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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5 Oct 10
            Buenos dias, dear people.
            I need to get out the door to hook up, load up, and gear up to take on a portable saw mill job this morning.
            Have a great day.  Keep singing.
                        Love, Dad/Ray
 
5 October 2010
Passage: Hebrews 9:11-28
Focus: “…and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”  Hebrews 9:22.
            My little head has been known to get clogged with questions that cannot be substantially answered.  And here is one such question that has given some difficulty to my thoughts in the past.  That is, if God is all-powerful, capable of doing anything, and if He is all-knowing, capable of knowing everything about everything, out of all the options before Him for creating a plan for man’s salvation from sin, why did He choose such a BLOODY approach?  Why did He establish and submit Himself so completely to this rule that “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness?”
            I am happy to report that my struggle with this kind of question is a lot more in the past tense than in the present tense.  I have substantially drawn the simple and transcending conclusion that God is WISE and JUST.  He knows and does what is best.  And He clearly does not make it my business and responsibility to figure out and know all the details as to WHY.  I acknowledge the reality of my own conscience that suffers from guilt when I submit to sin.  I also know that trusting Christ as my Savior from sin affords me freedom from that guilt and peace that I cannot find by any other means.  That stacks up to produce some pretty convincing evidence of the truth and validity of the Gospel for me personally, even though I may not precisely understand it all.  My intellectual thirst for answers certainly does not become so intense that I am willing to pass it all off as foolishness and drink the cup of rejection.  I’m reminded of the quip that says, “He who has an experience is not at loss before he who only has an argument.”  Paul said is well in 1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the message of the cross (this bloody Gospel) is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.” This Gospel has a very real transforming effect on the minds of those of us who receive it—causing us to sing, not just with cold liturgy, but with deep heart-felt emotion—“So I’ll cherish the Old Rugged Cross, till my trophies at last I lay down.  I will cling to the Old Rugged Cross, and exchange it someday for a crown.”  Amen?  Amen!

 “It is better to suffer for the cause of Christ than for the cause of Christ to suffer.”