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  |
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9 Aug 10
            Greetings, dear people.
            Well…I was hoping to give you some kind of an exciting report on our fishing success.  No success at all in getting a tuna into our boat.  It was just Andy and me.  The wind was bigger than anticipated, the sea rougher, the sea temperature colder, and the fish more evasive.  To make matters worse, I spent about an hour about 17 miles offshore in those rock and roll conditions working on the motor that was malfunctioning.  We finally got it running stable and carried on with the fishing.  The sad fact is that you were as successful catching tuna yesterday as we were.
            In view of not getting out an entry for yesterday, I’m doing another double today.  Whew.
            Be blessed.  Love, Dad/Ray.
 
9 August 2010
Passage: Romans 2
Focus: “But because of your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.” Romans 2:5.
            Do you happen to have a Roth IRA account?  Do you know you have, or have had, a WRATH IRA account?  If you pronounce “wrath” like many English speakers in the world, it sounds like “Roth.”  A Roth IRA (Investment Retirement Account) is a good thing to have and keep active as it holds the promise of paying very good benefits as the account matures with interest over time.  But you don’t want to have an active WRATH IRA (I Remain Arrogant) account, even though everyone has inherited one—but this one urgently needs to be cancelled by the blood of “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  That account needs to be closed forever!  And Christ’s sacrifice joined with REPENTANCE is the ONLY means of cancellation.
            We normally don’t think of inherited sin in these terms.  But that’s exactly how Paul is presenting the matter here.  We normally don’t equate sin with God’s wrath and anger.  But that’s exactly what it is.  That’s right!—the Sovereign God is capable of Sovereign Anger!  And all mankind is painted into the same corner—there is no escaping this absolute fact—“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
            Let’s review verses 5 through 11.  It’s just too important to pass over casually:
 
“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up (as with an investment account) wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. God "will give to each person according to what he has done.”To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life (That’s incredibly good interest!). But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger (With compounded interest). There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.”
 
            “Sin is not judged by the way we see it but by the way God sees it.”