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[0:00] Okay. Okay. Let me talk about a couple of these books.

[0:15] The Faithful Parent. Stuart Scott is head of the Biblical Counseling Department at Bob Jones University. He was at the Master's College previous to that.

[0:29] But he wrote The Exemplary Husband, the companion book to The Excellent Wife. His book is 100 pages longer than mine because the men need more help.

[0:42] So he says that it's longer because it takes that long to figure out how to live with your wife in an understanding way. So I don't know.

[0:53] It's probably a combination of the two. But we teamed together to write The Faithful Parent. And I call this book the kid equivalent to The Excellent Wife.

[1:07] It's very practical, very scripture all over the place. So Stuart put his best material in here, and I put my best material in there.

[1:23] And we have, there's five chapters that have like the infant, the toddler, the preschooler, school age, and adolescent.

[1:34] So Anna, my daughter, says, well, the moms look. They skip the chapters before that. But don't skip the chapters before that.

[1:44] But this book, Stuart wrote the chapters on giving the gospel to your child. He said there's not two gospels.

[1:54] It's not tell your child to ask Jesus into your heart. And that's the gospel. That is really not. So it's really, it's a really good book.

[2:07] So I just wanted you to know if you have children any age. And there's a chapter in here that Stuart wrote, when things don't turn out the way that you hoped they would.

[2:23] The point being with our title is that a parent can be faithful and faithful to the child and faithful to the Lord, whether the child ever even is saved or not.

[2:37] So this gives great practical hope. So anyway, the faithful parent. And then this book, Biblical Counseling and Practice, Volume 1, I'm working on Volume 2.

[2:54] And I hope it gets out before the Lord takes me home. It's a slow go. So, but during the COVID lockdown, I cleaned out my pantry one day, took half a day.

[3:09] It was glorious. You should have seen it. So then I didn't have anything else to do. So I remember walking up the steps to go to my office.

[3:21] And I thought, well, I'll just write a book. And then I'm like, okay, so what am I going to write a book about? So I picked out 12 of my old NANC ACBC lectures and just wrote them in chapter form.

[3:41] So this one has one that's on counseling women who are anxious, counseling women to be godly mothers, counseling women going through a divorce, counseling women who are in abusive relationships.

[4:01] Counseling helps to safely come off antidepressants. So even though it says counseling, counseling, counseling, it's just for anybody. If you're a friend or you're just interested in some of these topics for yourself.

[4:16] So that's it. And then this book I wrote after the Excellent Wife book. And I didn't want to write any more books.

[4:28] Over the years it's grown on me, but it didn't grow on me to begin with. So the publisher of the Excellent Wife called me and she knew I was doing a conference on this topic, Becoming a Titus II Woman.

[4:47] And she just fast talked me into writing this book. But this is not, the books that I have read, and I haven't read them all, but that are on this topic are like, should we be a Titus II Woman?

[5:08] And the answer is yes, of course. But I wanted to tell you how then, by God's grace, to become this kind of woman. And I remember when I was a brand new baby Christian and I started reading the Bible.

[5:28] And I got to Titus chapter 2. And it took a while. But by the time I got all the way up there, I realized that God had given me a desire to teach women.

[5:44] In fact, I wanted to be Kay Arthur. I figured she, when she retired, I'd take her place. She is never going to retire.

[5:55] She's probably 100 years old. I don't know how she is. But anyway, I gave up on that a long time ago. But I remember reading, and I was young then.

[6:09] I was in my 30s. And I went, when I read this Titus in chapter 2, where it says, the godly character of the older women, and then the seven mandates.

[6:25] They're to teach and encourage the young women to love their husbands, love their children, be kind, sensible, pure workers at home, submissive to their own husbands. So I figured that from the time I was young until I was old, it would take God that long to mold my character into the characteristics of the godly older woman.

[6:48] And then I asked God, I thought, I found my ministry. This is what the Lord wants me to do.

[7:00] So I prayed, and I asked God to somehow, some way, make me that kind of woman. So this book is a book for all age women, even young women, because you want to be coming that kind of woman by God's grace.

[7:22] And then I asked the Lord in my prayer to somehow, some way, help me to develop Bible teaching material on all these seven mandates before I died.

[7:39] So I'm through. I'm ready to go. So if you hear that I died, don't be upset. The Lord has, over time, answered my prayer.

