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 |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1 Nov 10
Good evening, dear ones.
7:58
pm at present. I guess I’m feeding you a pretty big homework
assignment this time. Hope it goes down OK.
Lots
to squeeze into the rest of this week. But before I try to get it
all in perspective, I may shut down early and squeeze into bed.
Good night. Blessings.
Love, Dad/Ray
1 November 2010
Passage: John 5:1-30
Focus: “I tell you the truth…” John 5:19.
Just
to satisfy my own curiosity, I did a concordance check to find out the
number of times that Jesus used these words, “I tell you the truth,” in
the NIV translation of John. It turned up 25 times—3 in this
chapter alone.
I’m
going to do something different. This will be longer than normal,
but please bear with me. I’ve decided to list out those 25 verses
below. If we truly believe that Jesus is TRUTH, I think it stands
to reason that we could be benefitted and refreshed by considering
those things that He particularly declares as TRUTH. I also think
it would be a good exercise to go through the list and use your
devotion notebook to write down the main idea of each entry as it
applies to you personally.
John
3:3. In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can
see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
John
3:5. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the
kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”
John
3:11. “I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we
testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our
testimony.”
John
5:19. Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth,
the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his
Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
John
5:24. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes
him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has
crossed over from death to life.”
John
5:25. “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear
will live.”
John
6:26. Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for
me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves
and had your fill.”
John
6:32. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses
who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives
you the true bread from heaven.”
John
6:47. “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting
life.”
John
6:53. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat
the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you.”
John
8:34. Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is
a slave to sin.”
John
8:51. “I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will
never see death.”
John
8:58. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was
born, I am!”
John
10:1. “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep
pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a
robber.”
John
10:7. Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the
gate for the sheep.”
John
12:24. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to
the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it
dies, it produces many seeds.”
John
13:16. “I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his
master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.”
John
13:20. “I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send
accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
John
13:21. After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and
testified, “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me.”
John
13:38. Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life
for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will
disown me three times!”
John
14:12. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do
what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than
these, because I am going to the Father.”
John
16:7. “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I
am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to
you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
John
16:20. “I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the
world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
John
16:23. “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I
tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my
name.”
John
21:18. “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed
yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will
stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you
where you do not want to go.”
“Infidelity (atheism and agnosticism) never wrote one line that is
comforting on a death bed.”