A ‘worrier’ is storing ‘treasure’ in the wrong place. If what you most value can be taken away or destroyed, then you set yourself up for anxiety. – (“Don’t Worry: Luke 12:22-34,” Seeing with New Eyes by David Powlison, p.115)

This summer, I found myself awakening in the morning, only to hop on the internet to check my stock portfolio. With stinky breath and a growling stomach, I found myself compulsively logging into my E-trade account to get my jolt of energy for the day. The Lord graciously revealed to me that I was trusting in money for my future.

It was difficult to see that I had a fearful and idolatrous heart since my stocks did well and I had developed a long term perspective of investing to deal with temporary losses. The Holy Spirit graciously showed me that I had placed a false trust in wealth and established an idol. It is no fun having joy and happiness that is tied to the stock market. In reality, my dreams and ambitions of acquisition are ladders to no where. David Powlison is right. If my treasure is in the wrong place, even if I feel good or everything is going my way, I’m building my house on sand. If what I most value can be taken away or destroyed, I set myself up for anxiety. “Whether it be money, health, a particular friendship, the dream of marriage, success in sports or business, or how your children turn out, you’re building your house on sand.” (p.115)

My idols are cruel masters. I mistakenly believe that things of this world can keep my life long and prosperous. The truth is: security and comforts are ultimately found in God alone. Scripture says, what does it prosper a man if he gain the whole world but lose his own soul? If what I value can be taken away, I set myself up for trouble. Because my treasure is misplaced, I worry about things outside of my control. I become self-absorbed and trust in myself. I give glory to my idols and ask them to treat me well.

Worrying really does nothing. It is stupid and nonsensical. Idols can not answer my prayer. The alternative to worry is trust in the living God. The Lord is near. He is at hand. I need not be anxious about anything. I need not fend for myself. His kingdom will have no end. Let us be thankful and take everything to the Lord in prayer, seeking first His kingdom and glory.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Phil 4:4-7

The language of love, trust, fear, hope, seeking, serving- terms describing a relationship to the true God- is continually utilized in the Bible to describe our false loves, false trusts, false fears, false hopes, false pursuits, false masters. – (David Powlison writing in Idols of the Heart and “Vanity Fair,” Journal of Biblical Counseling, 13:2, p.36)

Asking myself what I love, fear, and trust can give me great insight into what false gods I serve. God deserves and requires all my trust, love, and fear. These verbs describe the language of worship. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37). Trust in the Lord with all your heart… (Proverbs 3:5). Fear the Lord, you his saints… (Ps 34:9). When I love myself above God and others, I make an idol. This idol will be a cruel master to me. It will come with stress, anxiety, fear, anger, frustration and lead to death.

Take for example my trust in my own abilities to get me through law school exams. I become anxious, fearing that I would fail an exam and believing that a life of academic failure would not be worth living. I have placed my hopes in my own abilities and in the success that comes with academic achievement. I fear tomorrow, believing that I must fend for myself. I fear my professors, surmising that they are out to get me and destroy me. I fear that without education, I would not have all I need to live since I would not be able to make good money. I fear what others will think of me if I fail.

Other times, when I am not afraid, I become prideful, believing that it is by my own hand that I have achieved something. I love myself and seek my own comforts. What foolishness! God is opposed to the proud.

I must be careful that my passion for the Lord is not consumed by my love, fear, and trust of idols. Scriptures provide an alternative to ungodly fear and pride. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him (Luke 12:4-5)! With a fear of the Lord, what else shall I fear? What can man do to me?!

If I hope in the Lord and in His provision (2 Peter 1:3), I would not hope in paper– an academic degree or in currency that burns, in my abilities, or in the approval of others. I pray that we would love, fear, and trust the Holy One who is worthy of such reverence. To God alone be glory.

Philippians instills in me a longer view of the battle– the marathon of the Christian life. It offers joy and hope and encourages me to strain toward the goal, because Christ Jesus has made me his own (3:12)! I know that I am not always overflowing with joy and thanksgiving, in stark contrast with the Apostle Paul’s admonition to rejoice always. Lest I feel discouraged, Scripture reminds me that contentment is learned (4:11). Ultimately, it is God who began a good work in me and He will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (1:6). Knowing this makes it a delight to run the race with perseverance. I press on toward the prize and fix my eyes on Jesus. I emulate Christ’s life and example. When I fail, I know that God is still faithful (1 Corinthians 10:13). He will work in me both to will and to work for his good pleasure (2:13). He will supply every need of mine through Christ Jesus (4:19).

I should live life with confidence. The Christian life depends on God’s faithfulness to us, not in my own faithfulness to Him. If I sin, I have an advocate. God is glorified as I relearn essential Christian truth: that I have a righteousness that comes through faith in Christ, not by works (3:9). We hope in the Lord, knowing that our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to himself (3:20).

