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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17 April 2011
Proverbs 17
Focus: “A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue.” Proverbs 17:4.
You already suspicion that I’m kind of…well…how should we say it? Different? I’m going to take you one step further in that suspicion and let you in on one of my little amusements that I have never heard anyone talk about before. It normally happens in a public restroom. Now don’t get nervous. When I am in such a place, alone, no one else to hear, I often hum a slowly ascending tone, until I find the tonal frequency that resonates with that particular space. You can both hear and feel the resonation once that tone is established. Even though my tone may be low in volume, suddenly it is like I turned up the volume and the place vibrates. Then I can divide up that tone into related resonating intervals.
If I understand things somewhat correctly, that primitive phenomenon is fundamental to the complex and mind-boggling science of radio technology that is now commonplace all around us. It encompasses radio broadcasting, satellite communications, including cell phone usage, and will be engaged when I send this message via WI-FI from this resort hotel. The big trick to it all is simply matching frequencies that makes the receiver (your radio or phone) resonate (find the same frequency, same station, etc.) with the transmitter.
I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. Insofar as psycho-spiritual communication is concerned, human hearts are virtual transceivers—capable of both receiving and transmitting thoughts and ideas—with WORLDVIEW settings determining the channel or frequency of information received or sent. Isn’t that the main idea being stated in our FOCUS VERSE? “A wicked (the natural unregenerate frequency setting of a human heart) man listens (resonates with, tunes in) to evil lips (the natural transmissions of a heart in opposition to the Kingdom of God); a liar pays attention (resonates with) to a malicious tongue.”
Do you see how this kind of processing can actually aid a sincere seeker in self-examination, troubleshooting, and correction? If I resonate with what I know is wickedness and perversity, that becomes a clear indicator of the orientation and channel settings of my own heart. But if I recognize that my heart resonates with righteousness as required and prescribed by God and His Word, that becomes an indication that some positive settings are being affected. Thank God for His amazing grace! The point is that like attracts like—and matching frequencies resonate.
“When the character of someone is not clear to you, look at their friends.”