[7:51] So anyway, Becoming a Ties to a Woman, the publisher put her mother's tea set on the cover, and the coolest thing is she wrapped the handle around the edges.

[8:04] I love it. So anyway. All right, let's talk about helping women who are anxious. Anxiety is probably the most common problem that we see in biblical counseling.

[8:24] It's also a major contributor to depression. So a lot of times when somebody comes to me and they're depressed, I have different questions I ask, different ways to gather the data.

[8:42] And sometimes I'll say, well, I don't think the biggest issue for you is depression. It's anxiety. But sometimes they just all blend together.

[8:54] It can be caused by a side effect of medication. But most often it results from what a person is thinking. Now, when we worry, it's hard to concentrate on other things.

[9:09] It's hard to eat or hard to stop eating when we're overeating. And it's hard to sleep. We'll wake up in the middle of the night and get scared about something, and then we can't go back to sleep.

[9:27] The emotions are miserable. And for some people, it's a very emotionally painful, sinful habit. And very often I will ask them, when you were a little girl, do you remember being a worrier?

[9:44] And almost always the answer is yes. I can remember being scared when I was a child and being a worrier. Now, my mother was a worrier, and I'm an only child.

[9:59] And one of the things she worried about was my health. And she, at times, was convinced that I was going to die. Now, I had some health issues as a child and even as an adult.

[10:13] But she, I know when she died, probably the last thought she had on this earth was, well, she's still alive because she worried about my health so bad.

[10:30] But as she got older, and I was traveling more and more speaking at conferences, one morning I had a, she knew I had a particularly early flight out of Atlanta.

[10:44] And so mother called me on the phone at 5 a.m. And I was already up. She knew I would already be up getting ready. And she said, I can't sleep.

[10:58] I'm scared to death that something's going to happen, that plane will crash or something. And I said, well, good morning, mother. And she proceeded to tell, beg me not to go on the trip.

[11:16] And imagine if I had called you and said, well, my mom is worried about me, so I'm not coming. You would have been so mad at me. But anyway, I said to her, well, it's rare for planes to crash.

[11:32] And if I thought it was going to crash, really thought I was going to crash, I wouldn't get on the plane. But if it does, I want you to be glad for me. I'll be with the Lord.

[11:44] And he will give you the grace to bear up under it. And she said, I knew I couldn't talk to you about this. And I said, go back to bed and get some sleep, and you'll feel better.

[12:01] But what is anxiety? Anxiety can range from a slight, uneasy feeling to a full-blown panic attack. Now, when you get that scared and you have a panic attack, your adrenaline, or another word for adrenaline is epinephrine.

[12:22] It's a hormone, and it squirts out into your body, into your arteries. And it circulates in your whole body.

[12:33] And it makes your hands shake. You feel like you can't breathe. You feel like you're going to, you just have a general feeling of you're going to die.

[12:45] It's a miserable, miserable experience. They call it the fight or flight response. So if somebody draws a gun on you or brandishes a knife on you, then you're going to have this adrenaline reaction.

[13:10] So you can run for your life faster than you've ever run. I don't know how far. I wouldn't be able to get very far, but I could run to begin with.

[13:22] Anyway, this is the physical reaction is scary. And your heart is pounding and beating really fast.

[13:37] Proverbs 3 verse 25 calls this sudden terror. Now, it could be something valid, like somebody is trying to rob you or draws a gun on you.

[13:51] Or it could be that you, like my mother, just worried and worried and worried all night that something bad would happen to me. And then she couldn't sleep.

[14:03] And then it just piled up with the hours. And I don't think she had a panic attack, but she was probably close to it. Now, there's two adrenal glands in your body.

[14:21] One sits on top of one kidney and the other sits on top of the other kidney. So there's a little bit of adrenaline in your bloodstream all the time.

[14:33] That's normal. But when it just squirts out a large amount, that's when you have this physical reaction. And you would be experiencing what the world calls a panic attack.

[14:50] Now, the medical world diagnoses anxiety either as a disease or a disorder. They say it's a disorder usually.

[15:04] Certainly, as we've already talked about, there can be physical reactions. There can be diseases that cause anxiety, such as hyperthyroidism or a tumor on the adrenal gland can cause excessive adrenaline or epinephrine to be released into your body.

