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 |
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5 Ap 11
Good morning, dear people.
Even as I type this line, I hear the entrance of two little grandsons who will be spending a couple days. Becki just went to pick them up. We are considering running up to the snow today. It would be about the last chance to take Kaden on a ski run for free before he turns 3 later this month. We’ll see how this plays out. Maybe I’ll send you a photo tomorrow.
Incidentally, I think we will be taking measures to hide the address list so that you’re not hanging out there all over the place. Maybe tomorrow.
Have a blessed day. Love, Dad/Ray
5 April 2011
5 Proverbs
Focus: “At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent.” Proverbs 5:11.
It seems paradoxical and ironic that so many people claim to believe in a real Jesus, but don’t believe in a real HELL—when Jesus Himself believed in HELL and spoke of it (warned of it) more than He spoke of heaven! How is it possible to believe that Jesus represents TRUTH when you don’t believe the TRUTH that Jesus represents?!?! If I were given the power to do so, I would like to SCARE THE HELL OUT OF EVERYONE! But alas!—that is clearly NOT God’s chosen plan and strategy any more than it was the approach of “father Abraham” as indicated in the story Jesus told in Luke 16. The rich man in HELL now sees things clearly and wants “father Abraham” to have Lazarus miraculously raised from the dead and go to his family to preach the Gospel so they would repent and avoid going to where the rich man is now in conscious torment. (Hey! I don’t like this idea either! But it’s in the BOOK!) The reply was, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).
May I suggest that you take time to do a review of the Biblical doctrine of HELL. Take your Bible and a concordance and do a search. This is one of the main purposes for your being in possession of “MOSES AND THE PROPHETS.” When it comes to this glaring TRUTH of the Scriptures, I believe you and I are supposed to be running SCARED—as compared with ignorant, complacent, or careless.
Why am I talking about HELL at this juncture? After all the Focus text is not talking about HELL. Well—here’s how I reason and believe: If at the end of a reckless, careless, arrogant, and rebellious physical life, a person GROANS over how stupid he was, just think of what will go on BEYOND the end of that physical life—in ETERNITY!—when that disappointment will be repeated and intensified a trillion times over! I believe as I connect the dots of Biblical revelation that one of the features of HELL that will give occupants the most HELL is their memory, and the self-condemnation that will flow out of it—“Why was I so blind? Why was I so stupid? Why didn’t I listen to my parents? Why did I think I knew so much when it was so clear that I knew so little? Why was I so stupid and eager to follow stupid people when they were all so absolutely stupid? Why? Why?”—and so on—forever. NOT FUN!
Listen again to these 4 related verses of Proverbs 5: “At the end of your life you will groan, when your flesh and body are spent. You will say, ‘How I hated discipline! How my heart spurned correction! I would not obey my teachers or listen to my instructors. I have come to the brink of utter ruin in the midst of the whole assembly’” (Proverbs 5:11-14).
“The safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft under foot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” - C. S. Lewis