As a counselor, it will be important for me to have hope and not be caught up in the despair of my counselees. Seeing how Paul admonishes Euodia and Syntyche, I am reminded to rejoice always (4:4), even if I face tense and conflict-like situations. If I am to avoid picking up the anxiety, fear, or worries of my counselees, I must count the things of this world as loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (3:7). I must quiet my soul and not run after things too great and marvelous for me (Psalm 131:1). If I am to point others to Christ, I must look at God’s provision in Christ and not hope in my E-trade portfolio. Instead of self-centeredness, I am to have the mind of Christ, a mind of humility which counts others more significant than myself (2:3ff). Faith works itself out in love, to the praise and glory of God.

Have you ever noticed in yourself a desire to be right in an argument at the expense of hurting a relationship? I see in myself a desire to prove myself at the expense of others. Standing for truth is important, but when love has left my heart, I have created an idol. “The approval of others” idol is a cruel master. This idol manifests itself in many ways. I get angry when I do not get the praise and respect of others. I am petrified at the thought of confronting my brothers and sisters in Christ. I shy away from sharing the gospel with needy sinners, fearing rejection.

Must I prove my self-worth to strangers, friends, and family? Oh the folly of it! When I seek the approval of man and fail to love others more than myself, I suffer from spiritual nearsightedness and have forgotten that I am cleansed from my former sins (2 Peter 1:9). It is only by realizing that I get my self-worth from Christ that I can be free from the need to prove myself. Christ created me. He loved me and gave himself for me on the cross (Gal 2:20). Let my boast be in the cross, not in my own righteousness or abilities (Gal 6:14).

I am united to Christ. I am declared righteous in God’s sight and my sin is not counted against me because of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice on the cross and His obedience to the law. Justification is an act of God’s grace, not tied to my performance. Hebrews 10:14 says it well: For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

C.J. Mahaney explains:

You will never be more justified — more accepted by God and righteous in his sight — than you are right now or than you were that first moment you exercised the gift of faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Our hope for each day is not in trying to earn God’s forgiveness, but to look outward and upward, trusting in the work of God’s Son on our behalf, for our justification is in Him, permanently and forever. – CJ Mahaney

I need to remember that my righteous standing before God is secured by the sacrifice and obedience of Jesus. If Christ is my Savior, I have been made righteous through Him! The gospel frees me to love people and die to my selfish lusts. If I fear God, I need not fear anyone or anything else. May the truth of Christ’s atonement and love for sinners sink into my heart. I should be honest with myself about my sin. I need not hide my spiritual nakedness. Instead, I should bring my sin into the light so that it can be exposed and wither.

We often come up with certain rules or laws, believing that if we keep them, we are more “right” before God. It is then only a small step before we start judging other people based on their performance regarding these rules or laws. The rules that we make for ourselves are often good things. However, we often abuse them. For example, as we struggle with the desire to be in control of our lives, we erect laws that try to maintain that control. These laws could be as simple as, “Don’t cut me off on the road’ or “The house has to be kept tidy.” When people break these laws, we feel that we are losing control, and that people do not respect us. Moreover, we feel that we are right and they are wrong. The usual result is anger, whereby we try to retake control of the situation and show just how right we are. Thus, instead of the law being used to tell us how we ought to love other people, we use it against other people. – A Sunday School Lesson

I have nothing to prove. I am what I am by the grace of God. May we learn to enjoy the freedom of the gospel: freedom from slavery to sin, freedom from legalism, freedom to enjoy God, and freedom to love others.

True gain does not come from smart investments in the stock market, a large income, or storing up worldly knowledge. True gain comes from knowing Christ (Phil 3:7-11) and pursuing godliness (1 Timothy 6:6-9).

Knowing Christ: But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. – Phil 3:7-11

Pursuing godliness: Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. – 1 Timothy 6:6-9

When I am not thankful and content, I should pursue true gain by pursuing an intimate knowledge of Christ and joy in godliness. Idols that rule my heart make for cruel masters. “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10.) Why not serve the true and living God? How silly I am when I do not praise God for his blessings (James 1:17) and enjoy what he has given me (Ecclesiastes 5:19).

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. – 1 Timothy 6:11-12

How great a salvation! Whoever does the will of God abides forever.

God’s goodness is a truth I can live by. I am taking this opportunity to blog so that in future days, I can remind myself of this unchanging truth. My lips should be quick to praise God! I should not be surprised at my Father’s goodness to His children.

Scripture teaches that God does not withhold anything that is good to His children. Not one thing! The proof is found in Jesus Christ.

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? – Romans 8:32

Knowing that God has sacrificed His own son for me, I should realize that God will provide everything that I need for life and godliness. In Christ, He has already provided for my needs. He will continue to provide for me!

