Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
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 |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30 Mar 11Good morning, dear people.
Whew! I’m feeling some sleepies nipping at my head. Awake since about 2am…finally rose at 3:15am. If I didn’t have so much more going I would be tempted to sneak in a nap.
Not sure what will flow out of this day. I need to finish up a little welding project…fabricating a shed roller bracket that will allow me to move one of the sheds out near the road without just dragging it on the skids…so it can be on display with a for sale sign. We sure need to sell them. Just to help you visualize what one looks like I’ll stick a photo on.
Have a great day. He’s still worthy of your worship even if your day isn’t great.
Love, Dad/Ray
30 March 2011
Proverbs 30
Focus: “Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die.” Proverbs 30:7.
I trust I will not come across as overly arrogant if I critique this prayer by Agur and fail to give him high marks. I know he means well—and he is to be commended for his acknowledgement of HUMAN NATURE, but I can’t seem to regard his prayer as altogether healthy—one that we should copy without question. Let’s take time to walk through this 3-verse unit (vv. 7-9) and you can decide.
TWO THINGS I ASK OF YOU, O LORD. There is certainly nothing wrong with presenting requests to the LORD. “Do not be anxious about any thing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (Philippians 4:6).
DO NOT REFUSE ME BEFORE I DIE. I won’t say this line is out of order. But it is in order to bear in mind that God is not there for me—I am here for God. He is under no obligation to me—He owes me nothing. That’s why His grace is so amazing!
KEEP FALSEHOOD AND LIES FAR FROM ME. Now just a minute—God is not going to do that. He never has, and never will, this side of heaven. He does not purpose to insulate me from sin so that I never have to exercise faith and discipline. In fact FALSEHOOD AND LIES are qualities that are integral to my NATURAL SIN NATURE. So rather than require that God keep me separated from FALSEHOOD AND LIES it is more important that I use His cleansing provision to purge those things from my own heart and separate myself from further defilement.
GIVE ME NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES, BUT GIVE ME ONLY MY DAILY BREAD. That sure sounds noble as it appears so balanced at first. But the fact is history is full of both rich and poor people of faith. The principles of godliness apply to me whatever my financial status may be.
OTHERWISE, I MAY HAVE TOO MUCH AND DISOWN YOU AND SAY, ‘WHO IS THE LORD?’ OR I MAY BECOME POOR AND STEAL, AND SO DISHONOR THE NAME OF MY GOD. Being “filthy rich” is no legitimate cause for backsliding or failure to give worship to God. Being “dirt poor” is no legitimate cause for backsliding or failure to give worship to God. “Thou shalt love the LORD thy God” no matter what! He remains the Sovereign Holy One and is worthy of my worship independent of my feelings or circumstances.
Let’s listen to another prayer—the model prayer and praise of the 24 elders in glory. They are seeing things more clearly than any of us here below. “You are worthy our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).
“Praises to the unworthy are felt by ardent minds as robberies of the deserving.” - Samuel Taylor Coleridge