[15:32] These are very rare diseases. But if I have a counselee or even a friend that I'm talking to or discipling, I will send her or have her commit to go to her doctor to just have a complete physical.

[15:53] But apart from documentable physical causes, most anxiety is due to a lack of trust in God.

[16:07] We tend to start thinking about these, like my mother was thinking about, she's going to die, just know she's going to die, and then she began to feel like I was going to die.

[16:22] She didn't bring God into the picture at all. And that's why she was getting so frightened. People take a concern.

[16:33] It could be a real concern or an imagined concern. Think about it. Project it into the future and come to the worst possible conclusion.

[16:48] And it's not even real. It's not even happening. And so they begin to feel, though, my mother totally was convinced that I was going to go down with the plane as if it were happening.

[17:04] And it becomes like a vicious cycle, progressively getting worse and worse. I remember as a child, I think I watched the movie Bambi, and, you know, Bambi's mother died.

[17:18] And, well, I just was learning that people can die and what that kind of meant. And I saw that movie, and then one night I went to bed, and my thought was, well, what if my mother dies?

[17:38] And I got scared. I was just a child, and I don't know how old I was, but not real old. And I began to worry about what, mainly it was all about me.

[17:50] What's going to happen to me if she dies? And that was such a miserable emotion and miserable thought that I decided, well, I'm just not going to think about that anymore.

[18:09] And I rolled over and went to sleep. So I had other besetting sins, not so much anxiety. But some, a lot of women, a lot of people will have that same kind of experience, and then just everything becomes frightening.

[18:32] What if this happens? What if that happens? And jumping to the worst possible conclusion that you can come to. People worry about what happened in the past.

[18:47] We call those vain regrets. What is happening now or what might happen, possibly happen in the future.

[18:57] Researchers have indicated that only about 8% of what people worry about are even legitimate concerns.

[19:08] So we can be very creative in what we come up with. And usually, it's in the middle of the night. After I hear from a counselee about her concerns, and assuming she is a Christian, most of the women that come to me for help, one time we had, recently, we had this young man who I ended up counseling, but one of the men in our counseling ministry sat in there with me.

[19:49] But he was not a Christian, and he called me his therapist. And then, after about three or four weeks, he said, You're not a therapist, are you?

[20:05] I said, No, not really, but I think it's cute that you call me. Anyway, it was funny. He was not a Christian.

[20:16] We required him to come to church while we were counseling him. He didn't have to join the church. They wouldn't have let him join anyway.

[20:27] He wasn't a believer. But anyway, I teach my ladies that come to me that know the Lord about how to respond to their anxiety.

[20:46] And I've had many women tell me, Well, I've prayed and prayed and asked God to help me, and he won't help me. But he does practically help us and give us instructions in the Bible.

[21:02] But we're not doing that. And we've got these bad habits that we get into, and we just keep beating the same drum, if you will.

[21:15] God has given us everything we need pertaining to living our life and being godly.

[21:26] So the Puritans, when they wrote about sin, they called it, You've got to discipline.

[21:38] The Bible says, Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness. The Puritans called that holy, H-O-L-Y, sweat. So we've got to work at changing these bad habits and sinful habits of sin.

[21:56] And then the Lord will help us. So let me give you some biblical principles regarding fear. The first one is, Fear keeps us from fulfilling our God-given responsibilities.

[22:14] Matthew 25, verses 24 through 27. Matthew, whoops, I'm in the wrong chapter.

[22:35] No, I'm not. 25, 24. Okay, this is a story of the parable of the talents.

[22:51] The master of these men was going away, and he gave each of his three servants, a talent is money, back in those days.

[23:06] And he gave one a large amount, one a medium amount of money, and one a small amount. And he said, I'm going to be gone. I want you to invest or do something with this money.

[23:22] I'm going to trust you with this money. And then when I come back, you should present my money back with interest or even a bigger gain than that.

[23:36] And so when the master came back, the first two, his master said to him, well done, good and faithful slave.

[23:50] You were faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master. And the one also who had received the one talent came up to him, and now he got the least amount of money.

[24:08] Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you scattered no seed. And I was afraid.

[24:20] He was afraid that he would lose money and that the master would be angry at him. I was afraid and went and hid your talent in the ground.

[24:31] See, you have back what is yours. But instead of the master saying, well, it's okay, I understand you were afraid.

