Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
—Matthew 10:29–31 (ESV)
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Why am I a Christian? Why do I believe what God says? Why do I trust in him? Today we are going to examine Psalm 9. This Psalm, written by David, should give us a glimpse of why God is trustworthy.
David begins with a statement of purpose: “I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds” (verse 1). David expresses his intent to give thanks to God and tell others what God has done. In verses 1–6, David describes how God has acted on behalf of the nation of Israel. In verses 7–12, David turns to praise God for his great and mighty acts. “But the Lord sits enthroned forever,” that is, God will not be affected by any political upheaval here on earth!
The next verse is a precious promise for Christians to hold on to. As Christians, we can join with the ancient people of Israel in praising God and trusting in his promises. David says, “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you” (verse 10) Pay close attention to the words: in order to trust in God, we first must know his name.
God’s name is his revealed character. This definition will guide you through the rest of the Psalms to know what God is like. How does God act? Is he nice or is he mean? Imagine you met a new person from Cru and found out they were interested in board games, or another hobby. Suppose you had a friend from your dorm floor who was already interested in board games, and immediately you think you should introduce them. How would you describe your friend to the person you just met? How would you describe God?
The Psalm contains many phrases that we can use to describe God. God is a king … God is a judge … God’s judgments are righteous … God does not forsake those who seek him.
Reading about God in this Psalm warms my heart to trust in him. “And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.” Andrew Murray writes,
I must hear the person who gives me the promise: the very tone of his voice gives me courage to believe. I must see him: in the light of his eye and countenance all fear … passes away. The value of the promise depends on the promiser: it is on my knowledge of what the promiser is that faith in the promise depends. (“With Christ in the School of Prayer”, Lesson 12)
Let us together seek this God so we know him better and trust him more!
Scripture quoted from ESV.
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Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
These words from Psalm 1 serve well to introduce a new blog series I plan to write. The ESV Study Bible calls this psalm “the gateway into the entire book of Psalms.” In Psalm 1, the singer says that the man or woman of God is distinguished by his or her delight in the law of God. Over the next few weeks, I will be writing about several Psalms. I would like to help you understand the Psalms and delight in them. As we study together, we will learn some techniques to study the Bible. Hopefully these techniques will help you with the rest of your Bible reading.
My post, “Thirsty for God,” from Psalm 63, will serve as the first post in the series. In this Psalm, we learned how to encourage ourselves by looking on God’s character and recalling times when God has helped us in the past. Next week, come back for the rest of the series.
Scripture quoted from ESV.
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“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
“my soul thirsts for you;
“my flesh faints for you;
“as in a dry and weary land where there is no water”
The words from Psalm 63:1 describe just how I feel right now. My planner decided it wants to be more full than empty. My reading stack got jealous and wants to fill up my shelf space. Yet at the same time, I feel empty without God.
What David wrote in Psalm 63 is just what I need to encourage myself. David recalls a past memory of worshiping God in verse 2: “So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.” For me, this was a missions trip I took over spring break. I went to Arizona with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship. During conversations I had with other people and the opportunities that we had for serving, I beheld God’s power and glory. Such a recent and satisfying memory makes me hungry to experience God more.
In view of the past, David looks to God’s character. He writes in verse 3, “Your steadfast love is better than life.” God loves us so much! He sent his son to die for us on the cross.
Do you ever get restless with the cares of the world? Do you ever lie in bed thinking about your career, or your dating, or your friends and family? In verses 5 to 6, David said that when he couldn’t sleep, he would meditate on God. “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.” So when he couldn’t sleep, he could still be satisfied by meditating on God.
What could we meditate on? David recalled a time when God helped him. Today I looked to my journal entries from a year ago. Back then, I wrote that I wanted a better relationship with my brother and that I wanted a mentor to encourage me. God has answered those desires. He has been my help! I have a better relationship with my brother than I did a year ago, and I have been meeting up with a member of my local church for mentoring. I praise God because he has been my help!
There are people who do not understand my thirst for God or why I choose to live my life the way I do. There are forces that are hostile and that tell lies about me. In verses 9 to 11, David expresses his confidence that God will be victorious over these people and these forces. Who can join in this confidence? All of God’s people—”all who swear by him shall exult.” To exult is to boast and celebrate and rejoice. I will rejoice in my God!
Scripture quoted from ESV.
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“Holding Hands, Holding Hearts: Recovering a Biblical View of Christian Dating”
by Richard D. Phillips and Sharon L. Phillips
P&R Publishing, 2006
Many college students will graduate with not just a degree, but a husband or wife. College is a time when many men and women will meet, date each other, and possibly commit to marriage. For those of us who are Christians, what are some guidelines for dating? What does the Bible say about Christian dating? In “Holding Hands, Holding Hearts,” Richard D. Phillips and Sharon L. Phillips present a biblical view of Christian dating.
In the first half of the book, Phillips and Phillips present “A Biblical View of Dating and Relationships” (page 15). This view encompasses the creation of man and woman in an ideal relationship, the fall of that relationship and the relationship to God, and the redemption of both relationships through Jesus Christ.
Particularly memorable for me was their discussion of intimacy and commitment, to which they return throughout the book. Commitment is faithfulness, and it is the man’s responsibility to demonstrate commitment toward a women he is dating. Intimacy is uncovering or exposing the secrets of your heart, and it is only safely done within the confines of commitment. As the Phillips write, “Commitment is the cup into which intimacy is safely poured” (page 35).
Sin brings problems to the the ideal relationship that Adam and Eve had. Two problems stuck out to me. First, the man no longer can give selfless love to the woman. He wants to look out for himself, whether it be time on the couch or staying late at work. Second, the woman desires her husband in a way that damages her and her husband. She will be let down, because ultimately only God can satisfy her desires, and she will hurt the man when she manipulates him to get what she wants.
