Insightful Musings on the New Testamentby
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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26 December 2010
Passage: Revelation 18
Focus: “Come out of her, my people…” Revelation 18:4.
I am not much of a scholar relative to the interpretation and unraveling of the book of Revelation. But the question that arises within me as I read Revelation 18 again is, “Why can’t ‘Babylon the Great’ be a prophetic description of America?”
In view of the total and horrific destruction promised “Babylon the Great,” the most important practical warning is that the true people of God “come out of her.” The "her," if not America in particular, would at least be the corrupt world in general. That, I’m sure, does not require a physical removal, but a worldview and spiritual removal. Complying with that requires extreme caution against contamination and neutralization so that we do not experience the fate of the boiled frog that was boiled so slow by gradual heat increases that he didn’t even know what was happening.
It helps me to reduce things to their simplest form, so here is what I think may be an important basic recipe for doing the future: (1) Determine what and who you choose to believe…i.e., determine TRUTH. (2) Determine and resolve to live your life accordingly whatever the cost—letting things fall where they will.
In practical terms, this is FAITH. And, “the just shall live by faith” (Galatians 3:11).
“The world wants good mixers; God wants good separators.”