[24:42] He said, you wicked, lazy slave. You knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I scattered no seed. Then you ought to have, you could say at least, put my money in the bank and on my arrival I would receive my money back with interest.

[25:04] Therefore, take away the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more shall be given and he will have an abundance.

[25:18] But from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[25:33] So that, he's talking there, transitioning to a salvation issue. But fear will paralyze us from acting or fulfilling our God-given responsibilities.

[25:46] And the second principle, fear may contribute to a person sinning. We can read about that in Genesis. But Genesis 26, verse 7, Isaac told King Abimelech that Rebekah was his sister.

[26:06] Now, he learned that from his father, Abraham, who did the same kind of thing, lied to a different king. So, it's easy to lie to try to get out of some kind of a situation.

[26:24] So it may contribute to a person sinning. And then number three, fear can cause us to deny our Lord and his word.

[26:35] Matthew 26, verse 69 and 70. This is Peter, and I think it's some of the saddest verses in the Bible.

[26:50] Matthew 26, verse 69. Now, Peter, Jesus had been arrested. Now, Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him and said, You, too, were with Jesus the Galilean.

[27:08] But he denied it. Peter lied. He denied it before them all, saying, I do not know what you are talking about. When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant girl saw him and said, To those who were there, this man was with Jesus of Nazareth.

[27:28] And again, he denied it with an oath. I do not know the man. A little later, the bystanders came up and said to Peter, Surely you, too, are one of them, for even the way you talk gives you away.

[27:45] Then Peter began to curse and swear, I do not know the man. And immediately a rooster crowed. And Jesus remembered the word which Jesus had said to him, Before a rooster crows, you will deny me three times.

[28:03] And he went out and wept bitterly. So fear can cause us to deny our Lord and his word. And then principle number four, the biblical antidote to fear is trusting God.

[28:22] What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. The psalmist said in Psalm 56, verse 3. In Psalm 34, verse 4, I think it is, David was running for his life.

[28:40] And he made the comment in that psalm, what time I am, let's see, what time I am afraid I will trust in thee.

[28:55] Let me make sure I'm saying that right. Psalm 34. This is the verse that I say to myself when I go to the dentist.

[29:12] Psalm 34, verse 4, I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all of my fears. But keep in mind that David was running for his life.

[29:24] But that's how I feel when I go to the dentist. So the Lord helps me. All right. So, biblical solutions to fear.

[29:36] There's a lot in the Bible about fear. Don't sin and cause yourself to be a hypocrite. Galatians 2, verse 12.

[29:48] For prior to the coming of certain men from James, now this is Peter in trouble again.

[30:09] He used to eat with the Gentiles. See, the Jews considered Gentiles unclean, so they wouldn't even eat a meal with them. But things changed after Jesus came and Peter and Paul became Christians.

[30:28] And Paul wrote the book of Galatians. But he's telling this story before, prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles.

[30:41] This is Peter. He wasn't being a hypocrite. But when they came, some of the men came that were more Jewish in their thinking, he began to withdraw from the Gentiles and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision.

[31:04] So don't sin and cause yourself to be a hypocrite. And so Paul rebuked him. And then Peter straightened up.

[31:17] But number two, biblical solution, remind yourself of God's word. Genesis 32, verse 7 and verse 9.

[31:27] Jacob facing Esau and Esau's army. When Jacob deceived his father and pretended to be his brother so he could get the blessing, he was so afraid.

[31:46] His brother threatened to kill him. Next time I see, after our father dies, I'm going to kill you. And he was mean enough and angry enough to do it. So Jacob ran away to his uncle Laban's area.

[32:02] And then eventually, he lived there for years. He eventually got married. He had concubines too, not just a couple of wives, and a bunch of children.

[32:14] So God at one point said, Jacob, take your family, take your flocks, and go home. Well, going home was not a particularly delightful idea for him.

[32:30] He was scared. Well, as he's going home, he's got all these women, all these children, and all these flocks. And then he sees his brother coming with an army of 400 men.

[32:46] And the last thing his brother said, when I, after our father dies, I'm going to kill you. So Jacob starts talking to God and praying.

[33:03] And he reminded God, not that God needs reminding, but he was reminding himself what God had promised him.

[33:16] Genesis 32, verse 7, Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed, and he divided the people who were with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into two companies.

