2007 picture of Ray SparreInsightful Musings on the New Testament
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 is following, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010.

Daily Reading Guide  |  2010 Devotion Archives  |
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

30 May 10
  
  Good evening, dear ones.
    Whew!  It's been a pretty full day.  I was up early to prepare for a speaking engagement at a local church, after the service it was lunch, then I got in a brief nap before our Gospel Sing time at an assisted living session at 3pm, then a potluch with friends at 4pm, and didn't return home till about 7:30pm.
    I'm glad that a holiday is slated for tomorrow.  Maybe we can catch up on a few things. 
    Being Memorial Day tomorrow, I feel kind of privileged to have in our gathering a couple men who served in WWII.  There aren't many left, you know.  Rodger was a pilot who flew amphibious PBYs and performed sea rescues in the Mediterranean.  One plane he flew was shot up and sunk by German fighter planes.  He was left afloat for some time before being rescued.  At one point, before his rescue, a German fighter strafed him with machine gun fire, yet he survived, with only one finger shot off.  It doesn't require much effort on my part to want to honor men like that.
     Good night.  My head is fast shutting down.  I think I'll head for bed.
        Love, Dad/Ray  
 
30 May 2010
Passage: Luke 9:1-17
Focus:  “You give them something to eat.”  Luke 9:13.
           
Here’s the backdrop for these words from Jesus to His disciples: “Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.  He replied, ‘You give them something to eat.’”
            Wow!  That’s a tall order!  Verse 14 indicates that there were about 5,000 men in that crowd.  Jesus was actually telling his disciples to do what they could not possibly do on their own.  There’s no way that five little hunks of bread and two little fish were going to feed this gang. The only way that could possibly happen would be to partner with the One with the power to make it happen. They did their part, and Jesus (God) did the rest.  We have here another confirmation of the over-arching principle that goes something like this: IF YOU WILL DO WHAT YOU CAN DO IN RESPONSE GOD’S WORD, HE WILL STEP IN TO DO WHAT YOU CANNOT DO.  You know the story.  Everyone was fed to the full…with way more leftovers than what they began with.
            Earlier in the chapter, Jesus sent His disciples out on a preaching campaign and instructed them to also do what they could not do—heal the sick.  No way could they miraculously heal anyone on their own.  The only way that could happen would be to partner with the One with that kind of power.
            It occurs to me that this principle even applies to the universal human need for salvation—eternal life.  (Goodness!  I can’t figure out how to manage and preserve my own physical life, let alone my metaphysical life.)  I am wise to recognize that I, on my own, can’t save anyone, let alone me.  The only way that could possibly happen would be to partner with the One with that kind of saving power.
            I think this is another good place to quote John 3:16.
 
            “There is none so good that they can save themselves—none so bad that God cannot save them.”