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  |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 21 June 2010
            Good afternoon, dear people.
            I’ve got to hurry…we have a gang working here…bye.
                                                          Love, Dad/Ray
 
21 June 2010
Passage: Luke 20:1-19
Focus: “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”  Luke 20:8.
            What?! Why would Jesus refuse to answer their straight-forward question?  All this group of antagonists asked was “by what authority are you doing these things (miracles, teaching, etc.)?  Who gave you this authority?”  (19:2)  Jesus could have taken this as an opportunity and launched into a spell-binding account of His pre-incarnation existence, His direct relationship with Father God, and the Divine plan for the redemption of mankind.  But now that we know what Jesus knew all along, it would have been of no value whatsoever for Jesus to answer accurately—they were just that—antagonists—so it didn’t matter what He said—they were antagonists.
            The way Jesus responded to their question was by asking another: “Tell me, John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men?”  So why did they not answer His question clearly?  It’s because Jesus nailed them at the heart level…and any answer would have been incriminating.  Jesus knew all too well that the same attitudes of pride, control, and religious bondage that prevented their acceptance of John (“John the Baptist”) was the same set of attitudes that prevented their acceptance of Him—the very Son of God.
            Here I go again, inserting the essential of A HEART AFTER GOD.  Without this vital ingredient, men are automatically made into antagonists against God and His plans—automatic losers.  Without it, what difference does it make who got what where and why?  In fact, why would it matter what is right or wrong, truth or error, or anything else?  With such a disposition of heart, all the accurate information in the world is of no more value than a boat without a bottom, a flashlight without batteries, an engine without fuel, or hunger without food!  “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul (because he lacks A HEART AFTER GOD)?” (Mk. 8:36).
 
            “Man’s way leads to a hopeless end—God’s way leads to an endless hope.”