[33:31] For he said, If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape. But then he starts praying.

[33:42] Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, Return to your country and to your relatives and I will prosper you.

[33:55] So he's reminding himself of God's word to him and of God's promises to him. And then another biblical solution to fear, you want to be wise and make responsible decisions.

[34:15] One time I was at the Atlanta Biblical Counseling Center and the phone rang and I answered it and it was a young woman who was crying and she said, I don't know what to do.

[34:33] My husband wants a new truck that we cannot afford and he can't, he doesn't have good enough credit to get the money to borrow for the truck with himself so he wants me to co-sign.

[34:55] And she said, I know it's not right but I don't know what to do. And I said, well, if he doesn't pay the car note, can you afford to pay it?

[35:08] She said, absolutely not. So, I said, well, you have, you can't sign something, a promise to pay this back if you can't afford to do it.

[35:21] That would be a sin on your part. So just tell your husband, I wish you could have this truck but we can't afford it and I would have to sin against God in order to sign this.

[35:36] And she stopped crying. She said, thank you, goodbye. And she hung up. I never met her. I didn't know her. Alright, Proverbs 3 starting in verse 21.

[35:52] Let's see. It says, My son, let them not vanish from your sight. Keep sound wisdom and discretion so they will be life to your soul and adornment to your neck.

[36:09] Then you will walk in your way securely and your foot will not stumble. So we need to be wise in our decisions and make responsible decisions.

[36:21] When you lie down, you will not be afraid. When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden fear nor of the onslaught of the wicked when it comes.

[36:36] For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. So, be wise and make responsible decisions.

[36:49] And then principle number four. Fear the Lord and delight in His commands. Psalm 112 and verse 1.

[37:03] Praise the Lord. How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commands. And then number six, principle six.

[37:16] Realize that God is with you no matter what. Psalm 23 verse 4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.

[37:41] Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. And He's talking to God there. Hebrews 13 and verse 5. Let's see.

[38:08] Hebrews 13 verse 5. says, Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have.

[38:21] For He Himself has said, I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you. So, that we confidentially say, the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.

[38:36] What will man do to me? Alright, man can do a lot of bad things to us, but God is sovereign over that other person.

[38:51] And we, when we panic and we get scared and we get terrified, we just totally leave God out of the equation.

[39:03] And then number seven, trust God to keep His word. Psalm 56 verse 4. Verse 3 says, When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.

[39:36] In God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust, I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?

[39:48] We can trust God to keep His word. And then Psalm 34 4. We are to seek after the Lord. This is what I just quoted a while ago.

[40:00] David said, I sought the Lord and He answered me and took away all of my fear. That doesn't mean that people weren't trying to kill Him.

[40:11] They still were trying to kill Him. And then point number nine, biblical solutions to fear. Overcome fear with love by focusing outwardly to others instead of being selfishly inwardly focused.

[40:28] 1 John 4. 18 says, Perfect love cast out fear. And then number ten, do what is right whether you feel like it or not.

[40:41] Thus, you are showing love to God by obeying Him. It's like raising kids. We can be faithful whether our children ever get saved or saved or not.

[40:59] We can honor God. We can glorify God. Matthew 22 verse 37. Well, I'll start in verse 35.

[41:10] One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, testing Jesus, trying to trick him. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?

[41:22] Now, he's talking about the Ten Commandments in the Old Testament. And Jesus said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

[41:33] This is the great and foremost commandment. Now, it was not uncommon for the Pharisees to think in terms of greater commandment and lesser commandments.

[41:46] And they divided up the commandments in the Old Testament from what they thought were the great ones that you had to obey and then the ones that were optional.

[42:00] So, they had in their mind, they thought, and see, you could really, I mean, if you decide which ones you should obey and which ones are optional, then we would all be home free.

[42:15] Because we wouldn't say, well, this is optional. none of them are optional. So, then Jesus said, he answered his question, but he added a second great commandment, is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[42:41] So, think in terms of love is kind, love is patient, love is not jealous. 1 Corinthians 13, 4-7, this is how we show love to our neighbors, to other people.

[42:57] On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. So, they just, they couldn't, they didn't believe that Jesus was the Messiah who had come, even though they knew the Old Testament, they knew the prophecies about the Messiah to come, but they were jealous of him.

