Insightful Musings on the Scriptures
by
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.

| Sparre Home Page |  Daily Reading Guide  |  2011 Devotion Archives  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
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6 June 11
            Greetings, dear ones.
            Busy day.  I didn’t really know I would be into some wild tree work today…but I was.  Just for the fun of it, I’ll stick on just one photo.  I would estimate my being about 80 up when Kash took this shot.  You can see how the leaning tree was rubbing the bark off the straight tree.
            So much to do.  The long period of foul weather finally giving us a break has certainly stepped up the work load.
            Have a good night.  Dream about good things.
                        Love, Dad/Ray
 
6 June 2011
Psalm 35
Focus: “They repay me evil for good and leave my soul forlorn.” Psalm 35:12.
            I know this is far-fetched, but imagine that you come up with a perfect fool-proof cure for cancer.  You offer the cure to people you know have cancer and even make repeated presentations of your discovery to the medical community.  But in every case, for reasons you cannot comprehend, your presentation meets with such angry reaction that both you and your discovery are bitterly rejected without anyone even trying or testing it.  They twist things up so bad that it becomes abundantly clear that they actually prefer their cancer over your “stupid” cure.  That’s tough.
            Please get this straight: When you name the Name of Christ and devote yourself to following Him, doing what you reasonably can to communicate the Gospel (GOOD NEWS) cure for the cancer of sin, you are in error to expect that everyone will understand and appreciate your orientation, motivation, and message.  It is only natural to feel pain, sorrow, and frustration when your efforts of GOOD are rewarded with EVIL.  But, so what else is new?  You had better get used to it—at least, accept it.  This EVIL reaction is both predicted and promised by the One Who knows—the One we claim to follow—the One Who said in no uncertain terms, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you.  Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.  If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also” (John 15:18-20).
            Do you realize that we have just given a very reasonable explanation for the phenomenon of anti-Semitism as well as hatred for Christianity? It’s reasonable IF we accept a Biblical worldview. The fact that this worldview recognizes only two kingdoms in the universe, you have a basic standard for getting it figured out—tracing out and identifying GOOD and EVIL with their symptoms and origins.  (Ephesians 6:12)  Please do so.  This is important.
            The fact that David faced this conflict so long ago is evidence that it’s been around for a long time.  And it’s not going to end until the Sovereign referee blows the whistle (or the trumpet), ends the conflict, and sets things straight.  “Forlorn” won’t last for long.
            
“Christians fight evil on two fronts; sin from within and Satan from without.”