

I have come that

they may have life,
and have it to the full.
- John 10:10

Phil 2:13 – God works in you, for His purposes

[Not in your own strength]
for it is God
Who is all the while effectually at work in you
[energizing and creating in you the power and desire],
both to will
and to work
for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight.
- Phil 2:13

1 John 2:27 Trust the Anointing in you

But as for you,

the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction)
which you received from Him
abides [permanently] in you;

[so] then you have no need that anyone should instruct you.

But just as His anointing teaches you
concerning everything
and is true and is no falsehood,

so you must abide in (live in, never depart from) Him
[being rooted in Him, knit to Him],

just as [His anointing] has taught you [to do].
- 1 John 2:27

Rom 14:16-18 Do not let others despise your good things

Do not therefore let what seems good to you
be considered an evil thing [by someone else].
[In other words, do not give occasion for others to criticize
that which is justifiable for you.]

[After all] the kingdom of God
is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes],
but instead it is
righteousness
(that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and
[heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

He who serves Christ in this way
is acceptable and pleasing to God
and is approved by men.
- Rom 14:16-18

Is 66:11-14 God can nurse you

… nurse and be satisfied from her (God’s) consoling breasts,
that you may drink deeply and be delighted
with the abundance and brightness of her (God’s) glory.

For thus says the Lord:

Behold, I will extend peace to (you) like a river…
then you will be nursed,
you will be carried on her hip and
trotted [lovingly bounced up and down]
on her [God’s maternal] knees.

As one whom his mother comforts,
so will I comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

When you see this,
your heart shall rejoice;
your bones shall flourish like green and tender grass.
- Is 66:11-14

Gal 5:6 – only faith working through love counts

For [if we are] in Christ Jesus,

neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
counts for anything,

but only faith
activated and
energized and
expressed and
working
through love.
- Gal 5:6