[43:24] So, we are to do what is right, whether we feel like it or not, even if we're afraid, thus we show love to God by obeying him.

[43:42] Alright, how do we overcome anxiety? So, we looked at some biblical principles, we know we're to trust God instead of being afraid, but how do you do this?

[43:55] Well, when I'm trying to help somebody, I start with the basics. The basics are the gospel, salvation, making sure that as far as I can determine, as far as they know, they are saved.

[44:13] saved. But, typically, when I'm counseling somebody, and I've counseled hundreds of women, no matter what the issue is, most of them, with the counsel, Bible counsel, they make super fast progress.

[44:34] But, some of them just never make any progress. And, then, that makes me wonder, because it's the fruit in their life that shows that they really are a Christian, not the fact that they just say they're a Christian.

[44:53] So, we have to keep backing up to the gospel, if that's the case. But, once we are saved, God puts us on a track of becoming more and more Christ-like.

[45:10] We talked about that a little bit last night in Romans 8, 28 and 29. And, then, Paul writes about the put-off and put-on concept, putting off the way you used to think, the way you used to act, and then being renewed in the spirit of your mind, Ephesians 4, 22 through 24.

[45:35] He talks about that in Colossians 3 and Ephesians 4, and those are parallel passages. If you read them both back to back, you'll say, well, he's talking about the same thing.

[45:50] We need to know the basics of the character of God and basic doctrine and hope. And, just, I'm sure, if you're in this church, you can, if you're not, if you don't know basic doctrine, Bible doctrine, what the Bible teaches about basic topics, they will be happy to show you and teach you and mature you along in that area.

[46:25] But then, I have women who are anxious do what I call a self-talk log. Now, this is what I tell them.

[46:36] When you feel anxious or nervous, take a pencil or pen and piece of paper and write down what you are thinking.

[46:49] It's not a journal about how you feel. You feel miserable, you're scared, you're frightened, you're uncomfortable. This is just what is going through your mind.

[47:04] That would probably, if you do, if you journal and journal and journal about how you feel, you're just going to feel worse. It'll just make you more self-centered than you already are with this.

[47:19] But, this is about what's going on in your heart. As a man thinks in his heart, the Bible says, so is he. So, if you want to get deep inside of yourself, it's just simply what you're thinking.

[47:36] In our hearts, we have thoughts and we have desires. But, the scriptures in Romans 12, 1 and 2 says we are to renew our minds, that we're to be a living sacrifice to God.

[47:53] Think of sacrificing what you want, to bow before God and whatever the Lord brings your way.

[48:06] So, have a self-talk log. So, when they come back, they've got these anxious thoughts. Like my mother would have said, I just know my child is going to die.

[48:21] At least it was a quick, fiery crash. it wasn't like a slow, drawn-out thing for her. Now, about six or seven years ago, my daughter Anna called me and she said, Mom, I have a lump in my breast.

[48:43] And, it was just out of the blue. She discovered it one day. And I said, well, it's probably nothing, but you need to go have a doctor check you out and have a mammogram.

[48:57] So, she did. And the mammogram came back 95% chance of cancer. So, they did a biopsy.

[49:08] And it was very serious, aggressive cancer. And we're like, whoa, we didn't even know where this came from.

[49:19] cancer. So, at that point, I began to get anxious because I knew about this kind of cancer and I knew it could just spread like wildfire.

[49:36] So, in Philippians 4, and I want, if you have your Bible, each of you turn to Philippians 4. this is what I did.

[49:49] I clung to this prayer and I just kept praying basically the same prayer over and over again.

[50:03] But it, Paul writes very clear when you're anxious, do this, this, and this. So, he gives you three things to do.

[50:15] and I'm just going to make up an example. My fearful thought is what if Anna dies?

[50:28] So, a biblical prayer in Philippians 4, verse 6 and 7, it says be anxious for nothing instead of being afraid, but in everything by prayer.

[50:42] So, turn it around into a prayer, what you're thinking. And supplication, a supplication is a humble request.

[50:53] With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. So, the prayer has two parts. It has my request is, and my request based on my thought, what if Anna dies?

[51:11] my request is that the Lord would provide for her a cure. But I had to add to that request, but whatever would glorify you the most.

[51:28] And that was the hard part to add to that request, because I didn't know. Only the Lord knew. but my request is, and then thank you, he says, with thanksgiving, thank you for, and usually my thank you in this particular prayer was for reminding me how much I need you.

