The Peace That Surpasses All Understanding

"Your words were found, and I ate them.  Your words became a delight to me and the joy of my heart..." (Jeremiah 15:16, HCSB).  
"I rejoice at Your promise, like one who finds great treasure," (Psalm 119:162, HCSB).  
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope," (Rom. 15:13, ESV).  
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Rom. 5:5, ESV).  

God promises peace to all whose hearts are fixed on Him (cf. Isaiah 26:3).  Heb. 3:1; 12:1 also emphasizes this only more specifically focused on Jesus. Corrie ten Boom said that if we look at the world we are distressed, if we look at ourselves we are depressed, but if we look at Christ we are at rest!  We must heed biblical admonition and fix our thoughts on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, to get the "perfect peace" promised, Phil. 4:6-7 takes it from another angle:  avoiding anxiety is as simple as letting our requests be made known unto God with a grateful heart and we shall have this peace (the formula is that we worry about nothing, pray about anything, and thank about everything!). As David said in Psalm 19:14, "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O LORD," we are to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ (cf. 2 Cor. 10:5) to enjoy His peace. 

Many believers seek peace through some comforting or favorite Bible passage or verse, as I have been asked to cite a good verse for someone depressed.  The answer is that what elevates and lifts my spirits may not work for that person, and besides, they're just getting into the habit of spiritual dependency instead of maturity.  We must learn to feed ourselves sooner or later and not be spoon-fed by our spiritual leaders.  

If I tell you some fantastic verse that could lift your mood and get you out of a funk or the doldrums, it would only be a temporary fix, and then later you would need another verse from me or another spiritual leader.  We can search our Facebook posts from our friends for something uplifting or read and like someone's post or re-post, but this isn't maturity.

The psalmist of Psalm 119:162 said that he treasured the Word of God as bounty and treasure--the joy is in finding it and letting God open your eyes to something in the Word. Job 23:12 says that he treasured the Word of God more than his necessary food!   As is also said in Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes that I may contemplate wonderful things in Your instruction,"(HCSB).  The joy of a treasure hunter is in the discovery, the proclamation of eureka, or "I found it!" Then we won't need the crutch of some website to inspire us and give us verses to lift our spirits. 

So there is no single verse that's going to lift someone from their depressed funk or downcast spirit of discouragement, but the answer is in knowing how to find one of your own tailored to your needs at the moment--suited just for the situation you are in. I would tell that person who is an earnest seeker that God rewards those who sincerely seek Him and His face and that they simply should open the Bible and start reading and let God do His work and perform a miracle on their soul.

The main reason we get moods is that God intends us to know how to manage them and what to do to overcome our natural inclination to be negative--that is to say, we all are subject to the blues now and then!  But how we handle them is the challenge and we must learn to do something therapeutic for our spiritual health, not harmful to our attitude, for we all need an attitude check too, now and then.   Soli Deo Gloria!

But He Gives More Grace

John Bunyan wrote Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners to tell his testimony of salvation.  Paul also saw himself as the "chief of sinners."  It is true that the more sin, the more grace from God's abundance and bountiful provision:  "Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more" (Rom. 5:20).  We are great sinners and need a great Savior!  Salvation goes to the unqualified, not those who see themselves as righteous.  "No perfect people need apply" to God's church!  James 4:6 tells of God granting more grace to the believer and how:  "He opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

This is the way it is in God's economy:  the way up is down; we must humble ourselves to be exalted.  Christianity is full of paradoxes like these:  we must become emptied to be filled; we must give to receive; we must love to be loved; we must serve to be served &c.  God sees things in a different light than the natural man. The wisdom of the world is foolishness to God!  The lesson on grace is that we are commanded to grow in it:  "But grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ"  (cf. 2 Pet. 3:18).

Notice that grace and knowledge are juxtaposed or linked in this verse!  They go hand in hand and can be distinguished but not separated.  God doesn't want us to remain in ignorance but to grow in knowing Him; for this is eternal life--to know God and His Son Jesus whom He sent.  To know Him is to love Him!  But God frowns upon ignorance and puts a premium on knowledge and wisdom.  One fault of Israel is that they had a "zeal for God, but not according to knowledge" (cf. Rom. 10:2).

Our hearts must be right before the Lord in our service not like Amaziah's who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord but not with a right heart (cf. 2 Chron. 25:2).  We are only eligible for grace when our hearts are right before the Lord, for the Lord looks upon the heart and sees our motives (cf. 1 Sam. 16:7; Prov. 21:2). Then we are candidates for more grace!  God is a God of grace and mercy and is good to all: to some in all ways, to some in few ways (cf. Psalm 145:9), but good to all nevertheless!  No one will be able to accuse God of not being good! But some will realize that this isn't the whole equation for them--God is also just, holy, and righteous!

Some err in adding merit to grace, tradition to Scripture, the church to Christ, and works to faith!  Salvation is by grace and not by merit or it wouldn't be grace, it would be justice and God would be obligated to save us; however, He is obligated to save no one!  In grace, God gives us what we don't deserve, in mercy He withholds what we do deserve.  Merit is the antithesis of grace and there is no place for merit in salvation--we cannot prepare ourselves for it or do any pre-salvation work; therefore, there is nothing for us to boast of before God. Grace is not only necessary for our salvation, but sufficient--it doesn't just facilitate it, but completes it and we don't deserve it, cannot earn it, cannot pay it back, and we cannot add to it! Therefore, grace is defined as the unmerited favor of God and one of the Five Only's of the Reformers was that salvation was sola gratia or by grace alone!

Our salvation is by grace all the way we are:  called by grace; saved by grace; believing by grace; kept by grace; empowered by grace; delivered from sin by grace; sanctified by grace; and glorified by grace!  God gets all the credit in our salvation.  That's why Jonah 2:9 says, "Salvation is of the LORD," (not of us and the Lord nor of us alone either)!   If it were even partly by us, we'd blow it!  When God is responsible for our salvation, it's by grace and cannot be taken away or forfeited, because it wasn't by merit in the first place.   Soli Deo Gloria!