Tomorrow, will I remember to ‘preach the gospel to myself’ and remind myself of God’s overwhelming grace?! Will I hope in God? Will I realize God’s good gifts to me and praise the Creator?

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. – Lamentation 3:22-23

Oh, that I would not worry, but instead, entrust my life to the Creator. Lord, help me to put on thankfulness and gratitude! Lord, you are worthy of my affections. I owe you my worship, fear, love, and trust. Fear the Lord, all you His saints, for those who fear Him have no lack!

Why am I so ungrateful? Gratitude should mark the lives of those who have experienced God’s grace! (These words have the same root. In greek: gratitude is ‘eucharistian,’ while grace is ‘charis.’)

While my circumstances often take me by surprise, nothing ever takes God by surprise. God in His sovereignty has subjected all things under His control. God is sovereign over all of nature (Ps 103:19, Eph 1:11, Romans 8:28). He commands the winds of the sea! His sovereignty covers the grave and death. He is sovereign over nations and kings (Ps 47:7-9, Dan 2:20-21; 4:34-35). His sovereignty covers the lives of individuals (1 Sam 2:6-7; Gal 1:15-16). In love he predestined me for adoption, redemption, and riches that flow from His grace. (Eph 1:5,7) God is sovereign over “accidents”? (Matthew 10:29-31, Pr 16:33). I place “accidents”? in quotes because nothing is an accident from God’s perspective. Why should I worry about my life? Will it add another hour to my life? … Nothing ever takes God by surprise.

Because of God’s sovereignty and His goodness, I am confident that He will work ALL things out to my good (Romans 8:28). He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7). He loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal 2:20). Whatever I ask in Christ’s name will be granted to me (John 16:23). If I seek first God’s kingdom and glory, my joy will be made full (Matthew 6:33, John 16:24). He will provide for all of my needs through Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:19)

My prayer: Lord, my confidence is in you. I know you will finish what you have begun in me. (Phil 1:6). I forsake my silly and wicked ways. Be my treasure and my peace!

As a law student, they have trained me to be a skeptic. The truth is not always as it appears. I am taught to read between the lines, to grasp the larger picture. Why did that criminal defendant use that defense? How did Jane die? What really happened? This class room skepticism has a tendency to be carried into all of my life. While some skepticism is healthy and needed to guard truth, I must not forget that there is “truth.” My foundation for truth is God’s revelation. Jesus Christ and God’s word provide an alternative to skepticism:

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God. – Psalm 42:5-6

The gospel would require that Christians have hope and faith, even in trials.

Believing this truth would have profound effects on our lives. Take for example, a typical marriage conflict. Marriages in America are in trouble. As marriages break apart, society will face a greater magnitude of its current problems. Marriages fail when a spouse has given up hope. Spouses must remember that God is in the business of changing people and that he has the power to do so. (Phil 1:4) When one partner reasons that his spouse will never change, he has forgotten the Biblical command to hope in God.

The church needs to offer hope to the hurting world. There is hope for a hurting world because the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is that he is in the business of redeeming a fallen world. He is in the business of reconciliation and is at work, redeeming sinners. His hand is powerful and effective and his work will one day be fully consummated. In the context of marriage, this hope should give us faith to believe that BOTH oneself and one’s spouse can be changed by the gospel.

Counselors must not forget that redeemed people can change and treat them as unregenerate, “slaves to sin.” Preparing for a negative response in a person would be wisdom, but expecting the worst would be foolishness (and perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy?)

So what is a Christian’s hope? How can we view situations we face with the eyes of faith and hope?

We must remember that the gospel is not a matter of talk, but of power. (1 Corinthians 4:20, 1 Thessalonians 1:5) We must place our hope in Christ, not in our ability to change the situation. Colosians 1:27 describes Christ in us, as the Christians hope of glory.

Romans 5 explains that our hope is not grounded in ourselves, but in God’s love and in the revelation of His glory. This hope comes through in sufferings and trials. The ESV says this hope does not put us to shame. Another version describes it as hope that does not disappoint.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. – Romans 5:1-5

If we believe in God’s power, we would follow His command to pray continually.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

What does this hope produce in us? Answer: Rejoicing!

In the context of marriage conflicts, spouses should pray earnestly for God’s glory to be revealed through a revelation of His power. God’s power can be seen through His hand in repentance and reconciliation. These are gifts from a merciful God. Spouses should ask God for forgiveness if they have given up hope in their marriage. To lack hope is to lack faith. God will help our unbelief if we cry out to him! Next, spouses must look at their own contribution to the conflict before trying to help their spouse. Only when a spouse has faith and looks at his own heart, can he start the process of helping the other out.