[51:57] So, thank you for reminding me how much I need you. In Jesus' name I pray. I don't know how many times I prayed that simple little same prayer, but every time I would feel anxious, and it was happening a lot, and it was happening a lot in the middle of the night, and I would wake up and remember, I would just go back to the basic, Paul says, don't be anxious, do this, pray, turn it around into a prayer, my request is that Anna will not die if that would glorify you the most.

[52:45] Thank you for reminding me how much I need you. And you can think of other things to be thankful for, too. And then Paul gives us a promise, God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts, what you're thinking, and your minds in Christ Jesus.

[53:12] Now, that peace of God, that supernatural peace of God, was not instantaneous for me. I mean, it was weeks of just clinging to the Lord and obeying Him, whether I felt like it or not.

[53:34] And then finally, one day, the anxiety lifted, and it was gone. Now, I still didn't know what kind of outcome Anna was going to have.

[53:48] She is fine, as far as we know now, but she went through a lot of chemo and double mastectomies and all that.

[53:58] And she still has to be carefully monitored every six months, even after all these years. But this is a simple thing, and we have to obey.

[54:18] So, whether it's something real, like your daughter has aggressive cancer, and you don't know what's going to happen, or something you just make up.

[54:32] I mean, we can make up, like my mother just made up I was going to crash and burn in an airplane the next morning. So, but she could have prayed.

[54:46] my request is that Martha will, that the plane will not crash, that she'll be safe, but she would have had to add, but whatever would glorify you the most.

[55:01] Thank you for, I would say, thank you, Lord, for giving us Anna for the time that we've had her. So, in Jesus' name, amen, and thank you for reminding me how much I need you.

[55:21] Well, in Philippians 4, in verse 8, Paul gives a list of the kinds of thoughts that we are to think.

[55:31] Like, my mother was thinking, I just know she's going to die. if I had thought, well, I thought the statistics were against Anna surviving this, but so far, as far as we know, you know, she's cancer free, or no known cancer, they say now, but Paul says, think about these things.

[56:07] So, he says, whatever is true, well, it wasn't true that I just know she's going to die.

[56:17] I didn't know. We didn't know what would happen. Whatever is honorable. Think of honorable as God honoring. The thing that is so frightening and terrifying is when we leave God out of the picture.

[56:35] whatever is right, a right thought is a righteous thought. Whatever is pure, a pure thought doesn't lead to lust.

[56:46] Whatever is lovely, and I think of that as thinking the best of the other person. Whatever is of good repute or good report, if there's any excellence and anything worthy of praise, all right, excellent and praiseworthy thoughts point to God.

[57:10] Dwell, let your mind dwell on these kinds of things, and then the promise again, Paul said, the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, watch me, watch my life, practice these things, and here's the promise, the God of peace will be with you.

[57:35] So, if you feel anxious about something, write down what you're thinking, and then go to Philippians 4 and walk through the, how you're to pray, my request is, and then thank you for, or thank you, that, and God will not allow you to be pressured or tempted, 1 Corinthians 10, 13, beyond what you're able.

[58:12] So, this is work, this is your homework, and if you tend to be a worrier, then when you find yourself getting anxious, which most of us will find ourselves getting anxious about different things, and some of the things can be just far out there and not even real, and some could be a real concern.

[58:40] I mean, we had a valid concern about Anna. Now, Anna had, Anna has seven children, and so she, and all of her kids were still at home at this time, and I'm thinking, seven grandchildren, and her husband has to work.

[59:03] If she dies, I mean, I had a selfish thought, I guess I'll have to go babysit the seven children, but anyway, that didn't even happen.

[59:13] See, we can think of things and make up stuff, worst case scenario, but in how to think biblically, I think I said this last night, but chapter nine in my Attitudes of a Transformed Heart book is in detail how to think biblically, but basically we've got to bring God rightly into the picture, making it excellent and praiseworthy.

[59:49] It's terrifying when you just forget about God. So, here's an example. Nothing bad is happening right now, is true thought, and is unlikely to happen, but if it does, God will at that time give me grace to bear up under the circumstances, and that makes it God-honoring, excellent, and praiseworthy.

