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 has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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3 Jan 11
Good morning, dear ones.
Wow! It’s late! 9:14am. I’ve done a jog/walk with Kaden on my shoulders. We still have him here for the day…due to irregular circumstances. And if those circumstances were not irregular enough, he even slept in our bed with us last night. Kind of like sleeping in the middle of a dog fight. Not really. He actually did quite well…even though he’s on the sick side with a cold and congestion.
May your day be blessed…leaning on everlasting arms.
Love, Dad/Ray
PS: Be reminded of my plans to purge the address list for receiving these little devotional essays. If I don’t get individual feedback by January 9, addresses will be dropped.
3 January 2011
Proverbs 3
Focus: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you.” Proverbs 3:3.
This is a wise, mature, loving father speaking to his young son who is only just beginning his life course. The father is near the end of his own sojourn and has a deep concern for his child. The father knows only too well how important it is to seek wisdom while young so that the damaging consequences of stupid (foolish) can be avoided—at least minimized. I sure can identify with the heart of this father.
In this section of the father’s advice, two internal qualities are presented with high level importance—LOVE and FAITHFULNESS. Here’s how he puts it: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart” (v. 3).
Without exhausting the significance of these themes, let’s just relate them to our basic need before God. I’ll venture to put it this way: NEVER STOP LOVING GOD and ALWAYS BE FULL OF FAITH. Can you imagine any standards more valuable for a young person (or any person, for that matter) to embrace at the beginning (or the middle, or the end) of their life course?
“Teenagers need to learn that ‘NO’ is a complete sentence.”