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  |
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13 June 10
   
Greetings on this Sunday evening...a lot later than I would like.
    Yes...it's been a pretty full day.  As I was busy preparing for a message this morning, Becki came into the room and said, "You're going to love this bit of news--the pump is not working--we're out of water."  I imagined that I would only need to give some more attention to the pressure switch...but it became clear that the pump was faulty.  So after church, we ran to Sears and bought a replacement.  It was later afternoon, following our Gospel Sing at Pheasant Pointe, that I was finally able to get to the installation.  We were able to restore water service to the house about 8pm.  Whew!
    Once that was done, I figured I would follow through with pumping out this devotional, but alas!...that pump was out too...my new notebook computer has some kind of virus glitch and it won't function.  Had to type it twice.  Oh well.  Such is real life.
    Big day tomorrow too.  So I need a big sleep.  So I better sign off and go do it.  Good night.  Blessings.
        Love, Dad/Ray
 
13 June 2010
Passage: Luke 14:25-15:10
Focus: “Does he not…go after the lost sheep until he finds it?”  Luke 15:4.
           
It is good to bear in mind the fundamental reason for God sending “His only begotten Son.”  John 3:16 says, in so many words, that mankind was hopelessly LOST and doomed to “perish” apart from this remarkable display of God’s love.  Jesus says the same thing in different terms in Luke 19:10 that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was LOST.”  The very sound of the word LOST has a chilling ring to it in the Biblical sense.  And it’s supposed to. 
It is this LOST condition of man that is the theme of Luke 15.  Jesus presents this using three different story pictures.  First is the illustration of a shepherd seeking and finding his LOST sheep.  Then we are told of a woman seeking and finding a LOST coin.  Tomorrow’s reading presents the illustration of a father being reconciled to a LOST son.  In each case, that which was LOST was something very valuable to the owner and generated great rejoicing when found.  Self-righteous Pharisees and natural earthlings don’t seem to get the picture.  But there is no other way to legitimately interpret the main message here (that follows through the entire body of scripture) that we all are valuable yet hopelessly LOST without Jesus and the redeeming love of God.
            If the LOST condition of mankind is truly at the center of the heart of God, you can rest assured that it is His desire that it also be at the center of the heart of all true members of the Family of God.  Let’s maintain our evangelistic perspective and be reminded that MEN WITHOUT CHRIST ARE LOST…hopelessly and eternally.  Let that basic New Testament truth sink down deep into our worldview and saturate our vision.  Don’t let it evaporate.  Because, “Were there is no vision (of this sort) people perish” (Proverbs 29:18).
 
            “Jesus came to save the lost, the last, and the least.”