Grace Perfected

Today has been a day where I have deeply struggled against the thief of my joy. Depression is an awful thorn in the flesh, but I know from past experience and from God's word - that His grace is made perfect in my weakness.

In this struggle, the Lord has given me 1 Peter 1:13-25.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chose before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raise him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the world of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

And this is the word that reminds me of how deep God's love is for me and how precious His grace is to carry me through whatever valley I need to travel for the sake of His purposes. How deep the Father's love for us - that he would make a wretch His treasure! That is grace perfected!