1. Biblical Counseling is restorative…after problems have been encountered and wrongly handled, people seek help. They do not understand the why (they do not know the real enemy or God’s agenda) of the problems or how to please God in them.
2. Biblical Counseling is about God’s ever-present agenda, namely your sanctification. God wants to make much of Himself in the person of Jesus. Therefore, He predestines you to be conformed into the image of Jesus and thereby increase your capacity to enjoy Jesus.
3. Both Satan and suffering conspire against us…to thwart God’s designs, but God trumps them both and uses suffering and Satan to accomplish His purposes. Neither Satan, nor suffering are THE problems. Praise God He uses the chemotherapy of suffering to kill the cancer of sin.
4. THE problem is what comes out of my heart (cf. Mark 7:20-23) while being harassed by Satan/circumstance or hurt by sinners. My problem is ultimately me. I learn through suffering that what I treasured and am being denied is something other than God…and that something is an idol.
5. Praise God that He has given us resources against these enemies: The Son/Savor, The Spirit, The Saints, and Supplication are all working to help me treasure Jesus above all…even His good gifts.
6. The Scripture is God’s primary means of changing me, not my circumstance. I must not seek mere relief, but redemption. The Word is all about redeeming my soul. The Word has the power to expose and eliminate what really robs me of my joy, namely sin. The greatest hurdle to my joy is not an absence of pleasure, but the presence of sin. The Word roots up this cancer of the soul.