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.
| Sparre Home Page | Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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6 Aug 11
Greetings in the morning, dear people.
Overcast sky here at present. That’s fine with me…since I have outside work to do. And since it is already this late, I’d better get on with it.
Thano has run off with Becki this morning to engage in a little project with the Brain Injury Association of Oregon—distributing bike helmets to kids at a park in Salem. He’s taking along the helmet he was wearing in his big crash of 2001, with plans to point out, “This helmet saved my life.”
Have a great day…wearing the HELMET OF SALVATION.
Love—Dad/Ray
6 August 2011
Psalm 96
Focus: “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD all the earth.” Psalm 96:1.
There is something inherently amiss—even dangerous—with the statement, “We worship on Sunday (or Saturday).” Why so? Because it is very easy for someone to be imbalanced with that mentality and think thoughts like, “Well, since it’s still only Thursday, I don’t need to engage in worship—I’m on my own till Sunday (or Saturday).” Such a person may convince himself that he is a “Bible believer,” but he isn’t really—not in the most authentic and deepest sense of the phrase. While it is quite appropriate for believers to gather one day a week for collective group worship, the balanced individual believer understands that EVERY DAY—24-7—IS A DAY OF WORSHIP.
This psalm helps to underscore that fundamental principle of blessed godliness. Let me simply list the command form verbs that are laced through the first nine verses, all aiming toward worshipping the LORD. Some are used more than once. SING. DECLARE. ASCRIBE. BRING. COME. WORSHIP. TREMBLE.
Now there’s a word to consider—TREMBLE. It makes me wonder how much of that goes on in typical individual or corporate worship? It brings to mind Paul’s words in Philippians 2:12: “Continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” Also, I’m reminded of James’ words in James 2:19: “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (NIV, or “tremble,” KJV). I might paraphrase that idea something like this: “So you like to say you believe in God and call yourself a Christian Bible believer?—that’s wonderful—but please don’t allow that to be a superficial cliché. Even the demons believe in God and the Bible, but they also tremble before His Sovereign Holiness and Truth. Do you?”
Question: What does it mean to “Sing to the LORD a new song?” I have two ideas: (1) Most of us content ourselves with singing songs that someone else has composed. But why not give a shot at exercising your own God-given creativity and compose your own? (2) How about exchanging the word “new” for “fresh?” The idea can be compared with perishable food—it is best FRESH as opposed to stale. I’ve been around the block enough to know that personal faith can get stale alarmingly fast if it is not kept fresh. And since every day is a fresh capsule of time, sing to the LORD everyday. Reaffirm your faith everyday.
“Give God what’s right—not what’s left.”