Our fallen relationships can be redeemed in Christ. “A redeemed relationship begins with the man and the woman individually coming to God and turning to him as the Lord and Savior of their lives” (page 56). The authors use Psalm 16 to show how we can find satisfaction in God. Then we can tear down idols in ourselves and instead minister to each other.
The second half of the book is more practical. The part is entitled “Biblical Wisdom for Dating and Relationships,” and it covers topics from attraction to a first date to commitment and marriage. For the most part, Phillips and Phillips stick to the best source of advice on the matter, the Bible. The chapter on attraction paints a beautiful picture from Proverbs of the qualities desirable in a godly man and a godly woman. For me, it was a reminder to me to seek these qualities in a potential spouse. It was also a reminder to cultivate these qualities in myself.
If the first half of the book tells how we can be first redeemed in Christ, the second half of the book discusses our sanctification. “No one is perfect. … The whole point of Christian marriage is for two vastly flawed people to grow in the Lord together while they are taught how to love by a gracious God” (page 111). As it is with marriage, so it is with a healthy dating relationship that will lead toward marriage.
As a couple get to know each other better, they grow in interdependence and exclusivity in their relationship. So how do I know? If I am in a relationship, how do I know if he or she is the one? The authors answer this question with a gentle but firm realigning of our expectations. The Bible says that “what matters most is not finding the one right person but becoming the person that God wants you to be.”
I have spent much time summarizing the book, in hopes that even this summary could get some ideas floating around in your head. I highly recommend this book to dive even further into the ideas and see the scripture related to the authors’ ideas. Please contribute to the discussion below with your thoughts.
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Last week I wrote about Jesus as our teacher or Jesus as our example of how to live a godly life. To live a godly life, we must understand a little more about the world God made.
Jesus came proclaiming what exactly the world was: that it is owned by God, and that we live in it. In the Bible, this is referred to as the kingdom. Think of a medieval kingdom. A kingdom needs a ruler (a king) and subjects who live in the kingdom. It also needs a set of rules and laws, and it also needs territory. Psalm 24:1 is a grand statement of God’s ownership of the world. It says, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein.”
Jesus basic message was, “The kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). Jesus announced that this kingdom, this ruling, had become available to human beings. Dallas Willard, a theologian and philosopher, writes, “[Jesus] was himself the evidence for the truth of his announcement about the availability of God’s kingdom, or governance, to ordinary human existence.” Jesus said, “If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. … I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:9–10). There is abundant life to those who enter into the kingdom which is so readily available.
The Bible is God’s kingdom manifesto. As you learn from Jesus the teacher, I pray that your eyes would be opened to discern the reality of God’s kingdom.
(Scripture quoted from ESV.)
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You know a lot about learning. If you are reading this, you are probably a college student somewhere in Minnesota. You are taking credits, studying, and meeting up with professors. In short, the life of a college student is one of learning.
The life of a Christian is one of learning. In the past few weeks, I have been reading Psalm 119. The writer of this Psalm is obsessed with learning from God. In verse 171, the psalmist writes, “My lips will pour forth praise, for you teach me your statutes.” God is his teacher, and the psalmist is his student.
What are some strategies that a teacher might use? Teachers can teach us the basic principles, and they can use examples. God uses both of these strategies in how he teaches us to live in the world.
First, God gave us the basic principles of life in the world. An example of these principles is the ten commandments. Jesus summarized the ten commandments like this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37–40).
Second, God gave us an example in Jesus Christ. The principles are not enough to learn—we need an example to really know how to follow the teacher. Jesus is the best example of how to live life in this world. This was his purpose in coming. He said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
Throughout Psalm 119, the writer asks God to teach him. If you do not feel like you are in God’s school, ask God to teach you. See Psalm 119:26–27, 33–34, 73, 125, 144, 169.
Let us all join together in learning from God to follow God for God’s glory.
(Scripture quoted from ESV.)
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Some of you have been accepted to summer projects around the country and around the world. Others of you are going to attend big break. Both these opportunities are ways to serve God, and they cost money. All money is God’s—whether it is your money or somebody else’s. Here are some tips for asking people for money.
The Big Break website has a page about raising support with some brief tips. A much more thorough website is the Ministry Partner Development tool that Campus Crusade has at http://mpd.uscm.org. You can log in to that page with your Facebook account, if you have one.
By sending a support letter to a friend of yours, you are asking them for more than just money (though that certainly helps). You are asking them to be a part of God’s work. You will be sent, whether it be to Panama City Beach, Florida, or to a summer project location, and your ministry partners will get a chance to pray for you while you are there.
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Last year, 3,086 Big Break attendees shared the gospel 10,815 times. This year, you can be a part of the experience.
A typical day at Big Break is reminiscent of the day of outreach at TCX. Each morning there is a main meeting at 10am. Evangelism on the beach begins at 1pm, and the day is ended by another main meeting at 7:30pm. In summary, you will get training to share the gospel and a lot of chances to practice!
Mid-Minnesota Cru is going to participate in this spring break missions trip from March 5 to 12. This falls on St. Cloud State’s spring break! The cost is $269 to register. For those who travel with SCSU, we will be sharing travel costs. In addition, you will have to bring spending money for food. For the trip, a total budget is about $500. The first 10 people to sign up will receive a $50 scholarship.
The first deposit amount is $50 to reserve a seat on the bus. This amount is due by Tuesday, February 15.
To find out more, visit the big break website.
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The Maze is coming to SCSU. What is a maze? A confusing network of passages where a single, uninterrupted path is the only solution… Well, really, the maze is an illusion show that redefines what you would expect.
When: February 1, 2011 at 7pm
Where: Ritsche Auditorium, St. Cloud State University
Cost: Free
Sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ.
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