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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16 Dec 11
Good morning, dear ones.
I hope this finds you well…and eager to take on the challenges you face…some probably imposed upon you by the traditional Christmas season. I have a long list before me too. Not sure where to start. But I’d better get on it.
We had an enjoyable time yesterday surrounding lunch with a group of missionaries in Salem. Jim Kessler was pretty pumped, having just returned from Ghana where he participated in the 50th anniversary of the work that he helped to begin. It has grown beyond description. That has to be invigorating.
Have a good day…pondering what and where your treasures are.
Love, Dad/Ray
16 December 2011
Proverbs 16
Focus: “A king’s wrath is a messenger of death, but a wise man will appease it.” Proverbs 16:14.
Solomon, who authored this section of Proverbs, was King of Israel. He held a position of privilege and power that the rest of us can only imagine. He ruled an absolute monarchy. If you were called into his presence, you had better show respect and submission. Whatever you do, don’t make the king mad. Your life could be terminated in seconds. Solomon knew by personal experience the power he held over his subjects. And I have to assume there were a few times when he used that power to exterminate a careless antagonistic fool—kind of like stepping on a bug.
I worry that there is a huge amount of careless foolishness at large in our world in relation to THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And a faulty brand of popular theology presents the Sovereign of the Universe as lovey-dovey, kind, all-embracing, forgiving, and ignorant. To be sure, He is loving, kind, and forgiving to those who seek Him, love Him, and accept His love gift, but be careful of that “unconditional love” stuff as it can too easily communicate the distorted notion that I can live like hell and still get heaven. There is no Biblical support for believing that one can sow like an idiot and reap like a wise person.
Rather than quote a large volume of Scripture here that identify God’s wrath, I’ll just quote one. It’s contained right there at the end of the chapter bearing one of the most well-known verses of the Bible—John 3:16. John 3:36 reads, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for GOD’S WRATH REMAINS ON HIM.” WRATH means wrath! That’s like anger! And sin clearly ticks God off!—especially when He has made such expansive provision for its removal. The cross of Christ demonstrates that! Don’t let anyone try to tell you different. I think that neutralizing and diminishing the Christmas and Easter stories with a lot of fluffy frothy nonsense plays out to make the KING mad. And that’s not very smart! (For extra credit read Romans 1:18, 2:5, 5:9, 12:19; Ephesians 5:6; Colossians 3:6.)
For good measure, let’s quote again John 3:16 and the two verses following. Bear in mind that this is foundational to the Christmas story. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-18, KJV).
“You never truly learn that Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have.” - Corrie ten Boom