Praise be to God who has given us this ministry of reconciliation.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will be our Helper, to be with us forever. He will dwell with us and will be in us. We will not be left as orphans. (John 14:16-18) As Christians, we take comfort in knowing that we will not be abandoned by God.

Jesus tells us that it is to our advantage that He depart, for else the Holy Spirit would not come to us. (John 16:7ff) The Spirit will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. In addition to that, the spirit will guide believers. I take great joy in knowing that the Spirit will guide me into all the truth. (John 16:13) Knowing my wandering ways, this is a great encouragement to me.

The Spirit also gives us peace and removes our worries.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. – John 14:26-27

The Bible is very realistic. It tells us we will face trials. (“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33.)

While we must not demand to know all of God’s Sovereign ways in order to trust in him, it is comforting to remember that God uses suffering to help us know Him more — the only source of true joy, peace, and hope. This is an act of grace and love.

In the end, our joy will be consummated! Scripture offers us a great illustration with birthing imagery:

You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. – John 16:20-24

John Piper describes how present suffering will be used for God’s glory, both in the present and in the future:

Paul makes the astonishing statement in 2 Corinthians 6:10 that what marks his life and should mark ours is “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.”? This is what makes our sorrow godly. I do not claim that this experience is simple or that we can even put it into adequate words—what it means to be joyful in sorrow. Heaving sobs at the loss of a loved one does not look like joy. Indeed is not joy in its fullness, as we will know it when “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”? (Revelation 21:4).

Rather the joy that endures through sorrow is the foretaste of that future joy in God which we hope for in the future. When Jesus was “very sorrowful, even to death”? in Gethsemane he was sustained by “the joy that was set before him”? (Hebrews 12:2). This does not mean that he felt in the garden or on the cross all that he would feel in the resurrection. But it does mean that he hoped in it and that this hope was an experienced foretaste of that joy.

Therefore, we groan here, waiting for the redemption of our bodies and for the removal of all our sins (Romans 8:23). This groaning and grieving is godly if it is molded by our delight in hope of glory (Romans 5:2-3). The delight is muffled by the pain. But it is there in seed form. It will one day grow into a great vine that yields wine of undiluted delight.

So let us embrace whatever sorrow God appoints for us. Let us not be ashamed of tears. Let the promise that joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5) sustain and shape our grief with power and goodness of God. – Piper

Trust is a decision. May I learn to trust and hope in my Sovereign God.

Philippians 2:12 talks about a “fear and trembling” that the “beloved” are to have before God.

What does this fear of God entail? Need we fear God’s punishment? Before I answer this question, the answer may very well turn on semantics and how we define our words. For me, I define punishment with more of a connotation of wrath and retribution. For me, punishment is different than discipline. I raise the following question: Need we fear God’s wrath (punishment)? I propose the following answer: we need not!

I believe God takes sin seriously.

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies. – Nahum 1:2

But as children of God, are we the Lord’s enemies? Surely not!

Colossians 1:20 describes Jesus Christ the reconciler as one who made “peace by the blood of his cross.” (See also Ephesians 2:16.) Christians know that we are saved by faith alone… not by any of our works. This is only possible because the wrath of God has been satisfied in Jesus Christ. He was a propitiation for our sins. (Hebrews 2:17, Romans 3:25) The wrath of God against our sins has been totally and fully satisfied in Christ. He became a curse for us on the cross. What love!

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. – 1 John 4:10

So in what sense are we to have fear and trembling? We should have a fear and trembling that embraces the knowledge that God is holy and that we are his children now, saved from his holy wrath. We should NOT take our salvation for granted, but instead, make sure that our calling and election is sure. (2 Peter 1:10) For it is those who endure to the end that show forth that they are truely God’s own. If we are not walking in obedience to God, we may not be true Christians. “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Luke 6:43)

Sin is simply stupid. Sin has inbuilt negative consequences. We will reap the inbuilt consequences of our sin. (Psalms 32) But another consequence of our sin is this: our Holy God will discipline us out of love to restore us to Him.

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,
nor be weary when reproved by him.
For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. – Hebrews 12:5-8

Oh how kind and merciful of God to discipline us!

At the same time, we need not fear God’s wrath.

Writing in the Old Testament, before Christ died, Micah says it this way:

Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. – Micah 7:8-9 (ESV)

John Piper describes Micah’s statement as one exhibiting “gutsy guilt.” We should have a fear and trembling before God, knowing that God is holy. He has saved us from his wrath. When we sin, we can stand before God and ask for grace and forgiveness because of Christ. We are to stand in faith and hope, with trembling awe of his holiness and love.

Psalms 2:11-12 puts it this way: (Note the words I have italicized, indicating the positive aspects of a proper fear and trembling before an awesome God.)

Serve the LORD with fear
and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.