Insightful 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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2 July 10
                Dear special people.
                There has already been a lot going on in this morning.  More to come.  A lot more this afternoon.  Then there’s this evening. Man!  I’m already tired!  But the Lord is good!  “Great is Thy Faithfulness” is a good song to keep singing in the course of any day.
                Be blessed today.
                                Love, Dad/Ray
 
2 July 2010
Passage: 1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:13.
Focus: “I sent to find out about your faith.  I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.”  1 Thessalonians 3:5.
                No—this is not a scriptural contradiction that shows Paul as being controlled by a destructive fear.  He is simply testifying to a healthy kind of fear that every believer should have.  It is a fear based on recognition of some important facts—the natural waywardness of the human heart and the subtlety of the enemy’s tactics at manipulating and influencing that human heart to wander outside the safety and security zone of Christ and His Word.  In fact, it was this form of positive fear that influenced Paul to send Timothy to the Thessalonians to encourage and strengthen their faith (3:2).  That effort seems to have been richly rewarded.
                Notice the number of times that the word “faith” appears in chapter 3.  I count 5 times.  It is a word that defines the essential ingredient of successful living (…as well as successful dying. After all, I don’t want my dying to be a failure—do you?).  It is an essential quality that God has done much to make available and nurture—and that the tempter purposes to neutralize and destroy.  So like it or not, you and I are actually walking battlefields in which the conflict continues between the two kingdoms of the universe.  Question: Which side do you want to win?
                If this is true that faith is of vital importance, and that the symbolic container for faith is the heart, then the words of Solomon in Proverbs 4:23 provide some very good practical advice: “Above all else (Can there be anything more important than all else?), guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
 
                “True wisdom is the accurate perception of what is really important.”