[60:20] So, then, biblical actions based on Philippians 4, verse 9, daily Bible reading. The Psalms are God's tranquilizers, so if you are afraid, read in the Psalms, and you might have to stand up and read out loud.

[60:43] You might have to read the same Psalm two or three times, and just ask the Lord to help you comprehend what you are reading. Scripture memory, I've got one of the things that helps me the most, 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, in all things or everything, give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

[61:15] So, I remember thanking God for the test, thanking God for the trial. I didn't feel, oh good, I'm so happy I have this trial.

[61:29] I was devastated with it, but I knew that the Lord would be greatly honored if I can look towards this situation and this trial and cling to him.

[61:46] So, one of the things that I did, let's see, I think that this may be I'm going to can I have ten more minutes?

[62:13] Okay, alright, let's look over in 1 Peter. Peter. Now, Peter is writing to Gentile believers who left Rome because Nero became the emperor of Rome and he hated Christians and he tortured and killed them and they left and they scattered out through the Roman provinces.

[62:46] So, he's writing to people that are scattered as aliens through these areas and they're scared and they're frightened and they have good reason to be frightened because of Nero.

[63:06] But in verse 3 in chapter 1, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

[63:26] So, he's reminding them of their inheritance from God and his promise to give them eternal life.

[63:36] to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

[63:56] So, Peter is saying when you think about this that makes you happy. It makes you greatly rejoice.

[64:08] Even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith God is testing you and if you have genuine faith it's going to show in how you react to this trial so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

[64:49] And though you have not seen him you love him and though you do not see him now but but believe in him you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory obtaining is the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

[65:07] So Peter is saying and go over to verse 13 therefore prepare your minds for action. Think about how you are going to respond if worst case comes along.

[65:25] Keep sober in spirit fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. as obedient as obedient children do not be conformed to the former lust which were yours in your ignorance but like the holy one who called you be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written you shall be holy for I am holy.

[65:55] so when we have a trial when we have even an unexpected big trial we need to cling to God thank him for the trial thank him for testing our faith and pray that God may you help us that it will be found to be real and genuine in Hebrews 4 this is another little verse that and I use this a lot or often when I feel tempted or when I am tempted to sin or react wrongly verse 16 in chapter 4 therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need so sometimes if I know

[67:06] I'm thinking wrongly or reacting wrongly or going to react wrongly I pray and I say Lord I am drawing near to you to your throne of grace and I need your help this is one of my times of need and he will always help me so he will always help you too so I have one book that I recommend is Arthur Pink's book on the attributes of God now Arthur Pink uses big words and he's old old old timey and you have to have your Bible you have to have Arthur Pink's word and you have to have a dictionary or you have to have a phone that you can Google or a computer and so the chapters are short but look up every verse that he has or cite he cites a lot of references so it's a little short chapter it's going to take you a long time to work through but look up the verses for yourself even if he quotes them or cites the reference and just pray through each attribute of God it will if you've never done that it will revolutionize your life now one of my recent books is precious truths in practice when you feel overwhelmed trusting

[68:49] God I did a simpler version of that kind of thing with the attributes of God and then I ended each chapter with a comparison chart wrong thinking and right thinking and then the last three chapters are a chapter on justification sanctification and glorification so it ends in glory so that encourages you but that that is whether you do Arthur Pink's book or my book you can't learn enough about the godly character of God now anxiety this is work I'm giving you homework anxiety is a miserable emotion it comes from what you're telling yourself what you're thinking

[69:51] God in his kindness gave us clear instructions from Paul and Peter in Philippians how to trust him cast our cares on him because he cares for us there are biblical antidotes to painful emotions we can show love to God by obeying his word even though we don't feel like it at the moment and love to others by fulfilling our responsibilities he will help us overcome our painful emotions as our mind is renewed to think right God honoring thoughts and to fulfill your responsibility whether you feel like it or not remember what I say when I'm going to the dentist and

[70:51] King David is running for his life from his enemies I sought the Lord and he answered me and took away all of my fear so let's pray our glorious God and Father I pray 영 that this won't just be another lecture that the ladies have heard but that your word will ring true to them and will be honoring to you and that they will work out their salvation in fear and trembling and that you will receive the honor and the glory that you are due.

[71:42] I pray that you will help all of us to take our thoughts captive in obedience to you. We pray in Jesus' name.

[71:53]  Amen. Amen.