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  |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 June 10
            Good morning, special people.
            7:56am at present.  Didn’t do my jog yet.  I think I will when I send this.  Glad to see the sun.  We didn’t really expect it in view of the weather reports we’ve heard.  Indeed it did yield a good deal more rain last night.
            I had quite a challenge yesterday morning.  I was all soaped up in the shower…and the water went off.  What a time to have the pump go out.  Becki rescued me from having to run down to the creek to rinse off by heating enough water to allow a dip rinse.  Thankfully, the problem seems to just be burned contacts in the pump’s pressure switch. Whew!
            Stay in the realm of blessing.
                                                          Love, Dad/Ray
 
9 June 2010
Passage: Luke 12:49-59
Focus: “Do you think I came to bring peace on earth?  No, I tell you, but division.”  Luke 12:51.
            Matthew 10:34 is the counterpart to this verse.  In that rendering, Jesus says, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”
            I recall riding on the chairlift at Winter Park, Colorado in 2002 with a fellow who made biased reference to this verse from Matthew.  He said something like this: “Is it true that Jesus said, ‘I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.’”  I responded, “Yes, that is true.”  He said, “So fundamental Christianity is really no different than fundamental Islam.  Both are terroristic.”  I tried to explain—but you know, “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.”  What an ignorant and foolish way to distort Jesus’ meaning!  So what else is new?
            Here’s the deal: ALL HAVE SINNED AND COME SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.  How many is ALL?  I think that means ALL…like everyone.  (What part of ALL do you not understand?)  So when Jesus comes into this world with the mission of causing division, what kind of division is it?  Is it good division or bad division?  I conclude that it is a vitally important and good division.  Where would we be if the influence of the “Sword of the Spirit” did not divide and separate us from the ALL and their condemnation?  We’d be in a heap of hurt.  So get it straight: GOD DOES NOT SEND PEOPLE TO HELL—HE JUST HONORS THEIR CHOICE.
            All you and I need to do is determine on which side of this division we are—and choose to be.
 
            “The cross is a symbol of God’s heartbreak over a world that has gone astray.”