Insightful Musings on the New Testament
by
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67

Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.

Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray is following, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010.

|  Daily Reading Guide  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2 June 10
    Greetings, dear people, at 8:50am.
    Yes indeed...rain is continuing to pound the roof.  The creek is running big and brown.  My memory is so shot, I don't even remember what I'm going to do for the rest of the day.  Good thing I have a list.  Once I launch this email production, I'll go review it...and get scared.  Hey, do you think I could maintain this state of peace if I simply didn't look at it?  Probably not.
    I hope you will be able to knock a few things off your list today.  I'll try to do the same.  And all the while we'll maintain the attitude of seekers...so we can become finders.
    Blessings.
        Love, Dad/Ray
 
2 June 2010
Passage: Luke 10:1-24
Focus: “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy.”  Luke 10:19.
            There is no substitute for understanding the basic facts of who and what we are if we are to have any hope whatsoever of coming out the other end of our earthly sojourn as a winner.  It is also important to understand what we’re up against and Who has supreme AUTHORITY over both the sojourn and the outcome.
            So who and what are we?  How about NOTHING?!  That’s a lot safer perspective than thinking we are really SOMETHING.  “If anyone thinks he is SOMETHING when he is NOTHING, he deceives himself” (Gal. 6:3).  And self-deception will take us nowhere good.
            What/Who then can transform NOTHING into SOMETHING?  The best Bible answer is JESUS!  Seeking Him, loving Him, pleasing Him.  He’s the One who said, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5).  Without Him and His love filling and motivating us on the heart level, it adds up to nothing.  “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am NOTHING” (1 Cor. 13:2).
            I had to chuckle when I read in the last chapter of James and John wanting to call down fire out of heaven to wipe out the non-accommodating Samaritan town (Luke 10:54).  It would have been quite appropriate for Jesus to say, “Go ahead.  Try it.  See if you can.”  He could also add the question, “Who do you think you are?”  For sure, they were way too inflated and presumptuous.
            Please understand that He is the “Lord of the harvest” (10:2).  Not me.  Not you.  Not some big church organization.  And only He can give us the AUTHORITY to win over the enemy.  Not me.  Not you.  Not some big church organization. 
            Part of the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel is that God is beyond Professional at making SOMETHING out of NOTHING.  Read again the Genesis account.  Once again, that means there’s hope for you and me.
 
            “A worm is the only creature that can’t stumble.”