2007 picture of Ray SparreInsightful 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  |
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 15 July 10
                Greetings, dear people.
                One of my reasons for not getting this off earlier was the fact that I had an appointment in town at 7am.  We spent a lot of the rest of the day with Katherine and her family that is to be departing early tomorrow morning…returning to Missouri.
                I’m feeling that urge to put my body in a horizontal position again.  Whew! Be blessed.  Good night!
                                Love, Dad/Ray
 
15 July 2010
Passage: 1 Corinthians 8
Focus: “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”  1 Corinthians 8:1.
                This is a proverb that would do well to hang on the walls of every professing Christian home and Church fellowship.  And of course, it would be better if it were made to hang on the inner walls of the hearts of all believers.
                Because it is so easy for us to forget, let’s do a brief review of the concept of LOVE from a Biblical perspective.  That impresses me as a very worthy exercise when I am reminded that LOVE is of supreme importance in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus confirms that there is absolutely nothing of higher priority than for believers to first and foremost sincerely LOVE GOD, and secondly sincerely LOVE OTHERS (Matt. 22:37-40).  Jesus goes on to state, “All the Law and the Prophets (the whole plan and purpose of God’s dealing with men) hang of these two commandments.”  Paul affirms in 1 Corinthians 13 that any kind of external performance of Christianity apart from the internal motivation of love is simply a worthless waste.  That sounds like something pretty important to keep on the front edge of our minds.
                Let’s also be reminded of the comparison and contrast between God’s love and man’s love.  LOVE could be one of the most widely misunderstood words in the English language.  Other languages, like New Testament Greek, communicate the meaning better by using at least 3 distinct words for different forms of LOVE.  The highest form, and the word that most accurately describes God’s LOVE, is “agape.”  I call it “commitment love.”  It is a love that begins in the will and may involve the emotions.  It is a LOVE standard that honestly says, “I desire God’s best for that person and will do what I reasonably can to help them achieve it.”  It is a standard that causes on the LOVE even unlikeable people.  I confess that there are many people around me that I do not really like and I have little natural desire to be around.  But that does not prevent me from LOVING them by God’s standard and still desiring and working toward God’s best for them. And by this standard, LOVE BULDS UP.  Man’s common standard of LOVE, however, is one that begins in the emotions and may involve the will.  It is highly dependent on personal satisfaction, attention, and tends to be reciprocal.  It says, “If you like me, I like you.  If you say something nice to me I say something nice to you.  You slap me, I slap you.”  It’s easy to see how that this attitude provides a very shaky foundation for any relationship.  Based on this concept, literally millions of marriages are terminated by divorce.  A man reasons, “I just don’t have those delightful feelings for my wife anymore.  I guess I no longer lover her.”  Separation then becomes the solution.
                In this passage before us, God is instructing us via Paul that our fulfillment of His edifying LOVE standard may require a large measure of self-denial.  Now there’s the real stumbling block for our selfish nature.  Think about it.
 
                “The measure of our love is the measure of our sacrifice.”