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  |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

20 Nov 10
            Greetings, dear people.
            The day is just about gone…and so am I.  My head isn’t working right.  It has been a full and unproductive day.  It seems that very little of what I attempted worked out.  Whew!  I worked well after dark to try to get an oil furnace activated in the old utility building on our property.  I wanted to persevere and get at least one task done.  We had the tank filled about 3 weeks ago and thought it was good for the winter…nearly $700.  I figured it would just be a simple matter.  But I was puzzled as to why I couldn’t get any fuel flow through the line.  Eventually I came to the realization that last summer when I was doing a bit of work near that line with the excavator, I had apparently pulled a fitting apart in that line under ground.  So all this time, that valuable furnace oil has simply been leeching out into the soil.  The fuel level is now less than a third. Phooey!  Oh well…
            Nevertheless—God is still on the Throne…
            Good night.  Love.  Dad/Ray
 
 
20 November 2010
Passage:  John 14:15-31
Focus:  “Jesus replied.”  John 14:23
            Listen carefully to Judas’ (not Iscariot) question:  “Why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
            Now listen carefully to Jesus’ response:  “Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.  My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.  He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.’” (verses 23-24).
            I don’t know about you, but if I were Judas, I might be tempted to feel rather confused with Jesus’ answer.  At least at first.  It doesn’t seem like He even heard the question.  But as I let Jesus’ words sink in, it begins to make sense—that He is answering Judas quite appropriately.  In fact I’m recognizing anew that Jesus is really cutting to the heart of the whole debate over “the security of the believer” by linking the whole matter up with the first and foremost requirement contained in all of Biblical revelation—TO TRULY LOVE GOD.  Indeed, loving Jesus IS loving God.  
Let me make an attempt at paraphrasing what I think Jesus was saying: “Whether or not people see me in the flesh is not really that important, Judas.  What is important is that people individually come to obey my teachings.  And that can only be accomplished by means of a personal love bond with me.  It will guarantee one a place in God’s presence both now and forever.”
            I think it would be legitimate to phrase a lesson here: Jesus may not always answer all your questions, but He will always give a reply…imparting to the attentive heart what is most important.
 
“Only those who see the invisible can do the impossible.”