One of the attributes of God is that He is self-sufficient. Because of that, He can always supply our needs. This daily devotional looks the reasons He is self-sufficient: He is blessed, capable, and King of kings.
Nuggets
- God is self-sufficient because He is blessed.
- God is self-sufficient because He can do it all — far more than we mere humans can do.
- God is self-sufficient because He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
- God is self-sufficient and meets our needs according to His riches and power.
- Jesus is self-sufficient because He resembles God.
To read devotions in the Redo for Godliness series, click the appropriate button below.
Devotions in the Finding Our Center series
God is the Creator of the universe. He is perfect in character.
Because of this, God is self-sufficient. He doesn’t need anything to complete Him.
Let's Put It into Context
Here is a running list of what we’ve discussed previously.
Self-Sufficient Because Blessed
“According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust” (I Tim. 1:11 KJV)
God is self-sufficient because He is blessed.
When we were talking about how God is eternal and infinite, we said that God was not created by another entity. He has life within Himself. That is one reason why He is
unchangeable.
God has life because of His essence. This essence He possesses is blessedness. Blessedness means perfected. The perfected state indicates the combination of the graces which, when all are present, form spiritual wholeness or completeness.
- “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (Rom. 4: 7: NIV).
- “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near” (Rev. 1: 3 CSB).
- “And I heard a voice from heaven saying, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’” (Rev. 14: 13 ESV).
- “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort” (II Cor. 1: 3 ESV).
God is spiritually whole and has what we will be talking about in future devotions: wisdom, goodness, power, and love.
If we use the complete definition, does that mean we don’t think God is happy? No, definitely not.
Tillotson contended that God has all the ingredients to be happy. He has he knowledge and power to feel that emotion. His wisdom can direct those. He has the goodness as the foundation for happiness and the moral character to make Him a perfect Being.
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Whichever definition we use, we can see that God doesn’t need us or anyone else. He wants a relationship with us.
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
Powerful Enough to Supply Our Needs
“I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit” (Eph. 3: 16 CSB)
God is self-sufficient because He can do it all — far more than we mere humans can do.
I loved this quote from Rogers. He wrote, “The man of the world is full of what he can do; the Christian of what he cannot do.” We cannot do what He can!
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God can only be measured by Himself. I know. It is our nature to compare things. Which is better — this or that?
There is nothing to which God can be measured. He is much higher than anything.
Besides, why would God want to measure Himself against anything but perfection? He is perfection. He is the only thing that is perfect
Paul talked about “… according to the riches of his glory …” (Eph. 3: 16 CSB). Ferguson acknowledged the difficulty in understanding this. He wrote, “The glory of God is the forthshining of His being, the necessary splendour of His revelation of Himself. The glory of an object is that bright medium in which it stands revealed.”
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God reveals Himself to us in many ways. Nature is a big one. We see God through His power, wisdom, and goodness. He gives us personal revelations through the Holy Spirit.
The best way for us to see God is to look at Jesus. “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father”? (Jn. 14: 9 CSB)?
To read a related devotion, click the button below.
The amazing thing is, is that God isn’t finished revealing Himself to us. On each step on the Sanctification Road, God will reveal more of Himself to us.
The King is Self-Sufficient
“God will bring this [the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ] about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords” (I Tim. 6: 15 CSB)
God is self-sufficient because He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
Paul is preparing Timothy for his death. He was encouraging his protégé continue what he had started.
What Paul wanted Timothy to do was to imitate Christ. Rowland wrote, “The ‘commandment’ which the young evangelist was to keep must be taken, in its broadest sense, as referring to the great principles of righteousness and truth which Christ Jesus had embodied and maintained.”
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Paul wanted Timothy to imitate Jesus because Jesus was imitating God. The verse ends with a description of God’s greatness: He is blessed, Sovereign, King, and Lord.
Wilkinson reminded us that Jesus was a king in His own right because He is Creator. His kingdom was also given to Him by God.
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God is self-sufficient because He is in control. He doesn’t need anyone to bring things about. He can.
Self-Sufficient in Order to Meet Our Needs
“Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3: 20 CSB)
God is self-sufficient and meets our needs according to His riches and power.
Beecher brought up an interesting point. Do we think we receive God’s blessings just because we ask in prayer? Does He only do what we ask of Him? Do we think we don’t receive them when we don’t ask?
Beecher said think again. He wrote, “No! it is the eternal disposition of God to be full of love, and mercy, and kindness, and He inspires in you those impulses which lead you to go and ask Him for those things which you need.” God will bless us with what we need.
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God gives to us abundantly because of His grace. He doesn’t limit His gifts to us to what we think we need or that for which we ask.
God is going to “… grant [us], according to the riches of his glory …” (Eph. 3: 16 CSB) “… above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3: 20 CSB). I remember hearing someone say that we can’t out-give God.
His riches, His power. It is all about God, not us.
Self-Sufficient Because in His Image
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him” (Col. 1: 15-16 CSB)
Jesus is self-sufficient because He resembles God.
Watson said that Old Testament references to Christ are called shadows. “For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near” (Heb. 10: 1 ESV).
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Behrends explained what the difference is between likeness and image. He wrote, “Likeness represents superficial resemblance, as when two leaves from the same tree are said to be like each other; image indicates resemblance by participation in the same life by reproduction of essence. Likeness is that which is superficial and partial, image that which is essential and exhaustive.”
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We should, according to Behrends, feel reverence for the Lord’s dignity. We should trust Him because of His nature.
Maclaren said something with which I both agree and disagree. He wrote, “God in Himself is inconceivable and unapproachable.”
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I agree we will never fully understand God in this life. I don’t know if He is going to give us understanding with our new bodies, or if that is something we are going to spend eternity learning. I agree we do not currently have face-to-face contact with God.
But God does reveal Himself to us. We read His Word to become introduced to Him. When we become His children, He sends the Holy Spirit to give us a deeper understanding of Who He is. We do have access to God through prayer.
Glossary
We have access to God even though He is invisible to us. Some may want to deny He is real since we don’t see Him. There are too many things we believe based on other senses and our feelings to accept that denial.
But disciples know that God still appears to us. We’ve talked about this before.
To read a devotion in the How Can We Seek God If We Can’t See Him? series, click on the appropriate button below.
God allows access to those who approach Him in faith.
Making the Connections
If God is self-sufficient and perfect, what is He doing with us? We are needy and far from perfect.
Our loving Creator wants our relationships restored to Him. He loves us that much.
Father God. It amazes us that You, in Your perfection, would still want relationships with us. Help us to imitate You. Amen.
What do you think?
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