ME-ssentials – Faith-Filled
ESSENTIALS for Me to Be: Faith-Filled
September 5th, 2021
What’s your ESSENTIAL?
Essential: absolutely necessary; indispensable; the essence of a thing; inherent and intrinsic, vital
2 Peter 1:5-7, (paraphrased, an unfolding of faith): ‘Out of your faith will emerge goodness, and out of goodness will emerge understanding (of God), and out of understanding (of God) will emerge inner strength (self-control), and out of inner strength (self-control) will emerge patient endurance, and out of patient endurance will emerge godliness, and out of godliness will emerge mercy toward your sisters and brothers, and out of mercy will emerge unending love.’ (TPT)
‘Let’s also consider it as a mathematical equation: Faith + Goodness=Understanding; Goodness + Understanding=Inner Strength; Understanding + Inner Strength=Patience; Inner Strength + Patience=Godliness; Patience + Godliness=Mercy; Godliness + Mercy=Unending Love’ (TPT)
I love this! 2 Peter 1:3 says, ‘Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited into us by His divine power.’ So I picture it. I’m flat broke, completely depleted, bankrupt. My account is overdrawn. I’m withdrawn. The God of the Universe, my Father, passes through the drive-thru at my ‘emotional institution’, and after a little bit of chitchat (I can imagine this) with the nice teller, He places something indescribable in the carrier and its whisked away through the tube. Lengthy moments go by and some muffled conversation crackles over the speaker at the drive-thru window between God, my Father, and the teller. Eventually the carrier appears in the tube and comes to land next to God, and again a muted but happy conversation ensues, as God retracts something from the carrier. With a smile on His lips as He waves goodbye to the nice teller (who by the way, shouts across the expanse of the building, ‘You’ll never believe this, but that was just God in my drive-thru lane! Like, yeah, God, the God, you know, the God of the Universe!’), my Father drives away until He disappears, not in a cloud of dust, but a ray of sunshine.
It’s not long before I get a little ‘ding’ on my phone. I open my notifications to see a substantial deposit has been made into my account that far exceeds anything I can ask or imagine, more than I have ever experienced before. I am no longer lacking in the areas of life and godliness, and because of what my Father has lavished on me, I am rich beyond measure, just by knowing Him and receiving His goodness.
The Passion Translation goes on to remind us (v.8) that these virtues are ‘planted deep within us’ and we ‘possess them in abundant supply’. I imagine a storehouse, stuffed from floor to ceiling, with an abundance of flourishing, thriving and essential virtues: faith, goodness, understanding, inner strength, patience, godliness, mercy, unending love. These are fundamental ideals and characteristics which should be the foundations we are building on so that we can never be overdrawn or withdrawn in our ‘emotional bank account’.
